Title: Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle
Publication Date- 07/09/24
Publisher- Tor Publishing
Overall Rating- 5 out of 5 stars

Review: Review copy given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Review: There are so many good things to say about this story. I have also read Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle and there is one small connection between the books but you don’t need to read one to read the other by any means. It’s basically just an easter egg if you have read them both.

Some things I loved about this story: first and foremost it’s refreshing and creative. Chuck Tingle is able to think and write about queerness in such a dynamic and personal way adding engaging and realistic commentary.

I really loved the idea of an author being haunted by their own stories. We get to meet many of the characters that our MC has created for film as they come back to haunt and stalk him. The horror elements are unsettling and actually scary at times. I found myself so lost in this story and excited/ worried about where it was going to go next.

There is a lot of commentary on queerness and media, I will let the book speak for itself on that one. There is also some commentary on AI and writing in the film and TV industry. It’s not just about killing off gay characters in stories but killing them before you get a happily ever after. Media is really struggling to show happily ever afters for lots of groups of people. This books also discusses how important it is that we feel represented in media and validated/ empowered by others stories. Those stories much be shown.

Please read this book. It’s both serious and fun, creepy and haunting. I loved it.

**4.5-stars**

Bury Your Gays is a novel that's perfectly-aligned with a new trend in my reading for 2024, and that is reading books set in, or revolving around, the television and movie industry. I wasn't sure what to expect when I first picked this up. I've heard great things about this author's 2023-release, Camp Damascus, but I've never actually read their work before. My final judgement = I need more Tingle!!!

In this story we are following Misha, a long-time Hollywood script writer who has just been nominated for his first Oscar. It's as he is on the precipice of this great event that he gets called into a meeting with a studio executive and told that he needs to kill off two popular gay characters from his Travelers series. Misha is alarmed. He doesn't want to do that; not at all, but he's told if he doesn't he may be let go.
Thus, the highest of highs and the lowest of lows hit our MC pretty much simultaneously. His back is to the wall and he is struggling to make a decision. What is he going to do?

The synopsis doesn't really go into too much of the action here, therefore, I don't want to either. All I will say is that I was pleasantly surprised to discover this involves one of my favorite Horror tropes, and that's dark fictional characters coming to life and interacting with their creators.

I loved how Tingle decided to tell Misha's story. In the current timeline, we get to know a bit about his work and personal life, but we also get glimpses into Misha's past through sections aptly referred to as, Inspiration. These sections were among my favorites. It's there we learn the pivotal moments and people from Misha's life that helped to shape his writing. These sections felt intimate and had a lovely Coming of Age quality to them that I found incredibly captivating.

In additional to the fantastic character work and strong writing, I thoroughly enjoyed the social commentary and reflective exploration of issues within this novel. In particular, I found it to be thought-provoking in the area of intellectual property rights, the power of creators and their rights to their work. I also enjoyed how Tingle touched upon the greed within the system, and the development and use of AI in writing and the arts.

You'll never think of the algorithm the same again...

I did listen to the audiobook and cannot recommend that format highly enough. It's a full cast audio with sound effects that truly help bring this crazy story to life. I would recommend this to every Horror Reader, but particularly to Social Horror lovers, or those looking for strong Queer stories. Also, if you were a fan of The X-Files, something about this one just brought that to mind for me; maybe the light SF concepts, or the villains...

Thank you so much to the publisher, Tor Nightfire and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. The audio production was chef's kiss! This book is smart, original, engaging and eerie. I walk away with a full heart, looking forward to more from Tingle!

I would be remiss to let Pride Month end without spotlighting a queer horror novel. And who better to spotlight than Chuck Tingle? Last summer he found success with Camp Damascus and this summer he’s bringing another horror novel to your shelves: Bury Your Gays. Arriving July 9th from Tor Nightfire, this novel examines queer realities through a media lens. Brimming with references, heart, and some gnarly monsters, Bury Your Gays is one you won’t want to put down—I didn’t.

I’ll admit when I first started this book I thought it was a short story collection. I don’t know why. I am choosing to blame a combination of the second chapter being called “Inspiration” and the stellar audiobook cast. I guess in my mind each voice actor was going to read a story? I digress; it is a novel, inspirations and all. A meta novel in ways, yes, but I love that. My own bias toward stories about writing aside, this aspect serves the plot. It fits the characters. That’s what good narrative decisions do.

So, about that plot. Our main character, Misha, is a writer. He writes screenplays rather than books, but he does specialize in queer horror. Sound familiar? He’s also still largely closeted; only out with those close to him who are safe. Misha’s inner world is kept private with one exception: his monsters. Throughout the book the reader sees how the traumas he experienced growing up impacted his writing. More interestingly, we see the monsters themselves. Somehow, someway, they’ve left the silver screen.

That inspiration chapter that threw me off a little at first wasn’t from Tingle’s POV, but Misha’s. And that’s not the only bit of meta storytelling happening in Bury Your Gays. This is a book dealing with art as numbers, as trends, as dollars. It is a book dealing with rainbow capitalism and the prevalence on queer trauma. Basically, this is a queer horror book about queer horror. The way Tingle discusses and plays with tropes and especially genre to make his points and tell a compelling story was genius. It is clear he understands.

More to the point of that understanding, it’s clear how much he cares. The references coded in these pages, from character names to plot points, gave new life to the characters sacrificed on the altar of the trope the book is named for. To “bury your gays” means to kill off your queer characters—often right after they’ve come out, found happiness, got that kiss (or more). The idea being you can have queer characters but only if they die. I recognized names here that brought me back to fandoms and ships from a decade ago. It brought me back to the pain of losing these characters in these ways and wondering why it hurt me so much.

In short, Bury Your Gays is a love letter and memorial. It is a razor sharp analysis and critique of how, where, when, and why queer stories are told. A story of who they are told by. And it does all of this with terrifying monsters, oppressive forces, and a ticking clock. The horror genre itself is part of this love letter, really. I am truly amazed just how much Tingle managed to say without this book feeling dense or like a TED talk. I buddy-read this with a friend and we both read the last half in one day. The tension and the way the pieces started falling into place was too good to stop. We had to know where this was going and what was going to happen next. I highly recommend this to horror fans, clearly, but even to those who don’t read horror but found some of these words resonant: this book is for you.

Happy Pride!

Chuck Tingle has come a long way from his days of writing parody monster porn, and BURY YOUR GAYS has truly solidified him as a legit horror author. BURY YOUR GAYS is not only an incisive satire and examination of Hollywood, performative corporate allyship, the bottom line, and the way that all these things have a negative effect on LGBTQIA+ art and creators. It is also a genuinely scary horror novel, with lots of terrifying imagery, some well done suspenseful moments, well rounded characters, and a true hopeful heart at its center. I really enjoyed this book, and I am so happy that we have Chuck Tingle in the literary horror world.

This queer horror story blew me away. It equal parts freaked me out and made me want to cry. This was deep & had so many layers to it. The way Hollywood was described & the monsters within was *chefs kiss*, and I loved the way the author dissected the many undertones of popular horror films. Night of the Living Dead isn’t really about zombies, it’s about racism. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is full of pro-vegetarian subtext, and They Live is more about rampant consumerism than aliens. This book will have you analyzing a lot of horror culture & seeing queer characters and films in a new light.

“Zombies, Leatherface, and space invaders aren’t real, either,” I counter. “But racism, factory farming, and unchecked corporate greed are.”

This was horrifying, gory, unique, and profound. If you’re a fan of the horror genre then I absolutely urge you to add this to your TBR! This publishes on July 9! Thank you Tor Nightfire for this advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

So I came into this a full roaring buckaroo ready for my second moment in Mr. Tingle”s Tingleverse. I Think I might be enlisting as “Head Buckaroo of Defense” Protect this man at all costs. I felt seen and heard and loved in a horror novel. I expected as much but was blown away. This is Queer erasure from inception to death. 100% Pure love.

A book based on the media trope known as "bury your gays" sounds bleak and fatalistic but when it's written by an author who truly believes love can conquer all, we get a horror book that doesn't skimp on the terror and doubles down on hope.
who is this book for?
Readers who love...
-QUEER AF HORROR STORIES
-The importance of art and creation as authentic human expression
-The power of creators
-The power of love and friendship
-Books set in Hollywood and cracking the veneer--that fake glossy shine
-Fighting against corporate greed, capitalism, and AI
-Dual narratives/past and present
-A main character to fall in love with, Misha is so REAL
-Some genuinely creepy super villains--gave me X-Files vibes

🌈 Bury Your Gays 🌈
Pub date: July 9, 2024
This one was ✨amazing✨. The Hollywood setting of this one was so dang fun! All the “insider” views, while horrifying, hit me in the feels. It probably hits way too close to home for many people. I had no idea where the book was gonna take us but when we got there 🤯 Another amazing and perfect summer horror

Misha, a queer horror screenwriter, rebels against his production company when they insists that he kills off his gay characters in the season finale. Misha’s dream is to reveal them as out and proud couple, but the producer’s algorithm date reveals they’d get bigger numbers in their demise.

In a big F.U. to his producers, Misha decides he is not going to kill them off when suddenly some of Misha’s former fictional characters come to fruition and wreak havoc on his life. So much death. Is Misha losing his mind because none of this can be real?

Determined to get down to the bottom of these supernatural and disturbing occurrences, Misha demands answers from his boss and gets an answer he was not expecting.

My thoughts:
☁️☁️☁️
Oh. My. God. This was so GORY, HORRIFYING and deliciously wicked! I LOVED it and could not put it down! So CREEPY and weird! TWISTED and terrifying! Superb SUPERNATURAL story and fantastic ending!

Y’all have got to read this SURPRISING horror!

Fans of Stephen King, Rachel Harrison and Dean Koontz need to pick this up ASAP!

If you are anything like me, you want to know the main question: Is there going to be justice for our gay faves here? Vengeance for Lexa kom Trikru? Ah, I cannot tell you that, but I can tell you this: There is an actual gay character named Lexa. In case you need this even more now that I gave you that helpful tidbit.


We meet Misha, who is a TV and movie writer who has just been told that he has to kill off his show's main characters- and newly-sailed-ship- Agent Lexa(!!) and Agent Naomi. He is very firmly and clearly giving this a hard "no". But the studio is not budging, and Misha starts to see just how far they're willing to go to get what they want. In fact, they have just used AI to reanimate a deceased actor who is now up for an Oscar for "his" new, completely posthumus movie. It's completely relevant to today's AI debate, and also according to one of the characters, "horrifically ghoulish and probably the end of the world”. I concur.

Anyway, there's a reason that this synopsis is so short, and that is because you should go into it as blindly as possible. So do that! And know that when you do, you're going to encounter a lot of great, well-developed characters, a lot of action and surprise and twists, and most of all, incredible commentary on all kinds of topics, including what matters to studios (hint: it isn't human beings).

Bottom Line: Spot-on commentary with an incredibly exciting plot and characters I loved, this was an absolute hit!

This is the first Chuck Tingle book I have read, though I know he has quite the prolific repertoire. I went into this book thinking I was going to get a queer horror story with equal amounts of gore and hysterical antics. This book was exactly that, but also so much more. Chuck takes the old cliche of queer characters in horror and twists it on its head, revealing a story that is inspiring and revelatory. It's tough to even categorize a story like this as any one thing. Bury Your Gays is simultaneously a horror, thriller, comedy, romance, allegory, and literal criticism of queer stories produced by the capitalism-driven Hollywood machine. Its about relationships to our friends, our partners, our work, our art, and everything in-between.

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the e-ARC and audio-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Bury Your Gays was so campy and I loved it! It kind of gave off Scream vibes which is one of my favorite horror series ever. I was entertained from the beginning and it continued until the last page. My favorite thing about the audiobook specifically though was the incredible list of narrators. That was so cool and I think added a lot to the experience.

This is definitely a book that you should go into without knowing too much besides that it follows a semi successful queer horror screen writer who is also semi-closeted. When the studio tells him that he needs to change his script by killing off the queer characters, strange and deadly things start to happen.

If you haven't read Chuck Tingle's previous horror book, Camp Damascus, and you're wondering which one to pick up, remember this: Camp Damascus is quite emotional impactful and intense whereas Bury Your Gays handles tough subjects as well but in a campy, moving way.

I love this book! Tingle does an excellent job of showcasing how queerness is an integral part of a character's identity, inseparable but still only one aspect. The commentary, both explicit and implicit, on queer representation in media is thought-provoking, but it's delivered alongside chills, thrills and gore that keep the book entertaining and easy to read. I finished it in one sitting.

4⭐️

Ever since he was a child, Misha had been looking for someone like him on TV. An out and proud gay character on TV or film when he was a child would have done wonders on the the closeted kid in Montana. As an adult, Misha became a scriptwriter in Hollywood and he's the one in charge of the gay character's fate. But when the producers pressure him to kill off one of his gay characters for the season finale, Misha runs into a problem. His past characters and past mistakes have started to haunt him and he must risk everything to change the way Hollywood thinks of their gay characters.

I really enjoyed this. It was a great social commentary on corporate greed based off of queer tragedy mixed with a lot of body and psychological horror. I can think of many pieces of media as I've grown up that queer bating involved and if there was an actual queer character, you knew more than likely something horrific was going to happen to them. I liked the way that Misha fought so hard to go against the standard Bury Your Gays trope and I really liked the way he became more comfortable with himself and his sexuality, all while fighting off he horrors following him.

Misha's previous fictional villains being the villains in this story was such a great move. These characters mixed with the flashbacks felt like an authentic build for Misha to work through his past trauma's. Along with all the social commentary, this book really showed that no matter how hard you try you can't outrun your past. I think that Misha working through his past could be scarier than the monsters.

Thanks Netgalley and Tor Nightfire for providing this ARC to me!

This was almost too realistic of a book to be enjoyable, which is really a positive review when it comes to horror. I am a sucker for any book with an ace character, especially one whose asexuality is actually part of the plot and not just a throwaway label. Some great sci-fi and body horror elements too!

Book: Bury Your Gays
Author: Chuck Tingle
Publisher: Tor Nightfire
Estimated Publication Date: July 9th 2024
Capone’s Rating: 5 of 5 ⭐s

No intentional spoilers, but reveals are implied—strong recommendation here that you skip this review and read Bury Your Gays immediately, without knowing anything about its plot.

Chuck Tingle’s Bury Your Gays is 12% guts, 13% jokes, and all heart. Wait—it’s 40% gay Scream plus 60% The X Files homage. And remember that film Enemy of the State? Throw that in the mix for good measure. In a thriller-horror novel following Camp Damascus, a chiller rendering the terrors of conversion-therapy camps as obvious as they are awful, Tingle’s again relates queer struggles that are almost intentionally ignored in the straight world (to everyone’s detriment). In this followup, Tingle writes of Misha, a Hollywood figure wrestling with his public identity as an ambiguously gay show writer. While the story’s internal conflict is about whether or not Misha feels safe to be out in every area of his life, its external conflict is driven by the trope of popular media writing off queer characters or having them die in a blaze of straight-person-saving glory. Specifically in this case, Misha is commanded by the powers that be (who turn out to be quite powerful indeed) to do just that: to kill off his gay characters in the final episode of a successful TV show he’s written. He doesn’t want to do this, of course. Enter: conflict. Misha’s also in the running for an Oscar for a short film, which adds to some of the tension of the story and plays out with an intensity that had my eyes bulging and my kids wondering what was so shocking. (Truly, I read a lot of horror, and I read a lot, period, and the second half of this book had me almost racing to finish and to find out what’ll happen to a cast of characters of which I’d grown so fond.) They watch me read some 120 books a year and have never seen this look on my face before today. I can’t wait to buy them a copy of this book. So the story plays out, and there are forces at work that put our hero’s very life at risk—along with that of everyone who knows him or happens to be standing near him at any given time.

Bury Your Gays is a tremendous success. Hilarious, gross, and heart-warming; this mostly straight reader connected emotionally to what friends have described as a common experience of a queer person being excluded, vilified, or used as a prop for someone else exorcizing their own potential queerness. Horror often helps us to express our fears and traumas in ways that are more accessible than sharing therapy sessions with the public, and Chuck Tingle connects me to his characters on a genuine emotional level. The joking-but-serious tone here works, contributing to my love for the story.

I’ve got one more thing to add to this review, and it’s going to seem like a reach, but please, follow Professor Capone for just another moment.

When Socrates tells Glaucon in The Republic that he’s going to describe a city where Justice reigns, he does so in the context of describing what Justice is. Glaucon, his interlocutor, had claimed that we’re essentially backed into a corner and have to accept justice because we’re too weak to take what we want and get away with it. Socrates doesn't cotton to this way of thinking. In defending his own view of Justice, he has to say what it is, but that’s tough—and maybe boring. So he tells a story. Justice will be easier to see if writ large, he explains—described by way of a thought experiment. He goes on to describe what Philosophy 101 students know as The Republic, which is often taught (wrongly) as “Plato’s ideal city-state.” If you figured me for comparing Chuck Tingle to Plato or the character Socrates, you’d be right. In Bury Your Gays, as in Camp Damascus, Tingle makes apparent through exaggeration and metaphor the stuff that wouldn’t grab our attention as clearly without figurative language and in the mode of literature. What people might ignore or instinctively battle in a political debate may be understood more clearly on an emotional level through storytelling. “Love is real,” as Tingle says in his afterword (and every time he speaks or writes, I think), and the message comes through in Bury Your Gays, loud and clear. Five goddamned stars.

Thanks NetGalley and Tor for an advanced copy of this book.

Bury Your Gays takes an honest and terrifying look at the Hollywood money machine. While the monsters Misha, a screenwriter, has created based on his childhood traumas are horrifying and violent, perhaps the most frightening aspect of the novel is the advancement of technology to fuel soulless corporate greed and to capitalize on other people's trauma. There's plenty of dread, yucky gore, poignant flashbacks, and humor. The novel is also a tribute to many horror and speculative classics in film and television. It's such a fun ride.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Chuck Tingle, and Tor Nightfire for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I can truly say I haven't read a book like this before, and for that, I commend Tingle greatly for his creativity! This book is definitely unique and creative, and ironically, I think it would make a great movie. There's a little bit of a lot of things here: horror, mystery, humor, sci-fi, LGBTQ+ commentary and themes. Because there's a little bit of a lot, I don't think it quite worked fully for me. Certain things were a bit too on the nose/cheesy for my liking, while other things confused me a bit based on their pacing and timing. I never felt super connected to Misha as a protagonist, and I had a hard time getting into the story as a whole. As stated before, it's very original, which I enjoyed, and there are certain scenes that I was super hooked into. But ultimately, it felt like I kind of had to force myself to finish this, making it a miss for me as a whole. Props for the commentary on queer joy though, as we always need more of that!

This was one of the most fun and heartfelt horror books I've read in a while! It is the PERFECT summer horror read. The characters were people I'd love grab a beer with and watch trashy reality, so watching them try to escape the unusual, terrifying events had me on the edge of my seat. Part of what made this book so fantastic was the inventiveness and tension of the horror scenes. The monsters varied widely and I even felt claustrophobic as some of the frightening scenes unfolded. The airplane scene just about killed me! Absolutely recommend this to any horror fan or someone wanting to dip their toe into the genre.

This book was not what I was expecting in the slightest, but that turned out to be a good thing.
Burt Your Gays is an excellent commentary on media consumerism, and how queerness is often coupled with tragedy because that’s what “sells”.
This book was certainly more of a horror comedy than anything else, at some points making me laugh out loud at shake my head.
Overall, a very wild and gory ride that was enjoyable and heartfelt!