Toe Tag Riot - A Comedy/Horror Comic Series about A Rock Band Cursed To Become Zombies, So They Track Down Terrible, Homophobic People to Kill... And Two Of The "Good" Zombies Are A Lesbian Couple (and another is Bi)

Toe Tag Riot by Matt Miner, with art by Sean Von Gorman

A punk rock band that’s cursed to become zombies whenever they perform their music...

Being the ethical sometimes-zombies that they are, they go on the road in search of a cure to their affliction, using their “superpowers” to brutally and hilariously kill the scummiest people to litter this earth: racist skinheads, misogynist dudebros, and homophobic hate groups – culminating in a showdown with the Westboro Baptist Church!

All issues guest-starring Andy Hurley from Fall Out Boy!

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Some alternate covers:

Smorgasbord - Humans discover that Vampires & Zombies are delicious (and a gay Werewolf couple who protect the main characters!)

Smorgasbord by Jagjiwan Sohal

When Anna Lopez’s zombie attack video goes viral, no one could believe that the high school cheerleader had taken a bite out of the undead monster – and liked it! Now nothing will ever be the same for supernatural beings…because humans have discovered they taste freakin’ DELICIOUS!

And when a zombie boy gets in the crosshairs of a gang of hungry-human hunters, Julie, a young vampire loner, jumps in for the rescue. But now Julie’s got more than she bargained because taking care of a rambunctious undead creature who only knows one word (“brains”) is NOT easy. And when Julie and her zombie pal stumble upon on a crazed soccer mom, they find themselves on the run from a trigger-happy family who want nothing more than to grill them up for a neighborhood barbecue bash!

What's queer about it? Two integral gay characters, a tough werewolf couple who help and protect the lead characters from their foes!

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The Coldest Girl In Coldtown - Urban Fantasy Horror with a Transgender Character

The Coldest Girl In Coldtown by Holly Black

Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown’s gates, you can never leave.

One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself.

And yes, one of the character is revealed to be transgender. No, I won't tell you who... Add your review of "The Coldest Girl In Coldtown" in comments!

Helleville - Gay Teen Paranormal Horror and Romance

Helleville by Hayden Thorne

All fifteen-year-old Noah Hipwell wants is to go through high school in peace. Yet he finds himself suspended after a bully pushes him too far, and Noah’s forced to defend himself. His mother, fed up with the school’s indifference to his plight, pulls him out completely and leaves Noah uncertain of his future while they look for a good and safe school for him.

All Dorothy “Dot” Hipwell wants is to go through single motherhood in peace. Yet she and her son are harassed by weekly phone calls from her evangelical family hell-bent on guilt-tripping them both back into the fold. Then Noah’s grandparents ask strange questions about their old van after dropping cryptic references to a group called The Soul Warriors. Fed up, Dot takes Noah away for a much-needed getaway, only to find themselves suddenly transported to an alternate world, where a town called Helleville awaits them and all other condemned souls.

Along with warm-blooded, living human beings, the Hipwells rub shoulders with zombies, vampires, house ghosts, and occasional “green vomit piles” while picking up the pieces and sorting out what could very well be an eternity in a bizarre, fanciful, and humorous world of ghouls and banned books.

When residents suddenly disappear one by one with no trace and for no logical reason, however, doubts being “housed” in an alternate world for their sins are raised, and time suddenly becomes of the essence as Noah and the rest of Helleville’s condemned race to find answers to what’s quickly turning into a dangerous puzzle.

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Zombies Wanted! No Queers May Apply

Okay, this is just so crazy I had to share it. So this small micro press, "Library of the Living Dead Press" put out this call recently for submissions to a new anthology they were putting together - Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Zombie Short Stories.

Then, last week, they canceled the planned anthology.

Why? In the words of Doc, from Library of the Living Dead Press:

"I was the one who gave the go ahead for the Anthology. But with all the things that are going on in my life right now I didn't think it all the way through. I became afraid I would upset people by publishing the book."

Evidently the Press received a lot of homophobic reaction from their other authors at the idea of their coming out with a Queer anthology.

What!?! So the Undead and eating brains is fine, but Gay stuff? Oh no, that's too much.

I can't even begin to articulate how crazy this seems to me!

There is talk of "resurrecting" the anthology among some authors who had written stories for it (which would make it a "true" back-from-the-dead anthology, I guess) but there's also been discussion of de-gaying Zombies in stories already written, hoping it will make those undead tales more publication-worthy.

There's a strange parallel between yesterday's post and today's - in both cases, an effort was made to be inclusive of the Queer Community, and then it was like the very people who started those efforts suddenly got cold feet (or maybe I should say "homophobic feet.")

One minute we seem to be making progress, combating homophobia in sports and amongst the readers of undead literature, and the next minute Queer-positive voices are silenced.

For me, the bottom line is that the silencing of Queer voices, even undead ones, is what's really scary.

What do you think is going on? And maybe more important, what can we do about it?

Namaste,
Lee

***UPDATE***
2/16/10 12:44pm

Looks like the Queer Zombie anthology is back on!

Thanks to Jim for the heads-up.

***

Thanks to the-outer-alliance@googlegroups.com (the listserve of The Outer Alliance), and among many others, Jim Hines for leading the discussion on No Queer Zombies Wanted!

The Twilight Gods

By Hayden Thorne

A Coming Out/Historical/Ghost story!

London. 1851.

Norris Woodhead is 15. His family is poor.

And then, one day, Norris notices shadows moving in the streets. They're moving independently of the people around them.

And he understands. They are ghosts.

But no one else can see them.

With the help of the strange widow who rents a room in his family's house, Norris comes to terms with the shadow's secrets. And his own.


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Vintage: A Ghost Story

by Steve Berman

In Steve's words: A lonely gay teen bides his time with trips to strangers' funerals and Ouija board sessions, desperately searching for someone to love - and a reason to live following a suicide attempt.

Walking an empty stretch of highway on an autumn night, he meets a strange and beautiful boy who looks like he stepped out of a dream. But he quickly learns that love is not a simple thing, not as portrayed in movies and daydreams.

Besides the cool factor of Vintage being a gay ghost story, Steve is donating 1/5 of the royalties from this book to charities that help gay teens, including the GSA Network and The Trevor Project - how amazing is that?

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