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Rob Costello

Goodreads Author

Born

in The United States

September 07

Website

https://www.cloudbusterpress.com/

Genre

Young Adult, Horror, Gay and Lesbian

Member Since

August 2009

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/cloudbusterpress

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Rob Costello (he/him) writes dark and contemporary fiction with a queer bent for and about young people. He’s the contributing editor of WE MOSTLY COME OUT AT NIGHT: 15 QUEER TALES OF MONSTERS, ANGELS & OTHER CREATURES, nominated for a 2024 Bram Stoker Award® and named a 2024 CYBILS Award Finalist as well as a Notable/Recommended/Best Book of 2024 by the New York Public Library, Ginger Nuts of Horror, PseudoPod, Reactor Magazine, and Locus Magazine. He’s also author of the dark fiction story collection THE DANCING BEARS: QUEER FABLES FOR THE END TIMES, named a finalist for The Whirling Prize. His stories have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and have appeared in The Dark, The NoSleep Podcast, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, ...more

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Rob Costello’s books

Average rating: 3.85 · 1,499 ratings · 344 reviews · 12 distinct works • Similar authors

	Rural Voices: 15 Authors Challenge Assumptions About Small-Town America by Nora Shalaway Carpenter (Goodreads Author) (Editor), David Bowles (Goodreads Author) (Contributor), Joseph Bruchac (Contributor) 3.78 avg rating — 942 ratings — published 2020 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	We Mostly Come Out At Night: 15 Queer Tales of Monsters, Angels & Other Creatures by Rob Costello (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Kalynn Bayron (Goodreads Author) (Contributor), David Bowles (Goodreads Author) (Contributor) 3.92 avg rating — 404 ratings — published 2024 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Vol. 141, Nos. 1 & 2, July/August 2021 by Sheree Renée Thomas (Editor), Lauren Ring (Goodreads Author) (Contributor), L.X. Beckett (Contributor) 3.62 avg rating — 68 ratings — published 2021 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	An Ugly World for Beautiful Boys 4.59 avg rating — 46 ratings — published 2025 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Dancing Bears: Queer Fables for the End Times 4.46 avg rating — 26 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Dark Magazine, Issue 57: February 2020 by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Sean Wallace (Editor), Rob Costello (Goodreads Author) 3.91 avg rating — 11 ratings — published 2020	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Dark Magazine, Issue 78: November 2021 by Sean Wallace (Editor), H. Pueyo (Goodreads Author), Rob Costello (Goodreads Author) 4.60 avg rating — 5 ratings — published 2021	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Dark Issue 115 by R.L. Summerling (Goodreads Author), Steve Rasnic Tem (Goodreads Author), Abigail Kemske (Goodreads Author) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 4 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Dark Magazine, Issue 65: October 2020 by Sean Wallace (Editor), Rob Costello (Goodreads Author), Shari Paul 4.67 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 2020	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	We Mostly Come Out at Night: 15 Queer Tales of Monsters, Angels & Other Creatures 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Rob is Currently Reading

Rob Costello is currently reading

Don't Fear the Reaper (The Indian Lake Trilogy, #2)

by Stephen Graham Jones (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Mar 13, 2024 06:36AM

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Rob’s Recent Updates

Rob Costello entered a giveaway The Second Life of Snap by Erin Entrada Kelly (Goodreads Author) 10 copies available, ends on February 09, 2026 Enter to win »
Jan 14, 2026 02:14PM · like · see giveaway
Rob Costello liked Em Keiser's review of We Mostly Come Out At Night: 15 Queer Tales of Monsters, Angels & Other Creatures: "I love this anthology, I love that the stories aren't just, "something spooky happened and it was gay" but the character's queerness all are integral to their stories. I think that makes it feel way more real. amazing amazing book "
Jan 12, 2026 05:54AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of We Mostly Come Out At Night by Rob Costello. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — We Mostly Come Out At Night by Rob Costello <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Rob Costello liked Kim's review of We Mostly Come Out At Night: 15 Queer Tales of Monsters, Angels & Other Creatures: "5 stars for the variety of stories and lore! What a range of LGBTQIA+ stories that made my queer heart sing. I felt so happy to read different versions of classic tales and some newer spins on them. A few stories resonated more with me than others bu" Read more of this review »
Jan 04, 2026 07:07AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of We Mostly Come Out At Night by Rob Costello. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — We Mostly Come Out At Night by Rob Costello <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Rob Costello entered a giveaway Holloway by Elana K. Arnold (Goodreads Author) 10 copies available, ends on January 26, 2026 Enter to win »
Dec 29, 2025 08:37AM · like · see giveaway
Rob Costello and 1 other person liked Ema's review of An Ugly World for Beautiful Boys: "This book is crazy and so so so dark. Raw and real. I have so many feelings."
Dec 10, 2025 06:14AM · see review
Rob Costello voted for Dating and Dragons (Dungeons and Drama, #2) as Readers' Favorite Young Adult Fiction in the Final Round of the 2025 Goodreads Choice Awards. Cast Your Vote
Nov 30, 2025 09:11PM · like
Rob Costello rated a book it was amazing Living in Cemeteries by Corey Farrenkopf (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Nov 24, 2025 06:06PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Living in Cemeteries by Corey Farrenkopf. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Living in Cemeteries by Corey Farrenkopf <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Rob Costello is now following Keith Rosson Author of Fever House (Fever House, #1)
Nov 20, 2025 08:05AM · like
Rob Costello is now following Alex Hofelich Author of Georgia Gothic: Stories from the Dark Side of t...
Oct 06, 2025 06:12PM · like
Rob Costello liked a quote “That’s why I chose you. Only we can see each other for who we truly are.” Jonathan Lenore Kastin
Sep 06, 2025 08:05PM · like · more quotes by Jonathan Lenore Kastin · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of We Mostly Come Out At Night by Rob Costello. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — We Mostly Come Out At Night by Rob Costello <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

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Quotes by Rob Costello (?)

“She was unafraid to be ugly and strange, to take up space, to howl and roar.”
― Rob Costello, We Mostly Come Out at Night: 15 Queer Tales of Monsters, Angels & Other Creatures

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“This city eats pretty boys like us alive if we let it.”
― Rob Costello, An Ugly World for Beautiful Boys

tags: city-life, club-scene, lgbtq-ya, lgbtqia-characters, nyc

0 likes

“Man is his own devil and his own god. He became such when he stopped believing in anything but himself.”
― Rob Costello, We Mostly Come Out at Night: 15 Queer Tales of Monsters, Angels & Other Creatures

0 likes

See all Rob Costello's quotes »

Rob’s Quotes

“Maybe the only thing each of us can see is our own shadow.

Carl Jung called this his shadow work. He said we never see others. Instead we see only aspects of ourselves that fall over them. Shadows. Projections. Our associations.

The same way old painters would sit in a tiny dark room and trace the image of what stood outside a tiny window, in the bright sunlight.

The camera obscura.

Not the exact image, but everything reversed or upside down.”
― Chuck Palahniuk

280 likes

“Sometimes you grow to love the shadow that follows.”
― Donna Lynn Hope

tags: love, shadow, unrequited-love

77 likes

“This city eats pretty boys like us alive if we let it.”
― Rob Costello, An Ugly World for Beautiful Boys

tags: city-life, club-scene, lgbtq-ya, lgbtqia-characters, nyc

0 likes

“That’s why I chose you. Only we can see each other for who we truly are.”
― Jonathan Lenore Kastin, We Mostly Come Out At Night: 15 Queer Tales of Monsters, Angels & Other Creatures

1 likes