New Queer Books to Get You in the Fall Spirit

Lately, we’ve gotten plenty of great, feminist retellings of iconic women in literature and mythology, but Kiersten White’s (Hide, Mister Magic) Lucy Undying breathes fresh life into the tale of Lucy Westenra, Dracula’s first English victim. Since she was first bitten, she’s been trying to escape Dracula, but it’s in the 21st century that she finally meets a woman similarly trying to escape. Iris is charming, but her family—with their ill-begotten health empire—won’t let her out of their clutches. And Dracula, meanwhile, is back on his BS. Still, Lucy’s and Iris’s connection feels real and intense, and it might be a real chance at happiness.

This queer Appalachian thriller by the award-winning White starts off swingin’. It follows autistic teen Miles Abernathy, a proud and socialist West Virginian, after he comes out as trans to his parents. That same night, he sneaks off to a party where the photographic evidence he has serves as proof of Sheriff Davies’ guilt in an “accident” that injured his dad and killed others. Miles is beaten by the sheriff’s sons and his friends, and in the hospital, Sheriff Davies threatens him to be silent. But that’s not all—as the sheriff is speaking, a soot-covered ghost hovers over Miles’ bed. And, after Miles accidentally kills one of the boys involved in his beating, he finds out that the spirit of the town overall has had enough of the violence doled out on them by those in authority. And they’re willing to do anything they have to to stop it.

With Tirado’s adult debut, we’re getting served Jordan Peele-esque suburban horror. Sol Reyes is licking her wounds after workplace contentiousness manifests into an accusation of plagiarism, and she’s put on probation. Visiting her homophobic father doesn’t help, and soon the wound licking turns to wine lapping, as she finds herself drinking more and more, earlier and earlier in the day. One thing seems to be on the up-and-up, though: her wife, Alice Song, is super hype about the house they were able to buy in the highly sought-after gated community, Maneless Grove. But something’s off. Sol feels like the neighbors are saccharinely sweet, the homeowner’s association is too bossy, and there are microaggressions after microaggressions. But Alice doesn’t see it. And, once Sol starts seeing disappearing doors and stairs, roots growing where they shouldn’t, and finds a journal from a resident who went missing, she may be the only one in their household who sees the coveted community for what it is.

I just got a copy of this one, and I’m so excited to finish it. It’s a queer YA murder mystery set in 1927 in Washington, D.C. during Prohibition. Three teen girls—Gertrude, Clara, and Milly—sneak out of the Washington Female Seminary to get their flapper on, but return to their headmistress murdered. Gertrude, in an effort to clear her mentor’s reputation, sets out to solve the murder with the help of her friends. But it’s hard out there in the ’20s for a girl—and all the sus federal agents and bootleggers they come up against don’t make things any easier.

I love Harlem. It’s, to this day, my favorite place to live, and this queer YA vampire romp is set in Jazz Age Harlem, placing it a little north of Everything Glittered. But it’s not all sunshine and flappers—when 18-year-old Elise Saint returns home after five years in Paris, it’s to a vampire-hunting empire she’s reluctant to inherit. What’s more, there’s something changing about the reapers (this world’s vampires); they’re simultaneously becoming more human and more brutal. To find out what’s happening, she’s paired with Layla Quinn, a girl from her past who now lives as a reaper. Now that the two girls are back in each other’s lives, there’s some bad blood to sort out…that may turn into something good.

After the hit that was Ace of Spades, Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé is back with more UK-based dark academia. This time, following Sade Hussein, who is starting her third year of high school at a prestigious boarding school. But then her roommate Elizabeth disappears — and people suspect Sade had something to do with it. Then another student is found dead. As she tries to clear her name, she finds out that there’s something really funky going on at Alfred Nobel Academy.

Almost 30-year-old David owes the Devil. When he was still a teen, he worked under his occultist father as something of a psychic prodigy. Now, though his life has slowed down a bit as a high-powered attorney in Boston, he still does jobs here and there as a medium for his secret society. Still, his life clock is ticking, and if he doesn’t figure out something soon, the Devil will finalize an ancestral deal. Desperate, David asks for help from his ex-boyfriend-turned-secret-society rival, Rhys. But doing so puts David back in touch with Rhys’ wife, Moira, and as the three of them work against time, some old feelings resurface.