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Book Chapter

¡®Death is the New Pornography!¡¯: Gay Zombies and Hypermasculine Cannibalism in Queer Horror in Screening the Undead: Vampires and Zombies in Film and TV.

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Citation

Elliott-Smith D (2013) ¡®Death is the New Pornography!¡¯: Gay Zombies and Hypermasculine Cannibalism in Queer Horror in Screening the Undead: Vampires and Zombies in Film and TV.. In: Screening the Undead: Vampires and Zombies in Film and Television. London: Bloomsbury Publishing, pp. 148-173. https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/screening-the-undead-9781848859241/

Abstract
With the signs of horrific difference displayed on the surface of the monster¡¯s skin, difference can be acted upon (by avoidance or destruction). The zombie is a visibly ¡®outed¡¯ monster forced to inhabit its decaying flesh for eternity. The zombie can ¡®be watched¡¯, rendered visible and set apart in order to protect others from infection and conversion. The guardedness inherent in homosexual panic is also not far removed from this. I want to reconsider the zombie as a perfect metaphor for the homosexual within the moving image, first by analysing the figure¡¯s potential for queer meaning then looking specifically at contemporary depictions of the gay zombie in the horror film before focusing mainly on the shambling, semi-articulate, gay zombie from Bruce LaBruce¡¯s melancholic zombie satire Otto; or, Up With Dead People (2008). Here my objective is to understand how the figure can be used both as a cipher for homosexuality and for sub-cultural critique within Western gay male culture.

Keywords
Queer Horror, Horror Film, LGBTQ Studies, Horror Studies, Monster Theory, Vampires, Zombies, Pornography

StatusPublished
FundersUniversity of Hertfordshire
Publication date01/10/2013
Publisher URL
Place of publicationLondon
ISBN978-1-84885-924-1
eISBN9780857735430

People (1)

Dr Darren Elliott-Smith

Dr Darren Elliott-Smith

Senior Lecturer in Film & Gender Studies, Communications, Media and Culture

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