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Lesser Hungers
There's a haunting in Cameron Ciris's blood, and the city they live in is hungry for every drop.
Chicago is like every other American built on a foundation of death. Little surprise that when a loving couple in a low-rent apartment cannibalize each other, the police write it off as a bizarre murder-suicide. Cameron—local fixer and addict in recovery—volunteers to take up the case as a favor to their neighborhood, the 49th Ward.
A year ago, Cameron overdosed on a hot new party drug and picked up an extra passenger, an entity that forces them to perform rituals written in blood. Being possessed is Cameron's new normal, but as more cannibalized victims turn up, so does an eldritch doppelganger of Cameron's old dealer, hunting them through nightmares and hallucinations.
Cameron tracks the molding remnants of their dealer from block to block, discovering a malicious growth that promises to spread through Chicago and give it a whole new shape. With a body not quite their own, Cameron faces the question lurking throughout the urban who gets devoured, and who gets to feast?
Problem is, they're getting real goddamn hungry.
Chicago is like every other American built on a foundation of death. Little surprise that when a loving couple in a low-rent apartment cannibalize each other, the police write it off as a bizarre murder-suicide. Cameron—local fixer and addict in recovery—volunteers to take up the case as a favor to their neighborhood, the 49th Ward.
A year ago, Cameron overdosed on a hot new party drug and picked up an extra passenger, an entity that forces them to perform rituals written in blood. Being possessed is Cameron's new normal, but as more cannibalized victims turn up, so does an eldritch doppelganger of Cameron's old dealer, hunting them through nightmares and hallucinations.
Cameron tracks the molding remnants of their dealer from block to block, discovering a malicious growth that promises to spread through Chicago and give it a whole new shape. With a body not quite their own, Cameron faces the question lurking throughout the urban who gets devoured, and who gets to feast?
Problem is, they're getting real goddamn hungry.
- GenresHorror
161 pages, Paperback
Published November 12, 2025
5 people are currently reading
73 people want to read
About the author
Rien Gray
26 books155 followersRien is a queer, nonbinary author of LGBTQ+ romance, erotica, and horror. They love writing charged sex scenes, consent-informed kink, and hot criminal love interests who revel in the above.
When not writing, Rien spends their time at the gym, making tea, or angling for yet another platinum trophy in a video game.
Newsletter: Free Novella Here!
Website: riengray.com
BSky: @RienGray
When not writing, Rien spends their time at the gym, making tea, or angling for yet another platinum trophy in a video game.
Newsletter: Free Novella Here!
Website: riengray.com
BSky: @RienGray
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 25, 2026
Surprised!!!
I went into this book blind not knowing anything about the author or even what the book was about but the cover and just a gut feeling pushed me to take a chance and I'm so glad I did i enjoyed it even the gore parts it worked branching out from my usual author's, usual genre has been paying off i definitely recommended this book to any and all who are looking for something different but good)!!!!
I went into this book blind not knowing anything about the author or even what the book was about but the cover and just a gut feeling pushed me to take a chance and I'm so glad I did i enjoyed it even the gore parts it worked branching out from my usual author's, usual genre has been paying off i definitely recommended this book to any and all who are looking for something different but good)!!!!
September 1, 2025
ARC copy
This book was my bedtime story, visiting me in my dreams (or nightmares, rather) and refusing to loosen its grip on my mind.
This book was my bedtime story, visiting me in my dreams (or nightmares, rather) and refusing to loosen its grip on my mind.
November 30, 2025
Rien Gray writes killer prose and knows how to make a story come alive. This remains true for Lesser Hungers, a well-executed and intriguing horror novella that’s ultimately about addiction and mental health as much as it is about blood magic and weird, extremely disturbing murders.
I found the character work and the exploration of need beautifully done, but the horror climax was a bit speechy for my taste.
All in all, an excellent book for those willing to delve deep into the well of body horror, disease, and addiction.
I found the character work and the exploration of need beautifully done, but the horror climax was a bit speechy for my taste.
All in all, an excellent book for those willing to delve deep into the well of body horror, disease, and addiction.
September 15, 2025
OK, to be perfectly honest, this one was truly bizarre, though in the most pleasant and entertaining of ways! It reads like a queer thriller noir with very strong horror elements, the sort of urban body horror book one might've got if Jonathan Lethem had written Carpenter's The Thing: it starts immediately with a strange scene of do-it-yourself exsanguination, it introduces interesting characters and lays down perplexing rules, and only gets weirder and weirder from there. It's brimming with originality and uncomfortable imagery, offering a fresh take on familiar body horror themes and the body snatching trope - though it includes deliciously bleak morsels of social commentary as well, colored with anger and bitterness.
The premise is quite complex: a non-binary former addict, who once picked up something that turned their blood into an entity with its own mind, find themselves playing detective in order to put a stop to a series of mysterious cases of couples cannibalizing each other. On the way, they pick up something else, born out of the city's bowels, but much worse than anything they might have imagined. (And it is quite hungry and getting hungrier.) Oh, and they can be possessed by a more than a century-old female ghost!
There's an underlying rage throughout the book, and the lack of humor sometimes hits harder than usual. But as a body horror story, drawing on the themes of urban decay and economic decline, it's a beautiful work of fiction I easily recommend to all horror fans of the uncanny, the unfit, the wounded!
The premise is quite complex: a non-binary former addict, who once picked up something that turned their blood into an entity with its own mind, find themselves playing detective in order to put a stop to a series of mysterious cases of couples cannibalizing each other. On the way, they pick up something else, born out of the city's bowels, but much worse than anything they might have imagined. (And it is quite hungry and getting hungrier.) Oh, and they can be possessed by a more than a century-old female ghost!
There's an underlying rage throughout the book, and the lack of humor sometimes hits harder than usual. But as a body horror story, drawing on the themes of urban decay and economic decline, it's a beautiful work of fiction I easily recommend to all horror fans of the uncanny, the unfit, the wounded!
November 18, 2025
A highly original and strange horror noir body horror book that kept me interested with it's bizarre premise and entertaining writing style, Lesser Hungers is one to read if you're craving something different.
The story follows Cameron, a non-binary former addict who has been possessed by something that gives them strange abilities and who has been approached by a friend to investigate a couple of friends apparent murder-suicide. What they find is something that quickly takes Cameron in a direction no-one saw coming and as it happens, is the perfect person to take on the case due to their uniqe abilities.
Cameron is a complex character and it makes the story a whole lot more entertaining for it. The interactions they have with other characters, the battle they face with their own possession while taking on this investigation and juggling their love life is one that often puts them in difficult situations. Their is a nice dose of humour involved as well which helps break up the story and provides some much needed levity throughout.
Overall, its a entertaining read from start to finish, a hidden gem for those looking for something out of the ordinary in their horror.
The story follows Cameron, a non-binary former addict who has been possessed by something that gives them strange abilities and who has been approached by a friend to investigate a couple of friends apparent murder-suicide. What they find is something that quickly takes Cameron in a direction no-one saw coming and as it happens, is the perfect person to take on the case due to their uniqe abilities.
Cameron is a complex character and it makes the story a whole lot more entertaining for it. The interactions they have with other characters, the battle they face with their own possession while taking on this investigation and juggling their love life is one that often puts them in difficult situations. Their is a nice dose of humour involved as well which helps break up the story and provides some much needed levity throughout.
Overall, its a entertaining read from start to finish, a hidden gem for those looking for something out of the ordinary in their horror.
November 25, 2025
Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC from the publisher.
Cameron’s nightly ritual of exsanguination to calm the entity in their blood is interrupted by a plea for help from a friend. A couple has just apparently cannibalized each other and the police, as always, is useless. During the course of their investigation, they not only have to dig into their own past and the addiction they were not so much able to shake, but instead simply forced through instant withdrawal thanks to whatever possess their blood, but also the bowels of Chicago and a horror that has been allowed to fester there.
This is an incredible work of urban (body) horror, with a messed up and deeply intriguing protagonist trying to make a really shitty world at least a little bit better and biting social commentary. Cameron is a fascinating protagonist, allowed to be deeply complex in a way that characters with addictions are not often permitted to be. Their relationship with the people around them, their past and body, the entity possessing them and also their ghostly girlfriend Katherine, who can also possess them, are all really interesting aspects of the narrative and constituted some of my favorite parts. In addition, the body horror is brutal, the gore is quite visceral and the horror is tense, always keeping me on the edge of my seat and unable to put this book down.
The queer aspects of this horror story are definitely a highlight, in how Cameron feels about their body (bad and dissociated most of the time), how society reacts to them (again also bad most of the time) and the relationship between Cameron and Katherine and how they recognized queerness in each other.
This is also a great story examining possession and control over one’s own actions. The ways it examined the overlap between dysphoria and possession was also fascinating. It was really interesting to read how Cameron’s past addiction changed how their experience with the mold went in comparison with that of other people. I also like that it’s not implied that those other people were somehow weaker or less worthy than Cameron themself.
All in all, this was a really incredibly well written, tightly plotted novella, featuring a messed up, but deeply caring main character and their struggle against a terrifying supernatural foe alongside well as the boot of everyday oppression that tries to grind them into dust.
TW: addiction (past), body horror, death, death by fire, death by overdose (past), drug use (past), food insecurity, gore, hallucination, misgendering, murder, police brutality, starvation, suicide (attempted), transphobia, violence
Cameron’s nightly ritual of exsanguination to calm the entity in their blood is interrupted by a plea for help from a friend. A couple has just apparently cannibalized each other and the police, as always, is useless. During the course of their investigation, they not only have to dig into their own past and the addiction they were not so much able to shake, but instead simply forced through instant withdrawal thanks to whatever possess their blood, but also the bowels of Chicago and a horror that has been allowed to fester there.
This is an incredible work of urban (body) horror, with a messed up and deeply intriguing protagonist trying to make a really shitty world at least a little bit better and biting social commentary. Cameron is a fascinating protagonist, allowed to be deeply complex in a way that characters with addictions are not often permitted to be. Their relationship with the people around them, their past and body, the entity possessing them and also their ghostly girlfriend Katherine, who can also possess them, are all really interesting aspects of the narrative and constituted some of my favorite parts. In addition, the body horror is brutal, the gore is quite visceral and the horror is tense, always keeping me on the edge of my seat and unable to put this book down.
The queer aspects of this horror story are definitely a highlight, in how Cameron feels about their body (bad and dissociated most of the time), how society reacts to them (again also bad most of the time) and the relationship between Cameron and Katherine and how they recognized queerness in each other.
This is also a great story examining possession and control over one’s own actions. The ways it examined the overlap between dysphoria and possession was also fascinating. It was really interesting to read how Cameron’s past addiction changed how their experience with the mold went in comparison with that of other people. I also like that it’s not implied that those other people were somehow weaker or less worthy than Cameron themself.
All in all, this was a really incredibly well written, tightly plotted novella, featuring a messed up, but deeply caring main character and their struggle against a terrifying supernatural foe alongside well as the boot of everyday oppression that tries to grind them into dust.
TW: addiction (past), body horror, death, death by fire, death by overdose (past), drug use (past), food insecurity, gore, hallucination, misgendering, murder, police brutality, starvation, suicide (attempted), transphobia, violence
Read
November 24, 2025When a couple in their neighborhood is found torn apart in their apartment, Cameron sets out to figure out what happened when it seems like the police aren't going to help at all. This gross and scary body horror and it completely fucking ruled. Also there's more than a touch of possession horror as trans horror with the protagonist's bodily autonomy being stripped from them by intruding forces. Even when there are brief lulls in the supernatural grossness, what's left are the horrors of modern American life: gentrification, transphobia, addiction, poverty, police violence, all of which the supernatural horror only augments and makes worse.
I know Gray for their romantic and erotic work, so reading this was stepping outside of my usual genre to follow an author whose prose I love and whose work I trust. And I'm very glad I did, I was completely hooked the whole time, even when I sort of wanted to vomit. Also I love how Chicago-specific Gray gets in their modern day set works. There's a real love for the city and a local's grounding in its issues
I know Gray for their romantic and erotic work, so reading this was stepping outside of my usual genre to follow an author whose prose I love and whose work I trust. And I'm very glad I did, I was completely hooked the whole time, even when I sort of wanted to vomit. Also I love how Chicago-specific Gray gets in their modern day set works. There's a real love for the city and a local's grounding in its issues
September 25, 2025
This story opens with a bloody bang and never lets up.
It is highly weird, grotesque, and beautiful. Full of queer rage, urban decay, the horrors of gentrification, addiction, police brutality.
The writing made me feel so repulsed! There is some serious body horror and visceral deaths here. I cannot recommend it enough.
Thanks to the publisher Slashic Horror Press for the ARC.
It is highly weird, grotesque, and beautiful. Full of queer rage, urban decay, the horrors of gentrification, addiction, police brutality.
The writing made me feel so repulsed! There is some serious body horror and visceral deaths here. I cannot recommend it enough.
Thanks to the publisher Slashic Horror Press for the ARC.
Did Not Finish
March 5, 2026I read a fair amount of horror, and usually body horror doesn't really bother me, but I have severe belonephobia and descriptions of scalpels, needles and opening veins and just the descriptions in the first 15% of the book made me feel so lightheaded I had to stop reading or I would faint. DNF at 16%
November 30, 2025
An exceptionally unique horror novel all about blood and gore, love and community, all cops being bastards, addiction, and the fight for bodily autonomy. I'm surprised just how much theme and plot this extremely short story manages to pack in without feeling incomplete or shallow.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews