**MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS**
Slang Note: There is always a bit of (era/age-specific) slang peppered into my writing. When in doubt, use Google, or email C. directly with any questions or suggestions for adding to the Glossary.
Glossary
(All eras)
• Abhartach (Old Irish): An early Irish legend of a creature with vampiric qualities. Some scholars believe it influenced Bram Stoker while writing Dracula(which wasn’t published until 1897).
• All Hallows’ Eve: Stemming from Pagan and Christian influences, also known as Hallowe’en, the eve before All Saints Day or All Hallows (“holy”), and bearing many similarities to the Gaelic harvest festival, Samhain. October 31st marks the beginning of Allhallowtide which concludes with November 2nd, the feast of All Souls.
• Alukah (Hebrew): A term from Proverbs, translated as “horse-leech,” but later evolving into a blood-sucking entity in later Jewish folklore.
• Arm garters: Those sexy AF straps Old West/Victorian/Edwardian era men wore to keep their long shirt sleeves out of the way while they worked. (Apparently, they didn’t yet get the memo that we like it when they roll the sleeves up…)
• “As if!” No way!
• Batok (Tagalog): The indigenous (pre-colonial), hand-tapped tattoos Max has on his arms and chest (that he still doesn’t want to talk about… yet), which consisted of traditional symbols of tribal identity and kinship, as well as bravery, beauty, and social or wealth status. They helped one’s ancestors see and recognize them while in the afterlife, and some even believe that it gained one access to the afterlife.
• Beef: To have a strong disagreement or hostility with that person.
• Betty (“You look like a total Betty”): Someone you think is pretty, fabulous or a babe, usually a woman.
• Bitchin’: Really good or very impressive.
• Bite Me: A way to tell someone to back off or get lost… or there will be trouble.
• Bodacious: Someone who is attractive, bold, or gutsy (often combined with ‘babe’).
• Booked it: To depart quickly.
• Bordelaise (French): Classic French red wine sauce infused with shallots and herbs.
• Bounce: To go/leave (“dip” in modern slang. See also: Motor).
• Brothel: Evening establishment of the Old West (specifically, the House of Eternal Moonlight).
• Buggin’ out: Overreacting.
• Bummer: Too bad. “That’s a shame.”
• “Burn!”: Expertly dressing someone down, verbally.In today’s slang, reading someone to filth.
• Carotid (artery) (Greek, karoun):Translates to “plunge into sleep,” after the belief that compression of the artery resulted in unconsciousness.
• Catastrophizing: A cognitive distortion where an individual assumes the worst-possible outcome will occur, often exaggerating negative events and feeling helpless.
• Changeling: A substitute left behind by a supernatural creature, disguised to look like the kidnapped human.
• Chaz: Nickname for Charlie.
• Conquistadors/Conquistadores (Spanish): Spanish and Portuguese conquerers and colonizers.
• Cryptid: A creature who exists through folklore, legends, or alleged sightings, but is not recognized or proven by mainstream science.
• Darkwave: Music genre that originated in the late 1970s and early ’80s, merging goth rock with new wave and synth-pop. (Definitely the kind of music Zootz would play.)
• Danag (Tagalog): Creatures believed to be the first vampires in what is now known as the Philippines. This website has more on the mythology (which I also explain in the text).
• Deadly: Stylish or cool (usually fashion or music.
• Deamhan (Irish Gaelic): Demon or fiend, supernatural creature.
• Derby: Old West terminology for a bowler hat, worn by both lawmen and outlaws because it didn’t blow off easily in a strong wind. Coincidentally, it was also popular as part of the traditional men’s ensemble of the barong tagalog in the Philippines during the second half of the 19th century, but Max would have been long gone by then.
• Dollification: As a fetish, dollification focuses on submissive objectification, where one person (the “doll”) is dressed, posed, or managed by a dominant partner.
• Doubloon (Spanish: Doblón):Gold coins (aka, “pirate treasure” ill-gotten by Max on the high seas). Head to Wikipedia if you care to learn more about the history and worth of this currency (aside from being equal to one pretty boy from an Old West brothel).
• Doves/Soiled Doves: Old West terminology for sex workers, specifically those working in an Evening establishment. Aka, painted ladies/ladies of the evening, etc.
• Draugr (Old Norse): Revenants from Scandinavian folklore and sagas, often appearing as reanimated, rotting corpses that protect burial mounds. They are defeated by fire, decapitation, and burial of ashes (kind of like a vampire…).
• Dunderhead: Idiot (lovingly, in this case).
• Duster: Full-length, loose-fitting coat worn to protect clothing from trail dust.
• Dweeb: A person who is socially inept (similar to a geek). Yes, Star was being majorly judgy.
• Enby: Informal term for a nonbinary person.
• Evening establishment: Brothel.
• Faro: The game of choice in the Old West, particularly during the Gold Rush period, with just about every saloon (and some brothels) having at least one Faro table. It became popular in the Old West because it’s fast, uses a single deck and is easy to learn. It also has better odds than most games of chance, with the odds of winning being close to even (assuming the House isn’t cheating…). Google is your friend if you want to learn how to play!
• Fresh: Cool or stylish.
• Gaffed (dealer’s box): Speaking of cheating at faro… A “gaffed” box allowed the dealer to see the next card prior to the deal, by use of a small mirror or prism visible only to the dealer. If the next card was heavily bet, the box could also allow the dealer to draw two cards in one draw, therefore hiding the card that would have paid. But our sweet Damon would never… (wink wink).
• “Gag me with a spoon!” An expression of annoyance or disgust.
• Grody: Gross or disgusting.
• Hella: Very or extremely.
• HOA: Home Owners Association. An organization in a residential community that creates and enforces rules for the properties and residents that fall within its jurisdiction. Typically HOAs create and enforce rules to maintain uniformity and protect real estate prices. All the things Max rebels against, pretty much…
• Iniibig kita (Tagalog): I love you, but a deeper, yearning sort of love than what you’d use for family—very formal and very romantic. (Pronounced (ee-nee-EE-beeg kee-TAH)
• Jet beads: Jet beads are polished beads made from jet, an organic, deep black gemstone formed from fossilized wood under intense heat and pressure, known for its use in Victorian mourning jewelry and ancient protective amulets. They are prized for their velvety luster, natural deep black color, and historical significance, used in jewelry to symbolize protection, grounding, or to commemorate the deceased.
• Kalamansi/Calamansi (lime) (Tagalog): also known as calamondin, Philippine lime, or Philippine lemon, kalamansi is ubiquitous in traditional Filipino cuisine. It is naturally very sour, and is used in various condiments, beverages, dishes, marinades, and preserves. This is how Damon smells to Max, along with leather.
• Lorum (piercing): A male genital piercing (short for “low frenum”), placed horizontally on the underside of the penis at its base, where the penis meets the scrotum. This is fairly tame and low-pain, considering it’s on our pain slut, but I like to think it was just Damon being an indecisive bottom. Once Star enters the picture, they both spice it up a bit in the piercings department.
• Magic cross (piercing): A combination male genital piercing made up of an ampallang (horizontally through the entire glans/head of the penis) and apadravya (vertically through the glans/head of the penis, through the urethra, and exiting at the top of the shaft), forming a cross.
• Makisig (Tagalog): A popular name (pronounced Mah-KEE-sig)meaning “Handsome, dashing, charming, well-dressed…” (Max was telling the truth!)
• Maudlin: self-pityingly or tearfully sentimental, often through drunkenness.
• Mignonette: A condiment made with minced shallots, cracked pepper, and vinegar traditionally served with raw oysters.
• Motor: To go/leave (“dip” in modern slang. See also: Bounce).
• Opalite: An artificial gem (glass) resembling opal that represents self-created joy, inner strength, and the beauty of forging your own path. So, no, the fictional town name in this book was not picked for the Taylor Swift song, but rather a woo-woo variation on the still existing ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada.
• Page/pager (“Page us if you need to”): A wireless telecommunications device that receives and displays alphanumeric or voice messages (aka, a ‘beeper’). Healthcare professionals still use pagers, but back in Ye Olde 80s (pre-cell phone era) regular people did too.
• Parfait (French): Perfect.
• Poser: A wannabe. Someone pretending to be something they’re not.
• Rager: Wild party.
• Revenant: “One that returns after death” (French)—sometimes a demon.
• Righteous: Excellent, worthy of respect (not “morally right” as we might hear it today).
• Rubbers: Condoms.
• Sampaguita(Spanish, derived from Filipino, derived from Tagalog…):A small, white, sweet-smelling flower (also known as Arabian Jasmine) that is the national flower of the Philippines (although it wasn’t brought over until the 17th century). It is believed to symbolize purity, fidelity, and hope, and often used in garlands and as an offering to saints. This is how Star smells to Max. (YES, BOTH HIS MATES SMELL LIKE HOME TO HIM!)
• Selene (Greek): Titan goddess and personification of the moon—the divine embodiment of compassion, healing, and transformation.
• Shooters: A small mixed drink meant to be consumed in a single gulp.
• Sheathed: To put something into a protective covering (a sheath—in this case, a “rubber”) or to cover something with a protective layer (like a condom).
• Shoshone: A Native American tribe that originated in the western Great Basin and spread north and east into present-day Idaho and Wyoming. Damon would have most likely been familiar with the Western Shoshone division.
• Shot in the neck: Old West slang for drunk.
• Soul cakes: A small, round cake with sweet spices, which resembles a shortbread biscuit. It is traditionally made for Halloween, All Saints’ Day, and All Souls’ Day to be handed out to soulers (mainly consisting of children and the poor) who go from door to door during the days of Allhallowtide, singing and saying prayers for the souls of deceased relatives. (Sounds like an early version of trick-or-treat, hmm?)
• Stockholm syndrome: A complex, often misunderstood, psychological phenomenon where victims of abuse, kidnapping, or coercive control develop positive, empathetic, or protective feelings toward their captors.
• “Syke!” “Just kidding!” (And yes, there are multiple ways to spell this one.)
• Tagalog: A major Austronesian language spoken as a first language by the ethnic Tagalog people (who make up a quarter of the population of the Philippines) and as a second language by the majority, and serving as the basis for Filipino (the national language of the Philippines). As with most of these cultural terms, this is only a summary and doesn’t come close to encompassing all the facts you may find in your own deep dive.
• Taro: A root vegetable, similar to yams, and a staple in African, Oceanian, East Asian, Southeast Asian and South Asian cultures.
• The Sun: A tarot card signifying a joyful phase in relationships, especially romantic ones. It also represents life, vitality, and happiness—and encourages a certain head of the vampire household to shine his light and feel confident about his path.
• The Tower: A tarot card meaning chaos, upheaval, a sudden change in circumstances, revelation, awakening (upright) and personal transformation, fear of change, averting disaster (reversed).
• Three sheets to the wind: Drunk.
• Trippin’: A term you would use to tell someone they are wrong or sound like they’re high.
• Tuli (Tagalog): A deeply-rooted tradition of male circumcision, performed on pre-teen boys as a rite of passage. It differs from the modern “German cut” in that it involves a dorsal slit or v-cut without full foreskin removal. **DO NOT GOOGLE THIS unless you are okay with seeing post-op photos**
• Two of Cups: A tarot card that is considered a good omen for a blossoming relationship, foretelling connection, balance, and compatibility when drawn upright, and predictive of disharmony, arguments, resentment, and a partner who has taken you for granted when in “reverse” (upside down).
• Úlfr (Old Norse): Wolf.
• Unshucked: Undressed/naked.
• Ute: An Indigenous people of the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau in present-day Utah, western Colorado, and northern New Mexico. Historically, their territory also included parts of Wyoming, Nevada, and Arizona.
• Valley Girl: Originally referring to teenage girls from California’s San Fernando Valley, but has now come to describe young women who adopt a specific way of speaking and dressing (often associated with a frivolous lifestyle).
• Warped: Used to describe someone or something as twisted (a little off).
• Wastoid: Someone who is not going anywhere with their life.
• “What’s your damage?” Who hurt you? What’s your problem?
• Wino: A person who is habitually drunk on wine.
• Wolven: In this universe, a non-shifting supernatural creature that has the shape of a wolf.
• Zeek: When someone is still really geeky in personality, but are actually attractive, fun, and confident.
Pop Culture References
1885
• Bell in Hand Tavern: A bar in Boston that is not only still around to this day, but was open in 1900 when our boys stopped in.
• Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show: One of the more well-known traveling performances in the United States and Europe that existed around 1870–1920. The shows began as theatrical stage productions and evolved into open-air shows that depicted romanticized (and at times, problematic) stereotypes of cowboys, Plains Indians, army scouts, outlaws, and wild animals that existed in the American West.
• Dracula: An 1897 horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, credited as one of the most famous works of English literature and a seminal work of Gothic and vampire fiction.
• Quincey Morris: A fictional character in Bram Stoker’s Dracula—a rich young American from Texas, and one of the three men who propose to Lucy Westenra. He is also pivotal to the climax of the book while also being a bit of an over-the-top, Old West caricature of rugged, American masculinity.
1985
• So much product placement! Yes, Hot Pockets, Hawaiian Tropic, Doc Martens, Chuck-E-Cheese/RadioShack, She-Ra, Lip Smackers, Medieval Times, Jolt Cola, Teen Wolf, Nintendo (NES), Aqua Net,Spirit Halloween,Pond’s Cold Cream, Magnum, P.I., The Vampire Lestat, Kiki Picasso Swatch, Terminator,etc etc etc were invented/released/opened at the time of this book (although I may have taken slight creative liberties with whether they’d be in California specifically yet).
• Siouxsie Sioux (and the Banshees) mentioned so readers could easily Google the style of Star’s makeup when we first meet her, and the Misfits mentioned because they are one of my husband’s favorite bands.
• If you don’t know who Vivienne Westwood is, please (I beg), fall into a fun fashion rabbit hole…
• Yes, Lone Pine Mall is a nod to Back to the Future (as is “make like a tree and get the fuck out of here”).
• Love and Rockets (and the character of Hopey) are BADASS and you should definitely add this entire QUEER comic book/graphic novel series (created by the Hernandez brothers) to your library.
• And Sizzling Discourse IS a play on Hot Topic (even if the first store didn’t open until 1989)! I have fellow Creepy Court alums Vera Valentine to thank for the name and Lily Mayne to thank for the neon sign logo in my marketing.
• And the scene with Max hovering outside Star’s window was a nod to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie(even if it didn’t release until 1992).
• “Oh, my GAWD, Becky, look at this makeup!” Is definitely a reference to Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back” which also didn’t release until 1992 (apparently a very good year…).
• The book Max is reading that includes cock biting was inspired by Blood and Secrets by author friend (and fellow Creepy Court alum) Beatrix Hollow. Yes, it was published in 2022, but whatever. We’ll just say it was brought back to the 1980s in a DeLorean (that’s another Back to the Future reference for ya!).
2026
• First, a few throwbacks: Like The Cramps (70s/80s rock band), Marilyn Monroe & Jane Russell (specifically their characters from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes), Old West-era photographs (like Kodak’s circular, sepia images and 6×8 tintypes), and even the local (Maine) LGBTQ+ club I used to go dancing at back in ye olde high school days— Zootz!
• More local nods, like Holy Donut and that Live & Lurk in Maine is based on a wonderful (but, sadly, human-focused) organization called Live & Work in Maine.
• On the subject of organizations, the Nevada Historical Society is real (and my editor confirms they have really cool stuff there!).
• The sex columnist responsible for coining the term for “pegging” is Dan Savage from Savage Love.
• Of course, we have some vampire references, with Dracula and Count Orlok (specifically, Bill Skarsgard’s rotting corpse version in the most recent Nosferatu movie—hot)
• A Harley Quinn nod, specifically her multi-colored hair.
• And finally, a shout out to Women+ Lyft, which I highly recommend over Uber if you want to get home safe.