I first met Matt Mason in the fall of 2024. At the time, we had an ezine called A Bite of Pride, and he had applied to be a staff writer. Since we were both on the asexual spectrum and emphasized how horror can be healing and cathartic, we hit it off immediately!
Since then, even when we dissolved our ezine and staff writers, Matt Mason was such a wonderful friend and support. He helped me learn how to best use BlueSky, and – for those who don’t know – Matt was the creator of the Horror Writer’s Chat on the platform.
Here at Pride with a Bite, we are also working on a non-fiction line of books addressing different horror aspects through a queer lens, called The Queer Horror Archives. Matt was going to write a volume on historical horror for this series, but upon being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he was no longer able to work on the book.
Before his passing in November, I beta read his collection of poems and writings on his demisexuality (which is phenomenal and is still available for purchase in his shop here). He also has a lot of other works that are still available for purchase and was the creator of the Chaotic Author Podcast and The Grey Rainbow Blog – which addressed coming out as demisexual later in life.
Matt provided me with a quote on how horror has been healing for him for my upcoming book, Horror Convalescence, that combines my mental health work with my love for horror. Right before his passing, I also discussed with him how we will be doing a volume on historical horror for The Queer Horror Archives in his honor.
Matt was such a force in the horror writing community, especially with queer authors. He created such a powerful community for horror writers on BlueSky, and I am so happy that his work will live on. While I am absolutely devastated over this loss, it has blown me away to see and hear how many lives Matt touched – including mine.
See Matt’s article from our Winter 2025 ezine issue of A Bite of Pride below
(Click on each image to zoom in)
Remembering Matt Mason
Matt Mason was an indie author and freelance writer who liked to dabble in other creative things too – such as photography and video editing. His background wasn’t in writing though; it was in archaeology. Although, if you’ve read his fiction, this becomes obvious almost immediately!
He wrote mixed genre low fantasy and horror, sometimes covering social issues such as mental health, class war, and the human capacity for self-destruction. Matt got his love of horror from his mother with whom he watched the original Amityville Horror in his early teens. He wrote his first short story about a haunted painting several years earlier, though, so the horror bug was already in him. Matt was demisexual, something he only worked out in his late 40s. Since then, he advocated for and spoke out about asexual issues across social media. He also set up a publication on Medium for asexual and aromantic voices called The Ace Space.
Born in Swindon in southwest England, he lived on the Cornish south coast. He and his wife enjoyed beach days in all seasons and exploring the gorgeous Cornish countryside by day or night. Matt’s favourite cuisine was Greek, and outside of writing, he enjoyed baking, jam making, gardening, reading, and video games.
Matt Mason passed away on November 26, 2025, after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
With all my love,
Sage Moon
Editor-in-Chief of Pride with a Bite
Pride with a Bite 