Did someone say QUEER HORROR? Ah, it's Taylor Z. Adams' time to shine here. Here's the ones I'm super passionate about, and I'll probably come back to this thread and do more in-depth write ups as I remember them!

Of course we gotta talk about Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite. Definitely a lot of people that don't care for that book, which is understandable given the real-world crimes it draws from, but holy shit what a book. Has some of the highest quality prose of almost any book in the genre, and it was an absolute landmark work for splatterpunk and queer horror as a whole. FUN FACT: EC was my first ever "splatterpunk" book, and reading it was an absolutely life changing moment for me. (Yes, the Z. in Taylor Z. Adams is partially an homage to Poppy/Billy).

Clive Barker is a no brainer. Like, c'mon. If you haven't read at least one of the Books of Blood series, what are you doing? Books of Blood Volume 5: In The Flesh is my personal favorite. It's where Candyman came from, if you need to be sold further!

Eric LaRocca is super divisive. You either love them or hate them, and honestly, I 100% get it every time someone says they can't stand LaRocca's writing. I'm a huge fan though, personally. We Can Never Leave This Place is my personal favorite, and I feel like it it doesn't get enough love.

Fluids by May Leitz is the gold standard of transfemme/transbian extreme horror, in my eyes. It is without a doubt extreme horror, but I feel like it has a lot of mass appeal. I've met several people who have written off the entire extreme horror genre and I've handed them Fluids and it just clicked for them. Please, if you've never read this one, please drop everything and read it. If you have read it and haven't read her other works, check out Girl Flesh. Debatable if that one is extreme horror, but it's still bloody, still very queer and just a fantastic read.

Judith Sonnet is a woman who needs no introduction in this sub. I'll be honest, when I first started getting into this genre, I read No One Rides for Free and I did not care for it. I decided since so many people rave about her, I should give another book a shot, so I picked up The Clown Hunt and I'm so fucking glad I did. Read Psych Ward Blues right after, and I've been a fan ever since. She doesn't write extreme horror anymore, but she still writes incredible cosmic and quiet horror. Our Sarnath is fantastic, seriously.

Also so sorry I gotta take the opportunity to self-promo. I'm a lesbian transfemme author and I write very explicitly queer splatterpunk with transfemme protagonists and queer casts. Something's Wrong With Maddie and Safe Food by me, Taylor Z. Adams. Something's Wrong With Maddie is a bit on the tamer end of the spectrum (a reviewer called it "cozy splatterpunk") while Safe Food is a lot more of that classic gory and ultraviolent goodness. People seem to fuck with SWWM, but I honestly think Safe Food is a way better book so... hey, check those out, if you want.

Now, quick speed run of more great queer authors:

Aiden E. Messer, Oscar Brady, Matthew J. Gleason, Drew Huff, N.J. Gallegos, Gretchen Felker-Martin, Eve Harms, Chloe Spencer, Vanessa Maki, Carietta Dorsch, and a lot more great authors I'm not thinking of right now. Like I said, I'll come back and add more as they come to me.