Dragula and the Expansive Queerness of the Drag Supermonster

Abstract

The competition reality television show Dragula (Boulet Brothers, 2016-present) features a parade of monsters from the horror canon. Each episode, queer drag artists present outfits based on the show's aesthetic tenants: horror, filth and glamour. Nearly every outfit presented by the show's contestants, dubbed ‘drag monsters’, features some element of monstrosity and many pay specific homage to monsters from horror cinema. In drawing the monster figure into the world of gender performance, Dragula showcases the vast queer possibility of the monster figure. Like queerness itself, these drag monsters prove monstrosity is fluid and need not by associated to any one specific gender; the monster figure provides a canvas on which these artists can move between both human and non-human and male and female. This chapter traces the show's horror lineage – most notably the text from which it queers its name, Bram Stroker's Dracula (1987), and Stephen King's Carrie (1974) as well as the alternative precedent set by the drag legend Divine. Its analysis demonstrates Dragula's creative power in reimaging gender beyond the binary of man/woman by way of the monster figure.

Citation

Martin, R. (2022), "Dragula and the Expansive Queerness of the Drag Supermonster", Schotanus, M.S. (Ed.) Interdisciplinary Essays on Monsters and the Monstrous (Emerald Interdisciplinary Connexions), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 103-120. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80117-027-720221007