Queer Cafe

Best LGBTQ Horror Films of All Time

Halloween Greetings

It's Halloween! It's Halloween! The Moon is full and bright.
And we shall see what can't be seen on any other night.
Skeletons and ghosts and ghouls and grinning goblins fighting duels.
Werewolves rising from their tombs and witches on their magic brooms.

Happy Halloween! We wish you well on this Haunted Holiday! With the Autumn Season underway, and Fall Festivals all around, this haunted jubilee is a favorite among many, especially LGBTQ folks! It is sometimes referred to as "Gay Christmas."

Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, costume parties, carving pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns, hayrides, bonfires, apple bobbing, divination games, playing pranks, visiting haunted attractions, telling scary stories, and watching horror films.

Halloween or "All Hallows Evening" is a yearly celebration observed on October 31. It is the time of year dedicated to remembering the dead.

Is Halloween a magical fire festival in observance of the dimming sun or is it a mystical celebration of departed saints? The word "Halloween" means "hallowed evening" or "holy evening." Mexico's version of Halloween is the Day of the Dead (Días de los Muertos). Halloween's connection with All Saint's Day or All Soul's Day has mostly fallen on the wayside in favor of modern secular traditions.

Black and orange are typically associated with Halloween. Orange is a symbol of strength and endurance and, along with brown and gold, stands for the harvest and autumn. Black is typically a symbol of death and darkness and acts as a reminder that Halloween once was a festival that marked the boundaries between life and death.

Halloween is campy and flamboyant. It's irreverent and fun. It's all about dressing up and wearing outrageous costumes and fabulous disguises. And, for some reason, Halloween is a very popular holiday among many LGBTQ people.

September's farewell, a gentle swoon,
October Eve, the harvest moon.
In the amber glow, we find our way,
A night of magic, as seasons sway.

10 Gay Things to Do to Warm-Up For Halloween

LGBTQ Celebrity Halloween Costumes
Queer for Fear: Celebrating LGBTQ Horror History
Advocate: Reason Why Queer Folks Love Halloween

The Boulet Brothers' Dragula S5 Returns Just In Time For Halloween
Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again

LGBTQ Celeb Costumes That Slayed Halloween
Madonna: Supernatural
LGBTQ Perspective: History of Halloween

Halloween: National LGBTQ Holiday

"Everyday is Halloween. For some of us."
-Tim Burton

Here's why Halloween is basically a national LGBTQ holiday. Give me your fearsome ghouls and your flaming gays, your slutty zombies and your zany queens, for it is time for Halloween.

Halloween isn’t just a holiday for LGBTQ people, it’s an institution. But why? Sure, there are the obvious parallels. Many queer and trans kids grew up having to wear a mask, and to many of us, every day was Halloween until we opened those closet doors. We are highly trained at hiding our true selves, so the celebration of costume and disguise is a natural marriage for us. But for today’s generation, where “queer” is hardly the horrifying pronunciation that it once was, this explanation may no longer carry much weight.

Still, many LGBTQ folks delight in the chance to express themselves in ways that society usually deems lewd, weird, or inappropriate. This holiday is one that praises all the frights and fetishes that we are told to cover up. But then again, that is what Pride (not to mention leather festivals like San Francisco’s Folsom Street Fair) is all about. The queer community is itself a celebration of sexual liberation, so for many, Halloween is just another Saturday night at the club.

10 Gay Things to Do to Warm-Up For Halloween
Queer for Fear: Celebrating LGBTQ Horror History
Advocate: Reason Why Queer Folks Love Halloween
Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again

LGBTQ Celeb Costumes That Slayed Halloween
Madonna: Supernatural

Problematic Halloween Costume Ideas You Should Never Attempt

The main reason Halloween is a national LGBTQ holiday is the fact that being queer or trans is an extension of expressing who you want to be, in spite of who fears it. Regardless of how liberal the community you live in may be, the global reality is that being any part of the LGBTQ community is still considered a perversion, a subversion, and even an abomination. Some of us may rarely have to address this reality, living in progressive hubs where queer is practically the norm. Others know all too well that a disturbingly large number of people in the US still think our “lifestyle” is to blame for all that’s wrong with the world.

Living in Dallas, Texas, I easily forget how odd I am to some people simply because I am gay. And for a minute here and there, I might even convince myself that my life, my marriage, and my sex life are now just part of the boring norm. But if I travel even a few miles outside of my bubble, the sometimes-painful realization that I am still considered an “other” swiftly sinks in and reminds me of my alternative position in society.

And that’s a good thing. Being queer isn’t a fetish. But for many, it is a fantasy. For those who are out, facing the fear of exploring our fantasies, which in turn become reality, can almost be second nature. When Halloween comes around, many of us on the LGBTQ spectrum aren’t afraid to revel in our proclivities, whether they are ghoulish, garish, or slutty as hell, because in the eyes of the judgmental peanut gallery, we already represent those things every day.

But Halloween is the one time of year when everyone is allowed to be whoever they wants to be. Even boring straight cisgender folks go queer for a night and walk on the wild side. Those who feel they have to be in a closet the rest of the time can bust out in all their glory on Halloween. And anyone questioning their current identity has the chance to try another out in public without fear of reprisal. When dawn breaks, some of those folks will have to turn back into pumpkins while we fairy godmothers get to keep being fabulous.

But at some point in a queer person’s life comes the realization that we will always be a freak to some. Regardless of how good we are at donning costumes, eventually we figure out changing ourselves into someone else is impossible, so we might as well relish in our freakdom and celebrate Halloween as the one time of year onlookers creep closer to our side of the line. (If we show those ghouls a good time, you never know who might just stay in gay town permanently.) So throw on those hooker heels and paint those faces a fright, because soon, very soon, it will be Halloween night!

[Source: Tyler Curry, Advocate Magazine, Oct 2019]

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Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again

Cassandra Peterson: Elvira Should Be Popular Halloween Costume

Halloween Films with Gay Representation

LGBTQ Celeb Costumes That Slayed Halloween
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Queer for Fear: Bryan Fuller on Why LGBTQ Folks Love Horror Films

Halloween Films for LGBTQ Folks

Trick or Treat Scoobie Doo | Animated (2022)

Hocus Pocus 2 | Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy (2022)

Bride of Frankenstein | Director James Whale (1935)
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane | Bette Davis, Joan Crawford (1962)
The Haunting | Claire Bloom, Julie Harris (1963)
Rocky Horror Picture Show | Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick (1975)
Carrie | Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie (1976)

Cat People | Nastassja Kinski, Malcolm McDowell, John Heard, Annette O'Toole, Ruby Dee (1982)
Nighmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge | Robert Englund (1985)

Lost Boys | Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, Kiefer Sutherland (1987)
Beetlejuice | Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Michael Keaton (1988)
Edward Scissorhands | Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder (1990)
Addams Family | Anjelica Huston, Christina Ricci, Raul Julia (1991)
Addams Family Values | Anjelica Huston, Christina Ricci, Raul Julia (1993)

Nightmare Before Christmas | Animated: Tim Burton, Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara, Paul Reubens (1993)
Hocus Pocus | Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy (1993)
Interview With the Vampire | Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt (1994)
Sweeney Todd: Demon Barber of Fleet Street | Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter (2007)
ParaNorman | Animated: Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck, Leslie Mann, Tempestt Bledsoe, Alex Borstein, John Goodman (2012)

Hotel Transylvania | Animated: Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Steve Buscemi, David Spade, CeeLo Green (2012)

Black as Night | Nicole Barre, Mason Beauchamp, Asjha Cooper (2021)

Wizard of Oz (1939)

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Elvira, Cassandra Peterson, Comes Out, Talks 19-Year Relationship

Dead Man's Party by Oingo Boingo

Why Halloween is Gay Christmas to Many LGBTQ Americans

Madonna: Supernatural

Looking For Myself on Halloween

Queer for Fear: Bryan Fuller on Why LGBTQ Folks Love Horror Films
Halloween Films with Gay Representation

Queer Horror Movies and Shows To Stream for Halloween

We Sink by Chvrches

Hocus Pocus Again

It's been 30 years since someone lit the Black Flame Candle and resurrected the 17th-century sisters, and they are looking for revenge.

After 30 years, the Sanderson sisters are back with what is widely considered the official film of the spooky season! Bette Midler is Winifred, Sarah Jessica Parker is Sarah, and Kathy Najimy is Mary. And Hannah Waddingham (from Ted Lasso) is The Witch Mother.

Hocus Pocus 2: Teaser Trailer
IMDB: Hocus Pocus 2
Hocus Pocus 2: Movie Trailer
Play The Hocus Pocus Drinking Game

Don’t Question the Magic of Hocus Pocus
Hocus Pocus Party Games

You remember the first movie in 1993? It was weird and silly and had a uniquely cartoonish raucousness. Now, in 2022, the trio of eccentric spell-casting divas returns, bringing the same spooky humor with some modern twists. The supernatural comedy sequel manages to capture the same hokey magic of the original while creatively updating its humor. The redux of the cult classic has been called bizarre, flashy, and chaotic. And, according to fans, the more Bette Midler runs amok, the better.

In a slight retread of the first film’s plot, “Hocus Pocus 2” follows two present-day Salem teenagers, Becca and Izzy (Whitney Peak and Belissa Escobedo), who accidentally bring the witchy Sanderson sisters back to life while performing their yearly Halloween night ritual. And now they must figure out how to stop the child-hungry witches from wreaking havoc on the world.

Hocus Pocus is a cultural phenomenon. The costumes are easily replicable, the one-liners fantastically quotable. The new movie is campy, with a catchy musical number and exaggerated performances. Like the first film, the plot is overstuffed, the dialogue is hokey, and the special effects are chintzy. But fans will still find it as delightful as ever.

What a great way to usher in the Haunted Holiday and celebrate Halloween! And what a great excuse for a party! Some fabulous folks will be gathering with their friends to watch the movie while adding an element of tipsy whimsy. How about a Hocus Pocus drinking game? Why not? Go ahead, take a drink . . .

Every time someone says “virgin”
Every time Sarah is horny
Every time someone references boobs in any way
Every time someone says “the black flame candle”
Every time the Sanderson sisters worship Satan
Every time a Sanderson sister does a musical number
Every time Winnie’s book blinks its eye
Every time someone flies on a broom
Every time someone casts a spell that rhymes
Every time the sisters smell children
Every time the witches are tricked by modern technology
Every time Winnie says “boooooook”
Every time the sisters suck the soul out of someone
Every time someone says “Hocus Pocus”
Every time Thackery Binx loses a life

Halloween Pride Parade

Monster Mash by Bobby Pickett

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Pop Trigger: Lesbian Halloween Costumes

Pretend We're Dead by L7

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Queer Horror Movies and Shows To Stream for Halloween

Problematic Halloween Costume Ideas You Should Never Attempt

Queer Halloween Night

In the October night, when the moon takes the stage,
And the stars twinkle brightly in a cosmic outrage,
A time for enchantment, where spirits roam free,
Comes Halloween's eve for you and for me.

With costumes and masks, we prepare to disguise,
Our true selves in shadows, under moonlit skies,
But this Halloween's different, it's a celebration, you see,
Of love so divergent, of being truly free.

Halloween Metamorphosis
Freakshow by Britney Spears

Elvira: Mistress of the Dark

Queer Horror Movies and Shows To Stream for Halloween
Hocus Pocus 2: Movie Trailer

New Scooby-Doo Halloween Movie Finally Depicts Velma as a Lesbian

LGBTQ Nation: Gay Culture and Popularity of Halloween
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San Francisco: Early Gay Halloween
Queer for Fear: Bryan Fuller on Why LGBTQ Folks Love Horror Films
Thriii: Calling All the Monsters

Lambda Literary: LGBTQ Horror Stories

Halloween Films with Gay Representation
Rocky Horror Picture Show: Opening Song and Movie Intro

Spooky Songs for Your Gay Halloween Party

These Halloween Costumes Will Always Be Offensive

In a world that can sometimes be dark and unkind,
We gather together, our hearts intertwined,
For Halloween's magic, it's not just for fright,
It's a chance to be bold, to embrace the night.

So dress as you please, be it spooky or sweet,
A witch or a vampire, a goblin you'll meet,
But remember, dear friends, as you dance through the gloom,
This Halloween's special, it's love that will bloom.

For love knows no bounds, it's a beacon so bright,
Shining through costumes and masks, in the night,
As we celebrate who we are, and who we'll become,
This Halloween's about love for everyone.

So raise a glass high, let the festivities flow,
In this Halloween's spirit, let your true colors show,
For love, in all forms, is a powerful theme,
This gay Halloween's more than just a dream.

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Advocate: Reason Why Queer Folks Love Halloween

The Boulet Brothers' Dragula S5 Returns Just In Time For Halloween
Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again

LGBTQ Celeb Costumes That Slayed Halloween
LGBTQ Perspective: History of Halloween

New Halloween Scooby-Doo Movie Finally Depicts Velma as a Lesbian

The creators of a new “Scooby-Doo” movie have finally depicted Velma as a lesbian on screen, after years of speculation about the beloved character’s sexuality but no definitive portrayals of her as queer in the popular cartoon franchise.

Velma crushes on another female character, a costume designer named Coco Diablo, in a Halloween special, “Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo,” that was released online Tuesday and will debut on Cartoon Network on Oct. 14. She’s voiced by actor and comedian Kate Micucci.

In one scene, Velma’s glasses fog up and her cheeks redden as she fawns over Coco. “Jinkies,” Velma says — her classic tag line. She flirts with Coco throughout the movie, clearly smitten.

As if that wasn't enough to consider the case of Velma's sexuality closed, there is another scene where Velma admits to Daphne that she is "crushing big time" on Coco, causing Velma to ask for advice on what to do with her newfound feelings.

The "Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!" animated Halloween movie airs Oct 2022.

[Source: Zachary Schermele, NBC News, Oct 2022]

Jinkies! Velma is Officially a Lesbian!
Is Scooby-Doo’s Velma Dinkley Finally Out?
New Scooby-Doo Movie Finally Depicts Velma as a Lesbian

Have a Safe Halloween

High Risk..

Traditional door-to-door trick-or-treating with shared candy bowls

Trunk or treating events

Crowded indoor costume parties

Medium Risk..

No-touch trick-or-treating (using a candy chute)

Goodie bags set out for pick-up

Reverse trick-or-treating

Outdoor, personal distanced costume parade

Outdoor, personal distanced movie night

Outdoor, personal distanced scary storytelling (around campfire)

Low Risk..

Pumpkin carving at home with your partner (or family)

Outdoor, personal distanced pumpkin carving with friends

Decorating at home

Outdoor scavenger hunt in the neighborhood

Virtual costume contest

Movie night at home with your partner (or family)

Driving around your city to see the Halloween decorations

Advocate: Reason Why Queer Folks Love Halloween
Black as Night: Queer-Inclusive Vampire Film With Critical Bite

Lambda Literary: LGBTQ Horror Stories

LGBTQ Celeb Costumes That Slayed Halloween

Elvira, Cassandra Peterson, Comes Out, Talks 19-Year Relationship

Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again

Ariana and Hannah: Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Queer for Fear: Bryan Fuller on Why LGBTQ Folks Love Horror Films
Madonna: Supernatural

Problematic Halloween Costume Ideas You Should Never Attempt

Gay Horror Icon Elvira Celebrates 40th Anniversary

Monster by Lady Gaga

From Campy Slashers to Vampire Erotica: Frighteningly Fun Queer Horror Films

Thriii: Calling All the Monsters

Black as Night: Queer-Inclusive Vampire Film With Critical Bite
Monster by Lady Gaga

Celebrity Halloween Costumes

Alessandra Ambrosio as Jessica Rabbit
Harry Styles as Elton John
Hasley As Poison Ivy
Aubrey O'Day as Cruella DeVille
Neil Patrick Harris as Obie Wan Kenobie
Jenna Dewan as a Unicorn
Colton Haynes as Ursula
Iggy Azalea as Cruella Deville
Adam Lambert a Werewolf
Christina Ricci as a Mime
Amber Rose as a Dead Prom Queen
Bette Midler as Hocus Pocus
Martha Stewart as Zombie Nurse

Halloween Metamorphosis

Some Scary Scores from Scary Movies

Why Are We Still So Obsessed With Lesbian Vampires?

Why Halloween is Gay Christmas to Many LGBTQ Americans

Queer for Fear: Bryan Fuller on Why LGBTQ Folks Love Horror Films
LGBTQ Perspective: History of Halloween

Queer Horror Films: Campy Slashers to Vampire Erotica

These Halloween Costumes Will Always Be Offensive

Gay Culture and the Popularity of Halloween

"If human beings had genuine courage, they'd wear their costumes every day of the year, not just on Halloween."
-Douglas Copeland

In the words of the lesbian poet and scholar Judy Grahn, Halloween is “the great gay holiday.” The holiday’s tradition of lavish costumed theatricality attracts almost everyone, but especially lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer revelers.

Back in the day, Halloween, the night before All Hallows Day (All Saints Day), was linked to the ancient Celtic festival “Samhain” in the British Isles, meaning “summer’s end.” And because the celebration is associated with mystery, magic, superstition, witches and ghost, the festivity, not surprisingly, was limited in colonial New England because of its Puritanical belief system. But today it’s an LGBTQ extravaganza that rivals Pride festivals.

Long before June officially became Gay Pride Month, and October “Coming Out Month” for the LGBTQ community, Halloween was unofficially our yearly celebrated “holiday,” dating as far back at the 1970s when it was a massive annual street party in San Francisco’s Castro district.

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By the 1980s, gay enclaves like Key West, West Hollywood, and Greenwich Village were holding their annual Halloween street parties. And the parades the night of Halloween did and still do draw straights and gay spectators out to watch. Gay cultural influence on Halloween has become such an unstoppable phenomenon here and abroad that anthropologist Jerry Kugelmass of University of Florida published a book in 1994 on the new trend, titled Masked Culture, describing Halloween as an emerging gay “high holiday.”

“The ’masked culture’ first developed by the gays of San Francisco has reached across the lines of orientation, and now jumped across the boundaries between nations and languages. It’s not just a party. It’s an ideal of personal emancipation, self-expression and self-fulfillment. It is an ideal that loses none of its power when it takes the form of a sexy nurse’s outfit,” CNN contributor David Frum wrote in an article about Halloween and the gay culture.

Nicholas Rogers, author of Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night, points out that while Halloween is enjoyed by everyone, “it has been the gay community that has most flamboyantly exploited Halloween’s potential as a transgressive festival, as one that operates outside or on the margins of orthodox time, space, and hierarchy. Indeed, it is the gay community that has been arguably most responsible for Halloween’s adult rejuvenation.”

Elvira, Cassandra Peterson, Comes Out, Talks 19-Year Relationship

Silly Symphonies: Skeleton Dance

Advocate: Reason Why Queer Folks Love Halloween
Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again

Problematic Halloween Costume Ideas You Should Never Attempt

Silly Symphonies: Skeleton Dance

Some Scary Scores from Scary Movies
Quinn's Anatomy: Lesbian Halloween Costumes

Kernel: Halloween Gay History
Looking For Myself on Halloween

Halloween allows many LGBTQ Americans at least one night annually to be safely being out and “unmasked” while remaining closeted. The community revels the entire night like there is no tomorrow, and for many there isn’t. Like its pagan roots, Halloween provided an outlet for us cross-dressing and gender-bending LGBTQ outsiders who are ostracized by mainstream society.

As Halloween flourishes as a gay cultural phenomenon, so too flourished a backlash by the fundamentalist Christians with their “Hell Houses.” And these Christians targeted our children. Hell Houses were a contemporary form of both anti-gay bullying and witch-hunting. Created in the late 1970s by deceased fundamentalist pastor, the Reverend Jerry Falwell, they were religious alternatives to traditional haunted houses. They were tours given by evangelical churches across the country design to scare and bully people away from myriad sins. And one of those sins is homosexuality. While the horror show has mostly died out, it still appears occasionally in far-right conservative churches like a vampire rising from the dead.

In 2006 the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) put out a report titled “Homophobia at Hell House: Literally Demonizing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth” explaining how hell houses specifically targeted youth. “Instead of spooking youth with ghosts and monsters, Hell House tour guides direct them through rooms where violent scenes of damnation for a variety of ’sins’ are performed, including scenes where a teenage lesbian is brought to hell after committing suicide and a gay man dying of AIDS is taunted by a demon who screams that the man will be separated from God forever in hell,” the NGLTF stated.

A study published in the Journal of Psychology stated that a strong belief in Satan is directly related to intolerance of LGBTQ people. Religious leaders who supported Hell Houses believed that by scaring LGBTQ youth into “heterosexual” behavior they are saving their souls. However, the message that “homosexuals” are going to hell can have a deleterious impact on our youth.

But with Halloween flourishing as a gay cultural phenomenon our children, too, can joyfully go door-to-door trick-or-treating. Our influence on culture is being acknowledged and celebrated more as we come out. As Kwanzaa is a black holiday, and St. Patrick’s Day is an Irish holiday, maybe someday soon Halloween will be officially acknowledged as a gay holiday.

[Source: Rev. Irene Monroe, LGBTQ Nation, Oct 2018]

Heads Will Roll by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
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Rocky Horror Picture Show: Sweet Transvestite

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Vice: Best Little Hell House in Texas

Madonna: Supernatural

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Destroy Everything You Touch by Ladytron

Pop Trigger: Lesbian Halloween Costumes

Ariana and Hannah: Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Halloween Tunes for LGBTQ Folks

Monster by Lady Gaga
Thriller by Michael Jackson

Pretend We're Dead by L7
Freakshow by Britney Spears

Calling All the Monsters by Thriii

Bloodletting by Concrete Blonde
Disturbia by Rihanna

Jump in the Line by Harry Belefonte
We Sink by Chvrches
Dead Man's Party by Oingo Boingo

Time Warp by Rocky Horror Picture Show Cast

Feed My Frankenstein by Alice Cooper

Supernatural by Madonna

Heads Will Roll by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Dragula by Rob Zombie

Spooky by Classics Four
Freaks Come Out at Night by Whodini

Destroy Everything You Touch by Ladytron
Monster Mash by Bobby Pickett

Cities in Dust by Siouxsie and the Banshees
Haunted by Beyonce

Mirrors by Natalia Kills

Witchy Woman by The Eagles
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by JS Bach

Queer Costume Ideas

"Halloween is not only about putting on a costume, but it's about finding the imagination and costume within ourselves."
-Elvis Duran

For any would-be Halloween party-goers or trick-or-treaters who might be having difficulty coming up with an idea for their costume, here is a helpful tool. Somebody (we don't know who) came up with this idea chart. Try using your birth month and your birth day as an inspiration for your Halloween attire. Could be fun. Could be disturbing.

The adjective or modifying descriptor is represented by your birth month. The creature or character is represented by your birth day. Put the two together for a fabulous Halloween costume idea.

January - Bloody/Gorey

February - Kinky/Leather

March - Creepy/Evil

April - Sexy/Slutty

May - Futuristic/Galactic

June - Vintage/Retro

July - Scary/Horrorfying

August - Cutsie

September -Goofy/Nerdy

October - Demonic/Satanic

November - Gothic/Medieval

December - Fabulous/Drag

1 - Zombie

2 - Athlete

3 - Pumpkin

4 - Witch

5 - Clown

6 - Farmer

7 - Wizard

8 - Bunny

9 - Angel

10 - Mummy

11 - Cat

12 - Waitress

13 - Ballerina

14 - Scientist

15 - Pirate

16 - Superhero

17 - Skeleton

18 - Troll

19 - Cheerleader

20 - Swan

21 - Cleopatra

22 - Vampire

23 - Nurse/Doctor

24 - Devil

25 - School Girl

26 - Prince/Princess

27 - Ghost

28 - Frankenstein

29 - Werewolf

30 - Cowboy/Cowgirl

31 - Soldier/Sailor

Halloween Verse

Treats and tricks and witch broomsticks.
Jack-o-lanterns lick their lips.
Crows and cats and vampire bats.
Capes and fangs and pointed hats.
Witches cackle and goblins growl.
Black cats hiss and werewolves howl.
-Richelle E. Goodrich

Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and caldron bubble.
Fillet of a fenny snake, In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt and toe of frog, Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting, Lizard's leg and howlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and caldron bubble.
Cool it with a baboon's blood, Then the charm is firm and good.
-William Shakespeare (Macbeth)

Hocus Pocus 2: Movie Trailer

New Scooby-Doo Halloween Movie Finally Depicts Velma as a Lesbian

Queer for Fear: Celebrating LGBTQ Horror History
Advocate: Reason Why Queer Folks Love Halloween
Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again

LGBTQ Celeb Costumes That Slayed Halloween
LGBTQ Perspective: History of Halloween

Problematic Halloween Costume Ideas You Should Never Attempt

I would like, if I may, to take you on a strange journey.
-Rocky Horror Picture Show

Something wicked this way comes.
-William Shakespeare

October was always the least dependable of months. Full of ghosts and shadows.
-Joy Fielding

It's as much fun to scare as to be scared.
-Vincent Price

Darkness falls across the land. The midnight hour is close at hand.
-Rodney Lynn Temperton

The night is darkening round me, The wild winds coldly blow;
But a tyrant spell has bound me, And I cannot, cannot go.
The giant trees are bending, Their bare boughs weighed with snow.
And the storm is fast descending, And yet I cannot go.
Clouds beyond clouds above me, Wastes beyond wastes below;
But nothing drear can move me; I will not, cannot go.
-Emily Bronte

It is said that the spirits of buried men oft come to this wicked world again;
That the churchyard turf is often trod by the unlaid tenants of tomb and sod.
That the midnight sea itself is swept by those who have long beneath it slept.
And they say of this old, mossy wood whose hoary trunks have for ages stood
That every knoll and dim-lit glade is haunted at night by its restless shade.
-Isaac McLellan

The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.
-Eden Philpots

There is something haunting in the light of the moon.
-Joesph Conrad

Believe nothing you hear and only half of what you see.
-Edgar Allan Poe

It's Halloween. Everyone's entitled to one good scare.
-Brackett (Halloween)

Where there is no imagination there is no horror.
-Arthur Conon Doyle

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Advocate: Reason Why Queer Folks Love Halloween
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LGBTQ Celeb Costumes That Slayed Halloween
LGBTQ Perspective: History of Halloween

On Halloween, witches come true. Wild ghosts escape from dreams. And monsters dance in the park.
-Nicholas Gordon

Do you believe in destiny? That even the powers of time can be altered for a single purpose?
-Bram Stoker (Dracula)

Halloween is opportunity to be really creative.
-Judy Gold

A person should always choose a costume which is in direct contrast to her own personality.
-Lucy Van Pelt (It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown)

The moon has awoken with the sleep of the sun. The light has been broken. The spell has begun.
-Midgard Morningstar

What is Your Halloween Name?

So what is your spooky Halloween nickname? Try using this chart to devise your haunted nom de plume. Look up the first letter of your first name to conjure your new last name. And then look up the first letter of your last name to conjure your new last name.

First Letter|First Name

A Creepy

B Deadly

C Eerie

D Howling

E Icy

F Invisible

G Jumpy
H Dark

I Savage

J Quiet

K Grim

L Dangerous

M Cursed

N Frightful

O Bitter

P Gloomy

Q Menacing

R Crackling

S Magical

T Lurking

U Gravestone

V Wicked

W Phantom

X Scarlet

Y Haunted

Z Witchy

First Letter|Last Name

A Spider
B Ghost
C Pumpkin

D Skull

E Vampire

F Goblin

G Potion

H Shadow

I Monster

J Fog

K Owl

L Bat

M Hunter
N Stalker

O Cat

P Candy

Q Ghoul

R Zombie

S Moon

T Web

U Caller

V Thief

W Eyes

X Candle

Y Mist

Z Midnight

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The Queer Overlap of Witchcraft

It’s the season of all seasons. Pumpkin spice lattes, cookies, and candles galore. Fake cobwebs strung up around the supermarket, and carved orange faces on every doorstep you pass. Horror movie trailers jump-scare you whenever you try to watch a video on YouTube, and all of those sort-of-friends begin asking what your plans are for the big night. Halloween.

But for many practicing Wiccans, pagans, witches, and warlocks, Halloween is an important spiritual time of year better known as Samhain. Though the various denominations celebrate it differently, Samhain is generally believed to be the time of year when the distance between the physical and spiritual worlds is at its closest. Many who practice witchcraft believe this is the best time to try to make contact with their ancestors and to celebrate those who they have loved and lost.

In recent years, I’ve noticed an increase in my queer friends seeking out and participating in witchcraft-related traditions, all the more so at this time of year. My day job in a bookstore means I’m witness to many alternatively-dressed folks seeking out the shelves containing bibles of Wicca, tarot, and magick. More often than not, they usually have some kind of Pride pin attached to their person. At every Pride event, I’ve attended this year, there are always flags and stalls celebrating witchy powers. A quick scroll through Instagram and there's an array of rainbow crystals and incense spell recipes. I have to admit, I’ve been curious. What is the appeal?

It isn’t difficult to draw similarities between the experiences of the LGBTQ community and that of practicing witches. Historically, witchcraft has been associated with power, sexual freedom, and a safe haven for minority groups. However, there is also a strong sense of "otherness" that accompanies witchcraft which has led to the persecution of witches from the 14th century to (though far less frequently) the modern day. Sound familiar?

For many, practicing witchcraft is a way of seeking and reclaiming power for oneself. This is especially important to witches from historically shunned communities. One person I spoke to (who wished to remain anonymous) told me that for them, practicing witchcraft is integral to how they handle the daily challenges of biphobia and transphobia. “It’s a form of self-care,” they told me, “it grounds me, it helps me to process my emotions and to know I’m replacing the negative energy in the world around me with positive energy.” Another reiterated this: “Through spell-casting... What I do matters. I can make a change.”

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All of the queer witches I spoke to in my research talked about how they felt respected and validated in their witchcraft communities, in comparison to other places in society. Practicing witchcraft as a collective, often called a coven, offers many of the same benefits as gathering for LGBTQ-focused events such as Pride. Both value the individual and gather with the intention of creating a greater sense of empowerment for those in the circle. They are places to become one’s authentic self, a safe recluse from the pressures and expectations of everyday society. In a world where otherness is ridiculed, judged, and punished, these spaces allow us to embrace our differences and create positive meaning of our experiences.

In 2021, the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, England held an exhibition called “Beyond the Binary: Gender, Sexuality and Power.” Part of the exhibition was dedicated to the connections between LGBTQ and witchcraft. Mara Gold, one of the curators, highlighted the importance of these links: “Histories of both the LGBTQ community and of witchcraft often have to be considered in relationship to one another in order to be fully understood. Whether it be queer astrology, lesbian witches on mainstream television [such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Willow and Tara] or real Wiccan practices, Esotericism and queer culture remain inextricably linked.”

As witchcraft gains a greater following in the LGBTQ community, more queer witches have become visible. Bisexual rapper Princess Nokia is a “bruja” (Spanish for witch) who practices Santera. In an interview with The Fader magazine, they explained how their beliefs helped them to feel connected to their family and culture. “My religious beliefs are my birthright ... I like to honor my West African and Taíno ancestry, I consider it sacred and divine. A lot of practices of Regla de Ocha come with mediumship, clairvoyance, and healing abilities. I view these abilities as gifts.”

Another bruja, editor Emilia Ortiz, highlighted in an interview with Dazed magazine how witchcraft has enabled her to find greater self-acceptance. “[Witchcraft] can also be about finding your personal power ... for me, being a bi woman, it has been so empowering to be a witch. To operate on a spectrum energetically, not just sexually? To be able to cast love spells on myself so I could fall in love with the parts of me that society tried to weaponize against me? That has been so powerful and healing for me.”

While we continue to fight the good fight against anti-LGBTQ bigotry and search for greater acceptance of the queer community as a whole, it is reassuring to know that we have all these brilliant witches on our side. Witchcraft comes in many forms, and might not be for everyone, but it’s clear to me that regardless of how much belief you hold in it, it is ultimately a force for good. I wish you all of you to practice a very joyous Samhain.

[Source: Charlie Halfhide, American Institute of Bisexuality, October 2022]

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Queer History of Halloween

"We make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones."
-Stephen King

It’s the great gay holiday! And we’re here to tell you all about how the queers made Halloween the second most popular holiday in the States. For nearly a century, gays from all walks of life have found freedom in the masquerade of All Hallows Eve. Beneath the glow of the October night sky LGBTQ partygoers enjoyed an uncommon tolerance. We take you on that journey of evolution from Philadelphia to San Francisco to New York City. So hit that download and learn the history of our most important holiday.

Today we’re back to celebrate the BIGGEST holiday in the queer world. It is a revered and honored tradition that dates back nearly a century. It is called the “great gay holiday” by poet Judy Grahn. We hope of course that you all have laid out your stockings and makeup and hatchets and best blood soaked nightgowns. And perhaps even drawn some inspiration from our episodes this past month. Whatever your weekend plans we hope they are devilishly delicious and stupendously gay. But before you don that crown or mask, take a moment to enjoy the history of how our people made Halloween the second most popular holiday in America.

Halloween was originally a blend of the ancient Celtic tradition Samhain, and Roman holiday Feralia. Two separate cultural celebrations of the ancestors which reverenced the dead. The Romans also added the celebration of the Goddess Pomona (who represented fruits and trees) and thus we still have the various fruit aspects incorporated throughout fall and Halloween. As with practically every holiday in history, the holiday was used as a tool of unity by the Romans over the newly conquered Celts. As the centuries passed on the traditions and meanings behind the holiday evolved. By the eighth century Pope Gregory III declared November 1st All Saints Day. Which turned the October 31st celebrations of Samhain and Feralia into the newly named All Hallows Eve.

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"This is your night. You run it."

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As time wore on, most of the Christian traditions and celebrations of Halloween began to fade turning instead into a day of mischievousness and pranks. And for that reason along with the superstition surrounding the ancient celebration, Halloween was virtually banned in the newly colonized American country. The Puritans would have none of this Celtic devil’s holiday and certainly did not want the Catholic version of the celebration. For the first 200 years of white settlers invasion of America, All Hallow’s Eve was relatively dormant. Then in the mid 1800’s America saw an uptick in Irish immigrants due to the Potato famine devastating their homeland. The deep catholic and Celtic roots of the country had made it one of the few places that still practiced All Hallows Eve. Missing their homeland and seeking comfort in their traditions Irish communities began to celebrate Halloween. The parties were a mix of European and Celtic influences. Masks were worn as part of an ancient Celt tradition of warding off ghosts. The Celts believed that spirits returned on All Hallow’s Eve to claim the souls of the living – but the masks confused the deadly spirits. During the parties cakes were passed out as part of an old English tradition. Stemming from the similar British celebration of All Souls Day; when the rich would walk through the streets passing out cakes to the poor in exchange for the prayers of the poor for the wealthy families ancestors.

The fun and extravagance of the Irish celebrations pushed the holiday into the public eye and drew the attention of their non-Irish neighbors. However, the stigma of a Satanic holiday still loomed and for some time Protestant communities remained resistant to the growing fad. But soon a national campaign to change the misguided notions of Halloween emerged and even the most rigid Christians felt obliged to fall in line. Communities sought to use the day as a way to bring others together. Instead of focusing on the death and gore that had accompanied the holiday for so long, neighborhoods were encouraged to make it a family event. And by the late 1920’s trick or treating switched from hard pranks and vandalism to children dressing up in costumes and gathering candy. As has been the case of all American history, once again the country found unity through accepting and incorporating the many traditions of a nation built upon immigrants.

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"There is something at work in my soul, which I do not understand."
-Mary Shelley (Frankenstein)

With a surge in costume dress ups, suddenly this odd and relatively obscure holiday jumped into the mainstream public eye. Community celebrations and costume contests began to take place which offered individuals one day a year to break a long standing law – on Halloween people could cross dress. There were several other reasons for the queer awakening that began to take place at the break of the 20th century. But the growing popularity of Halloween in America certainly helped struggling queers find their ways to one another. Of course cross-dressing even on Halloween was a hard won battle. The November 1, 1912 publication of the local Pittsburgh newspaper carried a story of several men and women who had been arrested the previous evening for cross dressing. However, just two years later authorities were so overwhelmed by the amount of opposite sex costumes that they announced they would no longer arrest cross-dressers on Halloween. Similar ordinances were put in place in towns and communities all across the United States making Halloween a uniquely freeing holiday for queer people.

Another huge queer fad sweeping the country at this time were the drag balls of the 20’s and 30’s. Finnie’s Balls, as they were known, originated in the basement of a Michigan Avenue Nightclub by a black queer Chicagoan named Alfred Finnie. Finnie hosted his first Drag Ball in 1935 and by the end of the decade they were all the rage in the world of underground entertainment. Within 10 more years male drag performances in mainstream nightclubs began to surface all over the U.S. However, most performers were straight, white men who hijacked drag and used it as a means to mock women rather than as the gender defying art it is truly meant to be. Despite this, costumes and cross dressing were becoming more popular and accepted in average day society. Every would be okay as long as the drag/costumes stayed in their place, which meant to stay off the public streets and out of the public eye. Unless it was Halloween, then all bets were off.

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As blogger Donald Eckert once stated, “There was still a lot of police harassment in the 1970s and wearing ‘drag’ in public was sometimes used as grounds for arrest. So, Halloween was the only day of the year that it was ‘safe’ for a man to go out in public wearing a dress, or at least this was the accepted ‘wisdom.”

Throughout the Lavender scare of the 1950’s and into the tumultuous 1960’s queer Halloween parties continued to thrive and evolve in their lavish costumes and wild parties. One of the biggest queer celebrations took part (not surprisingly) in San Francisco. The roots of the Polk street parties can be traced all the way back to 1948 when a local merchant kicked off a costume party. In all honesty, the contest was really meant for children but within just a few years the gays had taken over the scene. By 1950 people knew the Polk street costume celebration was a queer party. And though the celebration could not be advertised as a gay Halloween gathering, according to biographer and historian Randy Shilts (whose most notable work was the book And The Band Played On) one police chief told the queer organizers “This is your night, you run it”. Which was said by the chief more as a surrender to the restrictions placed on police by Halloween ordinances rather than any form of acceptance or tolerance. It was often noted that right at the stroke of midnight officers would come out in full force to arrest anyone still cross dressed or considered any type of threat. This is also where the use of masks came heavily into play, as those who were able to elude police capture could feel safe that the officers had no idea what their perp looked like.

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