20 Horror (and Horror-Adjacent) Series Recommendations for Sapphic Baddies
A list of horror and horror-adjacent television series, all from the year 2000 or later, with themes or characters that can be considered femme and/or queer in some way. Some campy, some beautiful, many explore themes of trauma, identity, and otherness.
Bates Motel (2013) 5 seasons
Psycho is known for its queer themes, and this prequel stays true to that. Following the teen years of Norman Bates, Bates Motel features parental and familial trauma, repressed and othered sexuality, and then some. I liked this during the first two seasons, but it starts to feel a little abuser-apologetic around S3 (you’ve been warned). Spoilers: Norman eventually gets to be gay.
Image by TaurusEmerald. Used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.
Chambers (2019) 1 season
A mystery-horror series following a teenager who receives a heart transplant from a girl her age, meets her donor's suspicious family, and begins having visions. Native/Indigenous characters and cultural elements, women connecting across the veil, plus creepy wealthy people cults—what's not to love?
Fall of the House of Usher (2023) 1 season
People in the Usher family begin dying in mysterious ways. This series weaves together story elements from different works of Edgar Allen Poe, but you don’t have to be familiar with his work to enjoy this. This has fun queer characters and one of the creepiest, most unique group-death scenes I’ve ever seen.
Hannibal (2013) 3 seasons
An elegant, twisted, and romantic series following the relationship between Hannibal Lecter and Will Graham, an FBI profiler. Many wonderful humans I’ve known have referred to this as the “murder husbands” series, but there’s also a satisfying sapphic surprise in one of the seasons.
Haunting of Bly Manor (2020) 1 season
A haunted, sapphic love story about a woman who becomes a live-in nanny for a couple of odd children living in a large manor with a creepy lake. This series is from the same director as The Haunting of Hill House (listed just below), features many of the same actors, and has a lot of trauma metaphors to unpack.
Haunting of Hill House (2018) 1 season
A spine-tingling haunted house story based on a Shirley Jackson novel. This series focuses on one family and takes place in two time periods: when the family lives inside the haunted house and many years later as they deal with the impacts of its trauma. Queer/femme characters for the win.
I’m Not Okay with This (2020) 1 season
Outcast teen girl with mysterious, dangerous superpowers forming that she struggles to control. Girl crushes, complicated family dynamics, and a lot of blood. Need I say more?
Little Birds (2020) 1 season
This one is more mystery/drama than horror, but I find it oh-so beautiful. There are a few truly uncomfortable scenes, and the themes feel both horrifying and liberating. Based on some of Anais Nin’s short stories, this series follows a weapons heiress as she moves to Tangier to live with her newly arranged husband. It grapples with queerness, sexuality, and power in interesting ways.
Interview with the Vampire Series (2022) 2 seasons
A classic tale of a toxic gay vampire couple navigating New Orleans and making (adopting?) a vampire child. This follows Anne Rice’s books better than any movie I’ve seen, while also taking big liberties that I think are AMAZING. Favorite things: queerness is not just subtext, and some racial awareness is woven in.
Killing Eve (2018) 4 seasons
This is more thriller than horror, but it’s beautiful, tense, and often unsettling. In this femme agent versus femme villain story, the agent and villain have some serious chemistry. This series is like if Debs (2004) had a very serious younger sister who got to run for four seasons and had a way bigger allowance.
Magicians (2015) 5 seasons
Okay, okay, this might also not really be considered classic horror. But it is magical realism, and it is dark. In this series, magical ability is tied to trauma, and there are tons of queer characters and relationships. Imagine Harry Potter, but with young adults at magic college instead of kids in K-12. Oh, and the author isn't a TERF.
Penny Dreadful (2014) 3 seasons
Several classic horror characters and creatures come together in this dark fantasy series: Dr. Frankenstein, Dorian Grey, vampires, clairvoyants, and more. This series is often as beautiful as it is campy, and queerness is both overt and implied in many characters.
Image by Theornamentalist. Used under public domain.
Ratched (2020) 1 season
Somewhere in between campy and serious, this series creates a backstory for Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and spoilers: that backstory has a lot of queer tension. I was sad to see this one end.
Scream Queens (2015) 2 seasons
A masked murderer is killing off members of the snobbiest sorority on campus. Scream Queens is more funny/ridiculous than it is scary and alternates between clever, self-aware commentary and going so far that it becomes offensive (proceed with caution). The first season is a lot stronger than the second in my opinion, and it features a cute queer romance.
Swarm (2023) 1 season
A bizarre, bittersweet, bingeable story of a young woman and her dangerous, growing obsession with a pop icon. This series—and its social/psychological commentary—is maybe best described as delightfully unsettling. Queerness is woven into the plot in a few interesting ways.
The End of the FXXKING World (2017) 2 seasons
Two outcast teens find comfort in each other and go on a road trip, complete with horrifying, life-or-death moments. This one is witty, odd, and occasionally heart-wrenching. Although the main relationship is "straight-presenting," the story grapples with what it feels like to be different and what it feels like to be around someone who makes you feel sort of okay in all your differences.
The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window (2022) 1 season
Camp, camp, and more camp—this one is definitely winking at us. If the title doesn't sound familiar to you, the plot probably will: a woman struggling to process trauma with psych meds, alcohol, and the hermit lifestyle thinks she sees a murder across the street. Was it real or all in her mind?
True Blood (2008) 7 seasons
In True Blood’s reality, vampires no longer need to hide because synthetic blood is available, which leads to a lot of pun-filled political commentary on otherness (“god hates fangs”). This series follows the residents of a small Louisiana town: some vampires, some human, some other entities altogether. Multiple queer characters and magical realism done working-class style.
.jpg)
Image by Frozeficent. Used under the Creative Commons Application-ShareAlike 2.0 Common license.
True Detective S4: Night Country (2024) 1 season
This thriller/mystery has strong horror elements. It takes place in Alaska during the dark months and follows the investigation of several dead scientists. Favorite parts: strong female leads, queer and Indigenous representation, and the weaving together of human, natural, and paranormal forces.
Yellowjackets (2021) 3 seasons (4th in the works)
A haunting series about a high school girls’ soccer team whose plane crashes and leaves them stranded on a desolate island for months. This series follows both the girls’ time on the island and the survivors’ lives years later in adulthood. Queer characters, mysteries, themes of trauma, and lots of creepy nature imagery.
Image by Tulsi. Used under Creative Commons Universal Public Domain dedication.
Other series you think belong on this list? Leave a comment below. I'd love to hear about your favorites and what you love about them.
Yours in Horror,
Angela Mauve