16 of the Best New LGBTQ Books Out in October 2026

This is the biggest publishing month of the year, and queer books are no exception. There are so many incredible new LGBTQ books out in October 2026; I have more than a hundred on my personal spreadsheet of new releases, and that just scratches the surface. It was tough to narrow it down to these 16—I meant for it to be my top ten. You can find 41 more new LGBTQ books out this week at the end of this list as a bonus for All Access members. (If you’ve been waiting, now is the time to sign up, because we’re having a sale on annual memberships.) Get 15% off annual All Access memberships for a limited time in celebration of Book Riot’s 15th anniversary! Savings amount to more than 3 months of free unlimited access to our entire content archive, plus features like Collections and the New Release Index. Claim your savings and start leveling up your reading life. You can expect plenty of new queer horror books out in October, including a trans horror novel from the filmmaker of I Saw the TV Glow and Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, a queer Filipino paranormal gothic graphic novel, and an asexual YA horror book about an Eldritch horror. It’s not all Halloween vibes, though: we also ha...