Gretchen Felker-Martin is an American horror author and film and TV critic. She is best known to date for her novel ''Manhunt'' (2022).

Life and career

Gretchen Felker-Martin grew up in rural

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. She moved to

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...

, in 2007. She had film and TV criticism published in outlets such as ''Polygon'' and ''Time'', and self-published several horror novellas starting in 2016. Felker-Martin's

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

horror novel ''Manhunt'' was published on February 22, 2022, in the U.S. by Tor Nightfire. ''Manhunt'' appeared on best-of-year lists in multiple publications, including appearing at #1 in ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to Nort ...

's'' list of "The Best Books of 2022".

Roxane Gay Roxane Gay (born October 15, 1974) is an American writer, professor, editor, and social commentator. Gay is the author of ''The New York Times'' best-selling essay collection ''Bad Feminist'' (2014), as well as the short story collection ''Ayiti ...

selected it as one of the "25 Most Influential Works of Postwar Queer Literature", writing, "This is the kind of book that queer writers have been desperate to write forever and are rarely given the opportunity to." The ''

Los Angeles Review of Books The ''Los Angeles Review of Books'' (''LARB'' is a literary review magazine covering the national and international book scenes. A preview version launched on Tumblr in April 2011, and the official website followed one year later in April 201 ...

'' wrote, "Felker-Martin's horror novel cunningly weaves trans determinism, war, and trauma together in an effort to locate joy, empathy, and pleasure in a world on fire." In October 2024,

Lilly Wachowski Lana Wachowski (born Larry Wachowski, June 21, 1965) and Lilly Wachowski (born Andy Wachowski, December 29, 1967) are American film and television directors, writers and producers. The sisters are both trans women. Together known as the Wacho ...

announced that she is adapting ''Manhunt'' into a TV series with Felker-Martin. Her novel ''Cuckoo'' was published on June 11, 2024. In its first week it entered the ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'' best-seller list, and it was chosen as one of the "Best Horror Books of 2024 (So Far)" by ''Vulture''. ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' wrote, "Laying bare grief, terror, and the tenderness that makes it all matter, this is horror at its best." Also in June 2024 she wrote a short story in issue #41 of ''Harley Quinn''. Felker-Martin is

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

, and uses she/her pronouns.

Bibliography

Novels

* ''Manhunt'' (2022, Tor Nightfire) * ''Cuckoo'' (2024, Tor Nightfire) * ''Black Flame'' (2025, Tor Nightfire)

Novellas

* ''No End Will be Found'' (2017) * ''Ego Homini Lupus'' (2019) * ''Dreadnought'' (2020)

Short stories

* ''Sardines'' (2024), published in ''Bury Your Gays'', by Sofia Ajram, ed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Felker-Martin, Gretchen Living people 1989 births American horror novelists Novelists from New Hampshire 21st-century American LGBTQ people American LGBTQ novelists American transgender writers DC Comics people Transgender women writers LGBTQ people from New Hampshire American transgender women