The Black Hunger is an ambitious queer gothic horror novel, written by Nicholas Pullen, and published by Orbit Books. A story that spawns across the world with an excellent atmosphere that ties together, using an epistolary format, the fates of three men, with elements that remember to the classics of the gothic such as Stoker's Dracula, blended together with historical fiction and a modern touch that will be loved by fans of Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian.

A story that will start with the John Sackville's memory, a gay British Earl in the early 1900s, recounting his life and the horrors that lead to the death of his lover; how his work and the discovery of his relationship with Garrett puts him into danger and forces him into accepting a quest to investigate about an apocalyptic cult formed around apocrypha buddism. In the middle of John's memory, we will also have access to the diaries of Dr. Abravamel, a Jewish psychiatrist who experienced harrowing events during 1876, and Pullen also introduces us to Ian Stewart, a British general that experienced the horror of this cult (and recounts it to his wife) after becoming a prisoner in 1855, in the failed Balaclava's charge. Overall, the three stories are well blended together, and allow us to get a more or less complete picture of what is happening.

The story itself is a great homage to the gothic genre, playing with those elements that became a classic, but with its own touch of queerness, and not exempt from some gory and bloody moments. I was a bit skeptical about the non-chapter structure, but Pullen makes an excellent work, keeping the story flowing without any kind of problem, slowly hooking you into the plot.

The historical setting is also used excellently as a vehicle to discuss themes such as how queerness has been repressed in many moments (we can appreciate how Garrett and John are forced to hide their love, and how they are punished for it) and the impact of colonialism on other cultures. Pullen's writing is incredibly detailed, transporting you with words to Ukraine, to the Tibet, showing the research done to write this novel.

The Black Hunger is an excellent and compelling gothic horror novel, a debut that puts the name of Nicholas Pullen in the list of authors to watch in the future as he has blended the classical with more recent trends to create a novel that can be defined as a perfect approach to the gothic genre. Can't wait to see what more this author has under the sleeve.