I don’t know about you, but when Tara died on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, my heart broke and I went on to miss Amber Benson’s presence on the show with every passing episode. Well, if you’re looking for more of this actress, the latest movie news should be right up your alley. Benson is going to star in The Nightmare Gallery, a feature film from Seraph Films and co-produced by AWOL Studios.

Amber Benson to play a professor

“The story follows Amber Benson as an anthropology professor as she investigates the sudden, suspicious disappearance of her star pupil,” reads the official synopsis,

“A mysterious collection of occult artifacts leads her on a nightmarish, Da Vinci Code-esque journey toward an unspeakable truth that will threaten her career, her marriage, and her sanity. Three-time Tony nominated actor Kevin Chamberlin (Road to Perdition, Jessie) is attached in a co-starring role as a psychiatrist who assists in the professor’s investigation.”

Directed by Seraph Films cofounder Gene Blalock, the importance of the LGBT elements of the film have been stressed in the press release, saying that “One of the driving forces behind this film is the realization that very few movies, particularly in the horror genre, feature LGBTQ characters and treat them like normal people, rather than caricatures.” The press releases goes on to say that “while the anthropology professor is married to another woman, her sexual orientation doesn’t tokenize her or diminish the nuance of her characterization. Our intention with this film is to craft an outstanding horror film in its own right, but also one that would promote the idea that genre films can be about someone other than straight, white men and women.”

It’s true that LGBT characters do not feature prominently in the horror, and when they do they usually don’t make it to the very end, making this film a welcome change for the genre. The Nightmare Gallery will begin production this summer.