horror – lgbtq+

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Summary: Surfside City, New Jersey. 1966. Cub reporter Harman Bass is cutting his teeth in the fast world of local journalism and getting out-scooped by the competition. Facetious, cocky, and always quoting Nietzsche, Harman isn’t making any friends both in and out of the newsroom. All that changes when the daughter of a prominent family is found dead on the beach, handing Harman the juiciest news story of the year. But she wasn’t any old beauty pageant queen; she was his high school girlfriend. Harman’s dogged reporting into the young woman’s death reveals pushback from the authorities and pulls the newshound into the resort’s darkest corners. After one of his sources is murdered, the routine story becomes dangerous and personal. Something watches Harman from the shadows, something ancient and hungry, worshipped by powerful men who kill to keep their secrets. Harman’s job and life are soon threatened, and the once brash reporter must battle his boss, rival journalists, and his own sanity before filing what could be his last story. THE OCEAN HUGS HARD is a mystery with the salty whiff of the ocean, a tinge of nostalgia, and a dollop of mind-shattering eldritch horror.

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Summary: Turmoil consumes the Underworld when the death of a god leaves a power vacuum. Phobetor, the stern and ambitious god of Nightmares seeks to fill the gap at any cost. Murderous nightmare daemons escape to the mortal realm, placing all of mankind in peril. In the midst of the unrest, star-crossed lovers yearn for one another across the void, one disempowered and bound to the Earth, the other trapped in the land of dreams by a grave sacrifice. Will love conquer all, or is the world's only salvation a god with an iron fist? "Chaos reigns supreme in the land of dreams and in reality. Earth’s only hope is in the hands of two lovers who have been separated after making a supreme sacrifice." - David Watson, HorrorAddicts.net

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Summary: Dark rhymes and deep thoughts send you on a dive through the void as you read this intensely personal poetry collection. Melancholia will send you into worlds both beyond and within, opening your eyes to truths often left untold in this world and challenging you with the harsh realities and injustices of life, without abandoning the darkly comforting magic that can be found in the shadows.

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Summary: This horror collection graphic novel contains the following stories: “And They Lived Long Enough to Bury Their Dead” is a dark fantasy comic zine about a group of Gen X goth/punk folks growing older and processing the deaths of loved ones. A paranormal urban fantasy, it centers around Billie, a nonbinary African-American alternative rocker from Oakland who develops the psychic ability to see and communicate with ghosts. Their nesting partner, Davis, a formerly homeless African-American transgender man, their twin brother Sean, a ghostcat, and the ghost of their mother are other central characters. In the story Billie, Davis, and their Gen X circle of friends are coming to terms with aging, the declining health (and loss) of their parents, and adjusting to a new post-pandemic world. It is an urban fantasy taking place in Oakland and the San Francisco Bay Area “Agrippa” is a dystopic near-future tale that takes place in an unnamed industrialized nation very much like the United States. When foreign creditors demand that the nation repay its considerable international debt or face war it enacts the Dulcetta Reforms, ultra-restrictive laws establishing debtor’s prison, and causing a large number of people – many of them seniors – to go to jail or even face execution if not continuously working to pay off their personal debts to the government. Dr. Tine, an expert in geriatric medicine, is desperately searching for employment at the beginning of our tale, having lost her useful functioning in society as the elders she once treated were rounded up and hauled off to the prison camps. Things were so bad she didn't think they could possibly get any worse. How very wrong she was. Dreamworlds: Beyond Somnalia - the author is plagued by a series of increasing demands from their fictional characters who come to take over the writer's life.

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Summary: Vixen would sell her soul to get into the Bleach Babes and, if she isn’t careful, she might just get what she wants. One of the most exclusive influencer co-ops in LA, the Bleach Babes live and work together in one big house where they have it all: popularity, talent, and beauty. Their leader? Supermodel Margo, a woman as sinister as she is sexy. After Margo agrees to take Vix under her wing—and into her bed—Vixen moves in and begins hustling. Success comes hard and fast, but the glitz and glamor comes with a price that may cost her her sanity… and her life.

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Summary: After suffering a savage assault in a bathroom as a girl, Gertie meets the man of her dreams. Her trauma soon vanishes as they begin to build a life together. However, with the sudden death of her beloved Jack, and the return of her school bully—Bea—years later, Gertie's long-buried trauma bubbles to the surface. All the think is one thing: Revenge. Inserting herself into Bea's life, nobody is safe—not her parents, not her children. Hell, not even the pTA members of her daughter's high school. Starting a sordid romance with Bea in a bid to destroy her life from the inside out, Gertie soon learns revenge is messier than she thought. BUT A GIRLS' GOTTA DO WHAT A GIRL'S GOTTA DO. “A vicious novella that promises to upset even the most seasoned horror reader in the best ways possible.” – Caitlin Marceau, award-winning author of This is Where We Talk Things Out ”Vicarious left me grinning and gagging. Violent, vile a d absolutely delightful.” – I.S. Belle, author of Zombabe

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Summary: RISE (noun / verb) Eight definitions to inspire writers around the world, and an unlimited number of possible stories to tell: 1) An upward slope or movement 2) A beginning or origin 3) An increase in amount or number 4) An angry reaction 5) To take up arms 6) To return from death 7) To become heartened or elated 8) To exert oneself to meet a challenge Rise features 300-word speculative flash fiction stories from across the rainbow spectrum, from the minds of the writers of Queer Sci Fi.

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Summary: Come along into the forest and bear your heart's hidden desire. Sit in the doctor's chair and trust that the procedure will cure what ails you. Look your demons in the eye and challenge them to fight. Enter if you're daring and feel these tales raise goosebumps along your arms as they take you from modern New Jersey to fairytale lands and back again. From witches to werecats and spirits to surgeries, this collection puts queer women front and center in some of the most popular subgenres of speculative fiction. Horror, dark fantasy, and magical realism coalesce in this stunning collection of all things dark and divergent.

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Summary: A careful study on estrangement and loss, The Price of a Small Hot Fire excavates the archetypal horrors of monstrous motherhood, from abandonment and unsteady reconciliation to the grave. Experimental and intimate, E.F. Schraeder’s collection gives voice to a semi-autobiographical examination of a griefscape from a queer lens.

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Summary: Some secrets refuse to stay hidden. Three years have passed since Donnie murdered the man who was brutalizing members of his community at a cruising spot known only as The Stop. He was never charged. Less than a handful of people knew what he'd done. Now, he has a new boyfriend, close friends, and is working his way toward college graduation. He is putting what happened behind him. His growing peace is shaken, however, when a package arrives containing a small ragdoll dressed like a Catholic priest. Someone knows his secret. Someone intent on punishing him as the law had not. As the body count rises, Donnie finds himself once again in a terrifying position. Will he kill or be killed?

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Summary: Two sisters born in the Red Desert, young Daughters of an ancient Queen. One seizes the delights of the present. The other sees and despairs for their future. Innathi and Ishuna, the heirs of the Dark Elf Queen of V’Gedra, travel the sand dunes with their entourage. In need of water, the sisters enter the sacred canyons of Koorul, where they interrupt a mystic rite of passage for the Human son of a Sorcerer-King. Negotiations fare well between the two desert peoples until powerful magic blends with the discoveries of youth which get quickly out of control. Incomprehensible joy crashes into a dark dread which cannot be named, and a schism begins between the sisters. Diplomacy is critical to avoid unnecessary conflict, yet the Queen’s daughters do not agree on the goal. Each has her version of the events at Koorul, and each is certain of the outcome should Innathi pursue the wild magic of the Zauyrian son. A close alliance with a Sorcerer-King could bring pleasure, prosperity, and new life thriving in the Desert, or it might corrupt a delicate balance to bring down the realms and all they had ever known. This second volume of Tales of Miurag is a standalone novel which can be read on its own. Dramatic events and mature themes weave into broad history and lore headed toward a cataclysm which will change the entire world. The Desert is also Etaski’s ultimate villains’ origin, featuring several antagonists introduced in the Sister Seekers series. This story takes place approximately 3500 years before No Demons But Us, where hints of these events past echo forward and impact future generations.

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Summary: “Aye, well, what is an angel, anyway?” At Samhain, things in Llwyncudd are taking a turn for the strange and bizarre. The red dragon is spotted around town trying to dig its own grave whilst his vessel is happily participating in life elsewhere. Did Stewart’s dragon spirit leave him? Michael, can’t live with the thought. Meanwhile, Dr Lilibeth Blackthorne, PsyD, has moved to town at her brother Sam’s suggestion. Many of its residents are in desperate need of her counselling services and she’s uniquely qualified—even if she’s never particularly seen multiple personalities quite like this. Fairy-halfling Arthen also joins the town after being raised in the local fairy village on the other side. Despite the odd cultural clashes of living in a society that requires silly things like clothing, he is making many new friends and is more special than his former masters would have him believe. Join our friends as they battle their demons from the darker side of the veil in Green Hills and Battlefields—the thrilling fifth book of the Green Hills Series by Celyn Kendrick!

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Summary: When sisterhood by blood is pure misery, can sisterhood by trial be any different? My sister deserved to die, but I didn't kill her. If I take the blame, I'm next on the sacrificial altar. The Red Sisters know this. Now they're watching me. I'm about to find out why. ~~~ In their underground city, only the cunning and the bold thrive. Sirana Thalluensareci refuses to be cowed. Banished from everything she knew after surviving an assassination attempt, the abused dark elf finds delight in the sensual thrills of the court’s explicit intimacies. But she’s taken off-guard when one of the realm’s most powerful organizations steps out of the shadows to abduct her to their lair. Relying on her wits and nerve to thread her way through a controlling sisterhood, Sirana navigates passionate encounters, sharp-edged battles, and a series of initiation rituals where failure means a painful death. Even as the independent warrior-in-training discovers a taste for hidden pleasures, old scars threaten her ability to survive on the danger-strewn path when the Red Sisters' competitors, the Daughters of Braqth, turn their eyes toward her. As everyone around her pushes her to the edge, can she keep her balance and avoid falling into the spider's trap? If you crave found family, nuanced characters, bold and steamy scenes with touches of survival horror, then you’ll love A.S. Etaski’s Machiavellian matriarchy. Begin the intense first trilogy of the Sister Seekers series today!

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Summary: "Dear Tyler, I was hoping I wouldn't have to write this letter for a long time..." Tyler is a young gay man with his whole life ahead of him. Then his Uncle Jodie died and left him the deed to Memory Lane Antiques, a small shop in an even smaller town. When he and his best friend, Madison, arrive to assess the inventory, they're led by unseen forces to an old journal. Only then do they realize the full meaning of ownership and possession. Memory Lane is filled with curious items. Some mundane, others deadly. As they dive deeper into Jodie's writing, Tyler cannot help but notice the similarities between their lives, nor is he prepared for just how deep his own ties run to a dark-glassed mirror that hangs in the showroom and the ghost of a boy named Frankie who will do anything to escape its murky depths.

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Summary: Years ago, all she wanted was to leave. Now, a web of secrets might ensnare her forever. When Iris Grey returns to her hometown of Ilmoure years after a bitter parting, she hopes for reconciliation in the face of a tragedy. Instead, she arrives to a town changed for the worse, a cold welcome from people she once loved, and a family that seems to be keeping secrets from her at every turn. When those secrets become too heavy to ignore, Iris starts to dig deeper. What she finds leads her to question her very perception of reality. Faced with old wounds and new revelations, Iris finds herself mired in a plot that threatens to swallow herself, the town, and the people she once loved.

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Summary: Book 2 in the Hammer Falls Series (should be read in order) Ever since Jin met his demon father, Ashmedai, and noticed how similar they are, he's been plagued by the idea he's bad. He can see it in the deceiving effects of his lust-demon eyes, the friendship he ruined with best friend Sam, and in the many, horribly obvious differences between himself and his noble part-angel boyfriend Nate. And now, even his fledgeling 'good' magic seems to have vanished - smothered and replaced by something with sinister, evil-feeling intentions... As animals turn up mutilated in the woods and Ashmedai's plans to avenge his banishment become clearer, Nate leaves for a place at the oppressive Seminary and Jin begins to spiral - doubting Nate, doubting himself, fighting his own impulses about love, sex, good and evil. But nothing is what he thinks: not the Seminary, not his magic, and certainly not Ashmedai's plans. Can Jin overcome his fears about what being 'good' enough means in time to save not just himself but all the other people implicated, before his father's schemes bear their terrible fruit? Sons of Heaven and Hell contains a prickly, velvet-loving half-demon, hot demon hunters, werebears, angst, messy love and explicit MM sex and steamy MMM polyamory scenes not suitable for younger readers.

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Summary: Dive into this collected edition of the first three volumes of The Darkly Enchanted Romance series. Sweet and sultry historical romances with just the right amount of spookiness! ~ THE HARVEST MOON In the shadows of late autumn, Malcolm comes across a quaint village tucked away in the forest. It seems the perfect spot for a weary traveller to lay his head, and maybe find a little company. But there is dark magic afoot, and lots of local gossip swirls around the seductive titian-haired weaver, Daniel. All Malcolm sought was a night's pleasure. He never suspected he would have to worry about losing his life. Or his heart. THE GHOST OF HILLCOMB HALL On a stormy night, landscape designer Jonas arrives at the cheerless and fog enswathed Hillcomb Hall. He finds an odd trio of ladies in residence and an eerie portrait of the hauntingly attractive portrait of a stately ancestor, which constantly seems to watch his every move. His nights are filled with weird dreams and otherworldly visitations. Is the manor house truly haunted? Or is it all just a trick of the mind, a sinister game being played by the inhabitants of Hillcomb Hall? MANCHESTER LAKE Monty, along with his best friend Bishop, discovers a mystical selkie in Manchester Lake who transforms into a gorgeous man of his dreams. Together they adventure through a tastefully debauched house party, an Edwardian novelty called a “night club,” and a macabre Parisian cabaret. As their journey unfolds, they come face-to-face with ghoulish agents of the occult as well as startling discoveries - including Monty’s realization that he is falling for the beautiful creature from the lake. Can he really be in love so soon, or is there a past connection? And what does it all have to do with his past trip to Paris? Before their adventure ends long-hidden secrets will erupt in a storm of magic and passion!

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Summary: Clarity (noun) Four definitions to inspire writers around the world and an unlimited number of possible stories to tell: 1) Coherent and intelligible 2) Transparent or pure 3) Attaining certainty about something 4) Easy to see or hear Clarity features 300-word speculative flash fiction stories from across the rainbow spectrum, from the minds of the writers of Queer Sci Fi.

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Summary: “Pain is pain. It all hurts the same.” Inflicted with dark desire, one man chooses between idyllic pretense and disturbing reality. Haunted by the silence of deep space, an engineer chases an eerie melody. Torn between penance and pride, a dishonored prince challenges the course of history. Suffering cracks our hearts and splinters our minds. It scars and alters us in irreversible ways. Yet while pain breaks us apart, it also binds us together. Our broken pieces can never rejoin as they once were, but they fit together to create new and distinctive wholes. Like the Japanese art of kintsugi, we can fill the velvety darkness of our scars with gold. Inflicted with life, an intelligent machine questions the illogic of family. Tempted by the desire to die, a shop clerk confronts the promise of his life. Offered the chance to transform his disfigurement, a ruined being looks to the smallest of lives for acceptance. An amalgamation of science fiction and fantasy subgenres, Inflicted invites you to peer into your own pain, examine your scars, and remember you are not alone. Pain binds us all, and how we face our brokenness redefines us. Immerse yourself in the brokenness of others and come away with a new understanding of self.

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Summary: This action filled, edge of your seat dystopian adventure is set in the near future, when a space probe is returning to Earth from the Cares 1 Asteroid with geological and biological samples frozen in ice for billions of years. It’s big news, the discovery of ancient organisms from an extra-terrestrial body. After the samples arrive at Interplan Astro-Research facility in the quiet city of Worcester Massachusetts, with the world’s media gathered, eager to hear official announcement that the samples are indeed biological, thus discovering evidence of complex life beyond our planet. Not everyone’s excited or happy about having alien lifeforms coming to Earth, and one group of terrorists have planted a thermobaric bomb in an elevator shaft of the facility. The bomb detonates and the facility explodes, killing hundreds of people, workers, protestors, scientists and TV crews, but far from destroying the samples, the explosion has released them from their level one quarantine and unleashes a deadly parasite that quickly infects the citizens of Worcester with infestations of strand red worms that infest the living. Despite efforts to contain the “Cares Pestis” AKA the “MR. Ripple” it spreads fast and becomes through the USA and beyond, causing a complete breakdown of society. But then comes something else, something far more menacing that threatens the very existence of human life on earth, and for Colonel Troy Glass and his fiancé Yvette, a deadly struggle for survival begins as they head west, to a secret government facility known as Haven. On their way, they pick up an eclectic group of fellow survivors, who together, battle against all the odds, both human and alien…