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apostrophen's review
5.0
Edit: Flash Sale, August 24th, 2019, over on the Bold Strokes Books web-store.
It's no secret that I love stories with a paranormal twist. I don't have the math on-hand, but the vast majority of things I've written have at least a trace of something psychic, magical, or otherwise otherworldly to them. When Richard Labonté collected Erotica Exotica I was very hyper to be a part of the collection. I got to write a story from the point of view of Curtis, the wizard I'd introduced in Blood Sacraments, and I had the honour of being the first tale in the collection.
Skipping by me, the next tale in the collection is by a wonderful lady I've had the pleasure of meeting in New Orleans at the Saints and Sinners Literary Festival.
"Ghost Town," by Dale Chase
Two things bear mentioning right off the bat. One, Dale Chase has fast become my go-to for sexy gay tales told in different eras. I've yet to come across a better western writer, and her Victorian collection, The Company He Keeps is superb. Two, she's my answer to everyone who says 'can women write gay fiction?' Most assuredly.
"Ghost Town" is - by virtue of the magic involved - both a historical and a modern-day tale, a western and a contemporary all rolled into one. A spirit long trapped to live out witnessing the past (in which he was gunned down) comes across a young gay couple who are visiting the broken shell of the once vibrant gold-rush town. A connection occurs, and with the deft prose that I always love from Dale Chase, this voice from the past meets a vibrant present and the result is as much magical as it is erotic.
Which is of course the point of the whole collection. No surprise that Dale Chase is more than up to the task.
"Wolf Moon/Hunger Moon," by Jeff Mann
When I found out that Jeff Mann was going to be in Erotica Exotica and that it was going to be a Derek story, I may have done some Kermit-armed flailing. I adore this character, and quite frankly I don't think there's anyone out there who does BDSM edged erotica like Mann. The mix is always heady.
The story here is of Derek and his human husbear bumping into a man who - it turns out - is as much monster as Derek himself, though in a different way. That this particular beastie's blood affects Derek in an unusual way is just icing on the cake, and the accumulation of strength and lust the three men gather is a damn fine trip. I love that this vampire is so unusual - an ancient Scot, a lover of nature and whiskey, a dominant bear - and all the Derek stories hit the mark. Those stories, by the way, are almost all collected in their own volume: Desire & Devour: Stories of Blood & Sweat.
"When in Rome," by Anthony McDonald
This was the story in Erotica Exotica that made me realize that some of the tales would take a turn for the dark. In "When in Rome" a chance encounter - and a hotel room that seems to have horrific intent - takes the reader on a journey that is in turns sweaty and jarringly disturbing.
Horror isn't usually my thing, but I've gotten better over the last few years at appreciating how hard it is to pull off the genre. It certainly does the job the title of the anthology infers.
"Hot Day at Midnight," by Jonathan Asche
Told with a bright fever-dream feeling is the next story in Erotica Exotica, "Hot Day at Midnight." A man walking from a crash finds himself in the middle of a hot nowhere, but when he tries to get help in the small town of Midnight, something seems wrong. The men are attractive, and all too eager - and forceful - to let him know their intentions. What starts as a kind of potential hot fantasy quickly turns into a scarier scene - though no less sweaty and sticky - and you start to wonder if the fellow is going to make it out in one piece.
A quick romp of a story, "Hot Day at Midnight" definitely turns up the sizzle for the scenes it provides (and boy does it provide a lot of scenes in just eleven pages).
It's no secret that I love stories with a paranormal twist. I don't have the math on-hand, but the vast majority of things I've written have at least a trace of something psychic, magical, or otherwise otherworldly to them. When Richard Labonté collected Erotica Exotica I was very hyper to be a part of the collection. I got to write a story from the point of view of Curtis, the wizard I'd introduced in Blood Sacraments, and I had the honour of being the first tale in the collection.
Skipping by me, the next tale in the collection is by a wonderful lady I've had the pleasure of meeting in New Orleans at the Saints and Sinners Literary Festival.
"Ghost Town," by Dale Chase
Two things bear mentioning right off the bat. One, Dale Chase has fast become my go-to for sexy gay tales told in different eras. I've yet to come across a better western writer, and her Victorian collection, The Company He Keeps is superb. Two, she's my answer to everyone who says 'can women write gay fiction?' Most assuredly.
"Ghost Town" is - by virtue of the magic involved - both a historical and a modern-day tale, a western and a contemporary all rolled into one. A spirit long trapped to live out witnessing the past (in which he was gunned down) comes across a young gay couple who are visiting the broken shell of the once vibrant gold-rush town. A connection occurs, and with the deft prose that I always love from Dale Chase, this voice from the past meets a vibrant present and the result is as much magical as it is erotic.
Which is of course the point of the whole collection. No surprise that Dale Chase is more than up to the task.
"Wolf Moon/Hunger Moon," by Jeff Mann
When I found out that Jeff Mann was going to be in Erotica Exotica and that it was going to be a Derek story, I may have done some Kermit-armed flailing. I adore this character, and quite frankly I don't think there's anyone out there who does BDSM edged erotica like Mann. The mix is always heady.
The story here is of Derek and his human husbear bumping into a man who - it turns out - is as much monster as Derek himself, though in a different way. That this particular beastie's blood affects Derek in an unusual way is just icing on the cake, and the accumulation of strength and lust the three men gather is a damn fine trip. I love that this vampire is so unusual - an ancient Scot, a lover of nature and whiskey, a dominant bear - and all the Derek stories hit the mark. Those stories, by the way, are almost all collected in their own volume: Desire & Devour: Stories of Blood & Sweat.
"When in Rome," by Anthony McDonald
This was the story in Erotica Exotica that made me realize that some of the tales would take a turn for the dark. In "When in Rome" a chance encounter - and a hotel room that seems to have horrific intent - takes the reader on a journey that is in turns sweaty and jarringly disturbing.
Horror isn't usually my thing, but I've gotten better over the last few years at appreciating how hard it is to pull off the genre. It certainly does the job the title of the anthology infers.
"Hot Day at Midnight," by Jonathan Asche
Told with a bright fever-dream feeling is the next story in Erotica Exotica, "Hot Day at Midnight." A man walking from a crash finds himself in the middle of a hot nowhere, but when he tries to get help in the small town of Midnight, something seems wrong. The men are attractive, and all too eager - and forceful - to let him know their intentions. What starts as a kind of potential hot fantasy quickly turns into a scarier scene - though no less sweaty and sticky - and you start to wonder if the fellow is going to make it out in one piece.
A quick romp of a story, "Hot Day at Midnight" definitely turns up the sizzle for the scenes it provides (and boy does it provide a lot of scenes in just eleven pages).
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