Scared Isn’t Always Safe: Queer Safety & the Real-World Horror Behind Halloween

Every October, the world leans into fear through haunted houses, horror movie marathons, and the thrill of pretending we’re being chased. But for many in our community, fear isn’t fun. It’s not seasonal. And it’s definitely not a game.

For LGBTQ+ people, disabled folks, and Black and brown communities, fear often comes quietly, woven into everyday decisions about how we dress, speak, travel, or exist in public spaces. It shows up in laws written to erase us. In silence from those who promised to care. In airports, classrooms, courtrooms, and kitchens.

And while some of us find power in horror by using it as protest, as performance, or as a way to reclaim the narrative, there’s a difference between playacting danger and living in it.

👻 Horror as a Mirror: What It Shows and What It Shadows

Horror has always reflected society's darkest aspects. It’s no accident that the monsters in our stories often reflect the fears of the times, such as fear of disease, fear of outsiders, or fear of loss of control. But what happens when you are the thing others are afraid of?

For trans people, for undocumented people, for disabled people with visible or invisible differences, it’s easy to feel like the villain in someone else’s story, especially when policies are written to vilify.

Horror teaches us that no one listens to the final girl until she’s screaming.

We at The Asylum Project want to proclaim loudly: We are listening now.

🕯️ The Real-Life Haunted Houses

Let’s be honest: The scariest thing isn’t a ghost behind a door. It’s:

• The parent who threatens to send you to conversion therapy.

• The courthouse that calls your marriage invalid.

• The employer who discovers your diagnosis and stops returning your emails.

• The government that targets your identity as a political talking point.

We work with people navigating real danger, not dramatized versions of it. Their lives have been filled with plot twists no one should have to endure, like forced silence, state violence, family rejection, and religious abuse. That kind of fear doesn’t end when the credits roll.

And when you live in constant fear, “survival mode” isn’t a phase; it becomes your default.

🧭 Queer Safety in the making

At The Asylum Project, we don’t offer haunted thrills. We offer sanctuary.

Safety, especially queer safety, isn’t just distance from danger; it’s the ability to breathe without holding it. It’s choosing what to wear without wondering if it will get you killed. It’s knowing your child can access medical care. It’s opening your mailbox without dread. It’s rest. Joy. Agency. A future.

This Halloween, while the rest of the country dresses up like zombies and witches, we’re working on building something even more radical: a world where safety isn’t a costume you take off at the end of the night.

💡 How You Can Help

We don’t do this work alone. We need accomplices, not just allies.

Here’s how you can join the effort:

• Volunteer your time, skills, or voice

• Donate to support travel, housing, and legal help

• Share our blog with someone who needs to know what’s really going on

Together, we can build exits for those trapped in injustice.

Because surviving shouldn’t be the scariest thing someone has to do.