“With his debut novel, Thayer presents a tale of burning desire and gruesome vampiric body horror against the backdrop of the California desert.”
Recently separated from his wife, Victor is hoping getting away with his friends at their annual retreat to the Californian desert town of Superstition will take his mind off things and reforge the group’s fraying bonds. But something is waiting in Superstition, lurking into their group, feeding into their desires.
Victor knows all too well what it means to repress his desires. While he’s always attempted to be the perfect partner, he often found himself lacking. Now that his wife, Trish, has skipped the trip altogether, Victor falls into the wild underbelly of Superstition. The leader of the local Welcoming Committee approaches Victor with a romantic, sexually charged offer, he wonders if maybe it’s too good to be true.
But there’s a price to be paid with the Welcoming Committee for its services, a price that cannot be fullfilled by willing bodies alone. By the weekend’s end, group bonding will develop a whole new meaning.
Because something is hungry for Victor and his friends.
It needs to feed.
Why we’re excited about this book:
Horror in 2026 is all about pushing boundaries, and this new novel from A.P. Thayer is ready to push them as far as they can go. With fiction featured in such publications as Uncharted Magazine, Dark Matter Magazine, The Dread Machine, Night Terror Magazine, Apex Magazine, and the Los Suelos multimedia anthology, among others, Thayer has also co-hosted multiple seasons of the The Genre Hustle podcast and is currently a staff writer at Frivolous Comma magazine. With his debut novel, Thayer presents a tale of burning desire and gruesome vampiric body horror against the backdrop of the California desert. Edgar Cantero (Meddling Kids) says: “Slow-burning his way to a gnarly, all-consuming deflagration, Thayer’s vividly organic prose shines at the finicky analysis of the body and the mind, their desires and destruction. Throughout Tapeworm, all matter is transformed, and only one thing remains: hunger.”, and V. Castro (The Haunting of Alejandra) says: “Tapeworm slowly strangles the reader as it explores loss, lust, and vampirism through an unexpected creature that will literally make you squirm in the best of ways. A.P. Thayer is a must-read Chicano writer for 2026.”
Releasing from Evil Twin 18 August 2026, Tapeworm by A.P. Thayer is available for pre-order now.
BOB PASTORELLA
