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Beyond the Planet of the Vampires
A speculative avant-garde horror novel that reads like an erotic vampiric nightmare directed by Jodorowsky playing at a '50s drive-in.
Beyond the Planet of the Vampires is a gay pulp horror novel of the aleatory. Smoldering in a social abjection reminiscent of Genet's outlaw anti-heroes, the narrative erratically loses and regains consciousness during an apocalyptic space invasion of Mario Bava's psychic vampires, reaching across intergalactic fathoms in search of future victims. Encouraging the reader to dissolve in the flux of its strange syntax, this incantatory book acts as a psychopomp towards infernal differentiation.
Beyond the Planet of the Vampires is a gay pulp horror novel of the aleatory. Smoldering in a social abjection reminiscent of Genet's outlaw anti-heroes, the narrative erratically loses and regains consciousness during an apocalyptic space invasion of Mario Bava's psychic vampires, reaching across intergalactic fathoms in search of future victims. Encouraging the reader to dissolve in the flux of its strange syntax, this incantatory book acts as a psychopomp towards infernal differentiation.
218 pages, Paperback
Published June 17, 2025
6 people are currently reading
204 people want to read
About the author
Ulrich Baer
1 book1 followerhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTVjn...
Ulrich Baer is a gay man who writes books like anti-authoritarian noise music
Meontology
"Ulrich is a formalistic poet, known for his "sophisticated rhyme",[6] "technical virtuosity",[9] "rich use of metaphors and images"[8] and preference for "highly conventional thematic" structure.[7] The style of Ulrich and the other late Minnesänger has been called the "flowery style" (geblümter Stil).[8] It is "affected, even mannerist".[7] Even more than his fellow Swabians, however, Ulrich's poetry is "an expression of his artistic skills" that establishes the role of the artist in courtly life.[12]
Ulrich can at times be crass and sexually explicit.[4][12]"
Incendiary verses for Guy Hocquenghem
Gay male liberationist lit from subproletariat hell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Duaug...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ25-...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFTyN...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtzul...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3omR...
Please don't give money to CLASH they were incredibly bigoted.
Ulrich Baer is a gay man who writes books like anti-authoritarian noise music
Meontology
"Ulrich is a formalistic poet, known for his "sophisticated rhyme",[6] "technical virtuosity",[9] "rich use of metaphors and images"[8] and preference for "highly conventional thematic" structure.[7] The style of Ulrich and the other late Minnesänger has been called the "flowery style" (geblümter Stil).[8] It is "affected, even mannerist".[7] Even more than his fellow Swabians, however, Ulrich's poetry is "an expression of his artistic skills" that establishes the role of the artist in courtly life.[12]
Ulrich can at times be crass and sexually explicit.[4][12]"
Incendiary verses for Guy Hocquenghem
Gay male liberationist lit from subproletariat hell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Duaug...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ25-...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFTyN...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtzul...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3omR...
Please don't give money to CLASH they were incredibly bigoted.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
July 20, 2025
I've never felt more illiterate in my life. it felt like reading a thesaurus with random sprinkles of smut and I felt like i lost so many brain cells trying to understand every other word. nothing made sense and where the fuck were the vampires. this book was...a choice, to say the least.
February 1, 2025
To begin, I would like to extend a thank you to both CLASH Books and NetGalley for the incredible opportunity to read and review an advanced copy of this book.
Over the past couple weeks, I’ve been spending what time that I can with Ethel Cain’s newest album, Perverts. What initially felt like an album that was purposely holding me away at arm’s length has opened up over multiple listens into something that I am realizing I will hold close to me for the remainder of my existence.
There is nothing more difficult to describe to another human than why a certain piece of art affects you or connects with you the way that it does. It is a personal experience that is constantly evolving and shifting the more that you indulge in it or the more that you move away from it. It is a feeling that can be shared with others, but never duplicated.
Ulrich Baer has crafted a novel that will likely divide those that read it into two very distinct camps and this isn’t a commentary on the quality or the likability of his creation, but more a remark on how people react to things that don’t immediately embrace them, coddle them or spoon feed them the answers. Beyond The Planet Of The Vampires is billed as an avant-garde queer horror novel that reads like a 1950s pulp paperback and while at the core of this novel this is a true statement, it’s also quite a bit more than that and somehow not that at all.
Baer (who appears to have previously released a few books of poetry under the name Ulrich Jesse K Baer) delights in wordplay and savours the sounds that combining words together into some sort of futurespeak feels inside of your mouth as you just can’t help but whisper them under your breath as you read along. Baer doesn’t just use a five dollar word here or there, he bathes his story in them and challenges you to allow them to take you places that your mind might not be ready for.
The deeper that I read into this book, the more I was brought to mind of the somewhat infamous exquisite corpse poem “Pull My Daisy” penned by Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and their boy wonder, Neal Cassady in the late 1940s. One could argue that Beyond The Planet Of The Vampires is less of a novel and more of an epic poem that is just barely ahead of it’s time and perfectly ripe for the right people to read it, devour it and allow it to engulf them completely.
Ultimately, for Beyond The Planet Of The Vampires, Baer is working from a shelf of resources and influences that would put shame to most university literature and philosophy departments, with influences that travel from Jean Genet to Robert Glück to Gilles Deleuze all the way to Immanual Kant.
Art, in all of its many mediums, is here for us to explore it, to examine it, to seek out it’s connection to ourselves and to the greater world around us. Baer’s first foray into writing a novel most certainly will not be his last and I know that this is a book that I will spend more and more time revisiting and thinking about as time moves forward.
Over the past couple weeks, I’ve been spending what time that I can with Ethel Cain’s newest album, Perverts. What initially felt like an album that was purposely holding me away at arm’s length has opened up over multiple listens into something that I am realizing I will hold close to me for the remainder of my existence.
There is nothing more difficult to describe to another human than why a certain piece of art affects you or connects with you the way that it does. It is a personal experience that is constantly evolving and shifting the more that you indulge in it or the more that you move away from it. It is a feeling that can be shared with others, but never duplicated.
Ulrich Baer has crafted a novel that will likely divide those that read it into two very distinct camps and this isn’t a commentary on the quality or the likability of his creation, but more a remark on how people react to things that don’t immediately embrace them, coddle them or spoon feed them the answers. Beyond The Planet Of The Vampires is billed as an avant-garde queer horror novel that reads like a 1950s pulp paperback and while at the core of this novel this is a true statement, it’s also quite a bit more than that and somehow not that at all.
Baer (who appears to have previously released a few books of poetry under the name Ulrich Jesse K Baer) delights in wordplay and savours the sounds that combining words together into some sort of futurespeak feels inside of your mouth as you just can’t help but whisper them under your breath as you read along. Baer doesn’t just use a five dollar word here or there, he bathes his story in them and challenges you to allow them to take you places that your mind might not be ready for.
The deeper that I read into this book, the more I was brought to mind of the somewhat infamous exquisite corpse poem “Pull My Daisy” penned by Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and their boy wonder, Neal Cassady in the late 1940s. One could argue that Beyond The Planet Of The Vampires is less of a novel and more of an epic poem that is just barely ahead of it’s time and perfectly ripe for the right people to read it, devour it and allow it to engulf them completely.
Ultimately, for Beyond The Planet Of The Vampires, Baer is working from a shelf of resources and influences that would put shame to most university literature and philosophy departments, with influences that travel from Jean Genet to Robert Glück to Gilles Deleuze all the way to Immanual Kant.
Art, in all of its many mediums, is here for us to explore it, to examine it, to seek out it’s connection to ourselves and to the greater world around us. Baer’s first foray into writing a novel most certainly will not be his last and I know that this is a book that I will spend more and more time revisiting and thinking about as time moves forward.
April 30, 2025
The author writes "your" as "yr". Let that sink in for a second before you continue reading this review.
This is avant-garde...risky...experimental... and it didn't really work for me.
The lyrical, poetry aspect of the book had the potential to be interesting. But the writing itself feels like a word vomit stew. Excessive use of very obscure words to the point that it felt like I was reading from a thesaurus. And the novel is presented as a series of vignettes, so I thought with that combined with the writing style that it made to story very hard to follow.
I appreciate the attempt at trying something risky, and there were certain aspects of it I did like, but ultimately this wasn't for me. I've seen some other high reviews though so I'm sure there's an audience out there that is going to love this book.
*Thank you to Netgalley and CLASH Books for providing me an ARC copy of this book. All opinions expressed are entirely my own*
P.S. I've noticed a few reviews say that this is a third book in a trilogy. I have not been able to confirm if that's true since Goodreads only lists this book. If so it explains why the book was a little confusing lol
This is avant-garde...risky...experimental... and it didn't really work for me.
The lyrical, poetry aspect of the book had the potential to be interesting. But the writing itself feels like a word vomit stew. Excessive use of very obscure words to the point that it felt like I was reading from a thesaurus. And the novel is presented as a series of vignettes, so I thought with that combined with the writing style that it made to story very hard to follow.
I appreciate the attempt at trying something risky, and there were certain aspects of it I did like, but ultimately this wasn't for me. I've seen some other high reviews though so I'm sure there's an audience out there that is going to love this book.
*Thank you to Netgalley and CLASH Books for providing me an ARC copy of this book. All opinions expressed are entirely my own*
P.S. I've noticed a few reviews say that this is a third book in a trilogy. I have not been able to confirm if that's true since Goodreads only lists this book. If so it explains why the book was a little confusing lol
March 11, 2026
Can't say I necessarily got the full meaning of the philosophical references but I got the gist of the meaning of the sentences kinda. The sorta shifting and symbolic nature of the landscape this book takes place in kinda also facilitates some cool puns and absolutely fantastic sentences. I was considering giving this a four because maybe some sentences seemed trite or overblown but in retrospect, there were so many mind-blowing descriptions of gay sex or nature or emotional landscapes or crazy incomprehensible phenomenological occurrences that I kind of have to give this five stars. This book sorta achieves a kind of plotless montage effect through grounding the language play in sorta repeated motifs and picking up threads here and there. Something's happening and we don't know what it is. Truly innovative stuff here.
August 3, 2025
Bloated, overwritten, and just not the kind of thing that clicked with me. It’s not that I didn’t ‘understand’ - it’s just stale
June 2, 2025
[I have received a Netgalley ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.]
This book had so much potential for me with the cover and the blurb being so captivating, yet it didn't deliver much hope in that regard. It is a book that's described to be an "erotic vampiric nightmare that reads like a Jodrowsky film playing in a 50s drive in theatre" but comes off like a pretentious cinephile's phone-notes-poetry art project. But I should say, delivers on the avant-garde nightmare department very well.
Beyond the Planet of Vampires had initially captivated me with its poetic approach and visual language yet lost me as quickly as it had captivated through the same poetic nature. The language got stale in my eyes faster than I thought and made me realise why having an overly flowery tongue in writing can tire the reader. There is an image that's kept strong by the language, which was what kept me reading, but the hustle and bustle of the overwhelming language kept the mental tone of it down. Some sentences and the choice of words felt out of place in the somewhat "sophisticated" structure of the narration. It's both current, old, and futuristic at once and not in positive regard.
The format is very interesting, and coupled with the premise that gives the image of an avant-garde nightmare, I was very excited when I started the book. It was completely shadowed by the effort of the language and the loss of intent in the titles and the structures. After a while, it was hard to see the intention behind the titles and the positioning of text and the story that's supposed to move behind.
It wasn't an enjoyable experience.
What's worse is that when I logged in to make my review on Goodreads, I came to learn that supposedly this was a third in a trilogy when there's no other books listed under the author's name nor stated in the blurb of the book itself.
Needless to say, to close this off, I am very disappointed by this read.
This book had so much potential for me with the cover and the blurb being so captivating, yet it didn't deliver much hope in that regard. It is a book that's described to be an "erotic vampiric nightmare that reads like a Jodrowsky film playing in a 50s drive in theatre" but comes off like a pretentious cinephile's phone-notes-poetry art project. But I should say, delivers on the avant-garde nightmare department very well.
Beyond the Planet of Vampires had initially captivated me with its poetic approach and visual language yet lost me as quickly as it had captivated through the same poetic nature. The language got stale in my eyes faster than I thought and made me realise why having an overly flowery tongue in writing can tire the reader. There is an image that's kept strong by the language, which was what kept me reading, but the hustle and bustle of the overwhelming language kept the mental tone of it down. Some sentences and the choice of words felt out of place in the somewhat "sophisticated" structure of the narration. It's both current, old, and futuristic at once and not in positive regard.
The format is very interesting, and coupled with the premise that gives the image of an avant-garde nightmare, I was very excited when I started the book. It was completely shadowed by the effort of the language and the loss of intent in the titles and the structures. After a while, it was hard to see the intention behind the titles and the positioning of text and the story that's supposed to move behind.
It wasn't an enjoyable experience.
What's worse is that when I logged in to make my review on Goodreads, I came to learn that supposedly this was a third in a trilogy when there's no other books listed under the author's name nor stated in the blurb of the book itself.
Needless to say, to close this off, I am very disappointed by this read.
February 11, 2026
Full Review
3.5 Stars
Beyond the Planet of the Vampires is an unusual novel and certainly not one for everybody. However, I believe its poetic prose, vivid imagery, and fascinating juxtapositions of pulp tropes and queer sexuality make it a very worthwhile read for people interested in experimental literature.
3.5 Stars
Beyond the Planet of the Vampires is an unusual novel and certainly not one for everybody. However, I believe its poetic prose, vivid imagery, and fascinating juxtapositions of pulp tropes and queer sexuality make it a very worthwhile read for people interested in experimental literature.
July 6, 2025
I'm ashamed to say that I read this whole book in the comfort of my own home (when a book has a giant boner on the cover, you're definitely supposed to read it in public to piss off the parents and old people)
April 2, 2025
kamo aga to nie chcesz czytac
ulrich byl high and horny, jak to pisol, a jo byla 100% trzezwo... zasadnio chyba
to byl taki angielski bruno schulz
i kdyz jo vlastne ani nwm, jesli tyn autor je angielski
moje angielski absolutnie nie anglikowalo, a i gdybych rozumiala kazdymu slowu, stejnie by mi dokupy nie dowaly syns
obawiom se, ze by mi w tymtu przipadku nie jynzykowol zodyn z jynzykow, kierymi aspon kapke mowiym
jo ni mom pojyncio, co se tu wyprawialo, jesli na stronce mom zrowna opis seksu nebo doslowa se komusi wylywajom strzewa
to bylo porno, kierymu nie rozumiym
autor naduzywol forme yr (your), kaj my som? w smskach nebo na lodpadzie?
je zech maksymalnie confused
czulach se w podobnym nastroju, jak zech se dziwala na pulp fiction, ale u tej bych akurat umiala docenic jeji zaslugi w oblasti kinematografii, totu zech se na rozdil od ni ani moc nie uzyla
zajimalo by mnie, jesli by to miol pochopic aji gdo inszy krome studenta literatury? albo to je jyny dlo profesorow a zhulonych bohemow?
tyn penis musiol byc fakt nie z tego swiata... ale isto byl dobry? tak zech wydedukowala
hej ale aspon font a okladka byly fajne
nie wiym czy autora podziwiac za tyn wytwor albo se modlic abych kogosi jego pokroju nigdy nie spotkala
(kapke se bojym tymu dac miyni niz trzi gwiozdki bo taki dziw przeca cosi znaczy.. ni?)
ulrich byl high and horny, jak to pisol, a jo byla 100% trzezwo... zasadnio chyba
to byl taki angielski bruno schulz
i kdyz jo vlastne ani nwm, jesli tyn autor je angielski
moje angielski absolutnie nie anglikowalo, a i gdybych rozumiala kazdymu slowu, stejnie by mi dokupy nie dowaly syns
obawiom se, ze by mi w tymtu przipadku nie jynzykowol zodyn z jynzykow, kierymi aspon kapke mowiym
jo ni mom pojyncio, co se tu wyprawialo, jesli na stronce mom zrowna opis seksu nebo doslowa se komusi wylywajom strzewa
to bylo porno, kierymu nie rozumiym
autor naduzywol forme yr (your), kaj my som? w smskach nebo na lodpadzie?
je zech maksymalnie confused
czulach se w podobnym nastroju, jak zech se dziwala na pulp fiction, ale u tej bych akurat umiala docenic jeji zaslugi w oblasti kinematografii, totu zech se na rozdil od ni ani moc nie uzyla
zajimalo by mnie, jesli by to miol pochopic aji gdo inszy krome studenta literatury? albo to je jyny dlo profesorow a zhulonych bohemow?
tyn penis musiol byc fakt nie z tego swiata... ale isto byl dobry? tak zech wydedukowala
hej ale aspon font a okladka byly fajne
nie wiym czy autora podziwiac za tyn wytwor albo se modlic abych kogosi jego pokroju nigdy nie spotkala
(kapke se bojym tymu dac miyni niz trzi gwiozdki bo taki dziw przeca cosi znaczy.. ni?)
June 10, 2025
Thank you to Netgalley and Clash books for providing me and ARC copy of this book for my honest review.
This is the first time I DNF an arc read. I made it 30% and it took me a week to get there. I wanted to love this book, I really genuinely did but instead I'm sitting here not being able to read another page.
The description of the book made me incredibly intrigued and drawn in, not to mention the cover art is gorgeous... But that's about all the good reviews I can give on it.
First and foremost "yr" is used instead of the word "your". The way it's written made me genuinely feel like either chat gpt gone rogue or the author wanted to use as many pretentious words as possible in what I can only describe as "word stew" as it seemed jumbled and thrown together last minute.
I came to read other reviews just to see if this was just me and seeing others feel the same makes me feel less horrible about it.
I even waited to read this as one of my pride month reads and as someone in the community I hate that I have to be so harsh and put this in writing but I promised and honest review and honesty is the best policy in this case.
Again I thank y'all for the ARC read and I'm truly sorry that this was a hard no for me. I will state these are my opinions and if you enjoy the book that's fantastic! I however am left disappointed with a book that I was so excited about.
This is the first time I DNF an arc read. I made it 30% and it took me a week to get there. I wanted to love this book, I really genuinely did but instead I'm sitting here not being able to read another page.
The description of the book made me incredibly intrigued and drawn in, not to mention the cover art is gorgeous... But that's about all the good reviews I can give on it.
First and foremost "yr" is used instead of the word "your". The way it's written made me genuinely feel like either chat gpt gone rogue or the author wanted to use as many pretentious words as possible in what I can only describe as "word stew" as it seemed jumbled and thrown together last minute.
I came to read other reviews just to see if this was just me and seeing others feel the same makes me feel less horrible about it.
I even waited to read this as one of my pride month reads and as someone in the community I hate that I have to be so harsh and put this in writing but I promised and honest review and honesty is the best policy in this case.
Again I thank y'all for the ARC read and I'm truly sorry that this was a hard no for me. I will state these are my opinions and if you enjoy the book that's fantastic! I however am left disappointed with a book that I was so excited about.
July 27, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Ugh.
There were some snippets of really lovely writing in this book, however, it felt like I was reading a thesaurus with the sheer number of big and complex words thrown into every single sentence. Combine that with some stylistic choices of smashing random words together, shortening "your" to "yr," and you get a novel (?) that is almost incomprehensible.
The marketing also feels a little misleading. Yes, it describes the novel as avant-garde, and YES, it is decidedly so, however, it also describes this novel as horror (maaaaaybe some cosmic horror elements, but really scraping the bare minimum on genre conventions here), pulp fiction (literally where is the fucking action and suspense that defines pulp as a genre??), AND WHERE ARE THE VAMPIRES???? WHERE IS THE OUTER SPACE????
This book reads more as hella weird and vaguely sexual poems than anything else, and if that was the marketing, cool. That works. I probably wouldn't have touched it in all honesty. But when you invoke the "vampires in outer space," I'll be damned if I don't get some vampires in outer space.
Anyway, the experimental writing is experimenting I guess. Check it out if you like weird shit.
Ugh.
There were some snippets of really lovely writing in this book, however, it felt like I was reading a thesaurus with the sheer number of big and complex words thrown into every single sentence. Combine that with some stylistic choices of smashing random words together, shortening "your" to "yr," and you get a novel (?) that is almost incomprehensible.
The marketing also feels a little misleading. Yes, it describes the novel as avant-garde, and YES, it is decidedly so, however, it also describes this novel as horror (maaaaaybe some cosmic horror elements, but really scraping the bare minimum on genre conventions here), pulp fiction (literally where is the fucking action and suspense that defines pulp as a genre??), AND WHERE ARE THE VAMPIRES???? WHERE IS THE OUTER SPACE????
This book reads more as hella weird and vaguely sexual poems than anything else, and if that was the marketing, cool. That works. I probably wouldn't have touched it in all honesty. But when you invoke the "vampires in outer space," I'll be damned if I don't get some vampires in outer space.
Anyway, the experimental writing is experimenting I guess. Check it out if you like weird shit.
April 18, 2025
Thank you to Clash Books for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
What did I just read?
I think that fans of queer, avant garde, sci-fi novels will enjoy this book. Unfortunately, I believe you MUST be a fan of ALL of those genres to find enjoyment from the book.
My expectations were high, and were unfit for what the book actually was. Though I didn’t find enjoyment from it, I still see its importance and artistic credibility which will appeal to other readers.
I am still interested in seeing what else Ulrich Baer has to offer!
What did I just read?
I think that fans of queer, avant garde, sci-fi novels will enjoy this book. Unfortunately, I believe you MUST be a fan of ALL of those genres to find enjoyment from the book.
My expectations were high, and were unfit for what the book actually was. Though I didn’t find enjoyment from it, I still see its importance and artistic credibility which will appeal to other readers.
I am still interested in seeing what else Ulrich Baer has to offer!
January 17, 2025
This was majorly disappointing, I had big hopes based on the name and cover art alone. Plus, the brief description was exciting!
This is literally my first ever DNF. I found it unreadable. It feels like it was written in a way meant to be poetic and that it was translated from another language that just doesn't translate well into English. I know that sounds harsh, but it's the best way I can describe it. It felt impossible to follow. Even the punctuation is all wrong.
I'm thankful to NetGalley for the opportunity to attempt to read this, it just fell flat on its face, unfortunately.
Also, the use of "yr" instead of "your" really caught me off guard and was a huge ick for me.
This is literally my first ever DNF. I found it unreadable. It feels like it was written in a way meant to be poetic and that it was translated from another language that just doesn't translate well into English. I know that sounds harsh, but it's the best way I can describe it. It felt impossible to follow. Even the punctuation is all wrong.
I'm thankful to NetGalley for the opportunity to attempt to read this, it just fell flat on its face, unfortunately.
Also, the use of "yr" instead of "your" really caught me off guard and was a huge ick for me.
January 30, 2025
The kindest of thanks to CLASH Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to experience this book ahead of its release.
A queer fever dream of a novel, Beyond the Planet of the Vampires is a practice in wordplay to the highest degree. Baer crafts sentences like an expressionist might paint on canvas, defying the 'rules' that constrain writing in a way that is both satisfying and utterly reflective of the nature of the work.
If I had the time to sit with this longer and truly pick it apart, dive deep into every facet of the prose, I'd lose weeks to it. This book has renewed my respect for speculative fiction, and I've firm belief that this will stick with me for a long time.
A queer fever dream of a novel, Beyond the Planet of the Vampires is a practice in wordplay to the highest degree. Baer crafts sentences like an expressionist might paint on canvas, defying the 'rules' that constrain writing in a way that is both satisfying and utterly reflective of the nature of the work.
If I had the time to sit with this longer and truly pick it apart, dive deep into every facet of the prose, I'd lose weeks to it. This book has renewed my respect for speculative fiction, and I've firm belief that this will stick with me for a long time.
November 22, 2025
Honestly hard to follow and just didn't pull me in like I thought it would. From the spelling of your as yr to a plot and premise that seems to fall short this just wasn't a book that kept my attention. I tried to keep an open mind as it said it was a queer vampire adjacent plot but it just fell short for me
February 21, 2026
I am a big champion of art that is not easy. Though it is definitely okay to like the type of music, books, and films that you like, it is also important to sometimes stretch beyond normal experiences. Sticking with that musical album you do not understand or rewatching the movie that makes no sense, or in the case of Beyond the Planet of the Vampires, reading something that relies on feeling morning that narrative, it makes you stretch and grow as a consumer of art and eventually an artist. Beyond the Planet of the Vampires is billed as many things. Avant-garde. Queer Horror. Joycean. A B-movie nightmare. In his blurb, Laird Hunt calls it, “Think Pale Celan and Buck Rogers meet up with the Beowulf poet in Nosferatu’s castle were Dennis Cooper is watching the Rocky Horror Picture Show and you’ll get some small sense of what goes down in Ulrich Baer’s excellent new novel.” None of these explanations are wrong but also none of them make any sense to me. The truth is that most of Beyond the Planet of the Vampires defies any explanation, that there is so much more focus on mood and vibe than character, setting, structure, and story, that what you feel while reading it is more important that what the novel is saying.
Ulrich Baer writes like he was an avid reader growing up, but the only book that he had access to was a dictionary. The vibe presented is structured with words you have to look up, combined words, words that are stylistically shortened (the Sonic Youth-esque “yr” being one throughout), and sentences that stop in the middle of a thought and never pick back up. The writing is something that makes sure that the reading is always in flux, always deconstructed, and never really what it seems. I was actually most of the way through before I realized that the first person narrator was the vampire. I also started re-reading it from the beginning as soon as I was done, thinking that there might be a little more clarity, but there is none. A work of fiction like this is completely up to the reader’s interpretation, and this is why the descriptions on the back are not necessarily wrong or misleading, but they are not the feelings I get out of it. I see this as more of an exploration of feelings about being alive in a world where you do not fit in than a vampire story.
The vampire comes from another world, crash lands on Earth so from the beginning, he feel like an outsider, someone who is exploring the world where he is completely alien (I have not read any of Baer’s other writing yet, but reading some of the descriptions, outer space and being an outsider on a planet seems to be a recurring theme). Having said this, the world where he crash lands might not even be Earth, that there are things that resemble Earth, like deserts and cliffs and a dungeon in a castle, and there is talk about Mississippi and the south, but this could all be illusion. The real setting is nowhere, like the Earth is so foreign that even the places that remind him of something else are not real places but just reminders. The search for lovers and victims by this vampire is definitely a search for queer love but in a trans male to male way. The vampire identifies as male but does not have the proper sex organs (which is pretty prevalent in vampire lore) so he uses tools to have sex with men, most of the time to feel like he can have a connection to humanity. Vampires do not need to have sex to survive, but this one seems to have a major interest in doing so. He likes the feeling of being called “my cute boy” and the post-coital joy that sex brings, feelings that he does not feel any other way. Baer uses the outer space vampire as a way to express existential feelings, the anxiety so high that even when he is somewhere he recognizes, it might not be real. He also uses the vampire imagery to explain the feeling of being a transperson, that not having the right organs to do the things that he wants to do is the same as not having them at all. In the end, the vampire does feel like a sympathetic character, one that is completely lost in a foreign world and trying to find a way to survive in a productive or at least enjoyable way.
Of course this is just my interpretation. The best thing about novels and art like this is that there are so many ways to look at it, and it is up to the reader to decide what they see and how they understand it. I always remember the David Lynch interview where he is asked to explain the meaning of his movie. His only answer is, “No.” It is up to us to make our own meanings, and though it is something that I do not want to do with every piece of art that I consume, it is something that exercises parts of my brain that need exercised sometimes. This is something that we should all do as readers or music listeners or filmgoers, especially if we make art as well. A book like Beyond the Planet of the Vampires is definitely a work that stretches your definitions of what reading means and what a novel can be. I am actually impressed that Clash Books has committed to publishing these types of books because most of them are very polarizing (the Goodreads for this novel has exactly 22% of 5 star reviews and 22% of 1 star reviews). I will definitely be paying closer attention to their catalog of books.
Ulrich Baer writes like he was an avid reader growing up, but the only book that he had access to was a dictionary. The vibe presented is structured with words you have to look up, combined words, words that are stylistically shortened (the Sonic Youth-esque “yr” being one throughout), and sentences that stop in the middle of a thought and never pick back up. The writing is something that makes sure that the reading is always in flux, always deconstructed, and never really what it seems. I was actually most of the way through before I realized that the first person narrator was the vampire. I also started re-reading it from the beginning as soon as I was done, thinking that there might be a little more clarity, but there is none. A work of fiction like this is completely up to the reader’s interpretation, and this is why the descriptions on the back are not necessarily wrong or misleading, but they are not the feelings I get out of it. I see this as more of an exploration of feelings about being alive in a world where you do not fit in than a vampire story.
The vampire comes from another world, crash lands on Earth so from the beginning, he feel like an outsider, someone who is exploring the world where he is completely alien (I have not read any of Baer’s other writing yet, but reading some of the descriptions, outer space and being an outsider on a planet seems to be a recurring theme). Having said this, the world where he crash lands might not even be Earth, that there are things that resemble Earth, like deserts and cliffs and a dungeon in a castle, and there is talk about Mississippi and the south, but this could all be illusion. The real setting is nowhere, like the Earth is so foreign that even the places that remind him of something else are not real places but just reminders. The search for lovers and victims by this vampire is definitely a search for queer love but in a trans male to male way. The vampire identifies as male but does not have the proper sex organs (which is pretty prevalent in vampire lore) so he uses tools to have sex with men, most of the time to feel like he can have a connection to humanity. Vampires do not need to have sex to survive, but this one seems to have a major interest in doing so. He likes the feeling of being called “my cute boy” and the post-coital joy that sex brings, feelings that he does not feel any other way. Baer uses the outer space vampire as a way to express existential feelings, the anxiety so high that even when he is somewhere he recognizes, it might not be real. He also uses the vampire imagery to explain the feeling of being a transperson, that not having the right organs to do the things that he wants to do is the same as not having them at all. In the end, the vampire does feel like a sympathetic character, one that is completely lost in a foreign world and trying to find a way to survive in a productive or at least enjoyable way.
Of course this is just my interpretation. The best thing about novels and art like this is that there are so many ways to look at it, and it is up to the reader to decide what they see and how they understand it. I always remember the David Lynch interview where he is asked to explain the meaning of his movie. His only answer is, “No.” It is up to us to make our own meanings, and though it is something that I do not want to do with every piece of art that I consume, it is something that exercises parts of my brain that need exercised sometimes. This is something that we should all do as readers or music listeners or filmgoers, especially if we make art as well. A book like Beyond the Planet of the Vampires is definitely a work that stretches your definitions of what reading means and what a novel can be. I am actually impressed that Clash Books has committed to publishing these types of books because most of them are very polarizing (the Goodreads for this novel has exactly 22% of 5 star reviews and 22% of 1 star reviews). I will definitely be paying closer attention to their catalog of books.
May 30, 2025
"Beyond the Planet of the Vampires" is thick with the pleasures of language as material-medium.
As in other works by Baer, grammaticality is deconstructed through causal inversions and semantic instabilities that allude to the sense (or aura) of making sense without providing the guarantee of any fixed, final meaning. The descriptions' vertiginous quality, instrumentalized via metonymic sliding, playfully evokes the theories of Lacan and Derrida (and certainly Barthes). The successive vignettes and tableaus, which parallel gestures in Genet and the films of Parajanov, reflect queer and working class temporalities that necessarily diverge from progressivist neoliberal fictions of accumulation and development.
And yet, all this occurs within the campy atmospherics of genre fiction and gay pornography (including some beautifully strange internet deep cuts). From the interstices of the niche atomizations of popular culture, this book productively explores questions such as: what are the stakes and residual raptures of recording the self inside contemporary surveillance capitalism? I think his book successfully inhabits these multiple registers of erotics—including the erotics of knowledge-making, reading, and sounding out structures—so that readers can enjoy the pastiche elements and the audio-visual quality of words as material manifestations of desire without worrying about possessing a strong background in theory.
But what I especially love about the book is how it is haunted by various uprisings, spanning gay liberationist movements and anti-colonial revolts in Mexico, without reposing in a temptation towards hope or nihilism. Instead, the book actively eroticizes various forms of rioting within the constraints of contemporary subject positions and prescribed modes of sexuality itself.
Additionally, I have noticed that many of the current reviews on this page are aggressive and accusatory about aspects of the book that are... literally directly stated in the book description ("Joycean wordplay," "directed by Jodorowsky," "new and unique idiom," etc.) which feels... pretty sus to me, tbh...
(For example, if someone would like to play sanctimonious pornographic voyeur oppressor to a marginalized subject or text, perhaps they should feel encouraged to find the grace or self-respect to humorously accept the self-reflexive text that opaquely resists and reflects that gaze back.)
Please don't be afraid to engage with complex work that doesn't structurally provide a sense of closure. There is a singular pleasure in grappling with the open polyvalence of an unknown word or form. And this is a worthwhile—and very weird—read that encourages re-readings of the world to reintroduce possibility, such as that of a reciprocal and generative relationship between the positions of authorship and readership.
Is this book the hallucinatory and hypnagogic death throes of a sensorium submitted to the psychic vampirisms of signification and representation? Is the (homo)erotic book of the self the product of a proscribed but irresistible compulsion? Is the philosophical book continuously restarting and false-starting, insatiably dying inside its intentions and mourning what it couldn't begin to render? Etc., etc., etc. Oh, and please watch the lurid science fiction b-movie source material from Bava.
Thank you to the author for his work and I hope he will not be discouraged or prevented by this ugly and particularly violent socio-historical moment from producing more books.
I eagerly anticipate the other works in the series.
As in other works by Baer, grammaticality is deconstructed through causal inversions and semantic instabilities that allude to the sense (or aura) of making sense without providing the guarantee of any fixed, final meaning. The descriptions' vertiginous quality, instrumentalized via metonymic sliding, playfully evokes the theories of Lacan and Derrida (and certainly Barthes). The successive vignettes and tableaus, which parallel gestures in Genet and the films of Parajanov, reflect queer and working class temporalities that necessarily diverge from progressivist neoliberal fictions of accumulation and development.
And yet, all this occurs within the campy atmospherics of genre fiction and gay pornography (including some beautifully strange internet deep cuts). From the interstices of the niche atomizations of popular culture, this book productively explores questions such as: what are the stakes and residual raptures of recording the self inside contemporary surveillance capitalism? I think his book successfully inhabits these multiple registers of erotics—including the erotics of knowledge-making, reading, and sounding out structures—so that readers can enjoy the pastiche elements and the audio-visual quality of words as material manifestations of desire without worrying about possessing a strong background in theory.
But what I especially love about the book is how it is haunted by various uprisings, spanning gay liberationist movements and anti-colonial revolts in Mexico, without reposing in a temptation towards hope or nihilism. Instead, the book actively eroticizes various forms of rioting within the constraints of contemporary subject positions and prescribed modes of sexuality itself.
Additionally, I have noticed that many of the current reviews on this page are aggressive and accusatory about aspects of the book that are... literally directly stated in the book description ("Joycean wordplay," "directed by Jodorowsky," "new and unique idiom," etc.) which feels... pretty sus to me, tbh...
(For example, if someone would like to play sanctimonious pornographic voyeur oppressor to a marginalized subject or text, perhaps they should feel encouraged to find the grace or self-respect to humorously accept the self-reflexive text that opaquely resists and reflects that gaze back.)
Please don't be afraid to engage with complex work that doesn't structurally provide a sense of closure. There is a singular pleasure in grappling with the open polyvalence of an unknown word or form. And this is a worthwhile—and very weird—read that encourages re-readings of the world to reintroduce possibility, such as that of a reciprocal and generative relationship between the positions of authorship and readership.
Is this book the hallucinatory and hypnagogic death throes of a sensorium submitted to the psychic vampirisms of signification and representation? Is the (homo)erotic book of the self the product of a proscribed but irresistible compulsion? Is the philosophical book continuously restarting and false-starting, insatiably dying inside its intentions and mourning what it couldn't begin to render? Etc., etc., etc. Oh, and please watch the lurid science fiction b-movie source material from Bava.
Thank you to the author for his work and I hope he will not be discouraged or prevented by this ugly and particularly violent socio-historical moment from producing more books.
I eagerly anticipate the other works in the series.
August 7, 2025
⭐️⭐️✨ (2.5/5 stars)
Well… that was a journey.
Going into Beyond the Planet of the Vampires, I was expecting a dark, pulpy vampire novel, something surreal and maybe a bit experimental, but still rooted in some kind of narrative. What I got was far more abstract, lyrical than I was prepared for. This isn't your typical vampire tale; it's dense, disorienting, and leans heavily into poetic prose and themes of submission, identity, and queer desire.
The writing is experimental to say the least. It reads almost like stream-of-consciousness poetry, and at times, I honestly found myself lost. The use of "yr" instead of "your" threw me off more than once, and it took me a long time to find any kind of rhythm in the text. And even when I did, I wasn't quite sure what was happening, but I could feel something, which I think is part of what Baer is going for. It's more about mood and atmosphere than plot.
That said, while this book wasn't my thing, I can see how it will appeal to readers who enjoy challenging, avant-garde literature with rich queer subtext and heavy symbolism. It felt more like an experience than a story, and while I didn't connect with it the way I hoped, I can appreciate the boldness of what Baer is doing here. Plus, I definitely learned a few new words along the way, so there's that.
Thank you to NetGalley and Clash Books for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.
Well… that was a journey.
Going into Beyond the Planet of the Vampires, I was expecting a dark, pulpy vampire novel, something surreal and maybe a bit experimental, but still rooted in some kind of narrative. What I got was far more abstract, lyrical than I was prepared for. This isn't your typical vampire tale; it's dense, disorienting, and leans heavily into poetic prose and themes of submission, identity, and queer desire.
The writing is experimental to say the least. It reads almost like stream-of-consciousness poetry, and at times, I honestly found myself lost. The use of "yr" instead of "your" threw me off more than once, and it took me a long time to find any kind of rhythm in the text. And even when I did, I wasn't quite sure what was happening, but I could feel something, which I think is part of what Baer is going for. It's more about mood and atmosphere than plot.
That said, while this book wasn't my thing, I can see how it will appeal to readers who enjoy challenging, avant-garde literature with rich queer subtext and heavy symbolism. It felt more like an experience than a story, and while I didn't connect with it the way I hoped, I can appreciate the boldness of what Baer is doing here. Plus, I definitely learned a few new words along the way, so there's that.
Thank you to NetGalley and Clash Books for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.
August 30, 2025
I want to start off saying…i genuinely liked this book, however the plot itself & overall theme is confusing, it didn’t seem like there was a concrete main character(?) it may be because I haven’t read a book in this type of format which I’ll admit is new to me.
As for the synopsis which intrigued me, I saw little indication of actual “ vampires “ in the story as for a planet of psychic vampires….i didn’t completely understand it, but vampire is pretty ambiguous nowadays so I can see if I overlooked it while reading.
Definitely an homo-erotic book but I feel it wasn’t integral to the plot itself, again it could be just me not reading this type of format before!
The queer representation in this book definitely piqued my interest as horror isn’t queer-centric book wise ( from what I have seen! )
I did see at the end of the book there is a predecessor book, which I’d like to read, but to be honest I’m hoping it’s not a mind-jumbling book.
I will re-read this book eventually as I do want go see if it grows on me.
As for the synopsis which intrigued me, I saw little indication of actual “ vampires “ in the story as for a planet of psychic vampires….i didn’t completely understand it, but vampire is pretty ambiguous nowadays so I can see if I overlooked it while reading.
Definitely an homo-erotic book but I feel it wasn’t integral to the plot itself, again it could be just me not reading this type of format before!
The queer representation in this book definitely piqued my interest as horror isn’t queer-centric book wise ( from what I have seen! )
I did see at the end of the book there is a predecessor book, which I’d like to read, but to be honest I’m hoping it’s not a mind-jumbling book.
I will re-read this book eventually as I do want go see if it grows on me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 12, 2025
CLASH Books has built a reputation for publishing adventurous, genre-defying work. The cover and promotional copy for Beyond the Planet of the Vampires are exceptional: pulpy, surreal, and seductively weird. It's billed as “A speculative avant-garde queer horror that reads like an erotic vampiric nightmare directed by Jodorowsky playing at a ‘50s drive-in.” It’s also called “...a gay pulp horror novel of chance.” The book arrives dressed in lurid and exploitation aesthetics. Still, readers expecting something like a delirious midnight movie on psychic overdrive or a straightforward homage to gay horror paperbacks may be surprised, or disoriented, by what lies within.
You can read Stephen McClurg's complete review at Horror DNA by clicking here.
You can read Stephen McClurg's complete review at Horror DNA by clicking here.
February 27, 2025
DNF at 20%
This book is the third of a trilogy, which I learned from GoodReads. I am honestly surprised there are three books, if the other two are like this one. I am not often turned off of books due to form, but I found this book incomprehensible. There is no narrative that I could piece together, despite my best efforts. There are shifting, barely connected scenes with some strong imagery and poetic wording -- which only got more irritating the longer I read. I tried really hard to push past the 20% mark, but I just couldn't force myself to read it anymore.
I am sure there is an audience for this work, particularly those interested in avant-garde and more experimental writing, but otherwise I cannot recommend it.
This book is the third of a trilogy, which I learned from GoodReads. I am honestly surprised there are three books, if the other two are like this one. I am not often turned off of books due to form, but I found this book incomprehensible. There is no narrative that I could piece together, despite my best efforts. There are shifting, barely connected scenes with some strong imagery and poetic wording -- which only got more irritating the longer I read. I tried really hard to push past the 20% mark, but I just couldn't force myself to read it anymore.
I am sure there is an audience for this work, particularly those interested in avant-garde and more experimental writing, but otherwise I cannot recommend it.
Read
October 7, 2025This book reminds me a lot of when I was in film school, watching experimental films by other students. They would be about the feeling or imagery over any story, and they were not my thing. I also remember my professors'
This book is also not my thing. I would emphasize the description on the back of the book in reverse, that this is an enigmatic performance. I'm dyslexic so experimental text is often harder to follow. A couple pages in I wondered if the writer was a poet, then saw that he was. This one is not for my friends. If it hadn't been so short it would have been a dnf for me if I wasn't looking for where the top half of the plot emerged given some of the reviews of the book. I didn't, but if you're into experimental text this might be for you?
This book is also not my thing. I would emphasize the description on the back of the book in reverse, that this is an enigmatic performance. I'm dyslexic so experimental text is often harder to follow. A couple pages in I wondered if the writer was a poet, then saw that he was. This one is not for my friends. If it hadn't been so short it would have been a dnf for me if I wasn't looking for where the top half of the plot emerged given some of the reviews of the book. I didn't, but if you're into experimental text this might be for you?
Read
January 1, 2026I honestly don’t know what to make of this book. It was a 100% blind-buy based solely on the provocative artwork & back cover. What I thought I was getting would be very queer, dream-logic version of “Lifeforce” (based on the book “The Space Vampires”) with some smut & violence chucked in.
Instead, it’s a heavily avant-garde (dunno how else to describe it), dream-logic… mood poem(?). It was certainly hypnotic and thumped along at a deliberate and at times feverish pace. I would waiver between “the author is up his own” and being drawn in by the style.
Gonna have to sit with this one for a bit before considering what I could give it for stars…
Instead, it’s a heavily avant-garde (dunno how else to describe it), dream-logic… mood poem(?). It was certainly hypnotic and thumped along at a deliberate and at times feverish pace. I would waiver between “the author is up his own” and being drawn in by the style.
Gonna have to sit with this one for a bit before considering what I could give it for stars…
Read
April 22, 2025The premise and cover intrigued me and I had high hopes but unfortunately I was disappointed and I had to DNF.
The way this book is written is really throwing me off. It feels like it was meant to be poetic but instead it confused me through and through. I was not one chapter in and I was already lost and had no idea what was going on. And I couldn’t get past the use of “yr” instead of “your”.
I’m sure there is an audience for this type of writing and work, but I’m not one of them.
Thank you to CLASH Books and Netgalley for the ARC.
The way this book is written is really throwing me off. It feels like it was meant to be poetic but instead it confused me through and through. I was not one chapter in and I was already lost and had no idea what was going on. And I couldn’t get past the use of “yr” instead of “your”.
I’m sure there is an audience for this type of writing and work, but I’m not one of them.
Thank you to CLASH Books and Netgalley for the ARC.
August 8, 2025
Thanks for the ARC.
This book was hard to read (I'm not a pro reader or anything, seems others share the sentiment though.) But it's hard to read in a really cool way.
I loved the imagery, wordplay, syntax, format and really got into the swing of things as the chapters went on. I would say be prepared for something on the more poetic and avant-garde side.
This book is hot, sexy, and emotional in a way I find hard to describe, I'll def spend more time on this book.
If anyone has a way I can follow the author's work more closely/get updates from them please let me know!
This book was hard to read (I'm not a pro reader or anything, seems others share the sentiment though.) But it's hard to read in a really cool way.
I loved the imagery, wordplay, syntax, format and really got into the swing of things as the chapters went on. I would say be prepared for something on the more poetic and avant-garde side.
This book is hot, sexy, and emotional in a way I find hard to describe, I'll def spend more time on this book.
If anyone has a way I can follow the author's work more closely/get updates from them please let me know!
June 8, 2025
Thanks to NetGalley and CLASH Books for an ARC of Beyond the Planet of the Vampires in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 2/5
Unfortunately, this one didn't quite work for me. I had high hopes based on both the cover and the description. While I wanted to get lost in the story, I found it a bit challenging to fully immerse myself. Additionally, the use of "yr" instead of "your" took me out of the experience.
Rating: 2/5
Unfortunately, this one didn't quite work for me. I had high hopes based on both the cover and the description. While I wanted to get lost in the story, I found it a bit challenging to fully immerse myself. Additionally, the use of "yr" instead of "your" took me out of the experience.
June 12, 2025
I started reading this but at 100 pages I was still feeling really lost when it came to the story.
Reading the reviews I realised that this is part of a series, which wasn't mentioned when I requested it from netgalley.
The writing is very different as well, not easy to understand. But that's a me problem.
If you're into avant garde sort of books and like a bit of spice this book might be right for you. For me unfortunately was a dnf.
Reading the reviews I realised that this is part of a series, which wasn't mentioned when I requested it from netgalley.
The writing is very different as well, not easy to understand. But that's a me problem.
If you're into avant garde sort of books and like a bit of spice this book might be right for you. For me unfortunately was a dnf.
September 19, 2025
Bae’s concept is wild and inventive, blending classic vampire lore with speculative sci-fi elements. The mash-up doesn’t always land smoothly, but the ambition kept me curious about where it was headed. I admired the way the book pushed against genre boundaries, even when it felt a bit uneven. For readers who like their horror weird, experimental, and not afraid to take big swings, this is one to check out.
December 2, 2025
I really appreciated what this book is doing and love that Clash allows for artistic talent to get a little piece of the limelight. That being said, maybe this was a bit too avant-garde for me. This book is very experimental and is more of an experience than something to reflect on. It does come out as a bit poetic, but truly a literary adventure, if you will. I just wonder what someone with aphantasia would think of it.
Recommended for the literary adventurer/thrill-seeker.
Recommended for the literary adventurer/thrill-seeker.
January 21, 2025
Thank you to Ulrich Baer and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
The premise intrigued me but unfortunately the prose was too poetic for me to enjoy. I understand this is a matter of personal preference. The book seems to be one meant to be analysed rather than enjoyed. I had to dnf.
The premise intrigued me but unfortunately the prose was too poetic for me to enjoy. I understand this is a matter of personal preference. The book seems to be one meant to be analysed rather than enjoyed. I had to dnf.
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