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Trans Rites: An Anthology of Genderfucked Horror
170 pages, Paperback
Published October 28, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 17, 2023
Looking for something super creepy with a whole bunch of trans MCs? This book is for you!
A collection of dark and spooky short stories, Trans Rites focuses on trans and nonbinary MCs, many of whom go through a transformation that’s anything more than they bargained for. Mysterious witch like women, fae like people running in the woods, creatures with claws and big wings…this anthology has it all! The authors held back nothing and have no f*cks (in the best way!) with gore, spookiness, and making you squirm. If you love that creepy chills feeling like I do, this is definitely for you!
A collection of dark and spooky short stories, Trans Rites focuses on trans and nonbinary MCs, many of whom go through a transformation that’s anything more than they bargained for. Mysterious witch like women, fae like people running in the woods, creatures with claws and big wings…this anthology has it all! The authors held back nothing and have no f*cks (in the best way!) with gore, spookiness, and making you squirm. If you love that creepy chills feeling like I do, this is definitely for you!
January 15, 2024
My review is biased since I am in this anthology, but it is refreshing to read a bunch of trans fiction in one place, and many of these stories are so well written, I can't help but admire them. Also, between the stories is a beautifully written prose which transitions nicely between each story and gives the entire anthology a feeling of importance as a storyteller is telling you the reader about these things for a very necessary reason.
Among my favorites are The Moss Witch of the Cascade Mountains, Figs For Thistles, and Dr. Frankenstein Dabbles in Self-Discovery.
There are some typos along the way and some stories are impacted more than others. I'm able to look past that and read but I understand that may irritate some people. However, the stories really deliver and I hope many people can enjoy them.
Among my favorites are The Moss Witch of the Cascade Mountains, Figs For Thistles, and Dr. Frankenstein Dabbles in Self-Discovery.
There are some typos along the way and some stories are impacted more than others. I'm able to look past that and read but I understand that may irritate some people. However, the stories really deliver and I hope many people can enjoy them.
February 29, 2024
As a trans man who loves horror, trans horror is one of my favourite niches, and this is the third trans horror collection that I’ve read. Sadly it was also my least favourite of the three.
The first several stories were imo just average - they didn’t stand out to me in any particular way, but also weren’t bad. Then around the halfway point there were two stories in a row with honestly quite terrible writing. I hate to say it but around this time I almost gave up on the book.
Luckily, this was followed up by a few stories that absolutely slapped. One story blended the sci-fi of VR with a historical rural setting involving a monastery with goat-monks, and I loved it, I loved how weird and different it was and it actually ended up being quite sad. Another story leaned a little into the forced feminisation trope but in a very cool way. And the final story was about frankenstein being a trans man and becoming his own monster (I am convinced that that story was written for me personally).
tl;dr: mixed bag.
The first several stories were imo just average - they didn’t stand out to me in any particular way, but also weren’t bad. Then around the halfway point there were two stories in a row with honestly quite terrible writing. I hate to say it but around this time I almost gave up on the book.
Luckily, this was followed up by a few stories that absolutely slapped. One story blended the sci-fi of VR with a historical rural setting involving a monastery with goat-monks, and I loved it, I loved how weird and different it was and it actually ended up being quite sad. Another story leaned a little into the forced feminisation trope but in a very cool way. And the final story was about frankenstein being a trans man and becoming his own monster (I am convinced that that story was written for me personally).
tl;dr: mixed bag.
October 23, 2025
As a big fan of trans horror, I knew I had to pick this anthology up when I found out about it.
I enjoyed the way the frame story of ending up in a very strange place after falling asleep at a house party was used to introduce each short story, that felt like a very nice addition to the narrative and made me excited to dive into each short story, especially as I wondered about the connection of whatever object we were presented with and the story itself.
The short stories itself explore a variety of trans(formation) horror, from birthing your true self, werewolves, deals with various hungry entities and Dr. Frankenstein turning the scalpel upon himself, many supernatural entities play a role in the transformations the characters here go through. I also enjoyed that less common horror transformations, such as into a bird, and being trapped in virtual reality played a role. I also like the variety of trans representation included here, especially that there’s multiple short stories with and by trans women
One thing I think the book could have really benefitted from was another pass by an editor (unfortunately some stories were rather hard to read, especially regarding punctuation and paragraph breaks happening within lines – at least in the physical copy I ordered, I don’t know how it looks like in the pdf available on the website), but other than that I really enjoyed this collection.
All in all, if you like body horror, can look past a few errors and want to check out some new and fun works of horror this is an anthology I can recommend. I’m especially interested now in checking out the authors I’ve gotten to know here and see what else they have written.
Birthday Suit by Lennox Rex: A closeted trans man becomes enamored by a nonbinary person, whose gender he can’t pin down at school. They offer him a way to become himself. Interesting and fun concept of birthing the real you, but I wish we had gotten a bit more internal gender exploration by Emery and why he didn’t feel comfortable using his name and pronouns until the physical change had finished.
TW: birth, cannibalism, dysphoria, menstruation, misgendering
Rep: trans man MC, nonbinary SC
*FAV* Fresh Meat by Thea Maeve: A young person’s first sexual encounter changes them, but sometimes changing can be very, very freeing. Loved the focus on the body and its strangeness, really fun werewolf joy!
TW: blood, bodily fluids, car accident, consumption of bodily fluids, infection, self-harm (through scratching and to consume blood)
Rep: trans woman MC
Death Taught Me How to Live by Alicia Hilton: A very strange fairytale-esque story about being haunted by a raven and strange transformations, both very weird and really touching, I enjoyed this story a lot, but I think it would have benefited from being a bit more detailed.
TW: animal cruelty, animal death, car accident, disability, injury, transmisogyny
Rep: trans woman MC
Seen by Ju Collins: A nonbinary person wakes up in an unfamiliar room with a strange being offering them the chance to fulfill their desire. Very short, with a tragic end, I enjoyed the atmosphere here a lot but would have loved for the story to have been a bit longer.
TW: abduction, captivity, death, transphobia (past)
Rep: nonbinary MC
The Moss Witch of the Cascade Mountains by Mave Goren: A trans woman’s life in a small town is interrupted when she’s being followed home from her shift at the local museum one day. Interesting character and I liked the lore that was being built around the Moss Witch, but the rest of the narrative was rather predictable small town horror stuff and not fleshed out enough to fully draw me in.
TW: misgendering, murder, transmisogyny
Rep: trans woman MC
Wolformation by Michelle Jackyln Miller: A visit to a doctor reveals to a person that they are intersex and while they start to consider the possibilities of transition, they are also bitten by a werewolf and experience a completely different form of transformation. Very short and to me this did not feel fleshed out enough to be as interesting as it could have been, but I do enjoy seeing trans inter rep in stories, so that was nice.
TW: assault (physical),
Rep: intersex transfeminine MC
Fly by Madeleine Varley: A young person stops hiding the thing their parents always told them to hide and find themself running for their life. Again, very short, but intriguing. I would have liked some more exploration of how their wings were dealt with than just something to be ignored or just a bit more time with this character in general.
TW: child abuse, threats
Rep: not as clear as the other stories, potentially transmasculine due to how the parents refer to the child, but it’s not the main focus of the story
*FAV* Figs for Thistles by E. B. Novetti: Two people travelling through a strange video game world find themselves seated at the table of a witch, forced to listen to her dark and twisted tale about a village on the brink of starvation. Intriguing and deeply unsettling, I enjoyed the tale the witch was telling more than the video game narrative around it, even though it wasn’t focused on trans characters (gender did play an important role though). I wish the frame story had been a bit longer, so I could get to know these characters better and understand the world building there a bit more, but I really enjoyed this story otherwise. It is also one of the longer pieces, which I enjoyed.
TW: bestiality, cannibalism, misogyny, murder, starvation
Rep: nonbinary SC (he/they pronouns)
*FAV* Bleed For Your Wishes by R.S. Saha: After a fight with her mom and a forced haircut a trans woman runs away from home and finds a place of refuge in a small restaurant where wishes come true. I love a good evil fae story, this was fun.
TW: cancer, gore, transmisogyny
Rep: trans woman MC
Frozen Charlotte by Mildred Faintly: A closeted trans woman finds refuge in the home of a Taoist practitioner, where she allows herself to become more and more immersed in becoming the perfect, pretty doll. An interesting transformation story mixing the diary of the Taoist practitioner with commentary by a psychiatrist trying to explain all this away and finally A.’s own joyful narration.
TW: misgendering, psychiatry
Rep: trans woman MC
*FAV* Dr. Frankenstein Dabbles in Self-Discovery by C.C. Rayne: A short retelling of Dr. Frankenstein’s story, where instead of creating a creature, Dr. Frankenstein uses his knowledge to transform himself. When his work threatens to falter, because there’s not enough available corpses coming in, he’ll have to find some other donors. Fun retelling, a nice gory messy end, I loved it.
TW: body horror, gore, murder
Rep: trans man MC
I enjoyed the way the frame story of ending up in a very strange place after falling asleep at a house party was used to introduce each short story, that felt like a very nice addition to the narrative and made me excited to dive into each short story, especially as I wondered about the connection of whatever object we were presented with and the story itself.
The short stories itself explore a variety of trans(formation) horror, from birthing your true self, werewolves, deals with various hungry entities and Dr. Frankenstein turning the scalpel upon himself, many supernatural entities play a role in the transformations the characters here go through. I also enjoyed that less common horror transformations, such as into a bird, and being trapped in virtual reality played a role. I also like the variety of trans representation included here, especially that there’s multiple short stories with and by trans women
One thing I think the book could have really benefitted from was another pass by an editor (unfortunately some stories were rather hard to read, especially regarding punctuation and paragraph breaks happening within lines – at least in the physical copy I ordered, I don’t know how it looks like in the pdf available on the website), but other than that I really enjoyed this collection.
All in all, if you like body horror, can look past a few errors and want to check out some new and fun works of horror this is an anthology I can recommend. I’m especially interested now in checking out the authors I’ve gotten to know here and see what else they have written.
Birthday Suit by Lennox Rex: A closeted trans man becomes enamored by a nonbinary person, whose gender he can’t pin down at school. They offer him a way to become himself. Interesting and fun concept of birthing the real you, but I wish we had gotten a bit more internal gender exploration by Emery and why he didn’t feel comfortable using his name and pronouns until the physical change had finished.
TW: birth, cannibalism, dysphoria, menstruation, misgendering
Rep: trans man MC, nonbinary SC
*FAV* Fresh Meat by Thea Maeve: A young person’s first sexual encounter changes them, but sometimes changing can be very, very freeing. Loved the focus on the body and its strangeness, really fun werewolf joy!
TW: blood, bodily fluids, car accident, consumption of bodily fluids, infection, self-harm (through scratching and to consume blood)
Rep: trans woman MC
Death Taught Me How to Live by Alicia Hilton: A very strange fairytale-esque story about being haunted by a raven and strange transformations, both very weird and really touching, I enjoyed this story a lot, but I think it would have benefited from being a bit more detailed.
TW: animal cruelty, animal death, car accident, disability, injury, transmisogyny
Rep: trans woman MC
Seen by Ju Collins: A nonbinary person wakes up in an unfamiliar room with a strange being offering them the chance to fulfill their desire. Very short, with a tragic end, I enjoyed the atmosphere here a lot but would have loved for the story to have been a bit longer.
TW: abduction, captivity, death, transphobia (past)
Rep: nonbinary MC
The Moss Witch of the Cascade Mountains by Mave Goren: A trans woman’s life in a small town is interrupted when she’s being followed home from her shift at the local museum one day. Interesting character and I liked the lore that was being built around the Moss Witch, but the rest of the narrative was rather predictable small town horror stuff and not fleshed out enough to fully draw me in.
TW: misgendering, murder, transmisogyny
Rep: trans woman MC
Wolformation by Michelle Jackyln Miller: A visit to a doctor reveals to a person that they are intersex and while they start to consider the possibilities of transition, they are also bitten by a werewolf and experience a completely different form of transformation. Very short and to me this did not feel fleshed out enough to be as interesting as it could have been, but I do enjoy seeing trans inter rep in stories, so that was nice.
TW: assault (physical),
Rep: intersex transfeminine MC
Fly by Madeleine Varley: A young person stops hiding the thing their parents always told them to hide and find themself running for their life. Again, very short, but intriguing. I would have liked some more exploration of how their wings were dealt with than just something to be ignored or just a bit more time with this character in general.
TW: child abuse, threats
Rep: not as clear as the other stories, potentially transmasculine due to how the parents refer to the child, but it’s not the main focus of the story
*FAV* Figs for Thistles by E. B. Novetti: Two people travelling through a strange video game world find themselves seated at the table of a witch, forced to listen to her dark and twisted tale about a village on the brink of starvation. Intriguing and deeply unsettling, I enjoyed the tale the witch was telling more than the video game narrative around it, even though it wasn’t focused on trans characters (gender did play an important role though). I wish the frame story had been a bit longer, so I could get to know these characters better and understand the world building there a bit more, but I really enjoyed this story otherwise. It is also one of the longer pieces, which I enjoyed.
TW: bestiality, cannibalism, misogyny, murder, starvation
Rep: nonbinary SC (he/they pronouns)
*FAV* Bleed For Your Wishes by R.S. Saha: After a fight with her mom and a forced haircut a trans woman runs away from home and finds a place of refuge in a small restaurant where wishes come true. I love a good evil fae story, this was fun.
TW: cancer, gore, transmisogyny
Rep: trans woman MC
Frozen Charlotte by Mildred Faintly: A closeted trans woman finds refuge in the home of a Taoist practitioner, where she allows herself to become more and more immersed in becoming the perfect, pretty doll. An interesting transformation story mixing the diary of the Taoist practitioner with commentary by a psychiatrist trying to explain all this away and finally A.’s own joyful narration.
TW: misgendering, psychiatry
Rep: trans woman MC
*FAV* Dr. Frankenstein Dabbles in Self-Discovery by C.C. Rayne: A short retelling of Dr. Frankenstein’s story, where instead of creating a creature, Dr. Frankenstein uses his knowledge to transform himself. When his work threatens to falter, because there’s not enough available corpses coming in, he’ll have to find some other donors. Fun retelling, a nice gory messy end, I loved it.
TW: body horror, gore, murder
Rep: trans man MC
April 20, 2025
Rating 3.5 stars.
A wild ride for sure.
A wild ride for sure.
November 9, 2023
Please note: I do appear in this anthology, but that fact is neither here nor there when it comes to my rating. In fact, outside of direct references to my own story, just act as if I’m reviewing a book in which I do not appear at all, because that’s how I’m going to be talking about it. Also, I read this as a proof (couldn’t wait for my contributor copy after all, as it turned out, lol), so I am not taking any kinds of typos or errors into account, as they may have been fixed prior to printing.
***
I appreciated the cleverness of creating a guide, of sorts, for the book. Not only does it insert the reader into the narrative as a character themselves, it also offers a seamless introduction to each story and serves as a connecting thread that contributes in a big way to this collection’s strong sense of cohesion. The whole idea felt reminiscent of a meeting of the Midnight Society, which gave me all the warm, fuzzy nostalgia.
The way the editors chose to order the stories also shows great attention to detail, as far as reader experience is concerned—almost like a band deciding on a setlist or the track listing of their newest studio album. Putting the fact that I wrote “Birthday Suit” aside, I truly believe they chose exactly the right pieces to open and close with. That was a solid start and a really powerful finish, in my humble opinion. I couldn’t imagine this anthology ending on anything other than C.C. Rayne’s “Dr. Frankenstein Dabbles in Self-Discovery” (which I absolutely adored, by the way).
Trans Rites is an excellent example of “quality over quantity”, as it may not be long at only eleven stories, but each of the featured authors displays formidable skill. These stories are visceral, unabashed, and hard to forget. It’s easy to find notes of challenge amongst the pages, as well. I took extra notice of the way Michelle Jacklyn Miller used an existing medical condition in her story “Wolformation”. There are so many things that are naturally occurring, like Persistent Müllerian duct syndrome, that we as a society seem to have no issue accepting as reality. Why, then, exactly W-H-Y is it so impossible to accept and respect the fact and reality of transness?
I couldn’t resist the wickedly harsh reminder Ju Collins offers readers in “Seen”—that you should always beware the ambiguity of language and double check the fine print whilst making wishes (Twilight Zone vibes are always welcome here); and E. B. Novetti’s “Figs for Thistles” was delightfully bizarre. It made me curious about the world and society in which Novetti’s story exists, and I always count that kind of lingering curiosity as a mark of good storytelling.
This anthology of “Generfucked” horror (really, how can you not love the title) was The Dionysian Public Library’s first ever anthology, and I feel that v.f. thompson and Fritz Dries really struck gold here. I’m beyond honoured to have been included in this collection myself, and can’t wait for more people to be spellbound by our trans voices.
***
I appreciated the cleverness of creating a guide, of sorts, for the book. Not only does it insert the reader into the narrative as a character themselves, it also offers a seamless introduction to each story and serves as a connecting thread that contributes in a big way to this collection’s strong sense of cohesion. The whole idea felt reminiscent of a meeting of the Midnight Society, which gave me all the warm, fuzzy nostalgia.
The way the editors chose to order the stories also shows great attention to detail, as far as reader experience is concerned—almost like a band deciding on a setlist or the track listing of their newest studio album. Putting the fact that I wrote “Birthday Suit” aside, I truly believe they chose exactly the right pieces to open and close with. That was a solid start and a really powerful finish, in my humble opinion. I couldn’t imagine this anthology ending on anything other than C.C. Rayne’s “Dr. Frankenstein Dabbles in Self-Discovery” (which I absolutely adored, by the way).
Trans Rites is an excellent example of “quality over quantity”, as it may not be long at only eleven stories, but each of the featured authors displays formidable skill. These stories are visceral, unabashed, and hard to forget. It’s easy to find notes of challenge amongst the pages, as well. I took extra notice of the way Michelle Jacklyn Miller used an existing medical condition in her story “Wolformation”. There are so many things that are naturally occurring, like Persistent Müllerian duct syndrome, that we as a society seem to have no issue accepting as reality. Why, then, exactly W-H-Y is it so impossible to accept and respect the fact and reality of transness?
I couldn’t resist the wickedly harsh reminder Ju Collins offers readers in “Seen”—that you should always beware the ambiguity of language and double check the fine print whilst making wishes (Twilight Zone vibes are always welcome here); and E. B. Novetti’s “Figs for Thistles” was delightfully bizarre. It made me curious about the world and society in which Novetti’s story exists, and I always count that kind of lingering curiosity as a mark of good storytelling.
This anthology of “Generfucked” horror (really, how can you not love the title) was The Dionysian Public Library’s first ever anthology, and I feel that v.f. thompson and Fritz Dries really struck gold here. I’m beyond honoured to have been included in this collection myself, and can’t wait for more people to be spellbound by our trans voices.
March 27, 2024
My Rating: 3.25/5
Somehow every anthology I pick up always begins with the stories I like least. Which sucks for the later stories because I start them thinking "oh this probs also won't be good". So take that into account for my individual ratings.
I did like that between all the individual independent short stories there was an overarching story, somewhat connecting them.
Birthday Suit: 2/5 it wasn't particularly bad, but (spoilers) the trans MMC being referred to as she and his given name throughout the whole story until he was literally reborn into a new body was certainly a choice and I didn't like it.
Fresh Meat: 3/5
Death Taught Me How To Live: 3.5/5
Seen: 2.5/5 I can't help but think someone felt very edgy writing this
Moss Witch Of The Cascade Mountains: 3/5 that sure was an open end
Wolformation: 2.5/5 You will never guess what happened in this story
Fly: 4/5 I think this is the shortest story but probs my fav if I had to decide
Figs For Thistles: 3.5/5 This is a story in a story and the one within was cool, the other one had potential but was so unsatisfying
Bleed For Your Wishes: 4/5
Frozen Charlotte: 3.75/5
Dr. Frankenstein Dabbles In Self-discovery: 3.75/5
Somehow every anthology I pick up always begins with the stories I like least. Which sucks for the later stories because I start them thinking "oh this probs also won't be good". So take that into account for my individual ratings.
I did like that between all the individual independent short stories there was an overarching story, somewhat connecting them.
Birthday Suit: 2/5 it wasn't particularly bad, but (spoilers) the trans MMC being referred to as she and his given name throughout the whole story until he was literally reborn into a new body was certainly a choice and I didn't like it.
Fresh Meat: 3/5
Death Taught Me How To Live: 3.5/5
Seen: 2.5/5 I can't help but think someone felt very edgy writing this
Moss Witch Of The Cascade Mountains: 3/5 that sure was an open end
Wolformation: 2.5/5 You will never guess what happened in this story
Fly: 4/5 I think this is the shortest story but probs my fav if I had to decide
Figs For Thistles: 3.5/5 This is a story in a story and the one within was cool, the other one had potential but was so unsatisfying
Bleed For Your Wishes: 4/5
Frozen Charlotte: 3.75/5
Dr. Frankenstein Dabbles In Self-discovery: 3.75/5
October 28, 2024
As a mom of a trans kiddo, I love the purpose of this book. It's a bit YA for me but the stories still are good if you don't mind the teenage vibe. The cover is gorge and the spooky twist on trans stories is just amazing.
Read
September 3, 2025A dnf because of the writing. Wish I loved this
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