Queer Slashers

by Peter Marra

From Norman Bates dressed as "Mother" in Psycho to the rouged cheeks of Leatherface in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, many slasher icons have borne traces of queer and gender nonconforming behavior since the genre's very beginning.

Queer Slashers presents the first book-length study of how and why the slasher subgenre of horror films appeals to queer audiences. In it, Peter Marra constructs a reparative history of the slasher that affirms its queer lineage extending back as early as the 1920s. It also articulates the queer aspects of the slasher formula that forge an unlikely kinship between queer audiences and these retrograde depictions of queer killers. Marra establishes a queer history and function for the slasher, analyzing several key contemporary "queer slashers"–that is, slashers that are made by queer filmmakers–to better understand how queer artists take up the slasher iconography and put it toward modern queer aims.

Featuring analysis of films such as John Waters's Serial Mom, Peaches Christ's All About Evil, and Stranger by the Lake, Queer Slashers illuminates the queer meanings of slashers, their foundations, and their future possibilities.

Genres: Horror, Nonfiction, Queer, LGBT

238 pages, Paperback

First published February 4, 2025

Reviews

[Michael O'sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really well argued examination on the paradox of queer affection of the slasher genre. More academic than I think it intended but if there's an interest for the subject matter, it's definitely worth reading.

[Ashley Daviau · Rating 2 out of 5]

I saw this cover and title and immediately decided I needed to read this because both spoke to me on so many levels. Sadly about the only thing I enjoyed about this was those two things. The book wasn’t at all what I expected and was so dry and boring and REPETITIVE. Such a huge disappointment.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I'm not a film scholar, but I have done previous work involving horror film theory -- and I have looked at the slasher subgenre in specific -- so I was intrigued by the initial concept. Though I expected something different than what I got, I found the arguments clear and well-written and the choice of films for close analysis fascinating, as I haven't heard of them until now. I was expecting the whole book to function along the lines of the first chapter, in terms of focusing on how slashers can be interpreted through a queer lens, but I wasn't disappointed by the fact that what I expected was only a small portion of the book. I think the discussion was fruitful and accessible and certainly lays important groundwork for future work -- in fact, it's inspired me, and I hope the ideas it led me to consider will one day become projects of their own. I would recommend this, though I do think a background in film theory would be very helpful in understanding it.

[JLJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The distilled queer essence of the slasher is perhaps this : A queer outsider ruins heterosexual bliss.

A robustly researched and in-depth look into the queer resonance of the slasher and the way it has more recently been reappropriated by queer creators.

As a longtime horror fan, I thought this was a fascinating perspective, although I did find the writing somewhat unapproacheable and overly academic. The brunt of the academic talk happens in the (30 pages!) introduction, at which point I even considered giving up on this book.

However, if you power through you'll make it to some nuggets of genius concerning the queer history of the slasher that seem so evident after Peter Marra brilliantly brings them to light in his essay.

[Matt Sautman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Queer Slashers provides an ADHD model of academic work that explores the queer resonances of slasher movies that result in many LGBTQIA viewers to identify with horror movie villains. While I sometimes did wish for more sustained analysis that drew more on queer theorists, Peter Mara, nonetheless, provides an accessible argument that will likely resonate with readers interested in horror studies and LGBTQIA fandom.

[Sage Rosenthal · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone who doesn’t really watch horror, I learned a lot and enjoyed the retelling of the movies themselves. It reminded me of criminal mind episodes, and I enjoyed the intellectual side of understanding the plot. I DID find some of the arguments to be a stretch and felt that some of the arguments went on a little long. Overall, very interesting take on queer film studies.