Some of my more recent reads have been about serial killers stalking film and TV sets and killing off cast, crew, and extras, so I knew it was only a matter of time before I stumbled across another one, and stumble I did with Chuck Tingle's Bury Your Gays. In all honesty, I was quite sure what to expect with this. Thanks to Amazon's screwed-up algorithm, I've seen some of his books online when browsing the horror selections, and a good portion of them are gay erotica with very outrageous titles. And I do vaguely remember some brouhaha a few years ago when he was nominated for some science fiction/fantasy award. So to say I wasn't expecting much would be an understatement. Boy, was I surprised.
The book tells the story of Misha Byrne, a relatively well-known screenwriter with some movies under his belt, a popular streaming series, and a short film that's earned him an Oscar nomination. In short, his star is finally rising -- until he is called in to meet with one of the studio executives, who proceeds to shatter his dreams by telling him the higher-ups want him to kill off two of his characters, who happen to be lesbians. The old trope that says gays and lesbians can never have a happy ending, that as soon as something good happens to them, tragedy MUST strike. Of course, Misha refuses, as this was something he's been building to ever since the series started. He's not going to bring them together, only to kill them off. There are the thinly veiled threats, but Misha plans to stick to his guns. Instead of being thrilled about his Oscar nomination and the upcoming award ceremony, he's stewing in a cloud of anger and fear, angry that if he doesn't do what the studio is telling him to do, he'll "never work in this town again." And if that isn't enough, he suddenly finds himself being stalked by crazed fans dressed as some of his horror creations. But are they simply crazed fans, or is the studio behind it, trying to scare him into doing what they want? Or is it something else?
I really liked this one. It was well-written, populated with a cast of likable characters, and had the perfect balance of humor and horror (and I'm usually not a fan of horror comedy because it's so hard to do well). It moved along at a brisk pace, and took some turns I totally wasn't expecting. I mean, I thought I had it all figured out, but Tingle totally surprised me. Is it a little over the top? Of course, it is, but isn't all horror to some extent? If you're a fan of horror comedy, this one is definitely worth checking out. My only complaint? I personally would have liked to have seen a high body count and a little more gore. 4.5/5
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