The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo

When they call you a monster, show your teeth. The Frontier Nursing Service is sending Leslie Bruin to Spar Creek to vaccinate the flock, birth babies, and weather the judgement of those who see him as a failed woman. Hardened by the atrocities of the Western Front, Leslie thinks he can handle anything a backwoods Appalachian town throws at him. But Spar Creek holds a darkness he isn’t prepared for. Something ugly is festering in the congregation. Violence bubbles around a younger queer person who won’t comply with the church’s demands on his body — and the wooded hills enfolding Spar Creek have a mind of their own. The Woods All Black is a blood-soaked horror story about prejudice and power that reminds us to fight tooth and claw to live as who we are.