October is the season for the dark and the macabre; for haunted houses and horror movies; for the things that go bump in the night. In short, it’s spooky season, and giving ourselves a good scare is an autumnal pastime.
But why do we enjoy feeling afraid? What is it about horror and thrillers that draws us in? And how does the queer experience play into these particular genres?
While we don’t have time to go into the history of queer-coded characters in Gothic novels of the 1800s, horror has always been a transgressive genre that reflected the cultural anxieties of the time. It’s no wonder then that as more queer writers have entered the literary space, queer horror and thrillers often center on the unique fears and traumas queer folk deal with: homophobia, transphobia, and complicated relationship dynamics of the familial and romantic.
But if you’re experiencing this stress in your day-to-day, why would you seek them out in a fictional world?
The short answer is: you’re not. Whether you’re experiencing an adrenaline rush from recreational fear or learning to adapt to scary situations, there’s a common thread running through horror and thriller novels: catharsis.
Author Adam Sass says in his book Surrender Your Sons that “horror helps us express our worst anxieties”. His story about a teenage boy sent by his family to an isolated conversion camp is an all-too-real nightmare many queer people continue to endure.
Eric LaRocca (another author we included in this blog) agrees that “horror is the most cathartic genre”. In our interview with LaRocca, he goes on to say that:
Transgressive fiction has the ability to disturb, to shock, to comfort, to inspire conversation. So much of the horror fiction I encountered at an impressionable age made me reflect on my identity, my purpose as a human being. I wish to inspire those same feelings in other people too.
Playing with fear provides an emotional release that can help us face the challenges of living as a queer person with a little more courage. Through catharsis can come healing.
Now take a deep breath because it’s time to check out 9 hair-raising queer horror and thriller audiobooks that will give you goosebumps and have you listening with the lights on.
YOUNG ADULT
The Alchemy of Moonlight
Written by David Ferraro, narrated by Will Watt
An isolated crumbling castle, supernatural phenomena, and star-crossed lovers comprise this retelling of The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe. Ferraro describes his debut novel – featuring a gay love triangle between a runaway marquis, a doctor, and a werewolf – as a “love letter” to classic gothic literature.
When Emile’s aunt declares he must marry or be disowned for being gay, he runs away to hide as a servant in Count Montoni’s mansion. Emile tends to the family, who all suffer a strange affliction on the full moon, and later finds a body on the estate. This draws the attention of a handsome doctor and the count’s charismatic nephew, Henri.
But when Emile’s identity is revealed, and his aunt comes to collect him, Count Montoni forces everyone to depart to the remote Udolpho Castle. There, Emile realizes that he will have to risk his life to find the love he deserves―and survive the Montoni family.
Malicia
Written by Steven dos Santos, narrated by Sixta Morel, Giordan Diaz, Amanda Alcántara, and Robb Moreira
Slasher meets thriller meets Dominican folklore as four friends find themselves being picked off one by one in a very haunted theme park.
On a stormy Halloween weekend, Ray enlists his best friends Joaquin, Sofia, and Isabella to help him make a documentary of Malicia, the abandoned theme park off the coast of the Dominican Republic where his mother and brother died in a mass killing thirteen years ago.
But what should be an easy weekend trip quickly turns into something darker because all four friends have come to Malicia for their own reasons: for truth, personal gain, support, and betrayal.
But an impending hurricane and their own inner demons aren’t all they struggle to face. The deadliest evil of all is the ancient malignant presence on the island.
Now, Conjurers
Written by Freddie Kölsch, narrated by Giordan Diaz
A spine-chilling debut about queer found family and a love that outlasts death.
Fans of The Craft and other 90’s cult horror classics will love this thrilling murder mystery that explores grief and real-life horrors.
Kölsch describes her book as follows:
Now, Conjurers is a book about a really tight-knit coven of weird high school kids who can do magic that actually works. When their leader, Bastion—secret witch, gentle jock, and the boyfriend of our protagonist, Nesbit—is found murdered in a grisly fashion in the local cemetery, the remaining members of North Coven have to unravel the mystery of his death before the cosmic nightmare hiding under their town destroys all of their lives. It’s part supernatural horror, part tragic romance, and all Y2K-era strangeness.
She’s Too Pretty to Burn
Written by Wendy Heard, narrated by Frankie Corzo, Bailey Carr, and Stephen Dexter
This psychological thriller inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray explores the intersection of love, art, danger, and power.
Heard paints an electric romance set against an art scene in the heat of summer:
When Veronica meets Mick at a party, she knows she’s found the muse her photography needs to make it to the next level. Just one problem–Mick has a fear of photography and a home life that’s falling apart. When Veronica’s best friend Nico meets Mick, he thinks she’s special too. He sees a darkness in her that he shares, and he draws her into his art crimes. The three end up in a power struggle with deadly consequences.
One fire. Two murders. Three drowning bodies. One suspect… one stalker. This is a summer they won’t survive.
Surrender Your Sons
Written by Adam Sass, narrated by Daniel Henning
Something strange is going on at this conversion therapy summer camp…
Connor Major’s summer break is turning into a nightmare.
After coming out to his parents, they have him kidnapped and shipped off to a secluded island. His final destination: Nightlight Ministries, a conversion therapy camp that will be his new home until he “changes.”
At Nightlight, everyone has something to hide—from the campers to the “converted” staff and cagey camp director—and it quickly becomes clear that no one is safe. Connor plans to escape and bring the other kidnapped teens with him. But first, he’s exposing the camp’s horrible truths for what they are—and taking this place down.
“Conversion therapy is an insidious horror that is almost impossible to pluck out of our society, root and stem, and I made sure to honor the weight of what this does to people,” says Sass about his book. “However, as a queer person who has seen so many horrors attacking my community go unavenged, I wanted to write a story where the right people got their asses kicked.”
ADULT
Feed Them Silence
Written by Lee Mandelo, narrated by Natalie Naudus
In this near-future novella about environmentalism, consent, and connection, Sean’s tireless research gives her a chance to fulfill her dream to dive into the minds of wolves – at a cost.
What does it mean to “be-in-kind” with a nonhuman animal? Or, in Dr. Sean Kell-Luddon’s case, to be in-kind with one of the last remaining wild wolves? Using a neurological interface to translate her animal subject’s perception through her own mind, Sean intends to chase both her scientific curiosity and her secret, lifelong desire to experience the intimacy and freedom of wolfishness.
Sean’s tireless research gives her a chance to fulfill that dream, but pursuing it has a terrible cost. Her obsession with work endangers her fraying relationship with her wife. Her research methods threaten her mind and body. And the attention of her venture capital funders could destroy her subject, the beautiful wild wolf whose mental world she’s invading.
The Language of Bodies
Written by Suzanne DeWitt Hall, narrated by Nicky Endres
A gorgeously dark tale about the enduring power of love and the dangerous seduction of vengeance.
Maddie Wells’s life spirals out of control after the murder of her wife Char, a transgender woman of color. Hunger for revenge drives Maddie to take a job at a wax museum near the murderer’s hometown, where she studies revenge and plots how to strike back. Befriending the murderer’s wife is the first stage in Maddie’s plan to make him pay.
No Gods for Drowning
Written by Hailey Piper, narrated by Jodie Harris
In this suspenseful novel—part dark fantasy, part noir detective story, part alternate reality with updated mythology—Lilac seeks to summon a blood god to save her city.
The old gods have fled and the monsters they once kept at bay for centuries threaten to drown the city of Valentine. As monsters hunt mankind, a serial killer starts ritually sacrificing victims, leaving their bodies strewn throughout the city.
Lilac Antonis want to stop the impending destruction of her city by summoning a blood god – even if it means slitting a few throats to do it – forcing her to evade her friends and her lover Arcadia. Alex and Cecil of Ace Investigations are tasked with hunting down the killer (not knowing they’re hunting their friend Lilac) only to realize the gods may not have left willingly.
As Arcadia and her evacuation team struggle to save people from the flooding, Lilac’s ritual killings at last bear fruit – only to reveal her as a piece in a larger plan. Alex and Cecil are running out of time to uncover the true culprit behind the god’s disappearance before an ancient divine murder plot destroys them all.
Our Wives Under the Sea
Written by Julia Armfield, narrated by Annabel Baldwin and Robyn Holdaway
“The bleakest horror story can also be a love story; Armfield deftly illustrates how.” – Kirkus Reviews
Leah is changed. Months earlier, she left for a routine expedition, only this time her submarine sank to the sea floor. When she finally surfaces and returns home, her wife Miri knows that something is wrong. Barely eating and lost in her thoughts, Leah rotates between rooms in their apartment, running the taps morning and night.
As Miri searches for answers, desperate to understand what happened below the water, she must face the possibility that the woman she loves is slipping from her grasp.
This Skin Was Once Mine and Other Disturbances
Written by Eric LaRocca, narrated by Natalie Naudus, André Santana, Michael Crouch, and Steven Crossley
A collection of four intense, claustrophobic, and terrifying horror tales from the author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke.
Jillian Finch, grieving her father’s death, discovers a dark secret that threatens to undo everything she has ever known about him.
A young man’s father informs him of his mother’s passing and upon returning home, realizes he and his father have been cursed with the same affliction.
Enoch Leadbetter goes to buy a knife for his husband to use at a dinner party and encounters a shopkeeper who draws him into a new obsession.
Two old men revive a cruel game with devastating consequences…