Red X

De: David Demchuk

Narrado por: Salvatore Antonio, David Demchuk

A hunted community. A haunted author. A horror that spans centuries.

Men are disappearing from Toronto's gay village. They're the marginalized, the vulnerable. One by one, stalked and vanished, they leave behind small circles of baffled, frightened friends. Against the shifting backdrop of homophobia throughout the decades, from the HIV/AIDS crisis and riots against raids to gentrification and police brutality, the survivors face inaction from the law and disinterest from society at large. But as the missing grow in number, those left behind begin to realize that whoever or whatever is taking these men has been doing so for longer than is humanly possible.

Woven into their stories is David Demchuk's own personal history, a life lived in fear and in thrall to horror, a passion that boils over into obsession. As he tries to make sense of the relationship between queerness and horror, what it means for gay men to disappear, and how the isolation of the LGBTQ+ community has left them profoundly exposed to monsters that move easily among them, fact and fiction collide and reality begins to unravel.

A bold, terrifying new novel from the award-winning author of The Bone Mother.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Demchuk’s unconventional approach to storytelling holds readers close, speaking directly to them and sharing in the terror.”
—Quill & Quire

“Can a horror novel be too disturbing? David Demchuk’s Red X begs that question, not because of any excess of gore or violence but because of its singular and unflinching dark vision. That’s a good thing — too much contemporary horror fiction plays for easy shocks and even easier sentimental tears, and Demchuk is clearly after something deeper.”
—Toronto Star

“[Red X is] a book full of heart and righteous fury, an urban nightmare with some retro-horror stylings that sidesteps that genre’s usual pitfalls of splatter and pessimism to deliver a story of emotional heft and guarded optimism. While it’s relentless and can be incredibly disturbing, there are also moments of beauty, hope, and a certain melancholy. It’s a complex, disturbing, challenging, and compulsively readable work that commands your attention, and indeed deserves it.”
—Tor Nightfire

“[S]traight-up brilliant.”
—Xtra

“[Red X] is an important work for the horror community.”
—Cemetery Dance Publications

“…it feels special to have something specifically marketed as queer horror and written by a queer person. This is one of the most impactful books I’ve ever read and is my favourite of 2021 so far.” —Horror Obsessive

“Demchuk does what few authors can do – make you scared, sad, angered and repulsed all within a single sentence.”
—Kendall Reviews

“With Red X, Demchuk flexes many of the skills he honed throughout his career as a playwright and scriptwriter. As he pieces the men’s stories together with his own experiences, he gradually spins a long thread of history that, finally and consciously, situates things in the realm of the supernatural. Yet much of the novel’s effectiveness lies beyond plot, in mood and structure and tone, and especially in place: outside of Michael Ondaatje’s In the Skin of a Lion, there may be no work more deeply rooted in the psycho­geography of Toronto.”
—Literary Review of Canada

“Demchuk paints a vivid picture for anyone who knows the periods described, and he takes great care to craft his fiction based on the reality of Toronto at that time.”
—Think Queerly

Disappointing

The book was all over the place and pace was grueling slow at times. Overall story was not very clear, no direct ending just missing something.

Well read!

Red X gets four stars from me. There were things I liked and disliked about this novel, but overall I enjoyed it.

I listened to it and found the reader: Salvador Antonio was excellent. I found all of his voices wonderful and interpretation of the novel as well. David Demchuk read sections of this novel as well, and I liked his reading as well, but let's talk about those sections when we deal with content.

This novel is mysterious with an unspoken or unidentified supernatural slant to it. I liked how it resolves (if that's the correct word) in the end with the blending of the real world with the super nature fiction of the novel. This was accomplished by personal essays by Demchuk on his life, coming out, dealing with monsters in his life, and his relationship with horror. Those sections for me were the strongest of the novel, and I enjoyed how he pulled the fiction and the personal essays into one novel at that end.

Recommended: Yes. I think it is a fine novel.

I want more queer horror in my life

Did I get what I expected and wanted out of Red X? Not really. I honestly think this book would have worked for me more without the supernatural elements. That said, did I still enjoy what we did get out of Red X? Yes! The horror scenes are quite eerie, and the book can be brutal sometimes I also like how adult this book is, especially in an era where so much modern horror books just feel so tame.

What should readers know about Red X? One, as I already stated, this is a true horror novel with supernatural elements. Two, though Red X is a horror novel, it is also a slice of story following certain characters throughout the decades. There are also moments where the author breaks the fourth wall to talk about himself. Usually, these asides are relevant to the book, but sometimes they are not.

What are the books flaws:
1) The book is divided into long parts instead of short chapters.
2) The self-insert sections by the author, save for the first one, were a bit cringey.

That said, I still enjoyed this novel very much, and I came to care about and root for some of the characters in this story. I will definitely be interested to see what David Demchuk writes in the future. I would love to read more queer horror, or just queer fiction in general.

Vulgar but good.

Not for anyone who doesn’t like vulgar or graphic words but I found that the book was well written and kept me listening but by the end I felt it could have been shorter and I found the ending underwhelming. It’s a good one time read.

Lush Horror Story

This delicious and sinister little novel was a delight. Loved reading about characters with whom I could identify, and was genuinely creeped out at times. I liked the narrator shift although I was skeptical at first. Found myself imagining optioning it for a movie adaptation…