BTS GLAM 210 Subject Guide by Novie Hartman (2025)

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is about a young man named Dorian Gray who is very attractive and naive; he poses for a portrait for a man named Basil. Overtime Gray is corrupted by a man, Lord Wotton, who is frequently there when he is sitting for the panting who makes Gray believe that beauty is far more advantageous to keep hold of over anything else. Due to this influence Gray makes a deal that the panting Basil made will age and take on his sins instead of himself. As he goes on to do horrible and sometimes immoral acts, he himself is unaffected, the painting is visibly corrupted.
Oscar Wilde himself was a queer man and was quoted in a letter in 1894 saying: “[The Picture of Dorian Gray] contains much of me in it – Basil Hallward is what I think I am; Lord Henry, what the world thinks me; Dorian is what I would like to be – in other ages, perhaps.” This novel would be used by the prosecution in Wilde's trial where he was accused of committing sodomy.

Exquisite corpse by Poppy Z. Brite is an extreme American horror novel that follows the serial killers Andrew Compton, Jay Byrne and their victim Tran. Compton was based on the Scottish serial killer Dennis Nilsen and Byrne was based on American cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer. Andrew Compton starts the story as a convicted killer and necrophiliac who escapes prison and comes to America in search of more boys to kill. Instead Compton would find a like minded partner in Jay Byrne, a rich cannibal who preys on vulnerable queer men in the area and who tries to kill Compton until realizing they were like minded and banding together to hunt. They decide to go after Tran, a local queer teen who had lost his partner to an HIV aids diagnosis and been kicked out of his home due to coming out.
Poppy Z. Brite, now Bill Martin, is a queer author who was incredibly influential in the extreme horror and splatter-punk genres in horror in the early 90’s. His work includes queer representation in both the villain and hero categories. Other notable works include Lost Souls, Drawing Blood, Wormwood, and Love in Vain. I have elected to include Exquisite Corpse in this list over the others as the story and its characters are unequivocally intertwined with queer culture. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poppy_Z._Brite)

Queer slashers by Peter Marra is an academic account of the prevalence of the Queer identity in the slasher representation on the big screen. This includes the likes of Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre who made a mask of human skin that looked like a feminine face which he wore in the film. Both original ghost faces who appear to be more than finds in there move as well as Freddy Krueger. This book argues the widespread influence of aspects of the queer identity in the slasher genre is intentional and a way for queer writers to see themselves on screen. This book also provides an in depth look into films such as Stranger by the Lake by Alain Guiraudie.
Peter Marra is an Assistant Professor at Wayne State University in the English, as well as the Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies departments. Their works also appears in the Bright Lights Film Journal, REDEN, and Recovering 1940s Horror Cinema, among others. He also assessed in the development of her Universities Queer Studies Major as well as its foundation course. (https://petrmarra.com/)