Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle
Tor Nightfire (July 2024)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin
Bury Your Gays was my first Chuck Tingle read. The cover features Hollywood’s bright colors, palm trees, and a bloodied sledgehammer to break apart the pretense of glamor. The imagery reminds me of Ti West’s characters, Maxine and Pearl, and their fierce fight for fame.
Hollywood Horror is big this year with the release of Maxxxine, starring Mia Goth, Halsey, and Lily Collins, alongside books such as How To Make A Horror Movie And Survive by Craig Dilouie and Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay.
There’s no place like Hollywood. And for Misha, a screenwriter in Bury Your Gays, that’s all too true. The glitzy mask of celebrity conceals the developments of invasive technology, capitalism’s greed, and lackluster or lack of LGBTQ+ representation.
But he and his pal, Tara, a witty and loyal production tech, have always seen through it. This is even more true when Misha faces every artist’s worst nightmare — the relinquishment of creative control. The production company’s “board” suggests Misha kill off two of his queer characters, but he resists.
“I’m so f*cking sick of queer tragedy,” he argues. But executives say queer tragedy sells.
Disheartened, Misha leaves the studio, wrestling with the season finale script. He doesn’t want to contribute to the media’s romanticization of queer death. It’s an endless loop he’d be damned to be a part of.
Tragedy is inevitable. Fortunately, so is joy.
Misha’s character felt so real. Tingle works meticulously to guide readers through Misha’s trauma associated with queer baiting and killing off queer characters in a way that will change everyone who picks up this book. One of the most memorable and heartbreaking moments of Bury Your Gays is when a young Misha, a big fan of the Dark Encounters television series, watches every week as romance blossoms between two male agents. If you’ve seen the show, you already know how it ends; if you haven’t, I’ll politely grant you the experience of falling apart alongside Misha.
Through the dual narrative, Tingle depicts the dangers of queer erasure. The childhood flashbacks were some of the best chapters in Bury Your Gays. Books prompt empathy, and within these scenes, Tingle offers insight into the abuse and ignorance society has inflicted upon the LGBTQ+ community.
Bury Your Gays offers every shade of horror: cosmic, slasher, cult, and supernatural through manifestations of Misha’s characters, The Smoker, The Bride, and the one I feared most, Mrs. Why. Each strange encounter proves more terrifying than the last, and I still can’t shake these ghouls. I envisioned The Smoker as something like The Crooked Man meets The Babadook.
Need I say more?
Readers will fall in love with Misha’s character and die for the psychological terror and body horror in Bury Your Gays. I recommend it to those who like The X-Files and speculative horror and want their scares gay AF.
I can’t wait to pick up Camp Damascus.
