Chuck Tingle

From Chuck Tingle, author of the USA Today bestselling Camp Damascus, comes a new heart-pounding story about what it takes to succeed in a world that wants you dead. 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.

Bury Your Gays

I enjoyed the commentary on the rise of AI and society’s reliance on it as well as how destructive rainbow capitalism is. While I wasn’t in love with any of the characters, I think the story served its intended purpose and will stay with me. Some parts were very on the nose where I prefer more subtly, but overall, this was creative and fun. Chuck Tingle is 2/2 with me.

Nik ✨

Would recommend for a light horror/deep spooky read, good if you’re not a horror fan. 

Elizabeth

My maw was absolutely agape at the uncanny redundancy of certain words

Robert Vetter

Dread creeps up on you while you read this intentionally meta take on how Hollywood still makes a writer/creator ‘bury their gays’ despite it being modern times.

It was nice to have studio in on it, as they are often the ‘creators of monsters’

Rabia Sitabi

Dread creeps up on you while you read this intentionally meta take on how Hollywood still makes a writer/creator ‘bury their gays’ despite it being modern times.

It was nice to have studio in on it, as they are often the ‘creators of monsters’

Thanks to NetGalley, Tor Nightfire and Macmillan Audio for the ARC, I really enjoyed this one!

This was a first for me from the author, and I’m quite satisfied with the outcome. This is part commentary/satire of Hollywood, social media, and the all powerful algorithm, part supernatural, part slasher, and even part trauma story. The blend is unique, and I imagine probably quite hard to balance, but the author does it fantastically.

Misha is a screenwriter, doing his best to write characters and stories that he never got to see as a kid. Unfortunately, he is still beholden to the world that we live in, where characters are at best perhaps gay, rather than openly out. The author does a fantastic job of showcasing the conflict and intricacies within by having Misha himself being only “LA out,” but not officially out to his family or hometown. And that is where the trauma lies.

In the ever-growing scifi world we live in, with holograms and cloning and AI-altering, the author perfectly lines up a horror story that’s just farfetched enough to read as near future. When Misha’s boss sits him down, stating that the company wants his characters killed, rather than getting their excruciatingly earned and beautiful outing, Misha is understandably outraged. Even refusing and promising a lawsuit even after being (not so) more or less discreetly threatened.

The idea that the company he worked so hard for, made money for, would come after him was simply too absurd to put any faith in. So when characters from Misha’s filmography start popping up and interfering with his life, he assumes it’s nothing more than a cosplaying prank. Some well done cosmetics, a high quality costume, a well planned and tailored prank set to make Misha feel frightened enough to submit. Nothing more. But as his more outlandish characters start to appear, and the body count starts to grow, Misha learns it’s anything but a prank.

Is this a horror novel, is it horrific? Yes of course. There are interesting villains and kills, and the villain at large is something wholly unique. But what makes this book so good is what it’s actually saying.

The author ends this harrowing trial by flipping the script. This is not just a trauma story, we are not simply our past, nor are we our fears. Misha gets to give a beautiful speech in which he finally announces to the world what he should have years ago. Representation is important, but it’s not just about being seen. It’s not gay misfortune, it’s life, and love, and it’s joy and growth. And Chuck Tingle, through Misha and Zeke, is showing the world that in explosive fashion.

C. J. Daley 

Thanks to NetGalley, Tor Nightfire and Macmillan Audio for the ARC, I really enjoyed this one!

This was a first for me from the author, and I’m quite satisfied with the outcome. This is part commentary/satire of Hollywood, social media, and the all powerful algorithm, part supernatural, part slasher, and even part trauma story. The blend is unique, and I imagine probably quite hard to balance, but the author does it fantastically.

Misha is a screenwriter, doing his best to write characters and stories that he never got to see as a kid. Unfortunately, he is still beholden to the world that we live in, where characters are at best perhaps gay, rather than openly out. The author does a fantastic job of showcasing the conflict and intricacies within by having Misha himself being only “LA out,” but not officially out to his family or hometown. And that is where the trauma lies.

In the ever-growing scifi world we live in, with holograms and cloning and AI-altering, the author perfectly lines up a horror story that’s just farfetched enough to read as near future. When Misha’s boss sits him down, stating that the company wants his characters killed, rather than getting their excruciatingly earned and beautiful outing, Misha is understandably outraged. Even refusing and promising a lawsuit even after being (not so) more or less discreetly threatened.

The idea that the company he worked so hard for, made money for, would come after him was simply too absurd to put any faith in. So when characters from Misha’s filmography start popping up and interfering with his life, he assumes it’s nothing more than a cosplaying prank. Some well done cosmetics, a high quality costume, a well planned and tailored prank set to make Misha feel frightened enough to submit. Nothing more. But as his more outlandish characters start to appear, and the body count starts to grow, Misha learns it’s anything but a prank.

Is this a horror novel, is it horrific? Yes of course. There are interesting villains and kills, and the villain at large is something wholly unique. But what makes this book so good is what it’s actually saying.

The author ends this harrowing trial by flipping the script. This is not just a trauma story, we are not simply our past, nor are we our fears. Misha gets to give a beautiful speech in which he finally announces to the world what he should have years ago. Representation is important, but it’s not just about being seen. It’s not gay misfortune, it’s life, and love, and it’s joy and growth. And Chuck Tingle, through Misha and Zeke, is showing the world that in explosive fashion.

“on a long enough timeline, endings are inevitable. 

love is real. thanks, chuck tingle for always teaching me that. 

cloud

“on a long enough timeline, endings are inevitable. 

tragedy is inevitable. 

fortunately, so is joy.”

love is real. thanks, chuck tingle for always teaching me that. 

Bury Your Gays

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