Recs if you like They Bloom at Night...

While it is highly celebrated in June, the Queer community exists all year long and this working list is created to support/encourage others to read more literature written by & represented people within said community.

horror books with a queer focus, including queer stories and central characters

are you sick of being recommended stephen king when you ask for a horror novel? have you picked up a book expected to be scared, but the scariest thing about it was a woman being needlessly tormented and gaslit? have you read 4627473 books about a man in a haunted house and need something different?

if so, this list is for you :)

a masterlist of horror by anyone who isn't a straight cis white man, started in 2022 and brought to pb in 2026.

Reading suggestions for the Trans Rights Readathon! (Any year of course). Books with trans characters of any label (or any non-cis gender identity) by trans/non-cis authors. I have not read all the books in this list. Feel free to name your fave books by trans authors in the comments!

Fiction books featuring plants as a major theme. For the purpose of this list, fungi are honorary plants! All fiction genres here (though I am primarily a fantasy reader, so suggestions most welcome!)

Hauntology is the philosophical concept, as quoted by Mark Fisher from his article taking a deeper look into Derrida's philosophical work, that "the present is always haunted by the ghosts of the past and the unfulfilled promises of the future." From generational trauma to dark histories to dying Old World pagan traditions, these elements persist throughout the wide genre of folk horror. These books explore deeply into the hauntings of the past and the instability of the future.

Fiction reads with non-binary characters and/or by non-binary authors

This includes gender fluid, agender, two-spirit, and any other gender identities outside of the binary labels.

See my trans Rights readathon suggestions masterlist for more trans reads! 🏳️‍⚧️

(Under construction 🏗 🚧 many more books to be added! Suggestions welcome!)

A selection of contemporary Southern Gothic titles exploring the decay, despair, and trauma of the reconstructed American South. Come for the palpably atmospheric settings and descriptions, stay for the literary commentary on the legacy of the South's oft-romanticized past.

As a note: I did not include the most well known writers in the genre, e.g. Truman Capote, Harper Lee, William Faulkner, etc. as the list is more focused on the resurgence of Southern Gothic in contemporary literature.

picture this: you meet a woman. she’s SO pretty. so you hang out with her, go on a date, even. fall in love. you’re maybe even thinking you could have a future with her! and then, the night ends with you (almost) dying. that’s when you realize you courted a monster 😔 (recs are always welcome!)

Horror stories (in all of its forms/subgenres) from Asian authors!

Recs welcome!

i don’t need to explain to anyone why the proliferation climate fiction has skyrocketed over the past few years. this new wave of climate fiction, from 2020-present (ongoing), refuses to exclude climate catastrophe from depictions of or changing world. these works are grounded in present and future realities, the speculative less ‘speculative’, and more predictive.

Some books I either love or am super excited to read that are queer, BIPOC, and have some kind of speculative element (fantasy, sci fi, paranormal, etc)

Horror books by trans, Two Spirit, nonbinary, et al authors (may or may not include trans* characters).

(See pinned comment for book/look pairings). For those books that are lush, esoteric, perhaps a bit encrusted, convoluted, dense and/or lyrical; books that Commit To The Bit. Anything with something to say and a strong aesthetic sense that reinforces it; anything that's perhaps a bit weird and not afraid to take literary/artistic risks. Bonus if you can't figure out what it's supposed to mean 🙂‍↕️. Suggestions always welcome - feel free to give me a book to find a look for, or post a book/look pairing you came up with yourself! ❣️

for people who are both terrified of and fascinated by the ocean (like me)

Books in this list are in at least two quests. Thus helping to earn more badges. Books will span different genres. Once I scan through all the quests, I plan to further organize the list. I am thinking of creating a seperate list and moving the books with three or more quests to the new list and keeping the two badge books in this list. Are there other ways you would organize a list this big?

Books We Love from NPR began in 2013, always boasting over 200 books (almost 400 in recent years) featuring genres from memoirs, to cookbooks, to graphic novels, to children’s literature, to nonfiction, to novels. Check out NPR’s website to filter this massive list.

The list is in reverse alphabetical order directly from NPR.

What lies within the depths... Speculative Horror books where the main horror element directly relates to a body of water (whether that be a swamp, ocean, lake, river, etc.)

Keywords: aquatic horror, ocean horror, spooky water, water horror, haunted hydrology

Note: must be more than just the backdrop ** recommendations and corrections welcome! **

Fiction reads with trans femme characters and/or by trans femme authors

See my trans Rights readathon suggestions masterlist for more trans reads! 🏳️‍⚧️

(Under construction 🏗 🚧 many more books to be added! Suggestions welcome!)