Black Velvet: A Trans Emo Ghost Story

After a near death experience, a troubled trans boy is haunted by the ghost of Elvis Presley. As if that wasn’t enough, he soon discovers he can bring things back from the dead.

Set in England circa 2005, Black Velvet follows emo music obsessive Aaron Phillips as he navigates a barely breathing music career, a fraying romantic relationship, and fragile mental health seven years after the disappearance of his dad. 

Wracked with academic ennui, depression and gender dysphoria, Aaron and the afterlife will have to get reacquainted before he can finally find solace.

A powerful exploration of love, loss, and queerness, Black Velvet balances the supernatural with the agonies and apathies of confronting adulthood in the MySpace era.

Perfect for adult millennials who grew up when My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy were at the height of the cultural zeitgeist.

For fans of The Lovely Bones, Cemetery Boys, Life is Strange, and Turtles All The Way Down.

“The characters felt so real and fleshed out, even the side characters. I was laughing and crying at parts; this story will stay with me, and I will be re-reading it once a year“

“Excruciating and joyous in all the extreme ways puberty is, I would recommend Black Velvet to anyone who’s in any way queer, emo, alt or an outsider”

“…moving and sincere…The ending was great… And I loved the characters a lot. They felt real and like I could have known them back then”

“…the story is so immensely sincere and heartfelt, with all the characters feeling alive (including the dead one)”

Written by trans author Stefanie Carter under the pen name Fox N. Locke with cover art by Emjay's Dream.

Word count: 75,000 (approx.)

Content Warnings

Black Velvet: A Trans Emo Ghost Story contains discussions of suicide, eating disorders, drug abuse, terrorism, bullying, and references to homophobic and transphobic language. It includes depictions of gender dysphoria, depression, anxiety, alcohol abuse, drowning, death and animal death, violence, grief, and parent loss.

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