October is over, but is anyone else feeling the post-Halloween blues, or is it just me?
I’m not ready to move on just yet, even as the pumpkin patches are closing and there are no more parties to go to. So I’m turning to putting on the right movie or TV show that can keep me in the Halloween mood. There are the classic choices that could be selected, but I want to cover some unconventional entries.
The Halloween-themed gay slasher Hellbent (2004) and the wonderland for weirdos that is The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) won’t be included, only because I put them on previous lists; in their place, you will get ex-girlfriends trying to end a witch’s curse and boyfriends fighting a killer doll.
The following are my six queer picks to cure your post-Halloween blues.
Ginger Snaps (2000)
Stream on Tubi
‘Ginger Snaps’Credit: Motion International
Two death-obsessed sisters have their close bond tested when one of them is bitten by a wolf.
Brigitte (Emily Perkins) is the shy sibling, while Ginger (Katharine Isabelle) is the confrontational one of the two, and their dynamic is fascinating, before the movie claws into werewolf lore. Part of the high school satire in Ginger Snaps is how puberty is confused with a supernatural transformation.
I heard there were queer and trans readings to Ginger Snaps, and a few scenes stood out to me. One finds Brigitte helping Ginger conceal a tail by essentially “tucking” the bulge. With the heavy autumn vibes and a Halloween party in the finale, you have an underrated werewolf movie to watch.
Los Espookys (2019 - 2022)
Stream on HBO Max
‘Los Espookys’Credit: HBO
Running for two seasons before an early demise, Los Espookys is a blend of cultures and genres for a kooky and spooky bilingual comedy series about a friend group who turn their hobby of setting up horror illusions into a small business.
The ludicrous jobs are low-budget, yet the joke is they look real to the people witnessing them, from a haunted house to a sea monster. Although there are no Halloween-themed episodes, the cheesy horror of the monster designs and gore makeup is perfect should you want something less scary.
Los Espookys is a love letter to outsiders, with the storytelling and a cast that is queer-centric, led by out co-creators and series stars, Julio Torres and Ana Fabrega.
Fear Street (2021)
Stream on Netflix
This was the Netflix event that released three movies over three weeks in the summer of 2021 for a trilogy that loosely adapted the book series of the same name by R. L. Stine.
‘Fear Street’Credit: Netflix
Those living in Sunnyvale are privileged and safe from crime. Those in Shadyside have been doomed to suffer tragedy going back to the 1600s, with the blame put on the curse of hanged witch Sarah Fier (Elizabeth Scopel). When Deena (Kiana Madeira), her ex Sam (Olivia Scott Welch), and others become the target of the curse, they hope to defeat it.
A throwback to famous horror movies, director Leigh Janiak keeps things fresh by changing subgenres and time periods for each installment. If you love slashers like me, you should be very happy. There are deaths that I did not expect to be as intense as they are.
I love that queerness is not just significant to the identity of the final girls in Fear Street, but it is also deeply tied to the trilogy's occult mythology.
Chucky (2021 - 2024)
Stream on Peacock
You can’t keep a good guy down, especially if he’s a murderous Good Guy doll.
‘Chucky’Credit: Syfy/USA Network
Seven movies and one remake weren’t enough for the Chucky franchise. It went to TV for three seasons following its slasher star as he kills with creativity and never stays dead for long.
Franchise creator Don Mancini continues to explore LGBTQ+ themes by centering the show on teens Jake (Zachary Arthur) and Devon (Björgvin Arnarson), who become boyfriends on their journey in stopping the doll’s next spree of carnage.
Taking on the self-aware horror camp of the franchise’s later movies, I’ll say this to prepare you. The TV show can feel like it is close to going off the rails with the self-aware horror camp that it expands on from the franchise’s later movies. On the plus side, it doesn’t shy away from delivering grisly kills and brings back legacy characters, including Chucky’s non-binary children.
The move to TV lets the franchise get three Halloween-set episodes from each season as Chucky goes from the suburbs of New Jersey to the White House.
Agatha All Along (2024)
Stream on Disney+
‘Agatha All Along’Credit: Disney+
In the aftermath of WandaVision, Agatha (Kathryn Hahn) is desperate to regain her powers, and she is forced to form a coven in order to enter the mythical Witches’ Road, where they will undergo trials that will grant them what they most desire.
Hahn is fantastic as Agatha, in all her immature mocking, the cracks of vulnerability, and theatrical wickedness. The enchanted forest along the Road is gorgeous and deadly. The variations of the spellcasting ballad the coven sings to summon the Road will surely get put on your playlist.
Sapphic romance gets poured into this brew right away in the first episode with Agatha’s seesaw relationship with fellow witch and ex-lover Rio (Aubrey Plaza), then the queer representation builds from there.
Created by Jac Shaeffer, Agatha All Along does a terrific balancing act between giving us a dark fantasy adventure with twists and turns, while slowly revealing the show’s bigger place within the MCU.
Whistle (2025)
Stream on AMC+
‘Whistle’Credit: IFC Films/Shudder
A group of teens finds an Aztec death whistle, and their curiosity has them try it out. How they would die at a later point in their life is suddenly brought forward, meaning victims succumb to a terminal health diagnosis in seconds and get mangled from an unseen car wreck.
Whistle takes a break from the gloominess of cloudy skies and steel mill smoke of the central industrial town when it heads into the local carnival for a stylish set piece as the cursed antique hunts down the friends.
When I tell you that the deaths are vicious, I mean it. Several of them should make Final Destination fans happy. And because I’m used to a cast of straight characters leading, the best surprise for me is the romance between Chrys (Dafne Keen) and Ellie (Sophie Nélisse) that grows as they figure out how to survive their premature deaths.
What would you watch to recover from the post-Halloween blues?
