Favorite MLM/queer literature that doesn’t revolve around smut?
Any recommendations for books written about gay men by a gay man that doesn't revolve heavily on smut/erotica? I have a really hard time finding books that more heavily incorporate horror/thriller elements.
Model Home by Rivers Solomon is a horror novel with a genderfluid protagonist whose assigned gender at birth is never specified, if that interests you. It’s about three siblings who return as adults to the haunted house they were raised in.
Guapa by Saleem Haddad is a beautifully written coming of age novel about a gay man in an unspecified middle eastern country, which all takes place over the course of one day. Not the genres you’re looking for though.
Ryan La Sala writes horror with queer protagonists, often (I think?) queer men. The Honeys has an amab genderfluid protagonist and was great. I think his novels are shelved as YA, which I usually skip, but I found The Honeys really enjoyable as an adult.
For both Model Home and Guapa I’d suggest googling the trigger warnings before you pick them up.
Jubjub0527 on
Gideon the Ninth.
SerenfechGras on
Neither horror nor thriller, but In Tongues by Thomas Grattan is quite good.
pretty_panda7463 on
Based on your description, I took it that you wanted a novel not just without “smut/erotica”, but also without it generally being focused on romance. So I left out the closed door romances without horror or thriller genres elements as well. Though I should mention that in general, The Guncle by Steven Rowley is a MLM/queer novel without smut or romance primary focus about a gay man by a gay man that I loved. It just isn’t a horror or thriller novel.
Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle is a queer novel without smut/erotica and with horror elements. But it isn’t MLM focused.
I don’t know much about Tingle’s newer novel, Bury Your Gays. It is possible it may fit what you are looking for but it also may not.
A Guest in the House is a queer horror graphic novel. It was originally published under a previous name but the author/artist now goes by E.M. Carroll. Again though, not an MLM story.
There is I book I personally did not enjoy at all and made me rather rage filled, but does seem to meet your request of being MLM about gay men (well, teens, it’s YA) with thriller elements. To avoid gatekeeping, it is Swipe Right for Murder by Derek Milman. I can’t really recommend it like the others, but you can look up the description to see if it would interest you.
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Model Home by Rivers Solomon is a horror novel with a genderfluid protagonist whose assigned gender at birth is never specified, if that interests you. It’s about three siblings who return as adults to the haunted house they were raised in.
Guapa by Saleem Haddad is a beautifully written coming of age novel about a gay man in an unspecified middle eastern country, which all takes place over the course of one day. Not the genres you’re looking for though.
Ryan La Sala writes horror with queer protagonists, often (I think?) queer men. The Honeys has an amab genderfluid protagonist and was great. I think his novels are shelved as YA, which I usually skip, but I found The Honeys really enjoyable as an adult.
For both Model Home and Guapa I’d suggest googling the trigger warnings before you pick them up.
Gideon the Ninth.
Neither horror nor thriller, but In Tongues by Thomas Grattan is quite good.
Based on your description, I took it that you wanted a novel not just without “smut/erotica”, but also without it generally being focused on romance. So I left out the closed door romances without horror or thriller genres elements as well. Though I should mention that in general, The Guncle by Steven Rowley is a MLM/queer novel without smut or romance primary focus about a gay man by a gay man that I loved. It just isn’t a horror or thriller novel.
Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle is a queer novel without smut/erotica and with horror elements. But it isn’t MLM focused.
I don’t know much about Tingle’s newer novel, Bury Your Gays. It is possible it may fit what you are looking for but it also may not.
A Guest in the House is a queer horror graphic novel. It was originally published under a previous name but the author/artist now goes by E.M. Carroll. Again though, not an MLM story.
There is I book I personally did not enjoy at all and made me rather rage filled, but does seem to meet your request of being MLM about gay men (well, teens, it’s YA) with thriller elements. To avoid gatekeeping, it is Swipe Right for Murder by Derek Milman. I can’t really recommend it like the others, but you can look up the description to see if it would interest you.
[Apparitions by Adam Pottle](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/75526373-apparitions). Though the characters do engage in some brief sexual acts, it’s not the focus of the novel.
[The Secret Life of Albert Entwhistle by Matt Cain](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59427409-the-secret-life-of-albert-entwistle) might be off the mark but it’s one of my faves.