Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: Monsters in the closet -- Part I: Queer be dragons (magical creatures) -- A twist in the tail ; Horn of plenty ; Radical faeries

Part II: Bad blood (cursed beings and shapeshifters) -- Big bad wolves ; Children of the night

Part III: Black magick (the occult and supernatural) -- Witch-hunts ; Demon twinks ; Queerly departed

Part IV: The Expanded universe (contemporary folklore) -- Loving the alien ; Rum, bum and concertina ; I'm sorry, Dave ; Ex-men

Part V: And they all lived happily ever after... -- Five magic beans

A celebration of queer history like you've never seen it before. Queer as folklore travels across centuries and continents to reveal the unsung heroes and villains of storytelling, magic and fantasy. Featuring images from archives, galleries and museums around the world, each chapter investigates the queer history of different mythic and folkloric characters, both old and new. Leaving no headstone unturned, Sacha Coward takes you on a wild ride through the night from ancient Greece to the main stage of RuPaul's Drag Race, visiting cross-dressing pirates, radical fairies and the graves of the 'queerly departed' along the way. Queer communities have often sought refuge in the shadows and created safe spaces in underworlds. But these forgotten narratives tell stories of resilience that deserve to be heard. Join any Pride march and you will see a glorious display of papier-mâché unicorn heads, drag queens in mermaid tails and more fairy wings than you can shake a trident at. These are not just accessories: they are queer symbols with historic roots. To truly understand who queer people are today, we must confront the twisted tales of the past.