Caleb Reed
@thecalebreed.bsky.social
🏳️🌈Writer of Line & Verse — campus fiction, Gen-X nostalgia, and the messy beauty of growing up twice. Horror lists, essays, and stories at thecalebreed.com.
Chapter 18 is live today.
Tomorrow morning, the final chapter of Line & Verse goes out to everyone.
Thanks to everyone who stuck with Ethan from move-in day to the end of freshman year.
Read here → www.thecalebreed.com/p/chapter-xv...
#LineAndVerse #Fiction #QueerLit #WritersOfBSky
Tomorrow morning, the final chapter of Line & Verse goes out to everyone.
Thanks to everyone who stuck with Ethan from move-in day to the end of freshman year.
Read here → www.thecalebreed.com/p/chapter-xv...
#LineAndVerse #Fiction #QueerLit #WritersOfBSky
Chapter XVIII - The Night Before
What remains when everything else falls away.
www.thecalebreed.com
November 21, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Chapter 18 is live today.
Tomorrow morning, the final chapter of Line & Verse goes out to everyone.
Thanks to everyone who stuck with Ethan from move-in day to the end of freshman year.
Read here → www.thecalebreed.com/p/chapter-xv...
#LineAndVerse #Fiction #QueerLit #WritersOfBSky
Tomorrow morning, the final chapter of Line & Verse goes out to everyone.
Thanks to everyone who stuck with Ethan from move-in day to the end of freshman year.
Read here → www.thecalebreed.com/p/chapter-xv...
#LineAndVerse #Fiction #QueerLit #WritersOfBSky
I picked up Tin Man on a trip earlier this year and didn’t expect it to get under my skin the way it did.
Today’s essay looks at why.
Read →
www.thecalebreed.com/p/tin-man-sa...
Today’s essay looks at why.
Read →
www.thecalebreed.com/p/tin-man-sa...
Tin Man: A Novel - Sarah Winman
Tin Man, Unlived Lives, and the Boys We Never Stopped Being
www.thecalebreed.com
November 17, 2025 at 4:27 PM
I picked up Tin Man on a trip earlier this year and didn’t expect it to get under my skin the way it did.
Today’s essay looks at why.
Read →
www.thecalebreed.com/p/tin-man-sa...
Today’s essay looks at why.
Read →
www.thecalebreed.com/p/tin-man-sa...
Chapter 17 — Spring Break is live for paid subscribers.
Ethan steps away from Westmore, and the distance forces everything into focus.
Free for everyone tomorrow at 5:00 a.m. ET.
Read here → www.thecalebreed.com/p/chapter-xv...
Ethan steps away from Westmore, and the distance forces everything into focus.
Free for everyone tomorrow at 5:00 a.m. ET.
Read here → www.thecalebreed.com/p/chapter-xv...
November 13, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Chapter 17 — Spring Break is live for paid subscribers.
Ethan steps away from Westmore, and the distance forces everything into focus.
Free for everyone tomorrow at 5:00 a.m. ET.
Read here → www.thecalebreed.com/p/chapter-xv...
Ethan steps away from Westmore, and the distance forces everything into focus.
Free for everyone tomorrow at 5:00 a.m. ET.
Read here → www.thecalebreed.com/p/chapter-xv...
The penultimate chapter of Line & Verse just dropped.
Chapter 17 — Spring Break.
Ethan steps away from Westmore, and the space shows him what he’s been refusing to see all year.
Live now for paid subscribers.
Free for everyone Friday at 5:00 a.m. ET.
www.thecalebreed.com/p/chapter-xv...
Chapter 17 — Spring Break.
Ethan steps away from Westmore, and the space shows him what he’s been refusing to see all year.
Live now for paid subscribers.
Free for everyone Friday at 5:00 a.m. ET.
www.thecalebreed.com/p/chapter-xv...
Chapter XVII - Spring Break
The Turning Tide
www.thecalebreed.com
November 12, 2025 at 8:35 PM
The penultimate chapter of Line & Verse just dropped.
Chapter 17 — Spring Break.
Ethan steps away from Westmore, and the space shows him what he’s been refusing to see all year.
Live now for paid subscribers.
Free for everyone Friday at 5:00 a.m. ET.
www.thecalebreed.com/p/chapter-xv...
Chapter 17 — Spring Break.
Ethan steps away from Westmore, and the space shows him what he’s been refusing to see all year.
Live now for paid subscribers.
Free for everyone Friday at 5:00 a.m. ET.
www.thecalebreed.com/p/chapter-xv...
I’ve been thinking about what connects all my recent pieces—whether it’s Jonathan Bailey, Frankenstein, or Line & Verse.
It’s always the same experiment: creating something, seeing yourself in it, and learning to love what you find.
Catch up here → www.thecalebreed.com
It’s always the same experiment: creating something, seeing yourself in it, and learning to love what you find.
Catch up here → www.thecalebreed.com
Caleb Reed | Substack
Fiction, essays, and reflections on queer life and Southern memory. Start with the novel Line & Verse. (a serialized 1990s college novel). Click to read Caleb Reed, a Substack publication with hundred...
www.thecalebreed.com
November 11, 2025 at 4:08 PM
I’ve been thinking about what connects all my recent pieces—whether it’s Jonathan Bailey, Frankenstein, or Line & Verse.
It’s always the same experiment: creating something, seeing yourself in it, and learning to love what you find.
Catch up here → www.thecalebreed.com
It’s always the same experiment: creating something, seeing yourself in it, and learning to love what you find.
Catch up here → www.thecalebreed.com
New essay → Making Monsters: On Frankenstein, Desire, and the Stories That Make Us
From Mary Shelley to Jacob Elordi—art, visibility, and the monsters we make.
www.thecalebreed.com/p/making-mon...
From Mary Shelley to Jacob Elordi—art, visibility, and the monsters we make.
www.thecalebreed.com/p/making-mon...
Making Monsters: On Frankenstein, Desire, and the Stories That Make Us
A teacher, a monster, and the first time art looked back at me.
www.thecalebreed.com
November 9, 2025 at 7:58 PM
New essay → Making Monsters: On Frankenstein, Desire, and the Stories That Make Us
From Mary Shelley to Jacob Elordi—art, visibility, and the monsters we make.
www.thecalebreed.com/p/making-mon...
From Mary Shelley to Jacob Elordi—art, visibility, and the monsters we make.
www.thecalebreed.com/p/making-mon...
Greek Week (Ch. 16) | Line & Verse — azaleas, guitars, freedom.
Read now → www.thecalebreed.com/p/chapter-xv...
Read now → www.thecalebreed.com/p/chapter-xv...
Chapter XVI – Greek Week
Greek Week turns ritual into release: sunlight, noise, and the quiet freedom of being seen.
www.thecalebreed.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Greek Week (Ch. 16) | Line & Verse — azaleas, guitars, freedom.
Read now → www.thecalebreed.com/p/chapter-xv...
Read now → www.thecalebreed.com/p/chapter-xv...
Jonathan Bailey is People’s Sexiest Man Alive — the first openly gay man to ever hold the title.
From Fellow Travelers (2023), where love was dangerous, to Bridgerton, where it’s the whole empire — his career tells the story of what changed.
www.thecalebreed.com/p/fellow-tra...
#JonathanBailey
From Fellow Travelers (2023), where love was dangerous, to Bridgerton, where it’s the whole empire — his career tells the story of what changed.
www.thecalebreed.com/p/fellow-tra...
#JonathanBailey
Fellow Travelers to Bridgerton: The Closet, the Costume, and What Came After
Jonathan Bailey’s evolution from Fellow Travelers (2023) to Bridgerton traces a cultural arc — from secrecy to spectacle, from McCarthy’s Washington to Shondaland’s London.
www.thecalebreed.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Jonathan Bailey is People’s Sexiest Man Alive — the first openly gay man to ever hold the title.
From Fellow Travelers (2023), where love was dangerous, to Bridgerton, where it’s the whole empire — his career tells the story of what changed.
www.thecalebreed.com/p/fellow-tra...
#JonathanBailey
From Fellow Travelers (2023), where love was dangerous, to Bridgerton, where it’s the whole empire — his career tells the story of what changed.
www.thecalebreed.com/p/fellow-tra...
#JonathanBailey
Missed Twinless at Sundance. Caught it months later in Durham. It wrecked me in all the right ways.
www.thecalebreed.com/p/twinless-a...
www.thecalebreed.com/p/twinless-a...
Twinless and the Versions We Can Stand
James Sweeney's "Twinless" (2025)
www.thecalebreed.com
November 3, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Missed Twinless at Sundance. Caught it months later in Durham. It wrecked me in all the right ways.
www.thecalebreed.com/p/twinless-a...
www.thecalebreed.com/p/twinless-a...
Chapter 15 — The Underground — just dropped.
A day late, but worth it. Ethan finally finds the others who’ve been hiding in plain sight.
www.thecalebreed.com/p/chapter-xv...
A day late, but worth it. Ethan finally finds the others who’ve been hiding in plain sight.
www.thecalebreed.com/p/chapter-xv...
Chapter XV – The Underground
A Place Without Pretending
www.thecalebreed.com
November 2, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Chapter 15 — The Underground — just dropped.
A day late, but worth it. Ethan finally finds the others who’ve been hiding in plain sight.
www.thecalebreed.com/p/chapter-xv...
A day late, but worth it. Ethan finally finds the others who’ve been hiding in plain sight.
www.thecalebreed.com/p/chapter-xv...
Feeling grateful this week — Billy and the Kid (published by @queerloveproject.bsky.social ) was featured in @memoirland.bsky.social’s Memoir Monday Roundup.
Big thanks to Jerry Portwood & Michael Narkunski for their care.
Read here 👉 open.substack.com/pub/queerlov...
Big thanks to Jerry Portwood & Michael Narkunski for their care.
Read here 👉 open.substack.com/pub/queerlov...
Billy and the Kid
I was a closeted CEO. Then my college crush's shocking diagnosis kicked off the ache and 'Euphoria' of my second adolescence.
open.substack.com
October 30, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Feeling grateful this week — Billy and the Kid (published by @queerloveproject.bsky.social ) was featured in @memoirland.bsky.social’s Memoir Monday Roundup.
Big thanks to Jerry Portwood & Michael Narkunski for their care.
Read here 👉 open.substack.com/pub/queerlov...
Big thanks to Jerry Portwood & Michael Narkunski for their care.
Read here 👉 open.substack.com/pub/queerlov...
I finally decided I could keep yelling at the TV and my news feed or just write what I was thinking. Here it is. I'm ready for the adults in the room to stand up and take over.
www.thecalebreed.com/p/past-the-p...
www.thecalebreed.com/p/past-the-p...
Past the Point of Fear
A full-length editorial on how fear—not policy—drives Washington’s collapse. From Trump to the shutdown to a generation walking away, this essay examines what happens when cowardice becomes the gover...
www.thecalebreed.com
October 28, 2025 at 1:55 PM
I finally decided I could keep yelling at the TV and my news feed or just write what I was thinking. Here it is. I'm ready for the adults in the room to stand up and take over.
www.thecalebreed.com/p/past-the-p...
www.thecalebreed.com/p/past-the-p...
Monday reset: new fiction, new essay, less guilt about ignoring the weekend.
✏️ The Shift — a quiet chapter after the chaos at Westmore.
🕯 The Outsider’s Wound — on A Little Life and the performance of pain.
Read both at thecalebreed.com
✏️ The Shift — a quiet chapter after the chaos at Westmore.
🕯 The Outsider’s Wound — on A Little Life and the performance of pain.
Read both at thecalebreed.com
October 27, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Monday reset: new fiction, new essay, less guilt about ignoring the weekend.
✏️ The Shift — a quiet chapter after the chaos at Westmore.
🕯 The Outsider’s Wound — on A Little Life and the performance of pain.
Read both at thecalebreed.com
✏️ The Shift — a quiet chapter after the chaos at Westmore.
🕯 The Outsider’s Wound — on A Little Life and the performance of pain.
Read both at thecalebreed.com
Chapter 14 – The Shift is live.
Finals, frost, and quiet change at Westmore.
thecalebreed.com
Earlier this week → Billy and the Kid (QLP Essay) + Plastic Pumpkins & VHS Screams + October on Netflix: Horror Was Always a Queer Playground
#LineAndVerse #LGBTQ #GenX
Finals, frost, and quiet change at Westmore.
thecalebreed.com
Earlier this week → Billy and the Kid (QLP Essay) + Plastic Pumpkins & VHS Screams + October on Netflix: Horror Was Always a Queer Playground
#LineAndVerse #LGBTQ #GenX
October 24, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Chapter 14 – The Shift is live.
Finals, frost, and quiet change at Westmore.
thecalebreed.com
Earlier this week → Billy and the Kid (QLP Essay) + Plastic Pumpkins & VHS Screams + October on Netflix: Horror Was Always a Queer Playground
#LineAndVerse #LGBTQ #GenX
Finals, frost, and quiet change at Westmore.
thecalebreed.com
Earlier this week → Billy and the Kid (QLP Essay) + Plastic Pumpkins & VHS Screams + October on Netflix: Horror Was Always a Queer Playground
#LineAndVerse #LGBTQ #GenX
Need last-minute Halloween watches that are more fun than good? Same.
🎞️ The Plastic Pumpkins & VHS — my list of campy 80s horror that raised a generation of latchkey kids.
Read it now → www.thecalebreed.com/p/plastic-pu...
#HorrorMovies #GenX #80s #CampHorror #VHS #HalloweenWeekend #MovieNight
🎞️ The Plastic Pumpkins & VHS — my list of campy 80s horror that raised a generation of latchkey kids.
Read it now → www.thecalebreed.com/p/plastic-pu...
#HorrorMovies #GenX #80s #CampHorror #VHS #HalloweenWeekend #MovieNight
October 23, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Need last-minute Halloween watches that are more fun than good? Same.
🎞️ The Plastic Pumpkins & VHS — my list of campy 80s horror that raised a generation of latchkey kids.
Read it now → www.thecalebreed.com/p/plastic-pu...
#HorrorMovies #GenX #80s #CampHorror #VHS #HalloweenWeekend #MovieNight
🎞️ The Plastic Pumpkins & VHS — my list of campy 80s horror that raised a generation of latchkey kids.
Read it now → www.thecalebreed.com/p/plastic-pu...
#HorrorMovies #GenX #80s #CampHorror #VHS #HalloweenWeekend #MovieNight
Tomorrow for paid readers — Chapter 14
The Shift
Winter settles over Westmore.
www.thecalebreed.com/s/lineandverse
The Shift
Winter settles over Westmore.
www.thecalebreed.com/s/lineandverse
October 21, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Tomorrow for paid readers — Chapter 14
The Shift
Winter settles over Westmore.
www.thecalebreed.com/s/lineandverse
The Shift
Winter settles over Westmore.
www.thecalebreed.com/s/lineandverse
Tonight for paid subscribers —
the Eli & Jason flashback.
"What they agreed never happened..."
Chapter 13 Brotherhood → now free.
Chapter 14 The Shift → Wednesday (paid).
And for something scary:
Caleb Reed’s Queer Horror Guide —
horror that gets it.
the Eli & Jason flashback.
"What they agreed never happened..."
Chapter 13 Brotherhood → now free.
Chapter 14 The Shift → Wednesday (paid).
And for something scary:
Caleb Reed’s Queer Horror Guide —
horror that gets it.
October 20, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Tonight for paid subscribers —
the Eli & Jason flashback.
"What they agreed never happened..."
Chapter 13 Brotherhood → now free.
Chapter 14 The Shift → Wednesday (paid).
And for something scary:
Caleb Reed’s Queer Horror Guide —
horror that gets it.
the Eli & Jason flashback.
"What they agreed never happened..."
Chapter 13 Brotherhood → now free.
Chapter 14 The Shift → Wednesday (paid).
And for something scary:
Caleb Reed’s Queer Horror Guide —
horror that gets it.
Brotherhood doesn’t always mean belonging.
Chapter 13 — Brotherhood is live: the aftermath of Hell Week at Westmore.
Read: thecalebreed.com
#LineAndVerse #Substack #QueerFiction #90sCollege #LGBTQWriters
Chapter 13 — Brotherhood is live: the aftermath of Hell Week at Westmore.
Read: thecalebreed.com
#LineAndVerse #Substack #QueerFiction #90sCollege #LGBTQWriters
October 19, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Brotherhood doesn’t always mean belonging.
Chapter 13 — Brotherhood is live: the aftermath of Hell Week at Westmore.
Read: thecalebreed.com
#LineAndVerse #Substack #QueerFiction #90sCollege #LGBTQWriters
Chapter 13 — Brotherhood is live: the aftermath of Hell Week at Westmore.
Read: thecalebreed.com
#LineAndVerse #Substack #QueerFiction #90sCollege #LGBTQWriters
Horror was never straight.
From Ryan Murphy’s Monster to lesbian vampires on Shudder, the 2025 Queer Horror Guide is live.
👉 www.thecalebreed.com/p/caleb-reed...
#QueerHorror #SpookySeason
From Ryan Murphy’s Monster to lesbian vampires on Shudder, the 2025 Queer Horror Guide is live.
👉 www.thecalebreed.com/p/caleb-reed...
#QueerHorror #SpookySeason
October 18, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Horror was never straight.
From Ryan Murphy’s Monster to lesbian vampires on Shudder, the 2025 Queer Horror Guide is live.
👉 www.thecalebreed.com/p/caleb-reed...
#QueerHorror #SpookySeason
From Ryan Murphy’s Monster to lesbian vampires on Shudder, the 2025 Queer Horror Guide is live.
👉 www.thecalebreed.com/p/caleb-reed...
#QueerHorror #SpookySeason
“Hell Week ends. Brotherhood begins.”
Chapter 13 – Brotherhood is free for everyone today.
thecalebreed.com
#LineAndVerse #QueerFiction #WritersOfX #SerializedStory
Chapter 13 – Brotherhood is free for everyone today.
thecalebreed.com
#LineAndVerse #QueerFiction #WritersOfX #SerializedStory
October 17, 2025 at 1:56 PM
“Hell Week ends. Brotherhood begins.”
Chapter 13 – Brotherhood is free for everyone today.
thecalebreed.com
#LineAndVerse #QueerFiction #WritersOfX #SerializedStory
Chapter 13 – Brotherhood is free for everyone today.
thecalebreed.com
#LineAndVerse #QueerFiction #WritersOfX #SerializedStory
Hell Week is free to read now.
The phones are ringing, the campus is awake.
New on Caleb Reed this weekend:
🎓 Line & Verse – Chapter 12: Hell Week
🍺 House of Guinness - Netflix
📚 The Banned Books List
💾 Why I Ditched My Kindle
📖 Fellow Travelers - Thomas Mallon
All live now at thecalebreed.com
The phones are ringing, the campus is awake.
New on Caleb Reed this weekend:
🎓 Line & Verse – Chapter 12: Hell Week
🍺 House of Guinness - Netflix
📚 The Banned Books List
💾 Why I Ditched My Kindle
📖 Fellow Travelers - Thomas Mallon
All live now at thecalebreed.com
Caleb Reed | Substack
Fiction, essays, and reflections on queer life and Southern memory. Start with the novel Line & Verse. (a serialized 1990s college novel). Click to read Caleb Reed, a Substack publication with hundred...
thecalebreed.com
October 11, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Hell Week is free to read now.
The phones are ringing, the campus is awake.
New on Caleb Reed this weekend:
🎓 Line & Verse – Chapter 12: Hell Week
🍺 House of Guinness - Netflix
📚 The Banned Books List
💾 Why I Ditched My Kindle
📖 Fellow Travelers - Thomas Mallon
All live now at thecalebreed.com
The phones are ringing, the campus is awake.
New on Caleb Reed this weekend:
🎓 Line & Verse – Chapter 12: Hell Week
🍺 House of Guinness - Netflix
📚 The Banned Books List
💾 Why I Ditched My Kindle
📖 Fellow Travelers - Thomas Mallon
All live now at thecalebreed.com
200 subscribers + 335 followers = 530 readers strong.
New on Caleb Reed this weekend ⤵️
🎓 Line & Verse – Chapter 12: Hell Week
🍺 House of Guinness
💾 Why I Ditched My Kindle
📕 Fellow Travelers
All live now → thecalebreed.com
#LineAndVerse #QueerLit #SubstackWriter #BannedBooks #WeekendReads
New on Caleb Reed this weekend ⤵️
🎓 Line & Verse – Chapter 12: Hell Week
🍺 House of Guinness
💾 Why I Ditched My Kindle
📕 Fellow Travelers
All live now → thecalebreed.com
#LineAndVerse #QueerLit #SubstackWriter #BannedBooks #WeekendReads
October 10, 2025 at 3:24 PM
200 subscribers + 335 followers = 530 readers strong.
New on Caleb Reed this weekend ⤵️
🎓 Line & Verse – Chapter 12: Hell Week
🍺 House of Guinness
💾 Why I Ditched My Kindle
📕 Fellow Travelers
All live now → thecalebreed.com
#LineAndVerse #QueerLit #SubstackWriter #BannedBooks #WeekendReads
New on Caleb Reed this weekend ⤵️
🎓 Line & Verse – Chapter 12: Hell Week
🍺 House of Guinness
💾 Why I Ditched My Kindle
📕 Fellow Travelers
All live now → thecalebreed.com
#LineAndVerse #QueerLit #SubstackWriter #BannedBooks #WeekendReads