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You’ve probably heard the age-old stereotype that queer people love horror. This is usually the part where I say that’s a gross generalisation, but since I am a queer person who is a little too obsessed with horror media, I am not helping in dispelling that rumour. ‘Why do queer people love horror so much?’ is a question that’s been asked for decades. Lucy Holmes from the University of Aberdeen, in her article ‘LGBT History Month: Queerness and Horror’, explains:
“Horror has always been a rich tapestry for queer expression, the genre has a unique capacity to imagine real-world issues as actual terrors that can take on fantastical, frightening, and monstrous forms. So many of us relate to the monsters of the horror world because at one point or another we too have felt ostracized by society simply for existing.”
I am three things: queer, a bibliophile, and a little freak for horror. So here are some of my favourite queer horror books of recent memory.
Hell Followed with Us – Andrew Joseph White
“I think it hits us all at the same time that maybe we’ll live long enough to grow up.”
A dystopian horror written by transgender author Andrew Joseph White in 2022, ‘Hell Followed with Us’, tells the story of trans teenager Benji who escapes from a doomsday cult that unleashed Armageddon and wiped out the world’s population. Oh, and Benji is infected with a bioweapon the cult calls Seraph. Benji is rescued by members of the Acheson LGBTQ+ Centre, a ragtag group of queer teenagers and their gorgeous autistic leader, Nick.
This book follows themes of religious fundamentalism, colonialism, capitalism, and environmentalism. It is unnerving, terrifying, and a masterpiece of modern queer horror.
Don’t Let the Forest In – CG Drews
“He needed Thomas, needed their lungs sewn inside each other so he could remember how to breathe.”
Do you like body horror? Do you like gay yearning so powerful it causes drawings of monsters to come to life? Do you like dark academia? Well, you’ll love this one! Published this year by queer Australian author CG Drews, it tells the story of Andrew who writes twisted fairy tales for his “best friend” and “dorm mate” Thomas, who draws the monsters from Andrew’s stories. When Andrew returns to boarding school, he finds that Thomas won’t talk to him. Not only that, Thomas’ parents have also vanished, and he has blood on his sleeve. When Andrew follows Thomas into the forest, he makes the nightmarish discovery that Thomas’ drawings have come to life.
I went into this story not expecting much, but when I finished it, I was shocked to my core. It is incredibly eerie and constantly has you on the edge of your seat. Seriously, there is no comforting page in this book (in a good way)!
Camp Damascus – Chuck Tingle
‘“Follow the rot,” he gurgles, his voice dropping several octaves. “Flies love rot.”’
Many of you may know Chuck Tingle for his hilarious, satirical queer erotica, such as ‘Bisexual Mothman Mailman Makes a Special Delivery in Our Butts and I Have No Butt and I Must Pound’, or his fantastic Harry Potter parody, ‘Trans Wizard Harriet Porber and the Bad Boy Parasaurolophus’. But did you know he writes queer horror novels?
His 2023 novel, ‘Camp Damascus’, is about the titular gay conversion camp situated in the Montana wilderness. It is also about Rose Darling, a “God-fearing young lady who can’t stop puking up flies.”
Despite a few pacing issues, especially towards the middle of the book, ‘Camp Damascus’ is an incredible satirical look into American Evangelical Christianity and its culture. Despite being harshly different from his previous work, it still has the iconic Chuck Tingle style and is genuinely terrifying.
Monstrilio – Gerardo Sámano Córdova
“I don’t say I’m hungry because my hunger is what makes everyone scared. They are happy to believe I forgot how they maimed me.”
I don’t know about you, but I love a freaky little guy, and ‘Monstrilio’, published in 2023 by Mexican writer Gerardo Sámano Córdova, takes the freaky little guy trope to a refreshing and terrifying level. It tells the story of Magos, who carves out a small piece of her son’s lung to save for herself after he dies. Soon, the lung grows and gains sentience, until it becomes a carnivorous creature called Monstrilio.
While grief is the main theme of ‘Monstrilio’, Córdova explains how queerness is also a vital component of the story, as told in an interview with Zara Garcia from F(r)iction:
“There isn’t a specific event, but rather a question we all have, particularly queer people: Am I going to be loved no matter what? I wanted to see how far love could be stretched. I wondered if it could break. I decided to explore a family’s love if they had to love something monstrous…I had two goals: one, to have queer characters exist in a world without prejudice, acceptance, or the need for explanation; two, to tell a story in a queer way, challenging what we think traditional narrative should be.”
Carmilla – Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
“Love will have its sacrifices. No sacrifice without blood.”
A strong majority of you have probably heard of Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’, but have you heard of its sapphic grandmother, ‘Carmilla’, written by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu? Predating Dracula by 25 years, ‘Carmilla’ tells the story of Laura, a young woman who is preyed upon by the female vampire, Carmilla.
‘Carmilla’ is a riveting exploration of women’s sexuality, class warfare, and loss of innocence. This novel is short yet seductive and very erotic for the period in which it was written. In ‘Carmilla’, the vampire is not an old and demonic “other”, like we see in ‘Dracula’ and other Gothic media, but is instead a beautiful and seductive stranger who is welcomed into the home readily.
BONUS: Crush by Richard Siken, Review by Jester Roach
This collection is probably one of the most commonly quoted contemporary poetry collections online. It’s visceral, messy, and unflinchingly bare in its description of queer longing, lust, and pain. Siken’s poetry grips the reader almost painfully tight as you follow him down, down, along each poem’s spiral of obsession.
Despite its low page count, ‘Crush’ stays with you long after you put the book down.
Written by El Bancroft
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