RED X

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.Praise for RED X

“When they speak of seminal works of queer literature a hundred years from now, David Demchuk’s RED X will most assuredly be included in that conversation. A tremendously influential novel so arresting, so brutal and yet so delicate that its labyrinthine complexity should be studied and praised. A merciless and truly daring masterpiece of queer fiction.”
—Eric LaRocca, author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke

“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

“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 NightfireDavid Demchuk’s debut, The Bone Mother, was nominated for the Giller Prize, the Amazon First Novel Award, the Toronto Book Award, the Kobzar Book Award and a Shirley Jackson Award, and won the 2018 Sunburst Award for Best Novel. RED X was listed as a CBC Books pick for Best Canadian Fiction of the Year, and a New York Public Library Best Book of 2021. He now lives with his husband in St. John’s, Newfoundland.