Hey there horror fans, I’m Jessica Avery and I’ll be delivering your weekly brief of all that’s ghastly and grim in the world of Horror. Whether you’re looking for a backlist book that will give you the willies, a terrifying new release, or the latest in horror community news, you’ll find it here in The Fright Stuff.
I think my love of vampire horror is pretty well established on this newsletter by now, as is my love of queer horror fiction. Lucky for me, the two tend to overlap pretty frequently! But then, why wouldn’t they? After all, if you’re going to live for hundreds or maybe thousands of years, chances are that any mortal conceptions of sexuality and gender you may have aren’t going to last beyond the first century of your new undead existence. I mean, come on! The world is wide, diverse, and wonderful, and you are now immortal! You have all the time in the world, and no time for something as banal as heteronormativity or socially prescribed gender roles.
Besides, Harvey Guillén from What We Do in the Shadows said all vampires are queer, and I don’t argue with Guillermo.
So in this week’s Fright Stuff, we’re celebrating queer vampire horror with three titles that I haven’t had the pleasure of featuring in this newsletter yet! But before we saunter off into the wild, queer eternal yonder, a brief message from our sponsors! If you are looking for fascinating stories, informed takes, useful advice, and more from experts in the world of books and reading, Book Riot’s new subscription-based newsletter, The Deep Dive, is a way to get exclusive content delivered to your inbox. Subscribe and choose your membership level today at bookriot.substack.com.
Bookish Goods
Notre Damn’d Bookmark by Enthralledyet
Every good vampire book needs an equally good (and Gothic) bookmark to go along with. I love the design of this bookmark, with its intricate glass windows illuminated by the glow of a blood red moon and the little bats in silhouette. It’s perfect for your latest fang-filled read. Plus, everyone loves a tassel. What else are you going to fidget with while you read?
$5
New Releases
The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown
I flippin’ love space horror. The sheer joy that I get from people being horribly imperiled in the uncaring depths of space, let me tell you. Which is why I’ve been excited about The Scourge Between Stars since it was announced and oh, gosh, did it give me everything I was hoping for and more. The starship Calypso is in danger. They’ve been trying to make the journey back to Earth ever since their colony failed centuries ago, but at the speed they’re traveling, it seems unlikely that the ex-colonists will ever make it home. Especially when a series of brutal murders on board reveal a dangerous stowaway lurking somewhere within the massive hulk of the Calypso. Jacklyn Albright is acting captain, responsible for the Calypso’s survival in her father’s absence, and if the colonists are ever going to have a chance to see Earth again, she and her team will have to hunt the intruder down one deck at a time before it can murder everyone on board. Get ready to be STRESSED, because this novella had me on my toes.
For a more comprehensive list, check out our New Books newsletter!
Riot Recommendations
Carmilla: The First Vampire by Amy Chu, Illustrated by Soo Lee
I read the original Carmilla for the first time last year and absolutely loved it, so obviously I was over the moon when I found Amy Chu and Soo Lee’s new graphic novel inspired by Le Fanu’s novella. Chu and Lee’s adaptation is set in New York in the ’90’s during the Lunar New Year, and blends elements of Le Fanu’s Carmilla with Chinese folklore to tell a story of murder, infatuation, and deadly secrets. Athena is a social worker on the trail of a murderer who’s been killing homeless LGBTQ+ women in the city. The murderer’s trail leads her to a nightclub called Camilla’s in her own neighborhood with a mysterious reputation, and Athena soon finds herself falling for a beautiful young woman named Violet who may just be the killer’s next victim.
The Fell of Dark by Caleb Roehrig
Gosh, the synopsis of The Fell of Dark is giving me nostalgic, Buffy-esque feels, and I love it — vampires, a hellmouth nexus of mystical energy, a little bit of apocalypse flair for flavor. Ah, memories. But something tells me I’m having more fun with this than August, who hated living in a vampire town even before some random undead guy rolled up with a cryptic warning about the end of the world. And yeah, the guy’s hot. And mysterious, which arguably makes him even more hot. But he’s just dropped Auggie into the middle of a nightmarish scenario where some old and deadly power is threatening to destroy the world unless Auggie can find some way to stop it. And he may be the only one who can.
Dead Collections by Isaac Fellman
Okay, so this is where I have to pull my “if it’s vampire, it’s technically horror” get out of jail free card and give it a wave, because Dead Collections is not horror in the frightening sense. It is, in fact, more of a fantasy novel with a central love story and an undead/paranormal twist. But I’m including it anyway! If you want to argue about it, you can find me on Twitter, as long as Twitter still exists by the time this newsletter reaches you. Or you could take my word for it when I say that this novel about a trans archivist vampire named Sol falling in love with a widow named Elsie is a beautiful story about navigating grief, hate, and stigma to find love and joy in a world that seems fundamentally opposed to letting you have either. And yes, it’s a different kind of vampire story than the other two on this list, but an extremely important one given current events.
Also, there’s ghosts.
As always, you can catch me on twitter at @JtheBookworm, where I try to keep up on all that’s new and frightening.