Queer Horror Resurgence Reframes Slasher Films

Horror has long portrayed queer and trans characters as monstrous or pathological, yet many LGBTQ+ viewers have been drawn to the genre and found ways to reinterpret its troubling imagery. Jane Schoenbrun’s “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” explores that tension through a filmmaker rebooting a slasher franchise, challenging conventional rules about sex and the genre’s history of queer-coded villains. The film is part of a broader resurgence of queer horror, with indie filmmakers using forms such as found footage to push creative boundaries. But while queer films have gained visibility, experimental work still faces funding and mainstream industry barriers, leaving festivals an important route to audiences.