Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for this ARC!

I really loved Bury Your Gays and I can say only wonderful things about it. This story is original, clever and downright creepy! Chuck writes characters that feel real and that you want to root for! I was familiar with the trope “bury your gays” and I think Tingle really encapsulated how prevalent it is in today’s media.

I can’t wait for Chuck’s next book!

This is the second book I’ve read by Tingle, the first being Camp Damascus (which gets a nod in this book but you don’t have to have read it at all). Both books are solid and I really need to check out some of his other books in other genres. I really enjoyed this book and I really liked the characters.
It’s a horror novel, but he does a great job of pointing out issues that people in the LGBTQIA+ community go through on a daily basis and their struggles. I loved the MC’s growth in this and watching him fully embrace who he is.
I also really appreciate the Bi and Ace rep in this novel as well.

TW/CW: Language, homophobia, gory scenes, blood, violence, guns, drinking, toxic family relationships, anxiety, depression

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
Misha is a jaded scriptwriter who has been working in Hollywood for years, and has just been nominated for his first Oscar. But when he's pressured by his producers to kill off a gay character in the upcoming season finale―"for the algorithm"―Misha discovers that it's not that simple.As he is haunted by his past, and past mistakes, Misha must risk everything to find a way to do what's right―before it's too late.
Release Date: July 6th, 2024
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 304
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

What I Liked:
1. Cover is gorgeous ✔️✔✔✔
2. Writing is fantastic
3. Love Misha and Zeke
4. Queer rep
5. Asexual rep

What I Didn't Like:
1. Nothing

Overall Thoughts:
{{Disclaimer: I write my review as I read}}

Misha being forced to drop his two gay characters to replace them with a straight white male that's conservative is absolutely disgusting. The fact that Jack can't understand why Misha would be upset at what's happening.

Love that Dark Encounters is like a fictional version of X-Files but instead of Mulder and Scully with their sexual attraction it's two queer characters.

All the monster characters are creepy. The fact that they are coming out to reveal themselves to Misha.

I kind of had an idea that something had happened between Misha and Richie because Richie was trying to get Misha to come hang out with him alone at the reunion.

We then get a flashback to Misha sneaking over to the Richie's house and bringing valentine's box candy to his house, when Richie's brother, Justin comes downstairs to see the box. Pour mesha tries to cover their tracks by saying that the candy was on sale but Justin interrupts him asking Richie if he gay. Richie could have said something other than insulting Misha and making out like he was disgusted with Misha, but no he says that Misha is wanting him to do gay things. Then he punched him in the face at the insistence of of Justin. Not surprised that Misha in the future pretty much ignored Richie.

Misha's uncle is ridiculous when he finds out that Misha is gay rather than being supportive he goes out and gets his girlfriend brings her back and then forces Misha to sleep two days in his car so he can have fun with his girlfriend. What a piece of crap.

Ah this book just dropped a reference to Camp Damascus!

It's insane to me that Misha went to the Oscars despite his boyfriend and best friend being paralyzed in the house.

As soon as Misha comes out that he is gay suddenly the whole production company is embracing queerness. They even hire a person to replace Frank who is the typical stereotype flamboyant gay man. This made me really mad. First they shame him for even having gay characters and then wanting them to kiss to now it's totally okay to be gay. I understand that this is a play on how people work in Hollywood and in life when it's gaywashing.

Love the happy ending in this book.

Final Thoughts:
I thought this book was really good it had a lot of deep meaning within the horror and a story that was told about what it's like to be gay. It made me mad that Misha was forced to come out and admit to people that he was gay when he wasn't exactly 100% ready to. It speaks volumes about how people will force it out of you when what does it even matter. Your sexual orientation doesn't decide who you are as a person.

The writing was just fantastic in this book. I loved the characters.

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Thanks to Netgalley, Tor Nightfire, and, Macmillan Audio for this advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Bury your gays is a splendid horror novel filled with cultural commentary, eldritch terrors, and a plot that never stops. How Chuck Tingle manages to terrify and unsettle, but leaves the reader with a tender feeling of contented hope, is astonishing. I loved this book whole heartedly. The style of writing was honed in and polished too.

Our main character Misha is a queer horror screenplay writer, freshly nominated for an Oscar. One day he walks into to work to meet with his boss about a current project, and is asked to kill of his main gay characters- who were written to have a romance and live all for the sake of “the algorithm”. Misha refuses, he can’t tolerate this ridiculous request and decides to terminate the contract with the studio. He soon realizes he might be facing retaliation and has to decide how to cope with his new reality.

This is for fans of well written horror, that has a fast pace cutting social commentary, and gorey goodness.

Campy, fun and sort of goofy? I didn’t dislike this book, it was a decent read and will definitely keep you entertained. However, it does read as a “fun time” and borders on the line of cheesy. Nothing wrong with that but that’s not really my sort of horror. I’ll give this a rating right down the middle. A for effort, love the LGBTQ representation, writing is good but the content misses the mark for me.

This book was absolutely perfection and also absolutely TERRIFYING!!!! There so many times that you don't know what is real and what is not and that just adds to the creepiness of this book, and then when you find out what all of it is.....your even more scared then you started out!!!! The underlining tale of persecution and erasure for the LGBTQIA+ community is just the icing on the cake that is shoves into your face. I think everyone should read this book not just horror fans.

5 Stars and my infinite thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC!

Tingle, ya did it again. An almost perfect horror novel.
I loved Misha as a character and his support network of Zeke and Tara. I loved that there was a little tension between Zeke and Misha at the beginning, but they really do love each other. The monsters were spooky as hell and I still don't really understand how it all worked, but I was riveted. Finished it at the beach and immediately had to tell my friends about it.

Spoilerish:

The full 180 to over doing the queer acceptance at the end was almost as chilling as the ignoring and denial of queer films. Because it's all fake. There is no actual acceptance, it's a façade the studio is putting on to ride the current trend.

I enjoyed the creepy characters created in this book and there were moments that felt actually scary. I would say this book squarely falls into the self referential horror world akin to a scream movie. I liked that the horror had real world ties and enjoyed the tongue in cheek reference to movies that did already exist. As i sometimes feel with horror books like this one I wish the climax was better executed and plotted. That being said I enjoyed reading this one and would recommend it to anyone looking for someone who is not looking for something too heavy or as a fun palate cleanser.

I really enjoyed this book. Misha is a screenwriter who is nominated for his first Oscar. When Misha is asked to kill off his gay characters, he refuses. Suddenly, characters from his past shows are haunting and hunting him. Misha is on a timeline, fighting for his life and the storyline he wished he saw as a child.

Having thoroughly enjoyed Tingle's previous book, Camp Damascus, I was very excited to receive NetGalley approval for his latest.

Here we have Misha, a much-lauded Hollywood writer, who's also pretty excited at the prospect of having his two female leads in the TV show he's currently scripting reveal their love for one another in the season finale. The studio he works for, however, wants the characters killed off. Apparently the audience LOVES queer tragedy. No happy endings for the gays, it seems . . .

And as if that's not enough, fictional creatures from the writer's horror movie past are coming out of the woodwork to terrorize him.

Can Misha figure out how to stop all this before his own life story becomes a queer tragedy?

This one had an imaginative premise, and a strong message, but the material seemed stretched from short story to novel length. Though there were some genuinely creepy moments, I had trouble staying focused on the story.

If only we could sic some of Tingle's "imaginary" monsters on the creators of Project 2025. What a wonderful, wonderful world this could be . . .

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.

I loved Camp Damascus last year, so I was excited when I saw that this book was coming out. My husband and I also watch a lot of movies which also played into my interest. This has lots of camp, which I also love. If you liked Camp Damascus or murder mysteries wrapped in horror, then this is for you.

Rating: 4.5/5

Rating: 4.5 stars

Telling stories has always been part of Misha’s life and he’s pretty good at it. His current show, a sci-fi mystery series, Travelers, is headed into its third season and his short film about a mouse has been nominated for an Oscar. When Misha is suddenly called into his boss’ office for a meeting, he’s pretty sure it’s just going to be a few notes on the new season, maybe some congratulations for the nomination. What he doesn’t expect is for Jack to tell him to kill off his characters.

Agents Lexa and Naomi, the stars of Travelers, have been in a will-they-won’t-they relationship for two seasons, and Misha was planning for season three to cement their romance. Now, Jack’s telling him has to either make one of them straight, or kill them off. Misha, of course, refuses, leaving the office in a fury. He can’t help but feel betrayed that Jack doesn’t believe in him, that he is letting some think-tank change his story because some poll says the numbers do better without Lexa and Naomi being allowed to be in love, and it pisses Misha off.

While venting to his best friend, Tara, at a cafe, Misha is accosted by a fan who looks just like a character from one of his movies: The Smoker. He is a monstrous, supernatural killer who promises to be seeing Misha in five days … when he comes to kill him. Misha has no idea what the fuck is going on, but he’s soon moving from anger to terror because The Smoker isn’t alone. While flying back home for a high school reunion, Misha sees Mrs. Why, a seven-foot tall alien whose touch destroys the minds and souls of those around her. Mrs. Why is a character on Travelers who shouldn’t … can’t … be real, but whose touch is killing the passengers around her as she struggles to get to Misha. And let’s not forget the Black Lamb, an eldritch creature from one of his early films, who stares at him with blank, wide eyes on a jogging path.

Is this a stunt by the studio to make him kill his characters? Is this just some prank by fans having a good time? Because the third option — that this is real — is too ridiculous and too frightening to be believed.

This book is a murder mystery wrapped in a horror novel, with some very visceral, gory moments and some wonderfully tragic ones. Misha has always looked at the world with a writer’s eye, seeing people — such as his boss, Jack, or Tara, or even his boyfriend Zeke — through the roles they fill: the sassy friend, the devoted boyfriend, the blustering but good natured boss. And yet, they’re still people. Jack and Tara and Zeke are all integral parts of Misha’s life, and when someone threatens them, he’s there to … well, to do his best. Even if it isn’t good enough.

There’s a scene where Jack’s life is being threatened and Misha, knowing he’s not a physically inclined individual, tries to bolster himself up by thinking “how would an action star handle this?” He tries to put himself in the mindset of a character who can do the things he wants to do, needs to do, to give him the courage to move. And yet, when it comes to being open with who he is when he’s not pretending to be a character, Misha tends to simply want to be invisible. It’s easier to people watch when you’re not a part of the crowd, but apart from it.

That invisibility, Misha’s desire to stay safe, leads to him heading to his high school reunion without Zeke, because Misha isn’t out, doesn’t feel safe telling everyone that he has a boyfriend. He knows this hurts Zeke, even as he apologizes for it. And Zeke, for his part, is understanding. Zeke is here for the long haul, expecting if not to be brought for the twenty-year anniversary, then maybe to come along for the fifty. Because he loves Misha. Misha leans on that love, sees Zeke as his rock, as one of the good things in his life. Their romance, while not the focus of the story, is made of warm and lovely moments sprinkled through the book, much as Misha’s relationship with Tara, an outspoken black, asexual woman who is more sarcasm and cutting wit than ‘sassy.’ She both supports and mocks Misha, loves him enough to yell at him when he needs it, and trusts him enough to run to him for help when she needs it.

I settled down to read this book after dinner. As it grew later, I thought .. one more page. I mean, I have to get to the end of the chapter. Then it was “one more chapter” and, before I knew it it, was two in the morning and I’d finished the book. The author has a gift in making this book just so approachable and readable and smooth. The pace was constant, with no lulls or slow moments, and the tension was on point, with a quiet and character-driven focus that kept me wanting to know what was going to happen next. Really, this was just so much fun to read.

Chuck Tingle went all the way in with this critique of capitalism, mass and social media, and cultural appropriation within a fast-paced time-is-running-out horror mystery. Misha, a television screenwriter, is urged to kill off his gay characters and his reluctance kicks off a series of increasingly frightening and dangerous events. Why are his most terrifying characters coming to life? Buckle your seatbelts, you'll love this bumpy ride.

This was a fun, gory take on the entertainment industry. I really liked the main trio and rooted for them throughout. There's a lot going on in this one. The social commentary was on point.

I tend to be a very squeamish reader who can't handle much gore. There were some parts that made me cringe here, but I got through them fairly easily. The story held my attention from start to finish and kept me guessing. The ending was bizarre in a fun way.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

Absolutely fantastic. It's a fun story with such good horror moments. Chuck Tingle has grown into such a great writer. It's more than horror but at the same time it shows how important horror and any genre is special because it allows people to explore ourselves. Can't wait to go pick up a physical copy for myself and the library. <3

MISHA BYRNE is a successful Hollywood screenwriter working with Harold Brothers Studios. He writes horror films with varying degrees of success, but he always has work. He has a beautiful, disturbed mind and his creations scared me.

TARA ITO is the brains leading the cybersecurity team for Harold Brothers Studios. She is wildly amazing and has the best fashion sense.

EZEKIEL ROMERO, Zeke, is the charming, lovable, supportive side character. His work is completely unrelated to HBS, but as Misha’s boyfriend, he is dragged into the story.

HAROLD BROTHERS STUDIOS… the less said the better. They are probably reading this right now.

CHUCK TINGLE is the mad genius that wrote the fantastically horrific novel, Bury Your Gays. It is a slasher flick fan’s dream ─ buckets or gore, homicidal maniacs, slow building tension, and a brilliant ending.

I want this book to be optioned for a movie release more than I can explain. While we are on the subject, I would like to watch Camp Damascus, Tingle’s previous novel, also. I love the fact that he wrote the events of that book into this one because I live for meta-references like this.

Content warning: violence, profanity, gore, homophobic slurs & stereotyping, child neglect, trauma

Campy but so incredibly relevant. Tingle has a way of making a story funny while also dealing with super relevant topics. Well done!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Tor Publishing for a digital ARC of this highly anticipated novel!

I love queer stories! I knew I had to read this book during pride month because it absolutely hit the nail on the head. Chuck Tingle had some excellent commentary on capitalism and the media’s desire to profit off of queer stories. I loved the application of artificial intelligence and how it juxtaposes the creative expression of writers in Hollywood. I feel like this is a really struggle with artists today and it was analyzed in such a clever way.

The characters in this story were so real and human to me. This made the storyline so compelling, especially following a queer but closeted writer. The dual timeline that shows his childhood trauma made his villains come to life and mirrors many of the villains LGBTQIA+ people encounter. This book gets extra points from me for the aro ace representation.

If you’re looking for a humorous but dark take on the “Bury Your Gays” trope in the media that provides relevant social commentary on both AI and capitalism, then Bury Your Gays is a great book to read- especially in the month of June!

Genuine edge of your seat situations, a fun look at the entertainment industry from someone clearly in the know. Emotionally impactful, humorous and at times bats ass crazy, one of those books you don't want to put down.

Misha is a Hollywood screenwriter who just got his first Oscar nomination for one of his short films. Despite this prestigious nomination he is currently in a stalemate with his producers as they want him to kill off one of his gay characters in the season finale for his tv show. Simply because “the algorithm” shows that it’s more profitable to have traumatic queer stories. Misha, obviously disgusted and enraged by this demand, decides to defy them and go forward with his original story line.

Around the same time Misha begins to be stalked by a some of the unsettling characters from his horror movies. At first he suspects them to be over enthusiastic fans pulling a prank, but the more they close on him the more he begins to suspect some other sinister motivation. With his past coming back to haunt him and the clock ticking down, Misha must uncover the truth behind his characters coming to life. As well as decide if he is ready to make a stand, and fully accept his queer identity.

I really enjoyed Camp Damascus by Chuck and it’s interesting to see how Bury Your Gays is structured using a similar formula. However despite this similar structure, they ended up with such different tones and themes. Bury Your Gays is all about corporate greed and the push to sacrifice artistic integrity in favor of soulless blockbuster fodder. It’s a lot more heavy on the horror and gore while leaning into fears of AI and the lengths corporations will go to earn a single buck more in profits. I really liked how it explored the way writers inject aspects of their own lives into their art, and how they can in turn overcome them through this medium.

This was super fast paced and had me constantly on the edge of my seat! I highly recommend.