Bored Gay Werewolf is Tony Santorella’s hilarious and heartfelt debut — a sharp blend of queer satire, horror tropes, and emotional realness that just works.
Tony Santorella might be new to the queer fiction scene, but Bored Gay Werewolf arrives fully fanged and fabulously strange. What starts as a quirky tale about a twenty-something slacker navigating life quickly turns into something richer: a queer story full of chaos, commentary, and community. And yes – there is a werewolf pyramid scheme.
This debut is fast, funny, and deeply refreshing. Santorella blends humour with pointed social critique, serving up a story that refuses to take itself too seriously while still delivering emotional punches. It’s a weird, joyful howl of a book that manages to say something real in between the absurdity.
📖 Quick Overview
Bored Gay Werewolf – Tony Santorella
Brian, an aimless slacker in his twenties, works double shifts at his waiter job, never cleans his apartment and gets black-out drunk with his restaurant comrades, Nik and Darby. He’s been struggling to manage his transition to adulthood almost as much as his monthly transitions to a werewolf. Really, he is not great at the whole werewolf thing, and his recent murderous slip-ups have caught the attention of Tyler, a Millennial were-entrepreneur determined to explore exponential growth strategies in the mythological wellness market.
Tyler has got a plan and he wants Brian to be part of it, and weirdly his brand of self-help punditry actually encourages Brian to shape up and to stop accidentally marking out bad tippers at the restaurant as potential monthly victims. But as Brian gets closer to Tyler’s pack and drifts further away from Nik and Darby, he realises that Tyler”s expansion plans are much more nefarious than a little lupine enlightenment…
📌 TL;DR
A queer comedy with claws. Bored Gay Werewolf is chaotic, clever, and full of bite. Come for the satire, stay for the found family.
💥 Hook
“Who knew a werewolf pyramid scheme could be this emotionally resonant?”
💬 The Big Idea
What happens when you don’t know who you are, and transformation doesn’t offer answers – but more confusion? Bored Gay Werewolf isn’t just about queerness or monsters – it’s about that aching, restless space in between becoming and being. What if the worst part of turning into a werewolf isn’t the transformation… but the fact that it doesn’t fix anything?
🧠 What’s it About?
At its core, Bored Gay Werewolf is a satire of stagnation. Brian, stuck in a cycle of missed therapy appointments, party drugs, and awkward Grindr hookups, starts blacking out and waking up in increasingly wolf-adjacent states. Is it PTSD? Is it lycanthropy? Is it just the queer millennial condition?
It’s a novel that straddles the line between horror and comedy, but always lands with emotional bite. Queerness is central – not just in identity but in form. The book resists neat resolutions, opting instead for chaos, camp, and the quiet sadness of wasted potential.
🔍 Why It’s More Than Just the Blurb
It would be easy to read Bored Gay Werewolf as a quirky metaphor: werewolf as allegory for queer rage, dysphoria, or the loss of self-control. But what makes it special is how it refuses to be just one thing.
It’s a novel for you if you’ve ever:
- Felt stuck in your 20s and unsure how to grow up
- Tried to joke your way through a breakdown
- Seen horror used as an aesthetic without emotional weight
- Wanted a story that takes queer sadness seriously – even when it’s being funny
🔍 Deep Dive
Let’s dig into what’s going on beneath the surface – without spoiling anything.
📚 What’s Inside? (Spoiler-Free Breakdown)
Stylistically, the book blends:
- Stream-of-consciousness interiority
- Cringe comedy and flat affect
- Sudden bursts of body horror
- Queer ennui filtered through fur and fangs
What works:
The novel’s greatest strength is how deftly it balances humour and horror without sacrificing either. Its commitment to the mundane is what makes the horror land, there’s no fantasy escape hatch here. Brian’s depression, his strained friendships, his shallow flings, they’re not set dressing, they’re the story.
What doesn’t hit as hard:
The lack of plot momentum might frustrate some readers. It’s intentionally meandering, and those expecting clear narrative arcs may find it unsatisfying. A few emotional beats also get lost in the haze of Brian’s disconnection.
Full Bored Gay Werewolf Review By Jasmine
★ ★ ★ ⯪
This book was honestly such a chaotic joy to read – and I mean that in the best possible way.
Bored Gay Werewolf delivers exactly what the title promises: a snarky, disaffected gay werewolf trying to get through life in a world that’s just as confusing and absurd as he is. The premise alone – a bored twenty-something navigating queer identity, late-stage capitalism, and a literal werewolf pyramid scheme – is so wonderfully unhinged that it immediately pulled me in. And what surprised me most was how much heart was underneath all the humour.
Tony Santorella strikes such a clever balance between absurdity and sincerity. The writing is quick, sharp, and often hilarious, but woven through the chaos is a genuine exploration of toxic masculinity, queer identity, and the weird liminal space of your twenties when nothing feels certain and everything feels performative. It’s a book that isn’t afraid to poke fun at itself – or the culture around it – but it still manages to say something real.
Is it fast-paced? Yes. Are some threads left a little underdeveloped? Also yes. But honestly… who cares? It’s so much fun. Not every book needs to be perfectly polished or structurally tight to be impactful. This one thrives in its messy energy, and that actually feels fitting for a story about transformation, confusion, and finding your way.
What I especially loved was how it refuses to be a “serious” queer story in the way mainstream publishing sometimes demands. It’s not a tragedy. It’s not about repression or trauma. Instead, it’s a celebration of queerness in all its weird, joyful, complicated glory. It’s unapologetically silly and meaningful, which is honestly so refreshing. More silly queer stories, please. We deserve them.
The sense of community in this book really stood out, too. The characters might all be a bit lost or flawed, but there’s such warmth in how they support each other – how they become something like a found family, even if they roll their eyes while doing it. There’s a quiet message there about belonging, and how even the strangest of situations (or people) can offer you a place where you’re understood.
And seriously – just pause for a second. A werewolf pyramid scheme?? That’s such an absurdly brilliant idea. It’s satire, it’s fantasy, it’s a metaphor, it’s a plot device – it’s kind of everything at once, and it totally works.
Bored Gay Werewolf is strange, fast, funny, heartfelt, a little bit chaotic, and full of bite (sorry, had to). If you’re looking for something different that embraces queer joy while still having something to say, pick this up. It’s not perfect, but it is a blast. And honestly? That’s way more interesting.
🎭 Mood & Matchmaker
Ridiculous and warm-hearted with sharp teeth underneath- this is for fans of satire with a soul, and queer stories that celebrate weirdness.
🌈 Vibes Check
What kind of vibe are you in for? Let’s break it down:
✍️ Writing Style: Witty, sharp, chaotic, slightly feral
🐺 Horror Level: Low-key spooky with satirical bite
🏳️🌈 Queer Rep: Central, joyful, messy, and real
🧃 Weirdness Level: 10/10
🌈 Emotional Range: Funny, biting, affirming
🔄 Mood Matches
If you liked…
- Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl but with more fur
- What We Do in the Shadows but gayer and more broke
- Bury Your Gays but with werewolves
…then this one’s for you.
For more powerful queer stories, check out our LGBTQ+ Books collection
🧃 Emotional Map
😱 Off-the-rails absurdism — 9/10
🩵 Existential dread — 7/10
🌈 Queer joy + messiness — 10/10
😍 Found family feels — 8/10
🎯 For the Right Reader
If you’ve ever looked in the mirror, felt unrecognisable, and cracked a joke about it just to cope – this book will get under your skin (and maybe rip it off a little). Bored Gay Werewolf is for those who are tired of tidy metaphors and hungry for something stranger, sadder, and a bit feral.
📦 Who Will Love This?
Perfect for readers who…
- Want horror that’s more about identity than jump scares
- Are down for messy queer protagonists who don’t “learn lessons”
- Enjoy existential dread with a side of lycanthropy
- Like books that feel like a hungover thought spiral in literary form
Odd, offbeat, and oddly moving. Not quite a howl, but definitely a growl.
🧭 Where I Found It
I was browsing my Kindle, trying to pick my next read, and finally decided to search for Motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth – a book that had been sitting on my wishlist forever. But when I typed it in, two titles popped up in the suggestions: Motherthing… and Bored Gay Werewolf. Why Bored Gay Werewolf showed up? No clue. But honestly, the title grabbed me right away. So, of course, I had to check out the blurb. Werewolves? Late-stage capitalism? A story taking on toxic masculinity? Yes, please. It sounded like the kind of wild, chaotic queer read I’d really get into – and when I saw it was on Kindle Unlimited, I knew it was a no-brainer for my next pick!
💡 Extra Curiosities
Got some quick questions about Bored Gay Werewolf? Here are a few things readers often wonder about the book:
Who should read Bored Gay Werewolf?
If you’re tired of tragic queer stories and want something fun, feral, and full of feelings, this book is for you. Especially recommended for fans of weird fiction, anti-heroes, and queer narratives that don’t try to fit the mould.
Is Bored Gay Werewolf a horror novel?
Not exactly – while it features werewolves and body horror elements, it leans more into satire and absurdist humour than traditional horror. Think less terrifying and more what the hell is going on, and why is it kind of brilliant?
Does Bored Gay Werewolf have a happy ending?
No spoilers, but let’s just say it leans more toward catharsis and connection than despair. It’s less about resolution and more about acceptance, growth, and finding your pack – whatever that looks like.
👋 Final Thoughts
Bored Gay Werewolf is gloriously unhinged, sharply funny, and bursting with heart. It’s not trying to be tidy or traditional – it’s a celebration of queer chaos, transformation, and the strange joy of finding people who get you (even if you’ve recently grown claws and joined a pyramid scheme).
Sure, the pacing is quick and the plot a little loose, but who cares? That’s part of the fun. This is a book that values feeling over polish, and authenticity over neat resolutions. It gives space for queer teens to be messy, loud, emotional, and powerful – and that’s something worth howling about.