13 Trans, Intersex, and Nonbinary Horror Authors to Read

As the horror community watches the shit show that is HellBound Books fall over itself to excuse transphobia (not to mention the use of AI covers and past racism and fatphobia) [here’s a great thread by Sam the Book Smuggler about what’s going on if you missed it] I thought it would be a good time to remind people of the awesome trans and nonbinary authors and books in the horror genre. Lets clean our pallet a little, shall we?

Akwaeke Emezi [they/them]

Akwaeke Emezi is a Nigerian fiction writer and video artist, best known for their novels Freshwater, Pet, and their New York Times bestselling novel The Death of Vivek Oji.[2] Emezi is a generalist who writes speculative fiction, romance, memoir and poetry for both young adults and adults with mostly LGBT themes. Their work has earned them several awards and nominations including the Otherwise Award and Commonwealth Short Story Prize. In 2021, Time featured them as a Next Generation Leader.

While Akwaeke’s work leans more into magical realism and dark fantasy, I had to include them and their book Freshwater on this list. Its dark dive into splintered personality brought on by supernatural causes is definitely something the horror community should take a look at.

Caitlín R. Kiernan [they/them]

I have been informed that Kiernan is a white supremacist.
You can read about this here and here.
I was not aware of this prior to today’s post and apologize for listing them. Rather than delete, I have chosen to leave their name here with this note so that others can learn about this in case they, like me, were fans that were not aware before now.
I’m also adding another author to the list: Vincent Tirado.

Cassandra Khaw [they/them]

Cassandra Khaw is a Malaysian writer of horror and science fiction. They also create video games and tabletop games, and formerly wrote about them as a games and tech journalist.

Their novella Nothing but Blackened Teeth was a British Fantasy, World Fantasy, Shirley Jackson, and Bram Stoker Award finalist.

Georgina Kiersten aka Jasper Hyde [they/them]

Georgina Kiersten AKA: Rian Fox | Jasper Hyde | Nexon King || Trans masc author of Black-centered LGBTQ+ romance and Erotica.

HIGHLY recommend signing up for A Vicious Thirst, their black, queer, polyamorous re-write of Dracula.

Gretchen Felker-Martin [she/her]

Gretchen Felker-Martin is a Massachusetts-based horror author and film critic that writes about sexual revulsion, body horror, and how violence forms and fits into our lives.

Her debut novel, Manhunt, was named the #1 Best Book of 2022 by Vulture, and one of the Best Horror Novels of 2022 by Esquire, Library Journal, and Paste. 

Hailey Piper [she/her]

Hailey Piper is the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Queen of Teeth, A Light Most Hateful, The Worm and His Kings series, and other books of dark fiction. She is also the author of over 100 short stories appearing in Weird Tales, Pseudopod, Cosmic Horror Monthly, Cast of Wonders, and various other publications. Her non-fiction appears in Writer’s Digest, Library Journal, CrimeReads, and elsewhere. She lives with her wife in Maryland, where their occult rituals are secret. Find Hailey at www.haileypiper.com.

You can read my review of The Worm and His Kings here.

Lee Mandelo [he/him]

Lee Mandelo is a writer, scholar, and sometimes-editor whose work focuses on queer and speculative fiction. His recent books include debut novel Summer Sons, a contemporary gay Southern gothic, as well as the novellas Feed Them Silence and The Woods All Black. Mandelo’s short fiction, essays, and criticism can be read in publications including Tor.com/Reactor, Post45, Uncanny Magazine, and Capacious; he has also been a past nominee for various awards including the Lambda, Nebula, Goodreads Choice, and Hugo.

You can read my review of The Woods All Black here.

Lor Gislason [they/he]

Lor Gislason explores their love of horror and reflects on films from an autistic perspective. Their work has appeared in various publications, including LOST IN CULT, and websites like HEAR US SCREAM, HORROROBSESSIVE and NEON SPLATTER. debut novella INSIDE OUT and the GOOP TROOP collection are available from Darklit Press.

I also highly recommend Spectrum: An Autistic Horror Anthology.

Joe Koch [he/they]

Joe Koch writes literary horror and surrealist trash. Their books include THE WINGSPAN OF SEVERED HANDS, CONVULSIVE, and THE COUVADE, which received a Shirley Jackson Award nomination in 2019. His short fiction appears in numerous publications such as Vastarien, Southwest Review, PseudoPod, Children of the New Flesh, and The Queer Book of Saints. Joe also co-edited the art horror anthology STORIES OF THE EYE.

I highly recommend Your Body is Not Your Body – a book of trans horror.

Julya Oui [she/her]

Julya Oui is a Malaysian author, playwright and screenwriter, best known for her horror short story collections.

I recommend her series Nighmares, Monsters & Horrors Triptych starting with Here Be Nightmares.

Michelle Belanger [no pronoun preference]

Michelle Belanger is an American author, singer, and television personality, widely recognized for her work on television’s Paranormal State. A leading authority on psychic and supernatural topics, her non-fiction research has been sourced in television shows, university courses, and numerous publications around the world.
She has worked as a media liaison for fringe communities, lectured on vampires at colleges around North America, performed with Gothic and metal bands, including Nox Arcana, and designed immersive live actions RPGs for companies such as Wizards of the Coast.

Michelle not only wrote the introduction for the aforementioned Your Body is Not Your Body but also wrote the Shadowside series.
I highly recommend checking out Lonely House hybrid novella and TTRPG.

Rivers Solomon [fae/faer & they/them]

Rivers Solomon is half woman, half boy, part beast, and a refugee of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade. Fae writes about feral creatures on the cusp. Born in the so-called United States, fae currently lives on an isle off the Eurasian continent.

I highly recommend faer scifi horror An Unkindness of Ghosts.

Poppy Z. Brite [he/him]

Poppy Z. Brite (Billy Martin) is an American author born in New Orleans, Louisiana. is an American author. He initially achieved fame in the gothic horror genre of literature in the early 1990s by publishing a string of successful novels and short story collections. He is best known for his novels Lost Souls (1992), Drawing Blood (1993), and Exquisite Corpse (1996). His later work moved into the genre of dark comedy, with many stories set in the New Orleans restaurant world.

I recommend starting with Are You Loathsome Tonight.

Vincent Tirado [they/them]

Vincent Tirado is a non-binary Afro-Latine Bronx native. Their first novel, BURN DOWN, RISE UP (2022) was recognized with the Pura Belpré Award, and is a Bram Stoker and Lambda Literary award finalist. Since then, they’ve written WE DON’T SWIM HERE (2023) and a short story in the anthology. THE BLACK GIRL SURVIVES IN THIS ONE (2024). Their latest novel, WE CAME TO WELCOME YOU (2024) is now available for pre-order. When they’re not writing new spine-chilling horrors, they can be found making another pot of coffee and harassing their cat, Bugsy.

The Black Girl Survives In This One is a YA anthology of horror stories centering Black girls who battle monsters, both human and supernatural, and who survive to the end

A Note from SmallTownCreepy

Thank you for taking the time to read this list and come to my site.
As a nonbinary creator, it means a lot to me to see folks like myself out in the world creating and reading/watching/playing/reviewing horror media. For a long time I felt alone. Like I was an alien or changeling that had been abandoned in a cold world I could not understand. Thanks to the internet and stories like the ones mentioned above, I slowly found a place where I am comfortable enough to experience joy and express myself.
Because of this, its important to me to speak out against transphobia and bigotry especially when I see it in my community. I don’t want anyone else to feel like they don’t belong, like there’s not a place for them, in this very queer and fun genre.
As horror fans, we get looked down on enough by the outside world. Punching down on people that are oppressed is not how we overcome that. Rather, we need to uplift each other to show that minority joy is a candle that bigotry and hate cannot snuff out.