With the rise of interest in dramas such as Netflix’s Adolescence which aired in the UK in 2025, and a spate of crimes such as the Otley Run attack in April 2025, Incel culture has become headline news. This timely and much needed book separates the fact and the fiction around Incels in an increasingly anxious national conversation.

Katherine Denkinson explores the men behind the incel subculture and the misinformation that surrounds them. ‘Incel’ has often been used as a one-size-fits-all term for a wide range of communities, from vulnerable to niche, to outright misogynist and dangerous. However, the reality is not that simple.

Incels are not cartoonish villains, but real people. The internet has been their route to communication and connection, but it has also led to them becoming demonised. Who are these men? What are their motivations? How has our misunderstanding of this subculture made it seem even more dangerous?