I had heard previously about the work of Gretchen Felker-Martin, with word their previous novel Manhunt is quite visceral.
I put this to the back of my mind when coming to their latest novel Cuckoo, a queer horror mixed with body horror.
Felker-Martin from the outset wants to get under the reader’s skin, as we open with a person coming back from a conversion camp but not everything is as it seems.
The subject of conversion camps is tricky to tackle, so it’s important to speak to the experience of the people subjected to this barbaric action. Felker-Martin is measured, really painting the picture of the unfortunate inhabitants without going off the rails and the story becoming a full-on rage story.
We mix things up with the potential that Camp Resolution, our conversion camp for this story, to have something akin to Invasion of the Body Snatchers going on.
Where Cuckoo really shines is when we get into the body horror of it all. Felker-Martin wants to chip away out of our skin and dig underneath until it really hurts. This is, at times, extremely visceral horror and will certainly garner the reader’s attention.
The horror though, does feel earned as unlike say the feature film misfire They/Them, Cuckoo’s tone feels consistent and it’s more shocking moments are earned.
Felker-Martin is definitely an author to watch out for in the queer horror realm.
Cuckoo by Gretchen Felker-Martin is available on various book formats from 11 June 2024 from Titan Books.
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