Queer horror has been around for centuries, popularized in part by the first-ever vampire novel J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla (yes, even before Bram Stoker’s Dracula). As society’s understanding of different genders and sexuality changes, so does queer literature and especially queer horror. These recent horror books are sure to get you freaked out, while also rooting for their loveable queer characters.
Bury your Gays is the newest Chuck Tingle horror novel that both delights and frightens. The title comes from the unfortunately popular trope in media, where gay characters often profess their love for each other and then promptly get killed off. Tingle plays with this by “casting” his main character Misha as a gay screen writer in Hollywood, who must battle his own screenplay’s demons in order to save his friends.
A plague of violence has swept the nation, seemingly brought on by eye contact. That’s ok with Riley, who lives alone in her grandparents’ old cabin. But when she meets new neighbor Ellis, she knows she’ll be unable to look away. Reminiscent of Bird Box by Josh Malerman (and the Netflix series it spawned), Your Shadow Half Remains by Sunny Moriane is a taut novella about secrets and trust.
In small town Arizona, Wendy is attending a Pride celebration with her friends, while trying to avoid her recent ex Leah. But soon she’ll have bigger things to worry about when people seemingly start turning into zombies. Could the town's corporate sponsor of pride be to blame? The Z Word by Lindsay King-Miller is hilarious and bloody, about queer found family coming together to figure out the source of the virus in this humorous survival horror.
In Buenos Aires, a lady vampire lurks in an old cemetery. How did she get there? What is her purpose in life? A mortal woman is asking the same questions about herself, as she cares for her child and her dying mother in hospice. The two meet and find remarkable connection in Thirst, the first English-translated book by Argentinian author Marina Yuszczuk (translator: Heather Cleary).
Amara is fleeing her family with her wife Vinh, into a new space colony called New Belaforme. But this colony operates a little differently. Whenever the ecosystem is out of balance, New Belaforme self-kills organisms to even things out... including humans. However, when Amara and Vinh meet love interest Jesse, it’s not clear who will kill them first: the colony or each other. This World Is Not Yours by Kemi Ashing-Giwa is a terrifying and claustrophobic space horror novella that is sure to please fans of S.A. Barnes.
What your favorite queer horror novel?
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