ABSTRACT
This chapter examines both the literal and metaphoric ways that the various marginalized figures appear in contemporary queer ghost stories. The queer ghosts show up in order to authenticate what really happened—to extract the queer story often whitewashed, heterosexualized, or otherwise sanitized for general public consumption. Historically, queers have existed, huddling in the corners of numerous heterocentric texts. It is also important to note that the ghosting of queers is always dependent upon the specificity of identities and the historic context of the people who have been ghosted; these are often numerous intersecting identities. Similar to the historic marginalization and danger women faced in the home, queers have also found that the domestic sphere often proves to be one of the most dangerous places. Contemporary queer ghost tales follow the same trajectory where the queer figure gains more insight and power once dead and spectral than they had in life.
