Although religious under/overtones are not typically something I enjoy in my books (or films or television), lately there have been a lot of artists really using the pain of religion in unique and interesting ways. Earlier this year, CJ Leede's #AmericanRapture took a religious look into a zombie apocalypse, and I absolutely loved end product. When I read the description of @m.jane.worma's #OfBeasts, I was instantly taken with this queer religious horror.

Upon returning to his hometown to take over leading the local parish, Jude finds himself in the orbit of Dante, an 18-year-old boy from his congregation who Jude is enraptured by. As physical intimacy between the two deepens, both are haunted with prophetic nightmares; Dante is being told to go to Jerusalem and build a temple where he will sit on a throne; Jude, in a much more straightforward dream, is tasked with killing Dante and causing the beast to rise. A classic story of pastor and Antichrist love.

This is a tight, concise novel with characters who are not the shining protagonists of usual books. Jude is a conflicted and complex character, one who must come to terms with what his heart wants in opposition to his beliefs and core tenets. Dante, faced with the realization of what he is, only finds comfort in the one person who may be his downfall. What they have is a hard love, one that unfortunately makes it seem like there will never be a real happy ending no matter what they do, and yet, they continue to try to do right by one another. While not written specifically, Jude's struggle seems to mirror the struggle many queer people face when coming to terms with their identity as it rubs up against the religious beliefs they (or their family) hold so dear. Jude and Dante are a welcome change from the gay rom-com couples adorning the book covers in the market today; theirs is a love, but one that seems doomed from the start, and perhaps why I was rooting for them all the more throughout. This is a queer love story for those of us who find religion to be one of the most damaging dangerous forces.

Like a darker "Romeo & Juliet," "Of Beasts" is a short, but powerful story about love against all odds, an exploration of all the ways we are hurt and can hurt those we love the most in order to save ourselves.

2.5 ⭐️

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for gifting me this advanced reader copy.

Unfortunately this one was miss :( the idea of a priest and the antichrist having an explicit love affair was so intriguing to me and that’s definitely the only interesting part of the book. Plus it being so short!

The concept was so unique but I really wish this was a full length novel and that the author would’ve fleshed out the plot and characters. The ending was seriously so disappointing and anticlimactic. The writing felt really clunky and there just wasn’t much that stood out for me.

An interesting read at the perfect length to incite interests and avoid the fallibility of time.

The characters were intriguing though we spent far more time with Jude than with Dante; at times that felt intentional, but it was ultimately not what I wanted. I expected more horror, but even the times that the horror could have been present were softened into non-existence.

It's a fine story made better by its shortness, but I was rather disappointed due to my own expectations.

This was a very short novella that I mostly enjoyed. I love the concept of this book, but I can't help but think that this would have been better fully fleshed into a novel. I did like how the author showed us shocking things in the story, but somehow managed to dial it down at the same time. Yes, I actually got shocked in this book more than once, but that all and all it made it a fun time. It is a horror novella after all. I was instantly gripped into the story at the beginning, but once we had more than one POV going on in the story I did get confused reading this, but after a few chapters it felt like, I did figure it out. I personally feel like I would have loved this more if the author would have made this more character driven, yes I am a sucker for character driven books, especially even the horror ones. I felt like I didn't really know the characters that well and it was mainly all about the plot, but the plot was not enough for me to give this five stars. The story ultimately needed more character development for it to reel me into the story more. This wasn't a bad book at all and it did deliver on the shocking horror vibes, but I also feel like it wasn't the most shocking or the most scary thing I've ever read. I am curious how future books would be by this author. This was a pretty good debut novella.

Many thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book!

I really wanted to love this, the premise was really intriguing but I think the summary sets the book out to be more than it is. I loved the premise and think there could have been so much more done with the concept but unfortunately the book is just too short to really develop any of the ideas you can see simmering beneath the plot.

I can't wait to read more of Worma's work, there's so much potential here.

There were some great things I really liked about this book. I thought the concept of the antichrist and the pastor was great, and I liked a lot of the internal battles we saw within each character and how it manifested between them. I thought that the ending was interesting and something that left me thinking. The horror elements were slow and looming, overall effective at setting the mood.

I loved the setting, though I do wish we had more descriptions to ground us in a physical space as well as a time period. What was there was great, I just felt that there was a lot left undescribed. I am also a big fan of writing characters who are not perfect, and I enjoy reading about moral and sense-of-self dilemmas. There were some great examples of this in this story. I did feel that the age gap between the two was out of place, and I couldn’t tell the reason behind it for the sake of the story that was being told. It often detached me from the story and was not great to read.

Overall, there was a lot that was done well in this short book. Despite what I felt was missing or what felt uncomfortable, I liked the concept and the exploration of faith, identity, and personal morals in this book.

2.5 Stars

As someone who grew up in a very religious catholic country, I was intrigued when I read the synopsis of this book. But in the end, it was short, and it was fine. Did I like the relationship between the main characters? Some aspects of it, maybe. But the age gap and the toxicity? Not really. I feel like the author could have aged up Dante, and it would have worked just as well. Maybe I like my horror with a little bit of optimism, but I think I would have given this book half a star more if the last chapter didn’t exist at all, just a more open-ended ending.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this story
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW

Okay, that ending is a little terrifying as someone who is afraid of dark, enclosed spaces like that. I was hoping they'd discuss a little more about Dante being the Antichrist and what that means for the both of them but it was only briefly discussed between them. They both just sort of danced around the topic until Dante said he was going to leave. I liked what Dante said at the end though, how he thought there might have been other Antichrists who loved the world too much and didn't want to see it destroyed. I think it's pretty noble of them to actually sacrifice themselves so they don't hurt others. Also terrifying though lol

I don’t know, I feel like I missing something. The writing in the book was good, but the story just didn’t make sense to me. There was no backstory, there was no context, there was just these two characters and the dreams that they just suddenly started having. It feels like the story comes out of nowhere and goes nowhere. The characters were interesting, but felt very surface level for me. And I didn’t feel like there was a very large horror aspect to this “horror novel”. It’s a quick read, but I just felt confused through the whole thing and the ending felt abrupt.

A lusty romance between a preacher and the antichrist, this book delivers the horror and sexual tension it promises on the back. I think it was a little difficult to connect with Jude or Dante, given the length, and I think the combination of pacing and personal preferences kept their relationship from becoming particularly gripping (to me), but it was a fun read, especially after another fleabag rewatch lol.

I was so happy to see a work of queer religious horror, but the toxic adult/teen relationship did not sit right with me. The writing was ok, and I can see its potential and wanted to enjoy it more than I did.

By Of Beasts is a wild ride of a debut—queer horror with a heavy dose of religious terror, and somehow it all works really well. M. Jane Worma packs a lot into this short novella, and I was surprised by just how much it stuck with me.

The story follows Dante, a young Protestant guy, and Jude, a sadistic pastor of a tiny Texas church. They're secretly in a relationship—already complicated enough—but things take a dark turn when they start having intense, apocalyptic visions. Turns out, Dante isn't just anyone… he's the Antichrist, sent by God to kickstart the end of the world. Yeah, it's that kind of story.

The horror here is sharp and layered. It's not just blood and fire (though there's some of that)—it's the emotional, religious, and psychological horror that hits hardest. The writing is tight, the atmosphere is thick, and the tension builds fast. For such a short book, it manages to feel complete and satisfying, which is honestly rare for me with novellas.

If you're into queer horror, religious themes, or simply looking for something different and intense, this is absolutely worth reading. I'll be watching to see what Worma does next.

Thanks to NetGalley and Clash Books for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I would really like to thank NetGalley and CLASH Publishers for providing me with an ARC of Worma’s novella.
With shorts chapters, one can devour this story in a single sitting, which is what I did. Though the pace of the story is quite quick, I personally don’t see this as a disadvantage, rather a well thought storyline. I’ve seen other reviews mentioning how they wished the novel was longer and the author deepened on the plot, I think it works amazingly well as it is. Sure, I wouldn’t be opposed to know and read more about Jude and Dante, but I also think the shortness of the story presents itself as an adequate tool to leave the reader wanting more while being satisfied with what is shown.
The story is presented as queer horror, which I think definitely encapsulates the essence of the characters and the background. While I’ve seen others trying to pin it as a dark romance, I beg to differ. One mustn’t get me wrong, for there is plenty of love between the characters –whether that love is healthy or not is a whole different question–, however, I don’t think the main point of the story is to focus on Jude and Dante’s love story, rather the circumstances and religious hysteria that engulfs them. To merely catalogue it as a romance would, in my opinion, be the same as claiming that Wuthering Heights is just a romance book.
Moving on to the characters, Worma manages to flesh them out in such a strikingly human way that one forgets there are mysterious forces binding them. Without going into spoilers, both Dante and Jude fit into archetypical characters structures, but not the ones we’re used to seeing in contemporary readings, rather ones that take off from ancient texts such as, obviously, the Bible. The irony and importance of both their names, also, is not overlooked! I particularly enjoy when authors manage to pour significance into character’s names without making it blatantly obvious.
The plot works amazingly without being incredibly specific. Though one could argue that the repetition of the prophecies can become old and repetitive after a while, I thoroughly believe it is the intention of them, dragging the reader into the same headspace both Jude and Dante exist in. Ideas such as innate faith, if the holy can be tainted by the devil, if agony and violence is just another name for love.
Overall an enthralling reading and I can’t wait to read more from Jane Worma.

Sending a huge thank you to the publisher, CLASH Books, for sending me a digital version of this Advanced Readers Copy! I would like to give an additional thank you to NetGalley for making my request for this ARC possible. Lastly, I have some messages for the author.

First, I want to say congratulations on getting published. Writing and working tirelessly to get your novella out in the world likely took a tremendous amount of effort, and I applaud that. Because you put so much of yourself into this, I suggest you stay away from this review. Unfortunately it is not the most positive.

So, without further ado readers, let us get into it. Of Beasts is a short, seventy-seven page queer horror novella about a priest who falls in love with the antichrist. Sounds right up my alley, honestly, so imagine how upset I was to find out it was far from it.

The most glaringly obvious issue with this is that our antichrist is SEVENTEEN YEARS OLD in love with a priest who is in his twenties. While Worma does not endorse this at any point, they also don’t really make it seem like a bad thing. In fact it almost seems romanticized.

Now, were this better written, I probably could have pushed this aside. Perhaps if there was a shred of nuance or clever storytelling, it would have been an interesting study of grooming. Maybe a nod to how in the bible the original translation was “man shall not lie with boy,” which was an indictment of pedophilia rather than homosexuality.

I digress. My next point is that Worma must not know the definition of subtlety. There is no real symbolism, no showing instead of telling. Worma just shoves in your face the way they want you to feel and think about these characters and their circumstances rather than just allow yourself to come to your own conclusions.

I will say that the last twenty pages were pretty okay. Solidly intriguing and fast paced, yet still lacking a certain something. The most frustrating element of all of this is that there is, without a doubt, potential here. I don’t believe this is an author incapable of writing something good or possibly even great, but unfortunately nothing landed.

Even so, I still encourage y’all to check Of Beasts out for yourself and decide what you think. If you are interested, this novella will be published February 10th, 2026. Here’s the publisher website.

Thank you to NetGalley for my e-ARC, and a special thank you to Clash Books for my physical copy with extra promo swag items!

I don’t even know where to begin this review because honestly, this was intense in more ways than I could have ever anticipated. I was immediately drawn to the cover art. Demonic lamb, what could get any more intriguing?!

A kinky sexual pastor falls for one of his local community members and attendees of his church congregation. As this kinky, queer horror story evolves we are left with the questions: whose love is stronger?, whose faith is strong enough to conquer the fears of their interconnected nightmares that start to overlap into reality.

This was a rapid read. From the literal first sentence til the end of the book, this was one wild rompous!

This story is not for anyone who is easily offended, has strong religious beliefs, has remotely any kind of issues (knowingly or subconsciously) towards/about the LGBTQ+ community, or alternative sexual activities.

As this book is publishing in February 2026, I hope that the editing issues will be resolved prior to the final printing.

Would I recommend this book? Fuck, yes! 5*

In this queer horror novel debut, a priest falls in love with the antichrist and even God can’t stop the horror it will bring.

Dante, a protestant young man, and Jude, a sadistic pastor of a small Texas church, harbor a terrible secret from the world; they’re together. The two share a taboo and passionate relationship in hidden peace, until the dreams start.

God speaks to them in visions of smoke and fire, night after night, until the two of them come to a truth they cannot ignore; Dante is the Antichrist, sent by God and urged to start off the apocalypse.

Dante refuses to participate in the end of the world and the damnation of souls. But Jude is a loyal pastor, indifferent to the suffering of others, and is compelled to do what God tells him; even if it means killing the love of his life.

This queer horror love story hones in on the humanity of the Antichrist, a half-human entity as flawed, complex, and doomed as any other soul. With lyrical prose reminiscent of Clive Barker, blasphemy is redefined and love is tested. In Of Beasts, Worma explores if love is enough for someone born to be evil.

Of Beasts is M. Jane Worma's queer horror novel debut. Dante, a young Protestant, and Jude, a sadistic pastor of a small Texas church, are in a very taboo relationship they must keep secret from the world. Then … things start to happen. Weird things. They both start having dreams with a message. Dante is the Antichrist. Suffice to say, this book goes into the unhinged. The religious trauma and prose made this a compelling bite sized horror. Thank you to Clash Books & NetGalley for the ARC. You can pick this up from Clash Books' site when it publishes February 10, 2026!

Queer, horror and priest combined in one story? I have to read that! I like the element with the dreams, but the love between the two is also palpable. Definitely a cool book.

Reading this felt like a walk on a foggy night - quiet, contemplative, and eerie. By all measures by that alone I had hoped to have loved this novella, but I could not find myself to connect with Jude and Dante, both of whom felt like chess pieces more so than characters, though this may very well be the point. While poetic, I could not feel much for their romance - the yearning, the desperation - it all fell fairly flat to me and felt more so as a love built out of (in)convience of circumstances.

However, by premise alone this is still a fairly strong debut and I look forward to seeing how Worma evolves as an author - I just feel as though this may have needed a bit more time to cook and some stronger characterization.

This was fine. I did not go into this with very high expectations, to be completely honest, but I was so curious that I had to read. I'm a big fan of religious horror, and the concept of a horror romance between a pastor and the Antichrist was too intriguing to ignore. It's a quick read, and the writing itself isn't bad. But it's just kind of meh. I wish it would've picked a lane and stuck with it. It didn't convincingly pull off either horror or romance in my opinion. I also thought the age gap between the two main characters was weird, though I understand that there is meant to be a clear power imbalance between the two. In my opinion, there was no need for Dante to be 17 instead of 18, unless there is some sort of context I missed. I don't want to go too hard on this, because it truly was fine. I love the cover, and I liked some of the twists that it took. I liked the ending as well. There will definitely be people that love this, but it didn't work for me. Thank you so much to Netgalley and to CLASH Books for the ARC.