As Halloween comes around again, we're taking another look at queer horror with black queer protagonists and narratives. From gruesome graphic novels to seductive queer vampires and camp slashers, here are ten queer horror books and comics with black characters at the center:
YA Fantasy Horror
Queer Rep: Queer Men
Reading Age: 14+
A Lesson in Vengeance meets The Taking of Jake Livingston in this page-turning YA horror/fantasy set in dark academia about a queer Black teen who discovers the sinister history of his boarding school and the corrupt powers behind it all.
Regent Academy has a long and storied history in Winslow, Vermont, as does the forest that surrounds it. The school is known for molding teens into leaders, but its history is far more nefarious.
Seventeen-year-old Douglas Jones wants nothing to do with Regent's king-making; he’s just trying to survive. But then a student is murdered and, for some reason, by the next day no one remembers him having ever existed, except for Douglas and the groundskeeper's son, Everett Everley. In his determination to uncover the truth, Douglas awakens a horror hidden within the forest, unearthing secrets that have been buried for centuries. A vengeful creature wants blood as payment for a debt more than 300 years in the making—or it will swallow all of Winslow in darkness.
YA Slasher Horror/Mystery
Queer Rep: Queer Women
Reading Age: 14+
At Camp Mirror Lake, terror is the name of the game . . . but can you survive the night?
Charity Curtis has the summer job of her dreams, playing the “final girl” at Camp Mirror Lake. Guests pay to be scared in this full-contact terror game, as Charity and her summer crew recreate scenes from a classic slasher film, Curse of Camp Mirror Lake. The more realistic the fear, the better for business.
But the last weekend of the season, Charity's co-workers begin disappearing. And when one ends up dead, Charity's role as the final girl suddenly becomes all too real. If Charity and her girlfriend Bezi hope to survive the night, they'll need figure out what this killer is after. Is there is more to the story of Mirror Lake and its dangerous past than Charity ever suspected? Perfect for fans of Fear Street.
80s Horror Graphic Novel
Queer Rep: Queer Men
Reading Age: 14+
A supernatural 80s throwback perfect for fans of Stranger Things via Killer Queens! Small town. Ohio, 1986. All Kenny and Ted want is to not feel like outcasts.
What happens when a pair of X-ray glasses mysteriously appear? The magic specs open a world of possibilities for these misfit teens through the granting of literal wishes! Things start out innocent, but when they wish that their bully would disappear, things take a cursed turn, with far darker consequences than they thought possible... In this mysterious and nostalgic tale from writer David M. Booher and artist Chris Shehan (House of Slaughter), Kenny and Ted realize they've received much more than they bargained for...
Collects Specs volumes 1-4.
Horror Graphic Novel
Queer Rep: Trans Men, Queer Families
Reading Age: 18+
The neighbors are anything but what they seem… When Janet and Oliver Gowdie move to a quaint mountain town, their teenage daughter Casey and two-year-old Isobel become part of a horrific chain of events that will forever change their family...
It’s impossible to know who to trust or who is still human. Casey’s behavior is increasingly unpredictable. Janet is more distant. Isobel is happy-go-lucky and seems to enjoy the attention poured onto her by Agnes. And Oliver? He’s out to uncover whatever malevolent forces seems to have taken root under and inside his home. Steeped in Celtic, Irish and English folklore, Jude Ellison S. Doyle joins artist Letizia Cadonici, and colorist Alessandro Santoro to tread new ground in changeling horror. A tale perfect for fans of Eat the Rich and The Nice House on the Lake!.
Gothic Horror
Queer Rep: Queer Women
Reading Age: 18+
Marion Shaw has been raised in the slums, where want and deprivation is all she knows. Despite longing to leave the city and its miseries, she has no real hope of escape until the day she spots a peculiar listing in the newspaper, seeking a bloodmaid.
Though she knows little about the far north--where wealthy nobles live in luxury and drink the blood of those in their service--Marion applies to the position. In a matter of days, she finds herself the newest bloodmaid at the notorious House of Hunger. There, Marion is swept into a world of dark debauchery--and at the center of it all is her.
Countess Lisavet, who presides over this hedonistic court, is loved and feared in equal measure. She takes a special interest in Marion. Lisavet is magnetic, and Marion is eager to please her new mistress. But when her fellow bloodmaids begin to go missing in the night, Marion is thrust into a vicious game of cat and mouse. She'll need to learn the rules of her new home--and fast--or its halls will soon become her grave.
YA Horror/Thriller
Queer Rep: Queer Men
Reading Age: 14+
Jake Livingston is one of the only Black kids at St. Clair Prep, one of the others being his infinitely more popular older brother. It’s hard enough fitting in but to make matters worse and definitely more complicated, Jake can see the dead.
In fact he sees the dead around him all the time. Most are harmless. Stuck in their death loops as they relive their deaths over and over again, they don’t interact often with people. But then Jake meets Sawyer. A troubled teen who shot and killed six kids at a local high school last year before taking his own life. Now a powerful, vengeful ghost, he has plans for his afterlife–plans that include Jake. Suddenly, everything Jake knows about ghosts and the rules to life itself go out the window as Sawyer begins haunting him and bodies turn up in his neighborhood. High school soon becomes a survival game–one Jake is not sure he’s going to win.
Perfect for fans of Get Out and Danielle Vega.
Violent Horror Graphic Novel
Queer Rep: Queer Men
Reading Age: 18+
Uncover a story of the Scarlet Masks within the House of Slaughter as the secrets of the world of Something Is Killing The Children are laid bare!
What secrets do the mysterious scribes of the Order of St. George, the Scarlet Masks, record within the shadows of the House of Slaughter? Enamored with stories of ancient hunters, as well as those in his midst, Edwin Slaughter only gets to write the stories... never live them.
That is, until a legendary Oscuratype that's taken the lives of countless children brings Edwin into the field. Will he live to survive long enough to document his experience, or perish with his story left untold?
Four volumes currently available.
YA Slasher /Mystery Thriller
Queer Rep: Queer Women
Reading Age: 14+
A group of friends fight to choose their own fates in this trope-savvy, self-referential young adult thriller from the acclaimed author of Their Vicious Games , about a demonic force that acts according to horror movie rules in the spirit of the Scream movies.
Devon is always being left behind by her genius twin sister, Drew. At this point, it’s a fact of life. But Devon has one last plan before Drew leaves for college a whole year early—The Best Summer Ever. After committing to the bit a little too much, the twins and their chaotic circle of friends learn why you don’t ever mess with a Ouija board if you want to actually survive the Best Summer Ever, and soon find themselves being hunted down by…a demon?
But while there’s no mistaking the creeping, venomous figure is not from around here, their method doesn’t feel very demonic at all. In fact, it’s downright human—going after them in typical slasher movie kill order. And that means Devon, the blonde, is up first and her decade-long crush, Yaya, is the Final Girl who must kill or be killed to end the cycle.
Supernatural Horror Graphic Novel
Queer Rep: Queer Women
Reading Age: 18+
If supernatural horror is more your thing, the Hugo Award-nominated series Abbott may be just what you're looking for!
On the eve of the 1980s and the Reagan Administration, Detroit is burdened with an oppressive darkness–both political and supernatural. Dejected and tough tabloid reporter Elena Abbott, who previously defeated the occult forces responsible for her husband’s death, must dig herself out from rock bottom if she’s going to save Detroit from the Umbra, one last time.
You can also find the previous volume - Abott 1973 - HERE
YA Slasher Horror
Queer Rep: Queer Women
Reading Age: 14+
A shocking, spine-chilling YA horror slasher about a girl searching for her dead mother’s body at the summer camp that was once her serial killer father’s home—perfect for fans of Friday the 13th and White Smoke
Temple Baker knows that evil runs in her blood. Her father is the North Point Killer, an infamous serial killer known for how he marked each of his victims with a brand. He was convicted for murdering 20 people and was the talk of countless true crime blogs for years. Some say he was possessed by a demon. Some say that they never found all his victims. Some say that even though he’s now behind bars, people are still dying in the woods. Despite everything though, Temple never believed that her dad killed her mom. But when he confesses to that crime while on death row, she has no choice but to return to his old hunting grounds to try see if she can find a body and prove it.
Do you have a queer book recommendation that you think more people should be reading? Why not leave a comment below or send us a message at contact@proud-geek.co.uk ✌
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