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A review by dobbsthedog
Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle
5.0
Received from the publisher and NetGalley, thanks!
You know, I’ve read a number of Chuck’s Tinglers, and they are certainly entertaining in a very specific way. But Chuck Tingle’s horror is just SO GOOD. Camp Damascus didn’t quite work for me, but Straight and now Bury Your Gays have been fantastic.
I love how he turns homophobia into the horror. And in Bury Your Gays the horror is in the romanticization and commodification of queer trauma. The idea that only stories of queer trauma sell, which was the way in a lot of media until fairly recently (it’s still there, but it’s gotten so much better).
In this story Misha Byrne is a scriptwriter in Hollywood and in the season finale of his popular TV show it will be revealed that his two female leads are in love with each other. But ‘The Board’ have decided that that can’t happen; Misha either has to reveal their love and kill them off, or make them straight and keep them alive. What follows is a wild and horrific story about what can happen when late stage capitalism meets high tech.
I absolutely love what Tingle did with this story; not only is it a critique of ‘bury your gays’, but also of capitalism and the role of technology in the film industry. He references the WGA and SAG/AFTRA strikes several times, specifically referencing the gains that have been made in streaming and AI with regard to pay for actors and writers. My little labour heart was all aflutter! I also really appreciated his critique of how shallow and trend-chasing Hollywood is. And he did all of this while still telling a fairly horrific and gory story. I am impressed.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am eagerly awaiting his next.
You know, I’ve read a number of Chuck’s Tinglers, and they are certainly entertaining in a very specific way. But Chuck Tingle’s horror is just SO GOOD. Camp Damascus didn’t quite work for me, but Straight and now Bury Your Gays have been fantastic.
I love how he turns homophobia into the horror. And in Bury Your Gays the horror is in the romanticization and commodification of queer trauma. The idea that only stories of queer trauma sell, which was the way in a lot of media until fairly recently (it’s still there, but it’s gotten so much better).
In this story Misha Byrne is a scriptwriter in Hollywood and in the season finale of his popular TV show it will be revealed that his two female leads are in love with each other. But ‘The Board’ have decided that that can’t happen; Misha either has to reveal their love and kill them off, or make them straight and keep them alive. What follows is a wild and horrific story about what can happen when late stage capitalism meets high tech.
I absolutely love what Tingle did with this story; not only is it a critique of ‘bury your gays’, but also of capitalism and the role of technology in the film industry. He references the WGA and SAG/AFTRA strikes several times, specifically referencing the gains that have been made in streaming and AI with regard to pay for actors and writers. My little labour heart was all aflutter! I also really appreciated his critique of how shallow and trend-chasing Hollywood is. And he did all of this while still telling a fairly horrific and gory story. I am impressed.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am eagerly awaiting his next.