November 2024

Bury Your Gays
by Chuck Tingle

This book was calling to me from the moment I caught sight of the vibrant (and gruesome) book cover at The Strand several months ago, and when it came time to pick a book for November’s Queer Horror Readalong, I knew it had to be this one!

First off, I found this to be a perfect book club pick. It’s fast-paced, meaning those members of your group who might struggle a little to get motivated to read are going to be sucked right in from the moment they start (I know I was). There are constant moments of action, mystery, drama, and scares, so your mind is always occupied with questions of “what the fuck is happening?” (in a good way) and you just have to keep turning the page to try and figure it out for yourself.

By the way, I totally didn’t figure it out for myself. So many twists and reveals were completely surprising to me and I loved it.

Also, for any movie buffs or screenwriting nerds, this book gives some delicious little insights into that whole gig and blends it seamlessly with the “supernatural” horror that ends up invading every moment of our endearing protagonist’s life.

Spoiler Warning: The rest of the review contains details from the book some may consider spoilers.

I’m trying to think of where to begin when it comes to unpacking my thoughts, and honestly, I feel like I have to have a moment to celebrate the various “villains” of the story. The movie characters written by Misha that end up haunting him are so freaking unsettling and disturbing, I had to take moments to pause as I was reading. The Smoker is a chilling person - the description of his eyes and his smile instantly made me picture some sort of Junji Ito character stalking me, which is enough to make my skin crawl in a delightfully entertaining way. But then, with Mrs. Y, my claustrophobia was fully triggered and I was flying through those pages, panicking as if I was trapped in that airplane bathroom instead of Misha (flashbacks to Train to Busan, anyone?). And I completely agree with Misha, making Mrs. Y a silent villain was waaaaay more terrifying than having her talk to you.

And then don’t even get me started on Enzo Basile. Torture porn has always been a weakness of mine in horror movies, but in books I’m generally fine reading any of those scenes. And yet, the scene with Enzo in the forest had my stomach turning and I had to fight my own brain to decide if I needed a break to get over it, or if I should just keep reading to get through it (I chose the latter, it was awesome). It was visceral and painful and uncomfortable, something that many horror books will promise but rarely deliver.

Also, am I insane for wanting my own Black Lamb? It sounds like the freaking cutest and most badass pet ever.

When it comes to the queer element, the book dips its toes into a couple of cliches regarding a small-town-turned-big-city closet gay protagonist, but when I read the backstory chapter regarding Misha’s childhood trauma, my heart hurt for him and for all those out there who have had the exact experience. It was so real, it surprised me just how much it hurt to picture the entire thing unfolding. I had a moment where I cursed out my book when Richie chose the heteronormative toxic bullshit patriarchy over sweetheart Misha. Like I said, too real. Not to mention Misha’s struggle with coming out and code-switching, clearly outlining the challenges so many queer people face when it comes to all the parts of their life they often have to separate for their own safety (personal, familial, professional, etc.).

Straight people just don’t get it.

I also adored the entire premise of how the “bury your gays” trope was interwoven into the book. Obviously, it’s the book title and there’s a blatant connection to the concept of killing and burying people for your horror entertainment, but the way Tingle unpacks the trope and just so clearly highlights the painfully obvious problems with queer representation in the media was so so so satisfying and validating. Because even though these problems are so goddamn obvious, they’re also purposefully being ignored by so many (and unknowingly ignored by others). Fuck capitalism. And fuck billionaires. We need more Mishas (and more books like Tingle’s). I felt so deeply for baby Misha seeing the finale of his favorite TV show and watching his entire identity get erased right before his eyes - how many times has this happened in my life? In any queer’s life?

And how hard are cis/het assholes willing to go to make sure our truths stay buried? Well, apparently, straight-up murdering people with nanobot villains is how far (and I somehow feel like this isn’t all that unrealistic…?).

My head was spinning trying to guess how these movie characters were achieving their tricks, and I genuinely didn’t even consider what was actually going on - artificial intelligence. I mean, talk about timely. Although the nanobots in the book are (hopefully) so advanced they still seem fairly unrealistic, the whole concept of AI in movies (plus the fact that we actually have fucking nanobots) was so uncanny, it added this whole other layer of horrifying discomfort to my reading experience. It was a little too close to home, y’know? And I know basically nothing about AI or technology or the movie industry, so I’m sitting here thinking, “Wasn’t James Dean’s ghost in some movie using AI? Is this happening?!?!?!?!”.

Folks, I have no clue.

But I do know that Bury Your Gays was one of the most fun, enthralling, satisfying books (not even just in the horror or queer genres) I have read in a long, long time.