A terrifying supernatural entity haunts Toronto’s gay neighborhood in this modern horror masterpiece spanning decades of struggle and resistance, with a new introduction by Gretchen Felker-Martin.

“RED X by David Demchuk is THE great horror novel of the 2020s so far . . . No tricks, no gimmicks, pure greatness.” —Daniel Kraus

In 1984, a young gay man in Toronto vanishes without a trace. He leaves behind a community of friends and lovers desperate for answers but facing the casual indifference, or outright prejudice, of the broader world. As decades pass, more men, all gay, vanish in the same way.

As the novel reveals a terrifying, centuries-old demonic presence at the heart of the disappearances, the author David Demchuk intersperses autobiographical vignettes from his own life: his earliest brushes with death and fear, his observations on queer culture and the horror genre, on representation and erasure, culminating in an elegiac and brilliantly woven narrative that blends fact and fiction.

A masterful experimental work, RED X has already been heralded as one of the great horror novels of the twenty-first century. Reissued now with deluxe materials and a new introduction, David Demchuk’s modern cult classic is not to be missed.

A terrifying supernatural entity haunts Toronto’s gay village in the ’80s in this gruesome, metatextual modern horror classic that spans decades of queer community and history. RED X is a masterful experimental work already heralded as one of the great horror novels of the twenty-first century, now reissued with deluxe materials, including a new introduction by Gretchen Felker-Martin and an essay by Anthony Oliveira.

“[A] seminal work of queer literature . . . So arresting, so brutal and yet so delicate that its labyrinthine complexity should be studied and praised.” —Eric LaRocca, author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke

In 1984, a young gay man vanishes without a trace, leaving behind a community of friends and lovers desperate for answers. Instead, they face everything from casual indifference to outright prejudice. As decades pass, more men vanish, revealing a terrifying, centuries-old demonic presence at the heart of the disappearances.

Interspersed throughout, the author shares autobiographical vignettes: his earliest brushes with death and fear, his observations on queer culture and the horror genre, on representation and erasure, culminating in an elegiac and brilliantly woven narrative that blends fact and fiction, and has already been heralded as one of the great horror novels of the twenty-first century.