Waters is queen of the haunting, lesbian Gothic novel. In Victorian London, Margaret Prior meets medium Selina Dawes who is imprisoned after a botched séance, and together, they plan to break her free.
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Queer Fear: LGBTQIA+ Horror Fiction
Carmilla
Adult Fiction - Lefanu
Preceding the publication of Dracula by 25 years, this epistolary Gothic novel features the lesbian relationship between vampire Carmilla and her lonely friend Laura. See the brilliant introduction by Carmen Maria Machado for context on this seminal work.
Drawing Blood
Adult Fiction - Brite
Trevor McGee returns to the house where his mother and brother were killed 20 years earlier, confronting the demons of his past alongside his new lover. A disturbing twist on the haunted house tale that will satisfy any lover of the paranormal.
The Gilda Stories
Adult Fiction - Gomez
Described as a foremother of Afro-futurism, Gomez expands the canon of vampire mythology in this classic of lesbian and feminist fiction. The Gilda Stories follows a girl who finds community and kinship in a vampiric family after she escapes enslavement in the 1850s. For fans of Octavia Butler.
Her Body and Other Parties: Stories
Adult Fiction - Machado
Machado blends fairy tale, magical realism, and speculative fiction in this story collection exploring the horrors of embodiment and gendered violence. A finalist for the National Book Award in Fiction.
Let the Right One In
Adult Fiction - Ajvidel
In the lonely suburbs of 1980s Stockholm, Oskar is a 12-year-old boy who meets another child, Eli—a vampire feeding on the blood of their neighbors. Lindqvist presents their tender friendship in vivid contrast to the desperate environment in this truly scary horror story.
Manhunt
Adult Fiction - Felkerm
A grotesque post-apocalyptic novel about the survival of trans and non-binary people. Beth and Fran spend their days hunting feral men and harvesting their organs in a gruesome effort to ensure they'll never face the same fate. Carmen Maria Machado calls it "a modern horror masterpiece."
The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror
Adult Fiction - Ortberg
Ortberg revisits classic fairy tales with a queer feminist twist, blurring the lines between disturbing and absurd. For fans of Shirley Jackson.
The Monster of Elendhaven
SF - Giesbre
A thing shaped like a man, though without a name, stalks the city of Elendhaven. His frail master sends him out on errands, twisting him with magic and crafting a plan too cruel to name. Joe Hill calls it "a black tide of perversity, violence, and lush writing." A finalist for the 2019 Shirley Jackson Award.
Sorrowland
Adult Fiction - Solomon
After escaping a religious separatist community, Vern gives birth to twins and plans to raise them in the wilderness, but someone, or something is hunting her. This genre-bending work of Gothic fiction follows Vern as her body is wracked by inexplicable and uncanny changes. The Stonewall Book Award Winner of 2022.
Summer Sons
SF - Mandelo
Whirling between a backstabbing academic world and a dangerous nightlife of fast cars and hot boys, Andrew searches for the truth about his best friend Eddie’s death. This is a haunting, southern gothic novel for fans of romance and a good mystery.
White is for Witching
Adult Fiction - Oyeyemi
This neo-gothic horror novel follows a girl with a disorder that compels her to eat foreign objects. For fans of Toni Morisson and Haruki Murakami. The winner of the Somerset Maugham Award.
Widdershins
Adult Fiction - Hawk
A creepy paranormal romance between shy scholar Percival Whyborne and a dashing private investigator of the occult, Griffin Flaherty, who team up to stop a Lovecraftian cult terrorizing a Victorian-era New England town.