The Hollywood Theatre’s bimonthly series Queer Horror, called a “goddamn Portland treasure” by the Portland Mercury, is the only LGBTQ+ horror film screening series in the United States, since 2015. Each Queer Horror screening, in which almost 400 queers and allies gather in the nearly century-old Hollywood Theatre, celebrates a horror film featuring LGBTQ+ content either behind or in front of the lens, and is hosted and programmed by Portland’s premier drag clown Carla Rossi (Anthony Hudson). Every night opens with a staged one-act pre-show written by Anthony Hudson and starring Portland drag, burlesque, and cabaret all-stars. Known for consistently selling out its shows since the introduction of these fully staged pre-shows in 2016, Queer Horror was scheduled to celebrate its 5th anniversary in March 2020 until the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Tales from Queer Horror, a brand-new webseries, is the first at-home, digital presentation from the Queer Horror brand and will be premering new episodes monthly through the remainder of 2021, and will be available to watch on YouTube, Vimeo, Instagram TV (both @thecarlarossi and @queerhorrorpdx), and via TheCarlaRossi.com as well as Queer-Horror.com. Our first episode, presenting “The Real Queens of Halloween,” our preshow from Halloween 2019’s screening of ELVIRA: MISTRESS OF THE DARK and featuring burlesquers Hai Fleisch, Rummy Rose, and Wanda Bones, will go online this Thursday, October 28th.
Featuring an opening theme song by Jacob Summers and Elvira & Cryptkeeper-style hosting segments starring Carla Rossi, Tales from Queer Horror presents gorgeous multi-camera documentation of previous Queer Horror pre-shows, all shot and edited by Portland filmmaker Josh Lunden. Tales from Queer Horror was made possible thanks in part to a 2021 Documentation & Storytelling Fund grant from the National Performance Network (NPN), the First Peoples Fund Artist in Business Leadership Fellowship, and Re:Imagine Fund support from the Portland Art Museum & NW Film Center. Tales from Queer Horror promotional illustrations and logo by Matty Newton.
December 2nd’s screening of I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER (1997) marks the first Queer Horror since the February 14, 2019 screening of CHILD’S PLAY 2, and will be the first in a return to regular Queer Horror shows. Carla Rossi will star in a pre-show in which Carla, now the winner of the Shrimp Queen Pageant, receives an ominous note saying “I know what you did last summer.” Sponsored by Double Mountain Brewery, attendees will also be able to drink Carlabelle Hazy IPA, a new beer release now on draft at the Hollywood Theatre and created by Double Mountain in collaboration with Carla Rossi. In accordance with Hollywood Theatre COVID-19 protocols, masks are required in the theatre at all times, except when eating and drinking, and proof of vaccination (or a negative test) will be required for entry to the show.
Tickets go on sale next week at hollywoodtheatre.org.
