Flesh and Bone
A downloadable book
One month ago, Everett did something unforgivable. Now, he and his partner Marshall are paying the price. As they drive their cattle west to a ranch in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, something stalks them under the light of the full moon.
Haunted by a lifetime of shame, Everett’s guilt over what he did with Marshall is coming to eat him alive. Equally dangerous is the monster following him, which will sink its teeth into anything and anyone. After it gores Everett, he begins to feel that same awful hunger for himself. If Everett wants to survive the night, it's not only the monster he needs to fight. It's his own bloodthirsty urges that want to tear him apart. Worse, they’ll tear Marshall apart just as easily.
Marshall would do anything for Everett: his best friend, and the man he has secretly loved for years. Now, he doesn’t just have to save Everett from the creature hunting them. He has to save Everett from himself, and that might mean putting a bullet through Everett’s skull before the man he loves becomes something unrecognizably monstrous.
Flesh and Bone is a short, standalone mm horror-romance novella set in the Canadian Wild West of 1889.
_____
Content warnings: graphic descriptions of gore and violence, loss of limb, self-harm and self-mutilation including cannibalism, suicide ideation, animal harm to livestock, homophobia including slurs.
Publication date: March 26 2025
14,000 words
Purchase
In order to download this book you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $2.99 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Development log
- Flesh and Bone release day!20 days ago
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
A poetic juxtaposition of love and violence of nature/super-nature set in a wild expanse with a very queer heart.
I loved both characters, and how the whole situation unfolded, and the monster bits were also detailed and juicy (in the way steak sometimes is juicy).
It is the perfect recipe to me: mlm, monster, romance/tenderness, yearning/pining, drop of spice, rugged frontier realities.
At the end I was wishing it was 140,000 words instead of 14K. I want to know more and where these two vagabonds end up (and if there are...repercussions to certain things).
If you like mlm, queer times, cowboys, horror, and beasts that roam by moonlight, definitely pick this one up!
Goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/229217730-flesh-and-bone
ARC Review for Flesh and Bone (Arden Powell):
far out in the canadian wild west. two cowboys. marshall and everett. frequently and secretly fond of each other. except everett is being eaten alive by the hunger inside him.
also a monster is chasing them. some hungry devil.
this novella is short but it sure is a ride.
if you're looking for queer horror, yearning, corruption, and monsters, this is it.
follow everett as he's consumed by the guilt of doing something he shouldn't have with marshall.
the prose and body horror is raw and grotesque. makes the words spin before you until you see red. stomach churning and mind numbing. you will feel just as feverish as everett is.
this is horror. they are cowboys fighting to survive. the romance isn't soft or fluffy, it's gritty, painful, gut wrenching. teeth clenched. guts and gore. queer horror and guilt and internalized homophobia. sickness, grief, terror. the only time they have to breathe is when they have blood in their lungs. they can't get close to each other, and that's the point. the moments they share are poignant. yearning. the softness hides under a layer of grime and guilt. it's built upon the subdued affection and tension of everett's slow corruption. marshall can only watch the horrifying tragedy as it unfolds. ease the pain a little. come to terms with it all.
the ending was shattering. it all melts away.
loved it.
( Received an advanced reader copy for review. Flesh and Bone, Arden Powell, 3 26 2025. queer mm horror-romance novella, western, canadian wild west )