Ep.52 / TOP TEN QUEER HORROR SCi-FI ICONS
in this wildly fun and fabulously spooky episode of HOT AIR, Josh counts down the Top 10 Queer Horror & Sci-Fi Icons that made every gay gasp, cheer, and check their reflection for a little eyeliner. From Buffy to Elvira, from Alien’s Ripley to Jennifer’s Body’s Megan Fox, this episode celebrates the monsters, misfits, and marvels that turned fear into fierce.
🎃 Scream Queens & Space Gays: The Top 10 Queer Horror & Sci-Fi Icons
A HOT AIR Halloween Special by Joshua MacLean
There’s something deliciously queer about horror and sci-fi. Maybe it’s the transformation, the tragedy, or the sheer audacity of walking into the dark in five-inch heels and a full face of makeup. Horror has always been the genre of “otherness” — the home for outcasts, misfits, and misunderstood monsters — which is exactly why queer audiences have claimed it as their own.
In this special HOT AIR Halloween episode, host Joshua MacLean dives deep into the Top 10 Queer Horror & Sci-Fi Icons — characters who didn’t just survive the horror but redefined it. These icons embody rebellion, glamour, and the art of being unapologetically different. So grab your garlic, pour a bloody martini, and let’s celebrate the spooky, the sassy, and the spectacularly queer.
💋 Why Horror Feels So Queer
Before the countdown, let’s address the obvious: queer folks love horror. Always have. Always will.
It’s the genre where the outsiders win, where transformation is power, and where repression literally explodes in blood and glitter. Horror is the cinematic equivalent of a drag performance — it’s over-the-top, self-aware, and often campier than a Pride parade float.
From the coded villains of early Hollywood (hello, Dracula’s “bachelor lifestyle”) to the unapologetic queer icons of modern horror (Jennifer’s Body, anyone?), the connection between queerness and horror is undeniable. The monsters are metaphors. The final girls are survivors. And sometimes, the villain just needs a hug — or a better stylist.
🐈⬛ 10. Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman – The Camp Queen of Chaos
Let’s start with the purr-fectly queer energy of Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman in Batman Returns (1992).
This isn’t your average damsel or villain — this is trauma turned couture. She’s a secretary-turned-vigilante who gets pushed out of a window, lands in latex, and decides to never apologize again.
For queer audiences, Catwoman represents liberation. She’s the girl who stops people-pleasing and starts whip-cracking. The bisexual energy is unmistakable — sultry, dangerous, and fully self-possessed. She’s not waiting for Batman’s approval; she’s too busy licking her wounds and stealing his thunder.
Catwoman’s arc is drag in narrative form: she transforms, she exaggerates, and she performs her power. It’s camp, it’s fierce, and it’s deeply queer.
💙 9. Mystique (X-Men) – The Ultimate Shape-Shifter
Mystique from X-Men is basically the queer community’s spirit animal. A blue-skinned, body-morphing mutant who refuses to hide her true form — she’s every queer person who’s ever been told to “tone it down.”
Played iconically by Rebecca Romijn and later Jennifer Lawrence, Mystique challenges the world to deal with her as she is. Her message? Mutant and proud. Sound familiar?
Her power — the ability to change her body at will — resonates with trans, nonbinary, and gender-fluid fans. And her rebellion against those who want her to assimilate mirrors the queer fight for authenticity. Mystique doesn’t want to blend in. She wants to stand out — naked, blue, and utterly unapologetic.
🩸 8. Carrie – The Telekinetic Teen Every Gay Kid Related To
No queer horror list is complete without Carrie White, the shy outcast from Carrie (1976).
Bullied for being different, humiliated at prom, and pushed to her breaking point, Carrie’s story hits home for anyone who’s ever been ostracized.
When her powers finally erupt, it’s catharsis. It’s rage. It’s revenge wrapped in pig’s blood and satin. For queer viewers, Carrie’s arc mirrors the pain of repression — and the power of self-acceptance. Sure, her story ends in flames, but for a moment, she owns the room that once mocked her. And isn’t that the queer dream?
👽 7. Ripley (Alien) – The Feminist Space Savior
Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley is the mother of all final girls.
She’s strong, smart, and fiercely protective — the blueprint for every badass female lead that followed.
Ripley broke the mold of horror heroines by surviving not because of luck, but because of intelligence and empathy. For queer audiences, she represents resilience — the quiet strength of those who refuse to go down without a fight.
Her dynamic with the alien (a creature of transformation and birth) adds a fascinating layer of gendered symbolism. Ripley isn’t defined by sexuality, but by defiance — and that’s powerfully queer in itself.
🔥 6. Jennifer’s Body – Bisexual Chaos in a Crop Top
When Jennifer’s Body hit theaters in 2009, critics didn’t get it. But the gays? Oh, we got it.
Megan Fox’s Jennifer Check is the ultimate bisexual anti-heroine — a cheerleader who becomes a man-eating demon (literally) after a botched sacrifice. Written by Diablo Cody and dripping with sapphic tension, the film reclaims the “monster girl” trope through a feminist, queer lens.
Jennifer’s relationship with her best friend Needy isn’t subtext — it’s text. It’s desire, jealousy, and codependence all rolled into one bloody lip gloss fantasy. The film was way ahead of its time, and now it’s a queer cult classic for a reason.
💄 5. Dr. Frank-N-Furter – The Sweet Transvestite Who Changed Everything
The Rocky Horror Picture Show didn’t just change cinema; it changed queer culture.
At the center of it all is Dr. Frank-N-Furter, played with electric brilliance by Tim Curry — a “sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania” who seduces the world with charisma, chaos, and corsets.
Frank is gender fluidity personified. He’s camp before “camp” was mainstream. And he gave queer audiences permission to see gender as performance — as play, not prison.
Rocky Horror became a safe space for every misfit, drag queen, and theatre kid who ever felt out of place. It’s not just a movie; it’s a queer baptism.
🕸️ 4. Elvira – Mistress of the Dark, Mother of the Gays
With her plunging neckline, valley-girl wit, and unapologetic camp, Elvira (Cassandra Peterson) is basically drag royalty.
She built an empire out of double entendres and self-parody, proving that confidence — and cleavage — are a superpower.
Elvira gave generations of queer fans permission to be outrageous. To flirt with darkness. To own their sexuality.
And when Peterson came out later in life, it only cemented her status as a queer icon who’d always belonged to the gays.
🔮 3. The Craft – Witchy Power and Queer Energy
“The weirdos, mister.” Need we say more?
The Craft (1996) turned every goth queer teen into a witch overnight. The film follows four girls who tap into witchcraft to reclaim their power — and in doing so, find freedom from societal norms.
Magic becomes a metaphor for self-acceptance. These girls don’t want to fit in — they want to fly, curse, and strut in pleated skirts with attitude.
For queer audiences, it’s the fantasy of empowerment: that your difference is your magic.
🔪 2. Freddy Krueger – The Camp Villain You Love to Hate
Okay, hear us out: Freddy Krueger is camp.
The razor-glove. The one-liners. The striped sweater that screams “drag brunch host.” Freddy’s over-the-top style and theatricality make him one of the queerest horror villains of all time.
There’s also a subtext in A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge that’s become infamous for its accidental queerness. The film reads like a gay coming-out story — repression, fear, and an internal monster that must be faced. It’s messy, but oh-so-iconic.
Freddy might be terrifying, but he’s also fabulous in a way only horror can get away with.
🧛♀️ 1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer – Our Forever Queer Heroine
Buffy Summers. The Chosen One. The gay awakening of an entire generation.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer didn’t just slay vampires — it slayed gender norms. Buffy’s strength didn’t make her less feminine; it defined her femininity. She fought evil in heels, loved deeply, and carried the emotional weight of her world with grace.
And the show’s queer storylines — Willow and Tara’s romance, for example — made queer love visible on mainstream TV when few others dared. Buffy’s queerness isn’t about her sexuality; it’s about her duality. She’s soft and strong, vulnerable and powerful. That’s what makes her the ultimate queer icon.
🌈 Horror as Queer Empowerment
When you look at this lineup — from Catwoman’s claws to Buffy’s stake — a theme emerges: survival through transformation. Every queer person knows what that feels like.
We hide. We adapt. We evolve. And then, when the time comes, we reveal who we really are — sometimes in sequins, sometimes in blood. Horror gives us permission to be monstrous, magical, and magnificent.
So this Halloween, whether you’re summoning spirits or summoning courage, remember what these characters taught us:
💄 You don’t have to fit in to survive.
🖤 Your power comes from your difference.
🌈 And sometimes, the monster is the hero.