Lilac Wine – Nina Simone
In INTO THE MIDNIGHT WOOD, differing music tastes are a point of contention between David and Meredith, with Meredith disparaging David’s “French ladies” such as Edith Piaf, and David scoffing at Meredith’s somewhat eclectic postpunk record collection. However, the two of them do find some common ground when they share a tender moment dancing to Nina Simone’s cover of “Lilac Wine.” Though there are many versions of the song, I chose this one since David names Nina Simone as his favorite singer. The narrator pines for an absent lover, while the imagery of a “cool damp night” and “misty light” evoke the Midnight Wood, and the narrator preparing lilac wine parallels Meredith’s ongoing quest to gather the sweet woodruff plant needed for making May wine.
(I Want to Be an) Anglepoise Lamp – The Soft Boys
This song is also directly referenced in the story as the one that Meredith regularly attempts to get bands at the local music venue to play. They don’t, of course, because it’s a decades-old non-album single from a short-lived UK band that recorded only two albums. With its surreal imagery and delightful gender anarchy, it seemed especially appropriate to be one of Meredith’s favorites.
I Am a Rock – Simon & Garfunkel
If I had to pick a theme song for David, this would probably be it. The narrator of the song isolates himself, is emotionally closed off, and denies his own loneliness, much in the same way as David, who is unwilling—and I think, in some ways, unable—to acknowledge and understand his own feelings about many things, particularly when it comes to his connections with others.
Dandy in the Underworld – T. Rex
If this were a movie soundtrack, this song would pair perfectly with the scene in which David must rescue Meredith after he’s been taken captive and placed into an enchanted sleep, both because of its fitting allusions to the Persephone myth and because Marc Bolan was part of the aesthetic inspiration for Meredith.
Jealousy – Queen
This song, with its narrator’s lack of self-awareness (“How was I to know I was far too much in love to see?”) and eventual realization that his behavior has driven away his partner mirrors David’s initial inability to recognize the nature of his feelings toward Meredith and his belated understanding that some of his action have been hurtful, even if he didn’t intend them to be.
Storm the Reality Asylum – Rip Rig + Panic
Finally, I felt it was only fair to include this band after allowing David to cast aspersions on their music in-story (although I will admit that I’ve never met anybody else in real life who likes them). The song’s refrain “time is a trick of the mind” is perfectly in line with the malleable nature of time inside the Midnight Wood, and the music video, which itself draws heavily on The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, provided part of the visual inspiration for the mind realm.
INTO THE MIDNIGHT WOOD by Alexandra McCollum
A whimsical queer romance about two mismatched roommates whose fragile—and definitely not romantic at all—balance is upended by an impending family wedding and an otherworldly danger in the nearby enchanted wood.
There are at least 100 things wrong with Meredith Schwarzwelder. In fact, keeping track of these things is the only way David Carew has managed to remain living with him for as long as he has. Meredith is an irredeemable eccentric who flirts with everyone in his path (#3 on the list), cries at anything (#35), makes the worst coffee in the world (#70), and talks to mice, or imagines he does (#50).
It’s bad enough living with such a person on the edge of the Midnight Wood, but when magic starts to seep from the wood and a dark being emerges with a sinister plan involving Meredith, David decides that it’s time to leave the cottage, and his roommate, behind. Then Meredith’s brother gets engaged to the daughter of David’s boss, and David sees an opportunity: If he can insert himself into the festivities, maybe he can advance his career and get himself out of a personal rut.
With wedding bells sounding and the dangers of the Midnight Wood encroaching, David realizes there’s much more hiding beneath the surface of his roommate’s seemingly carefree charm, and that perhaps his own exasperation carries more fondness than he’d like to admit.
Cozy, sharp, steamy, and poignant, Into the Midnight Wood is a contemporary queer fairy tale about the masks we wear, the stories we tell, and the powerful need for true, honest connection to heal old wounds and new.
Romance Fantasy | Romance LGBTQ [ Dutton, On Sale: January 13, 2026, Trade Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9798217045587 / eISBN: 9798217045594 ]
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About Alexandra McCollum
Alexandra McCollum grew up in rural northeast Ohio and now lives in Nevada with their husband and dog. Among other jobs, they’ve worked in a bakery in Austria, managed a coffee shop in Ohio, and taught high school in Las Vegas. When not writing, they can be found studying languages and exploring local coffeehouses in search of the perfect americano.
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