Your Lonely Nights Are Over is a bleakly, darkly comedic and campy horror, but do not be fooled—this is a book up to its elbows in guts, gore and grimly accurate social commentary.
Adam Sass caught me utterly off guard with just how funny this book was. It was exactly the type of meta, knowing horror comedy as seen in the Scream universe, but also the dark comedy that comes from staring into the void and the void looking back. The dialogue sparkled and shone, fizzing with energy and life. Right from the start, I recognised the several queer stereotypes embodied by these characters and their respective horror ‘types’ as well. Sass sends that high school cliqueness and the in-fighting within the LGBTQ+ community, but through a loving lens. This is definitely a case of laughing with rather than at. Of course, this deft characterisation and set-up allows you to fall in love with characters, just to have the rug pulled from under your feet as the horror begins. This is a looming dread over the course of the book, with death marking the group from very early on. You get the sense of the walls closing in on you, as the killer grows bolder and bolder.
Make no mistake, this is a book unafraid to go into the gory details. It is true horror – full of blood and guts. The deaths are creative and their sequences are spine-chilling. Sass keeps the pacing at a quick speed, not allowing you to draw too many breaths. However, there is still time given for characters to develop and grow, which I adored. In particular, the tangled dynamic between Dearie and Cole is one that I fell in love with.
Also, I loved the way Sass transformed the tropey backdrop of the serial killer gone dormant that previously terrorised the community. There is a fantastic through thread around true crime narratives, particularly through a documentary that features heavily in the book. You get the sense of a community trying to build itself back up, only to have the horrors of the past seemingly re-emerge. With the specific targeting of the LGBTQ+ community, it makes a bold statement about the demonisation and targeting of the community – speaking far too closely to current day sentiment.
I also really enjoyed the way Sass blends in insightful social commentary. There is a keenly focused spotlight on loneliness and the way romantic relationships are seen as pinnacles of success. Of course, this is not any way to define a life. You miss the joy found beyond those relationships and the person themselves, happy within themselves. Also, the way people try to deflect death from their path is fascinating. Sass intersects this with the depiction of LGBTQ+ relationships, internalised homophobia and the rising wave of hate crimes against marginalised communities, is nothing short of heart-wrenching.
Sass ensures to adequately warn readers, with a comprehensive trigger warning list at the start of the book. I also appreciated the author’s letter talking about the way race impacts the story, particularly in terms of dealing with police, harassment and injustice. This is included at the beginning, allowing readers to prepare themselves. There is also a sensitive portrayal of abusive relationships at the core of this book. It shapes key journeys within the narrative and is a sickening look at gaslighting, emotional manipulation and the way abusers can make you destroy your self-worth.
Your Lonely Nights Are Over balances heavy societal topics with dashes of camp horror, truly terrifying sequences, and characterisation that truly sings. Adam Sass is an author to watch and I truly recommend him as an emerging scream monarch of YA horror.
Your Lonely Nights Are Over is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of September 12th.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
Scream meets Clueless in this YA horror from Adam Sass in which two gay teen BFFs find their friendship tested when a serial killer starts targeting their school’s Queer Club.
Dearie and Cole are inseparable, unlikeable, and (in bad luck for them) totally unbelievable.
From the day they met, Dearie and Cole have been two against the world. But whenever something bad happens at Stone Grove High School, they get blamed. Why? They’re beautiful, flirtatious, dangerously clever queen bees, and they’re always ready to call out their fellow students. But they’ve never faced a bigger threat than surviving senior year, when Mr. Sandman, a famous, never-caught serial killer emerges from a long retirement—and his hunting ground is their school Queer Club.
As evidence and bodies begin piling up and suspicion points at Dearie and Cole, they will need to do whatever it takes to unmask the real killer before they and the rest of Queer Club are taken down. But they’re not getting away from the killer without a fight.
Along the way, they must confront dark truths hidden beneath the surface of their small desert community. When the world is stacked against them and every flop they know is a suspect, can Dearie and Cole stop Mr. Sandman’s rampage? Or will their lonely nights soon be over . . .
