Horror has always had an interesting relationship with the LGBTQ+ community. When analyzing this relationship through the lens of the Other (the concept of something not abiding by the status quo), many of the classic monsters and slasher villains that have terrorized audiences for years suddenly become a lot queerer. However, it has only been relatively recently that queerness in horror has been represented in both villains and heroes. Much of this has to do with the LGBTQ+ community taking the Other and reclaiming it for themselves, shifting the gaze in the process. As Lea Anderson says in her “Intro to Queer Horror” feature, “as culture has shifted, so too have our roles in horror—a needle often pushed by queer writers and directors themselves...whose influence is both seen and felt in the films’ treatment.”

Even as LGBT characters are given more substantial and heroic roles in horror fiction, authentic explorations into their romantic desires were often left as subplots, if acknowledged at all. This is not helped by the few horror films boasting queer characters subjugating them to a few personality traits. Just as people in the LGBT community are allowed to see positive relationships in various media, they should be allowed to see messy ones. Life is not a neverending cycle of sadness, nor is it hopelessly optimistic. Few films have allowed queer characters to feel human, flaws and all. However, there is a chance that this might change thanks to Netflix’s horror trilogy Fear Street and its messy depiction of young sapphic love.

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Image via Netflix

RELATED: 'Fear Street': Kiana Madeira on How She and Olivia Scott Welch Found a Special Spark During Their First Chemistry ReadThe backdrop of this ambitious slasher is a breakup. Shadyside high schooler Deena (Kiana Madeira) is reeling from the split between her and ex-girlfriend Sam (Olivia Scott Welch), who moved to the neighboring Sunnyvale for what she calls a new start. However, it doesn’t take much to read in-between the lines of what this means. Sam now has a handsy and homophobic boyfriend named Peter (Jeremy Ford) she clearly has little interest in and only serves to get her mind off of Deena. The move from Shadyside to Sunnyvale carries more weight than Sam is letting on, and her ex-girlfriend sees right through it. To say that the tensions between them are strained would be an understatement.

All of this is revealed in the trilogy’s first entry, Part One: 1994, during what is meant to be Deena’s final goodbye to Sam. She has collected all of her memorabilia, photos, and mixtapes into a box that she shoves into her ex’s arms. Both Deena and Sam are angrier than anything. They are angry at each other for not reacting the way the other thought they should have. They are mad at the state of the world for not being more accepting of who they are. Most of all, however, they’re pissed off at themselves for allowing their once-solid relationship to crumble.

Olivia Scott Welch and Kiara Madeira in Fear Street 1994
Image via Netflix

Being a teenager and in love is complicated, especially when you’ve realized you like the same sex. Not only do you have unfamiliar feelings to worry about, but you also run the risk of disapproving figures and a society that still views you as the Other to fear. After all, the AIDS crisis was still in full swing in 1994, even though progress was being made in destigmatizing and helping those afflicted. Homophobia still lingered, however, and being attracted to the same sex was still considered monstrous and unnatural. The slurs that Peter calls Deena while she rescues him and Sam from a car accident and the anger that Sam's mother has towards Deena solidifies this.

When queer people in relationships are depicted in modern-day horror movies, they are usually seen as having been together for years or just starting a relationship. This does not even take into account that few major horror films acknowledge that non-straight people exist. Among the very few movies that feature such relationships, few are set at a point where they have either broken up or are on the verge of doing so. That is not to say that the Fear Street movies are the first to provide such a backdrop, as Rift and Knife+Heart also center around failed queer relationships. However, comparing Fear Street to these particular films seems dishonest, especially when the trilogy’s tragedy never reaches the extremes the latter films display. In Knife+Heart, for example, the rocky relationship between director Anne and her lover Lois is defined by mistrust, violence, and eventually death to the point where it never recovers.

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Image via Netflix

Deena and Sam’s relationship, in this regard, is different. No matter how rocky their relationship is, they can put their troubles behind them to protect each other. This is because, despite their initial resentment towards each other, their love is never questioned or dismissed. The feelings they once shared still lingered even in their initial confrontation, and they only continue to boil as the new round of Shadyside killings continues. In 1994, Sam had become a target for Sarah Wier’s curse and wasted little to no time suggesting that she sacrifice herself. She attributes this to ensuring that Deena is explicitly safe from the curse’s wrath. Why else would you want to offer yourself in exchange for the safety of someone else, if not out of love?

By the time the viewer watches Part Three: 1666 unfold, this tumultuous experience has proven once and for all that they were meant to be together. Deena, quite literally, went through Hell (at least Shadyside’s version, which is an underground devil-summoning tunnel) to free Sam from the curse the Goode family has given the town. From despising each other to finding out that they might be the reincarnated Fier and her lover Hannah Miller, the journey the two go on is always accentuated by wanting the other to be safe.

As 1666 draws to a close, Deena and Sam have officially given their relationship another chance. The two girls kiss as The Pixies’ “Gigantic” plays and red flowers bloom on the ground. This is more than earned, as they could properly tackle their relationship troubles and realize they did love each other. It only took a centuries-long curse, a devil-worshipping family, and dozens of murders to get them there.

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