A little Twilight Zone vibes with the audiobook narration, with some awesome surprise narrators! I was super excited for this one after seeing lots of friends post about it and I really loved it. This was also my first Chuck Tingle book, and I was not expecting the books I saw when I looked up what other things they've written (iykyk). I'm definitely curious.

I loved the dark, mysterious and scary presence of this book. I really enjoyed the timeline jumps and having a secondary unknown narrator at points detailing events almost like I was listening to an episode of The Twilight Zone.

Without ruining the story, I loved where it went with the supernatural, unexplainable element and how everything played out. It definitely surprised me. I also really loved Misha's best friend and his boyfriend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for allowing me to listen to and review an advanced copy.

Look for it July 9th!

Fantastic audio adaptation of a very good book! Fun full cast sections break up a well read narration.

I’m going to be honest. This was my first Chuck Tingle novel and it was not what I expected. It was amazing, I expected it to be amazing but I expected…. Weirder?. I loved the horror, sci-fi of it. All the unexpected characters. I could not put it down! Can’t wait to get more into this catalogue and see what the especially weird ones are all about.

As soon as I saw the title and read the book description, I was wholeheartedly invested. Perhaps my intrigue stemmed from the synopsis’s eerie parallels to the controversial ending of the Supernatural TV series. Despite this odd initial connection, this book most certainly did not disappoint.

Chuck Tingle masterfully incorporates serious and contemplative themes into elements of horror, such as how technology—like visual AI—helps and hinders creative rights, childhood trauma, internalized homophobia, and the cutthroat entertainment industry. Ideas of LGBTQ+ identities with horror was a combination I didn’t realize I needed.

The characters were likable and relatable, making me invested in their successes and overall happiness. I often find that “horror” books sorely underdevelop their characters’ personalities and motivations, so my appreciation for the characters AND the author increased tenfold.

Don’t let Tingle’s other works stop you from reading this one! I’m not sure how his short stories are, but I at least know they are nothing like Bury Your Gays. Imagine my surprise at finding his other [hilarious] titles AFTER I completed the book. Without additional research, I never would have made the connection between Bury Your Gays and his other works, and that’s fine by me.

As a side note, I technically listened to the audiobook version of this instead of reading it. Although many narrators are listed, the story is predominantly told by one character, and therefore one narrator. I know multiple narrators can scare some people away because of the potential of frequently switching character perspectives, but this audiobook is well-executed.

I genuinely think this would make an awesome thriller movie, with its suspense, urgency, body horror, gore, and use of the supernatural. Typically I don’t affiliate actors with the characters I envision in my head, but without a doubt, Billy Eichner is who I imagined as Misha, with possibly Zachary Quinto as Zeke and Dan Levy somewhere else in there. Cheers to accurate gay representation in media!

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.

Bury Your Gays was my second Chuck Tingle book and it was unlike anything I have read before. I really enjoyed this book! I loved the narration. Andre did an amazing job with Misha along with the rest of the narration cast! The rawness, humor, and creepiness of characters came across so well!

Initially, I was unsure if I was going to appreciate the book as it included quite a bit of commentary/dialogue about Hollywood and movies that I have little knowledge of; however, it really came together and I grew to adore Misha and his story. I loved the juxtaposition between social commentary and horror/sci-fi, which can be tricky to do effectively. For me, Chuck killed it. Literally. I do not want to give anything away so I will try to keep this spoiler free.

I really enjoyed the volley between supernatural aspects and science fiction. You do not quite know until.. well, you know lol. I loved that I was kept in the dark, guessing. Additionally, Chuck did a phenomenal job with leaving me in crisis. The inclusion of the commoditization of queerness truly made me sit with that uncomfortableness. And the language use, and code-switching, had me delighted and cringing at the same time. I LOVED these details.

The horror representation in the villains of the story were both very real and fictionalized. The descriptions of the monsters were epic and creeped me out. Their movement, voices, and vibes honestly had me wishing they were from actual movies/television shows so I can watch them . Then the 'real world' monsters were horrific in a different way but made me uncomfortable in similar ways.

Where do I even start? I loved this. LOVED IT. I loved the established relationship between MIsha and Zeke, loved the acearo rep with Tara, and the way MIsha's fictional characters and the stories he crafted tied in to his life and decision-making, I loved that this was horror AND character development-forward AND queer and all meaningful. And also nostalgic for me as an older millennial, thinking about the shows I watched and read into their queer subtext to have my hopes dashed by reality but resurrected in fanfiction and daydreams. And a bonus, the icing on top, hearing some of my favorite authors narrate this. The audiobook was fabulous and I was engaged from the start. Definitely will be recommending this to friends when it's released. Can't wait to share it. Will update my review later closer to publishing time and thank you for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in advance.

I can't believe I almost passed on this book! Problem one: I originally saw it listed as Sci Fi & Fantasy which, yes, it is, but not entirely. Then, I saw it listed as also horror, a genre I tend to prefer a bit more. Problem two: I didn't believe that I was the target audience and, since I was requesting a NetGalley audiobook, I didn't want to take away the opportunity of someone who was the target audience. When I saw that not only did the audiobook have multicast narration but the list of who those narrators were... I had to go for it. Boy, would I be kicking myself now if I hadn't (or, well, not, because I wouldn't know what I had missed out on, but, you get the idea).

On to my real review! Did you love the meta horror of the movie The Cabin in the Woods? Do you have a soft spot for old-school horror (Misha, our main character, would be a Millennial and I am Gen X, if that helps you understand what I mean by "old-school horror"). Are you intelligent? Did you grow up "other," only to find your glory in adulthood? Do you believe in the Matrix? Do you have feelings re nanobots? Do you think it's really neat when authors build one plane of reality for all of their works to exist in?

***minor spoiler alert***Does the idea of an old-time cartoonist being killed by having a piano fall on their head give you the tingles?***minor spoiler end***

If all of the above apply to you, then you should rush out to obtain a copy of Bury Your Gays. What else did I love? How about a Porsche Taycan cameo? Or, actually being disappointed that some of these fictional works don't actually exist (Little Mouse!). I have a soft spot for stories that will jump back and forth in time and narrator, especially when it's done well (not where you get confused and have to flip back through pages to understand what's happening, super-annoying in a paper book but doubly so with an audiobook). Misha's ode to the horror genre should be quoted. This book has its funny moments, romantic moments, action-adventure moments, quite a few genres make their appearance.

Finally, a word on representation. This isn't a book for one audience. It's a book for everyone.

I would like to thank Macmillan Audio for allowing me to experience this NetGalley audiobook. It far exceed every one of my expectations. Bravissimo, Chuck Tingle!

Chuck Tingle comes back with a stunning, horror filled peak behind the movie making magic and the biggest villain of all: capitalism. With nods to his previous works, Tingle creates a story full of tension and immaculate scary monsters. He dives deep into horror story starts and how gay characters deserve everything.

Misha, an Oscar-nominated horror screenwriter, writes for a huge conglomerate movie studio. The studio just released a movie with an AI-generated star. The studio is also pressuring Misha to rewrite his season finale. Instead of the gay characters finding love, the studio wants Misha to kill off the characters, to “bury the gays.” Misha refuses.

Suddenly, Misha, his boyfriend Zeke and his best friend Tara, are haunted and hunted by the horror characters he created. (I listened to this on audiobook and I hope I spelled their names correctly!)

Bury Your Gays is fun yet scary, campy yet relevant, timely yet dealing with decades-old prejudices and stereotypes. Tingle hits that sweet spot for horror writers, where the gore and terror are tempered with strong characters in heartfelt relationships, who are dealing with real modern issues that are important to readers. Tingle tackles lqbtq+ erasure, algorithms/profits over art, uncontrollable AI, childhood trauma, found family, and ultimately self-acceptance and the right to joy.

The narration by Andre Santana was so very good, made even more captivating by a smattering of full cast scenes from a screenplay.

All in all, a scary, funny, heartrending and IMPORTANT book. Highly recommended.

Thank you Net Galley and Macmillan Audio for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

This was quite a story... It explores queer erasure in the face of capitalism in Hollywood and it also dives into the main character's experiences growing up gay, which shaped him and inform the decisions he makes in the present as a writer who's being forced to write out his gay characters from the TV show he has created.

It's a wild ride and there's body horror in it, but I wouldn't say it's super scary. It wasn't scary to me, it was just unsettling, which is great. This is a solid queer horror book, I just wish I connected with it a lot more at an emotional level.

The audiobook is amazing. It has a full cast, the parts that narrate the TV show have sound effects and everything so it's very immersive, and it was a great way to consume this story.

This was a great read and I was shocked I enjoyed it so much. The narrator(s) did a wonderful job bringing the characters’ voices to life. It was very thought provoking and the character development was very good. Great read!

I absolutely loved this! It's unnervingly timely with the looming threat of AI and the erosion of artists' and actors' rights and value. The plot and characters are compelling and I was soon swept up in Misha's dilemma and the terror stalking him. The horror ramps up gradually, with the present story line interspersed with flashbacks to pivotal moments in Misha's life that became the inspiration for his future tales of queer horror. It's delightfully chilling and unsettling, and the twist at the ending is so good! Running through the novel is the message that Misha is trying to convey - that queer stories can be any genre and have a wide range of characters, plots, and endings. And as Misha fights for his characters and their love story, he's also fighting for himself, and for his future. From start to finish, this is a wild ride and I loved it. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did such an amazing job! I liked how various authors had some small roles voicing different characters.

Dark yet hopeful, this horror tale brings the imaginary into the real world and shines a light on self sabotage and entertainment culture. Read by diverse superstars of the horror genre and immaculately crafted by Tingle, this novel is a sci-fi/horror treat. I think you’ll love the heart stopping pace, the tender relationships, and the eldritch nightmares.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy. These opinions are my own.

This was my first Chuck Tingle novel. I loved this book so much. The speech made me cry! I love how the novel tackles real issues in the film industry including the recent issue of AI. The narration was wonderful. I will definitely be recommending this book to my friends.

This book was pretty wild.

Misha is a Hollywood screenwriter who is being pressured to kill off his gay characters. When he refuses, he begins being haunted by his past, literally... it appears the monsters from his past movies are stalking him.

I really liked this one in the beginning. I went back and forth about how I felt about Misha. He was both likable and unlikable at the same time. It was such an intriguing concept when he first notices he is being stalked by his own monsters. At first you don't know if there is a realistic answer or something supernatural.

A little more than halfway through, the book picks up and gets pretty crazy, By the end of the book, the plotline was a little too sci-fi for me, and it lost me. I definitely did not understand the answer behind what was happening.

Overall, I would recommend this to people who are fans of sci-fi horror.

Bury Your Gays is such a fun, campy, wild ride of a book! We follow Misha, a Hollywood writer who writes horror with ambiguously gay characters. When he wants to write two openly gay characters, his publishing group tells him he must bury his gays and kill them off. He refuses and chaos ensues.

Misha was a fun character to star in this book and we get enough of his backstory to find him empathetic and relatable. His boyfriend Zeke and best friend Tara are also well written characters who I cared for. Chuck Tingle’s commentary on Hollywood and society’s view of queer joy was on point and so necessary to hear!

I read this via audiobook and thought the narrator did an amazing job! There were meta segments throughout that were brilliantly edited and voice acted. This was a well done audiobook that I would broadly recommend. I’ll definitely be going back and listening to Chuck Tingle’s previous horror novel and checking out his future works!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for access to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

A star-studded voice cast to add to the already bubbling excitement for the next installment in the Tingleverse!

I was fortunate enough to receive all versions of this ARC because I have become a Tingle super fan and when I read the cast list for the audiobook, I was immediately rushing for the request button. I was not disappointed.

This will be one of the best audiobooks of the year and its eerie and smart look at how the entertainment industry treats creators is nothing short of a masterclass. Well done once again Chuck!

Original Book Review:

"Horror offers a chance to recognize this truth, to explore dark places in a safe way," the fascination with themes of queer embodiment in horror is torn wide open in this new installment to the Tingleverse, by camp king Chuck Tingle.

The story is a fascinating one, a writer is being pushed by big wig executives to kill off his TV series FMC's after their coming out episode while simultaneously being haunted by the monsters of pictures past. This story is incredibly smart, fun, and a quick-witted take on the "bury your gays" phenomenon in entertainment. What I was not expecting was great dialogue around the ethics of AI, coming out, commodification of queerness/pink dollars, and a thoughtful discussion around horror as a playground to explore dark ideas in a safe way. When something as basic as your identity puts you at risk, why wouldn't you indulge in what this horrible world has to offer through the lens of your own imagination?

The characters are campy and fun, the insertion of screenplay excerpts successfully disorients the reader, and the nod to slasher films will put a grin on any seasoned horror fans face.

This is my first Tingle book and I will definitely be watching his career as he continues to map out his literary universe. 5 Stars.

Chuck Tingle, the best author in the history of the world, has done it again. Another wonderful queer forward horror that sets it apart from other horrors. It's a very easy read. I ate it up like the dessert at an all-you-can-eat buffet. It has a likeable character put in a scary situation with a wonderfully unique antagonist. In true Tingle fashion he as a lot to say and there are more layers than an onion. I will own this and read this again.

"How about I just write whatever the f@#$ I want?"
Indeed, Chuck Tingle clearly did write a story from the heart, and it is brilliant. Nearly every character is LGBTQIA+. The plot is beautifully layered, emotionally dark, cathartic, and horrifying. It was so far from predictable that I found myself utterly complacent to just go along for the ride in this one. Finding the joy was exquisite and completely unexpected given the genre. This book truly defies description and genre, but not in a messy way. It is a gorgeous representation of what this demographic truly is at their core: people trying to see themselves successful and living out their dreams. At the same time it is a criticism of corporate culture and greed, AI art, and homophobia.

Read this for the representation.
Read this for the cultural criticism.
Read this for the joy.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, and I can't recommend it strongly enough.

A note about the audiobook: another reviewer has mentioned despite the large voice cast, most of this is read by Andre Santana. The majority of the others listed only have a line or two. Santana does a fantastic job bringing Misha to life for this.