''Queer for Fear: The History of Queer Horror'' is a 2022

television documentary Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. * Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

series from the

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

-owned streaming network Shudder and

Steakhaus Productions Steakhaus Productions is an independent production company founded by Steak House and Dominic Ottersbach. It is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Steakhaus Productions provides comprehensive development, production, post-production, fest ...

, executive produced by

Bryan Fuller Bryan Fuller (born July 27, 1969) is an American writer and producer, best known for creating the television series ''Pushing Daisies'' (2007–2009) and ''Hannibal (TV series), Hannibal'' (2013–2015). Fuller is also known for his work as a writ ...

and Steak House. The series uses interviews with various LGBTQ+ creators to explore LGBTQ+ representation and

queer coding ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non-cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to r ...

in the

horror genre Horror is a genre of speculative fiction that is intended to disturb, frighten, or scare an audience. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror. Literary historian J. A. Cuddon, in 1984, defin ...

throughout history, as well as influences from the

Pansy Craze The Pansy Craze was a period of increased LGBT visibility in American popular culture from the late 1920s until the mid-1930s. During the " craze," drag queens — known as "pansy performers" — experienced a surge in underground popularity, ...

and the Lavender Scare to how 1980s

vampire film Vampire films have been a staple in world cinema since the era of silent films, so much so that the depiction of vampires in popular culture is strongly based upon their depiction in films throughout the years. The most popular cinematic adaptat ...

s were influenced by the

AIDS epidemic The global pandemic of HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) began in 1981, and is an ongoing worldwide public health issue. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), by 2023, HIV/AIDS ...

. The first episode looks at

Gothic fiction Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror (primarily in the 20th century), is a literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name of the genre is derived from the Renaissance era use of the word "gothic", as a pejorative to mean me ...

such as ''

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 Gothic novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a Sapience, sapient Frankenstein's monster, crea ...

'' and ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is an 1897 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. The narrative is Epistolary novel, related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist and opens ...

'' and its underlying queer and personal conflict themes; the second considers

Pre-Code Hollywood Pre-Code Hollywood was an era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry that occurred between the widespread adoption of sound in film in the late 1920s and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship gui ...

and films made in the early years of the

Production Code Administration The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, the mini-major Amazon MGM Studios, as well as the video streaming services Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. Fo ...

, especially work by

F. W. Murnau Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau (born Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe; December 28, 1888March 11, 1931) was a German film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is regarded as one of cinema's most influential filmmakers for his work in the silent era. An e ...

James Whale James Whale (22 July 1889 – 29 May 1957) was an English film director, theatre director and actor, who spent the greater part of his career in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood. He is best remembered for several horror films: ''Fra ...

and

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

; the third highlights different sub-genres of horror, specifically transformation horror and body replacement; the fourth and final episode discusses the portrayal of lesbians and the predatory female trope.

Episodes

References

External links

''Queer for Fear''
at Shudder * 2020s American documentary television series 2020s American LGBTQ-related television series Shudder (streaming service) original programming Documentary television series about films 2022 LGBTQ-related television {{US-documentary-tv-prog-stub