Tapeworm: A Vampire Novel

by A.P. Thayer

From Dusk till Dawn if the characters hooked up with The Thing in this twisted, gory horror debut, where a group of friends must confront questions of identity, aging, and desire during a vampire infestation in an isolated Californian desert. Come for the weekend, stay forever. After the recent separation from his wife Trish, Victor hopes his friends' annual weekend retreat to the Californian desert town of Superstition will loosen him up and reforge the group's fraying bonds. But something is waiting underneath Superstition, crawling its way into their group, and feeding into their desires with promises of reclaiming their youth. Remember me as I once was. Victor knows too well what it means to repress his desires. He's always attempted to be the perfect partner yet often found himself lacking. With Trish skipping the trip, he begins falling into the wild ways of Superstition. When the leader of the town's Welcome Committee approaches him with a romantic, sexually charged offer, Victor wonders if it's too good to be true. Let me show you. But the Welcome Committee expects a price to be paid for its services. One that cannot be fulfilled by willing bodies alone. By the end of the weekend, group bonding will have developed a whole new meaning. Because something wants to live inside Victor and his friends. For fans of Stephen Graham Jones, V. Castro, and Rachel Harrison, Tapeworm is an unforgettable, body-horror vampire novel that answers how far one will go to stop repressing their desires and finally set themselves free.

400 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication September 8, 2026

About the author

A.P. Thayer is a queer, Mexican-American author based out of Los Angeles who writes nightmarism and cross-genre speculative fiction. His work has been published in places like Dark Matter Magazine, Space Fantasy Magazine, and Uncharted Magazine, along with several anthologies. He is also a member of SFWA and HWA. Find his published work, social media information, and blog at www.apthayer.com/links.

Reviews

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spectacular book! Cannot recommend it enough.