Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle

Buckle up, buckaroos! I had been hearing a lot of hype about Bury Your Gays so I requested a digital advance copy from Netgalley and was very happy to be approved. I had never heard of Chuck Tingle before. When I saw the pink mask and the covers and titles of his romance books I thought this must be some kind of gimmick or a bit – but after watching interviews with him I’ve learned that he is proudly autistic and this is an artistic outlet.

Welcome, or Welcome back! My name is Amanda and this is where I share spoiler-free book reviews and other bookish things. Thanks for visiting. Let’s get Smitten For Fiction.

“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.“

About The Book 📚

Title: Bury Your Gays

Author: Chuck Tingle

Publication Date: July 9, 2024

Publisher: Tor Nightfire

Genre: Horror, LGBT+, Sci-Fi, Suspense & Thriller

Pages: 304

Setting: Los Angeles, California

Content Warnings: homophobia, violence, gore, murder, stalking, torture, child abuse, profanity, alcoholism

About The Author

“Chuck Tingle is a mysterious force of energy behind sunglasses and a pink mask. He is also an anonymous author of romance, horror, and fantasy. Chuck was born in Home of Truth, Utah, and now splits time between Billings, Montana and Los Angeles, California. Chuck writes to prove love is real, because love is the most important tool we have when resisting the endless cosmic void. Not everything people say about Chuck is true, but the important parts are.” https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/10788353.Chuck_Tingle

My Review

› I love the cover for Bury Your Gays. There’s a line in the book that matches the vibe: “Our cars wind their way along the coast, a pink, picturesque scene of the California dream draped above us while night blooms ominous over the ocean in royal purple.”

› This is about the way movies and tv treat queer characters. Where are the happy endings for queer characters? Click here to learn more about the “bury your gays” trope.

› Chuck Tingle’s motto is Love is Real. Although it has a strong message, Bury Your Gays is not preachy! Tingle delivers this relevant message in a fast-paced, thrilling horror story with dark humour.

First line: “The backlot is humming with energy today, and I’m not thrilled about it.”

› Check out the playlist I made on Spotify inspired by the music mentioned in Bury Your Gays.

› The blurb doesn’t give you much so I think it’s best to be careful about what I share. I really don’t want to spoil anything for you. Bury Your Gays takes place in Hollywood. Misha is a screenwriter for Harold Brothers making shows such as Devil’s Due which is about a demonic librarian (as a librarian this made me laugh). He’s been nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film. Misha visits the lot to meet with his boss Jack Hays who tells him that he needs to rewrite the ending because – according to the algorithm – people don’t want to see queer characters have a happy ending. Misha tells Jack he’s homophobic and Jack claims it’s out of his hands. According to him “the money” says they need a conservative character added to the story and he can let the gay characters come out, but then they have to die. Bury Your Gays. Misha refuses to make the changes, so Jack gives him an ultimatum. He’s got four weeks to rewrite the script or they’ll be taking him to court for breach of contract. Misha is then stalked by some of the Eldritch monsters he’s created for horror movies:

* The Smoker: he asks you for a light if you say no then you have five days and he’ll cut your bones out, grind them into powder and smoke them.

* Mrs. Why: an unearthly being who looks human and is obsessed with order. By touching you she opens your mind to see the end of everything but it’s overwhelming and you’ll go into a trance and eventually starve to death.

* The Black Lamb: it looks cute, but don’t get too close or its body will split open right down the middle and tendrils emerge sucking you in.

› The story is mainly told in first-person from Misha’s perspective, however, we also get flashbacks to his abusive childhood and scenes written like a screenplay. He turns to his best friend Tara and his boyfriend Zeke for help to figure out why these characters from his movies are following him. Zeke is openly bisexual, Tara is asexual and aromantic, and Misha is out to a few people (not his family).

› I loved the commentary about horror stories and how they help us “explore dark places in a safe way“. Horror stories get a bad rap – they are about much more than the violence and the gore.

› The characters are so interesting and unique! Especially the monsters that Misha created. They truly come to life on the page. Tingle’s world-building is next level. I loved the atmosphere and the writing style is top-notch. Bury Your Gays has some of the best dialogue I’ve ever read. The plot is moving in every scene and we have real conflict. I didn’t want to put it down! I laughed, I cried. I had such a good time reading this and can’t wait to read more from Tingle.

› “On a long enough timeline, endings are inevitable. Tragedy is inevitable. Fortunately, so is joy.”

APPEAL FACTORS
Storyline: action-packed, character-driven, issue-oriented, plot-driven
Pace: fast, engrossing
Tone: angsty, heartwrenching, high-drama, romantic, suspenseful, thought-provoking, dark, mysterious
humour – dark humour
sinister – bleak, creepy, disturbing, gruesome, haunting, menacing
Writing Style: well-crafted dialogue, compelling, descriptive, engaging, gritty, witty
Character: authentic, awkward, flawed, likeable, relatable, well-developed, diverse
LGBTQIA+: asexual, aromantic, bisexual, gay

› In the past I have given a rating out of ten and converted that to a star rating, but I’m no longer giving a star rating here on my blog. I will continue to do that on Goodreads and The Story Graph.

› Final Thoughts
• Bury Your Gays is an engrossing horror about the price of success, the complicated relationship between capitalism and trauma, the struggle to be authentic, and the power of love. I highly recommend this to fans of The X-Files and Fringe.