After finding success with Amazon’s self-publishing e-book service with romance erotica titles like Space Raptor Butt Invasion and Bigfoot Sommelier Butt Tasting, I’m not sure anyone expected mysterious author Chuck Tingle to find his niche in the horror genre, let alone become a USA Today bestselling author and a Bram Stoker Award finalist in 2023 for his debut horror novel, Camp Damascus.
Specializing in LGBTQ+ characters and themes, Tingle has released three more horror novels through Tor Nightfire since Camp Damascus came out: Bury Your Gays in 2024, Lucky Day in 2025, and most recently, possibly his most outlandish and absurd horror book to date, Fabulous Bodies.
Tingle, who publicly dons sunglasses, a pink bag over his head, and never breaks character, dives deep into the tropes and issues that often plague the LGBTQ+ community in horror and dismantles them from the inside. From conversion therapy to poor representation and themes of being uncomfortable in one’s own body in his newest novel, Tingle takes social commentary head-on, while never straying too far into the serious side of the genre.
Fabulous Bodies Feels Like Beetlejuice Meets Collateral
Fabulous Bodies follows Poppy Stringer, a 20-something single mom who makes money as a social media influencer by day, and moonlights as a grave robber who sells bodies to sketchy buyers on the Black Market. After her favorite musician/gay icon, Eddie Michaels, is killed by a drunk driver, Poppy receives an unexpected call from an unknown customer offering her five million dollars to steal and deliver Michaels’ body.
The problem is, Poppy finds out mid-heist that Michaels isn’t exactly dead; in fact, he’s undead. From that point, Poppy is held captive by the undead ghoul version of her celebrity hero, and forced to chauffeur Eddie around Palm Springs, California, as he tries to complete a ritual that will continue to keep him alive… at least, until he needs a new body.
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A dark comedy horror at its heart, Fabulous Bodies encompasses the witty grotesqueness of Beetlejuice, while following a Michael Mann-esque thriller story, similar to 2004’s Collateral.
Poppy’s character is well-fleshed out; she’s self-centered, unempathetic, and addicted to meaningless fame, but despite all her faults, she’s determined to be a caring mother and friend. Eddie, on the other hand, brings a new meaning to “Never meet your heroes,” and his manipulative, deceptive, and downright evil intentions of keeping himself on center stage make him a fantastic villain.
Fabulous Bodies Is Chuck Tingle’s Most Hardcore Horror Book to Date
Although Chuck Tingle has had gory and gruesome moments in all his horror novels so far, Fabulous Bodies goes above and beyond anything he’s written to this point. With each chapter, the book ramps itself up into absurd, B-horror territory, filled with schlocky brutality and blood-soaked absurdity. That isn’t a mark against it, either. The story just becomes increasingly fun and unpredictable as it does grisly.
Fabulous Bodies never loses itself, though. It continues to hammer the commentary of self-acceptance and love, and the dangers of prioritizing fame and followers above family and friendships, even through its funniest and goriest sections. Tingle has found the exact balance his stories need to put forth a message the reader should care about, while still allowing them to have a good time.
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Tingle’s books, including Fabulous Bodies, often trek the same veins as films like The Stuff, Chopping Mall, or A Nightmare on Elm Street 2. They don’t necessarily go as deep as movies like Candyman or 2019’s The Invisible Man, but they are memorable and important to their causes, nonetheless.
Tingle sticks the ending with Fabulous Bodies, too, giving the reader a silly yet somehow intense finale that wrapped up the story nicely without dragging or rushing an already fast-paced book that clocked in at just 232 pages. Or, if you’re an audiobook lover, Matilda‘s Mara Wilson narrates this one.
I can’t speak about Tingle’s erotica romance novels, but I’ve been extremely pleased with all three Tinglers that I’ve read (I haven’t taken on Lucky Day yet), with Fabulous Bodies being the most enjoyable so far. I highly recommend picking this one up and jumping aboard the Tingle train with Camp Damascus and Bury Your Gays, as well.
Fabulous Bodies is published by Tor Nightfire and is now available at all major book retailers.
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