Horror is a genre of subtexts, home to stories that take society’s various fears and anxieties, glue claws and fangs to them, and them let them go to town on unsuspecting audiences. Streaming service Shudder helped examine that intersection between real and unreal with its documentary Horror Noire earlier this year, examining the evolving roles of black people across a century of horror cinema. Now—in association with the earlier film’s producers—Shudder is hoping to do something similar for queer representation in the genre, courtesy of writer/director Sam Wineman.
Wineman—also the co-host of the Attack Of The Queerwolf podcast—is working with producers Phil Nobile Jr. and Kelly Ryan on an untitled doc project diving deep into horror’s complicated relationship with LGBTQ+ representation. Works from pioneers like Frankenstein’s James Whale and Hellraiser’s Clive Barker are all on the table, plus the complicated histories of movies like Sleepaway Camp, High Tension, and Jennifer’s Body. Here’s Wiseman himself, explaining his approach:
While watching Horror Noire, I identified deeply with the discussion of loving a genre and having that love be unrequited. Horror has spent a great deal of time telling our stories undercover, both intentionally and unintentionally. In order to fully understand the depth of how and why, you have to unpack the social context of what it is to be queer at the moment in history that coincides with the films themselves. That story is one that is long overdue, and I am honored to have the chance to share it.
There’s no word yet on when Wiseman’s documentary will air.