St John Starling (evil now)
banner
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
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
Reposted by St John Starling (evil now)
Did you know I post sketchbooks on patreon and itchio? Probably not because I never talk about it. You can get the new one here:
On patreon- www.patreon.com/posts/malaca...
itchio- malacandrax.itch.io/malacandrax-...
November 7, 2025 at 5:09 PM
I blame the cowards at Netflix for not allowing del Toro to fully develop the sick and twisted BDSM dynamic that existed between the scientist and his creation in Frankenstein 2025.
November 7, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Every time I remember that there are people out there who use the word camp as a synonym for “bad” it makes me wonder if we can ever truly have peace because clearly there are differences that can never be reconciled.
November 6, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Reposted by St John Starling (evil now)
✨🐴 Beware the Sihuanaba, the woman with a horse’s head, haunting those who dare to follow her in the night.
A vision of fear, desire, and transformation.

www.etsy.com/mx/listing/7...
November 5, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Does it feel nice when I’m groping around for threads I can pull to unravel you?
November 5, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Doing research for A Companion in Vice is always excitingly risky because it's such a fine line between medical stuff I find fascinating and medical stuff that sets my teeth on edge and requires cool-down time afterwards.
November 5, 2025 at 5:50 PM
No one talks about how difficult it can be to keep your mind on your work when you keep accidentally brushing fingers with your devastatingly attractive boss over the corpse you're reanimating.

Today on Patreon - Behind the Scenes: Guiding Hand: www.patreon.com/posts/behind...
November 5, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Reposted by St John Starling (evil now)
stray fragments
November 5, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Can confirm - but watch out!
did you know that if you keep practicing a craft you may eventually improve at it
November 5, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Reposted by St John Starling (evil now)
Spaghetti - (Cliff & Eugene are invited to a family meal) 1/3
October 27, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Reposted by St John Starling (evil now)
Goodnight
October 29, 2025 at 10:56 PM
This is Sneef.
October 31, 2025 at 6:07 PM
A Companion in Vice is a gothic-noir novel about hazardously toxic queer romance and mad science. Find out more in today's newsletter! stjohnstarling.substack.com/p/its-alive-...
October 31, 2025 at 2:55 PM