Which queer horror book you should read based on your favorite scary movie

While the world of horror cinema can often feel like a stale place, with too few original concepts and too many beige sequels and remakes, the landscape of horror literature is not only original and vibrant in contrast; It’s also wonderfully queer! In fact, I would go so far as to say that queer authors are currently dominating the world of horror fiction, pushing the genre into new and strange places.

If you are a fan of horror films and want to see more stories by queer authors or with good representations of queer themes, go to the bookstore instead of the cinema and you will find so many wonderful works of queer horror. And here are the books you must get if you are a horror cinema lover!

---

Written by transmasculine author Andrew Joseph White, Hell followed us is a post-apocalyptic novel set in a world ravaged by a doomsday cult with even more horrors to unleash. This cult raised Benji to be their ultimate weapon, but this transgender kid escaped and found shelter with his new family: a group of queer rebels who want to fight back against the doomsday cult.

While so many post-apocalyptic stories of The street To A quiet placefocus on a small number of survivors who fight daily, Hell followed us is a horror novel that focuses on the liberation of queer people and the fight against those in power, even after they have already caused so much damage.

Seen An American werewolf in London? To read Bored gay werewolf

Good werewolf stories can be surprisingly hard to find, and Tony Santorella’s novel seems like a diamond in the rough. It tells the story of millennial bartender Brian, the titular bored gay werewolf. As Brian struggles to adjust to his new form, he is tracked down by his tech brother Tyler, a fellow werewolf who has big plans for his kind.

Tyler’s particular brand of toxic self-help bullshit has a surprisingly powerful effect on our queer slacker, but as he learns more about Tyler’s big plans to expand his werewolf pack, caution prevails. However, it could already be too late. Bored gay werewolf is a fantastic horror comedy that explores the lonely capitalist trap of modern male toxicity.

Fans of haunted house stories owe it to themselves to read Alison Rumfitt’s dark political horror novel. Tell me I’m worthlessa work of horrific horror about the transgender experience and the sad state of England today. If you like your haunted house stories as hopeless and sad as they can be, then you’ve come to the right place!

Rumfitt’s debut centers on two former friends: Alice, a troubled young trans woman who is currently haunted; and Ila, who gave in to the transphobic cult mentality prevalent across the UK. While studying together, the two spent a night in a haunted house called Albion (get it?). This house has changed them both forever and at some point the truth about that terrible night must come to light.

Few would argue against Ari Aster’s enormous impact Hereditary has hit the horror scene, and if you’re looking for more cult-inspired works of paranoid terror – which also happen to be wonderfully queer – look no further than Chuck Tingle’s Damascus camp will relieve that itch. And yes, that’s the same Chuck Tingle who wrote My billionaire Triceratops craves gay ass.

The titular Camp Damascus is a hidden gay conversion camp in rural Montana and has a 100% success rate. Rose, a well-mannered heterosexual Christian teenager, lives near the camp. But for some reason, Rose vomits flies and sees images of bound demons in the dark corners of her living room. What happens to her and what does it have to do with Camp Damascus?

With the ecxeption of Sleeping campwhich has become a cult favorite among trans horror fans over the years, most slashers are decidedly heterosexual. Samantha Allen put an end to that with the brilliant title Patricia wants to cuddle. This queer slasher story takes place on an island off the coast of Washington State, where the finale of a Bachelor-style reality show is currently being filmed.

We follow the crew and hopeful finalists as they are picked off one by one by the strange beast that lives on the island. For a long time you will wonder who Patricia is, why she wants to cuddle and what exactly is this book queer? These answers will all come in time!

Seen 28 days later? To read Manhunt

With Danny Boyle, apocalypse stories can be uncomfortably raw and jagged 28 days later be a perfect example. But even this film has nothing to do with the grotesque world that trans author Gretchen Felker-Martin created in her novel Manhunt. A virus that targets testosterone has turned men into cannibalistic monsters, and TERFs roam the country in gangs, hunting down the transsexuals who have managed to survive.

Our protagonists are Beth and Fran, a pair of trans women who make their way south along the New England coast. To survive, they must hunt, kill and eat the parts of humans. Soon they will find Robbie, a suspicious young trans man who will complete their found family; and the three must continue to survive in this terrible wasteland.

Few directors have done body horror as well as David Cronenberg, but lesbian horror writer Julia Armfield doesn’t just show us how to do body horror right; She also makes it gothic and deliciously gay. Our women under the sea follows the married couple Miri and Leah. Leah’s story takes place on a deep-sea submarine, where she is trapped for months when a research trip goes wrong.

But when she finally returns, we read on heartbroken as her wife Miri watches the woman she loves fall apart before her eyes. Leah came back wrong; She vomits salt water and spends all her time in the bath. She’s already gone, but Miri refuses to accept that, even as Leah transforms into something grotesque and impossible. This novel hurts.

In cinema, there are some great films in the claustrophobic space horror niche, including alien, event horizon, And sunshine. Caitlin Starling fills this gap in the field of literature. The Shining Deada novel that combines the science fiction terror of Foreigner with the dank underground horror of The descent.

The protagonist, Gyre, has taken on a treacherous task: he must map the underground tunnels of an enemy planet alone, with only a disembodied voice on the radio to offer him guidance and companionship. That voice belongs to Em, and these women aren’t going to get along for a long time. Em is brash and impatient and Gyre is losing control of her isolated little world. But they must maintain their bond if Gyre wants to survive this.

This young adult slasher story is a fantastic homage to the summer camp slashers of old, right down to the novel’s setting, which is a self-aware nod to it Friday the 13this the famous Camp Crystal Lake. In You shall not die tonightKalynn Bayron introduces us to Charity, a teenager who works at Camp Mirror Lake, where an ’80s slasher film was once filmed. Now the guests pay to reenact the movie and it’s Charity’s job to be the final girl.

But things go wrong very quickly. Several of Charity’s colleagues have either disappeared or failed to fully show up. She had to call her girlfriend and a few other friends to take on these roles, but something is still not right. Shadowy figures roam the lakeshore, and soon the missing workers are found dead. What exactly is happening at Camp Mirror Lake? Spoiler: It’s not what you think.

Seen Invasion of the Body Snatchers? To read cuckoo

Gretchen Felker-Martin’s second queer horror novel honors her Invasion of the Body Snatchersand maybe a little bit about Stephen King’s too IT. This strange work of terror begins when a group of queer teenagers are kidnapped and taken to a conversion camp in the middle of the Utah desert. The camp is a cruel place, but out in the desert lurks something even worse: something that can wear the skin of those it kills.

The five children we follow cuckoo They must survive the pain and torture of the conversion camp, but also work together to escape the sinister thing that is targeting them. Unlike Felker-Martin’s debut, this is a more hopeful novel that focuses on teamwork and queer kids’ struggles against adversity.