QUEER HORROR NIGHTS
QUEER HORROR NIGHTS: QUEER JOY IN THE DARKNESS
QUEER HORROR NIGHTS is an ongoing series of irregular film events for LGBTQ+ audiences at venues across London.
“What an incredibly welcoming and fun event. Instantly felt part of a community and reminded me of the absolute joy of the shared cinema experience.” audience feedback
Queer Horror Nights started with a double-bill of vampire movies in 2021 – tenderly titled ‘BITE ME!‘. Then, with the support of the National Lottery, we launched a full year-long season in 2022. Q-RATED celebrated almost a century of horror movies made by out/queer directors. The programme launched with James Whale’s FRANKENSTEIN at The Castle Cinema, and included Kimberly Peirce’s CARRIE, a double-bill of THE PSYCHO SEQUELS, Stewart Thorndike’s LYLE, and ended with our first Halloween Monsters Ball: NIGHTBREED [THE DIRECTOR’S CUT] at the Rio Cinema. We also contributed to The Castle Cinema’s ‘Summer of Sci-Fi’ season, presenting David Cronenberg’s THE FLY and Brandon Cronenberg’s POSSESSOR as a closely related double-bill we chose to call ‘DADDY ISSUES?’.
2023 was a year of collaborations, including work with Queer East (MEMENTO MORI) and Queer Fest (THE BABADOOK Draw-Along and Bookmaking Workshop with Queer Art Club London) to add some screaming to their schedules… We then went plant-based for our Halloween Monsters ball screening of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS [THE DIRECTOR’S CUT] at Rio Cinema. We closed the year with the deliciously perverse CHRISTMAS EVIL paired with a ‘Christmas Confessional’, raising money at the Rio for SwitchboardLGBT+ Helpline’s winter appeal to help tackle LGBTQ+ isolation and loneliness.
In 2024, we returned to Rio Cinema to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of FEMALE TROUBLE and then possessed the historic venue for DEMONS at Halloween.
Queer Horror Nights was co-founded by Token Homo and Last Frame Club and is now programmed and promoted by Token Homo.