St John Starling (evil now)
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stjohnstarling.bsky.social
St John Starling (evil now)
@stjohnstarling.bsky.social
Retired jazz musician | Author of What Manner of Man | He/him | Mostly on Tumblr

🦇 Blog: https://stjohnstarling.tumblr.com
🦇 Newsletter/read for free: https://stjohnstarling.substack.com
🦇 BUY WMOM: https://stjohnstarling.itch.io/what-manner-of-man
Pinned
St John Starling; bird of ill omen and author of queer novels of subversive high camp. My artist and editor is
@beastliness.bsky.social

What Manner of Man: a blasphemous gothic romance about a priest and a vampire
Follow my work: stjohnstarling.substack.com
Patreon: www.patreon.com/stjohnstarling
The dark truth at the heart of the human psyche is that people can develop a fetish for anything they feel enough fear and revulsion towards.
November 26, 2025 at 12:21 AM
Being a professional artist of any kind requires constant negotiation and compromise between what you want to do and what is realistic. In this way, it’s like every other aspect of life. The problem is that the creation of art exposes us to our own desires in a way that
November 22, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Reposted by St John Starling (evil now)
🇲🇽✨ Mexican Pin Up 2 ✨
A piece from my Pin Up series, this time celebrating queer Mexican pride and sensuality.
Available as a print in my Etsy shop 🛒

www.etsy.com/mx/listing/7...
November 21, 2025 at 5:36 PM
If you don’t love grime and sleaze, stay out of the arts, is all I’ll say.
November 21, 2025 at 7:18 PM
We have done all of culture and the art of writing a great disservice by imbuing novels with a sense of mythical power and prestige.
November 21, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Actually it's homophobic for villains to be straight.
November 21, 2025 at 2:24 AM
I am envious of the complex shapes of birds.
November 21, 2025 at 2:23 AM
I love the erotic dynamic at play in doppelgänger revenge stories. I am always there, invisible, even when you think you’re alone; I have nothing in the world but you, you are my world, I hate you.
November 18, 2025 at 5:18 PM
HAPPY BIRTHDAY 🦇🎉🦇🎊🦇
November 18, 2025 at 4:23 AM
I think if Mary Shelley had seen the new Frankenstein she would have been really scared and hid behind her chair like those Victorians at the screening the film of the train pulling into the station who thought they might be run over.
November 17, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Reworking the A Companion in Vice opening, Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein, and another little creature I made in this week's Patreon update -> www.patreon.com/posts/143784...
November 17, 2025 at 6:48 PM
The social forces that prevent you from being able to admit to your own desires in the safety of your own mind are far more evil than any desire you could have.
November 17, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Martin Rem knows his beloved Dr. Avenroyth isn’t dead, because he brought him back with his own hands — though that’s more than he can say to the police

A COMPANION IN VICE is a gothic-noir novel about toxic queer romance and mad science — a chapter per week, sent (for free!) directly to your inbox
November 17, 2025 at 2:08 AM
Reposted by St John Starling (evil now)
✨ El Novio ✨💐
Waiting for his beloved, flowers and chocolates in hand.
From my Lotería D’Éon
Available as a print 🛒

www.etsy.com/mx/listing/4...
November 11, 2025 at 4:39 PM
The reason camp and the gothic go hand in hand is because both are modes where people can safely explore taboo desires.
November 11, 2025 at 10:37 PM
‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️
lovely piece i got to work on for ‘What Manner of Man’! i wanted to emulate old avon gothic pulp novels; & ended up making a mock cover as well.
i learned so much working on this piece, thank you so much to @stjohnstarling and @beastliness for all their support! 🖤
#teratophilia #monsterlove #booksky
November 11, 2025 at 4:36 PM
There's NOTHING homoerotic about my single-minded, pseudo-incestuous obsession with torturing my creator-father and robbing him of everything he ever loved.
November 10, 2025 at 5:25 PM
I need to remember that if I'm failing to start concentrating on my work, I need to start sewing first. Sewing is boring and repetitive, and will prevent me from getting distracted while occupying the part of my brain that's seeking stimulation. Every day I forget this.
November 10, 2025 at 5:13 PM
People are so prescriptive about movie adaptations of books when deep down everyone knows that the greatest movie adaptations are the ones that are at best vaguely inspired by the source novel and just doing their own thing.
November 10, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Reposted by St John Starling (evil now)
as an artist I sometimes find myself with some of the same concerns as a murderer (planning the disposal of a body, wondering what to do about identifiable features, jewelry, and tattoos)
November 9, 2025 at 8:32 PM
It was pretty hard not to laugh when the brother turned to the camera and said the words, “you’re the real monster, Victor,” out loud with his mouth, I’m not going to lie.
November 9, 2025 at 11:04 PM
Guillermo del Toro's real innovation was adding in ageplay alongside the already existing necrophilia and incest in the novel.
November 9, 2025 at 8:18 PM
I don't really understand the desire people have for 1:1 film adaptations of novels. The perfect adaptation of Frankenstein already exists - it's called Frankenstein and it was written in 1818 and I can go read it whenever I want.
November 9, 2025 at 5:11 PM
A lot of people seem to want me to have a strong love or hate reaction to the new Frankenstein movie, but I don't know what to tell you - the history of Frankenstein in pop culture is my pet area of interest.
November 9, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Reposted by St John Starling (evil now)
trying to steal your soul through the screen 👁️
November 6, 2025 at 8:27 PM