Kiss-Off the Devil: 9 Short Stories by Terrance Aldon Shaw

(pb; 2015: erotic story anthology)

From the back cover

"The truth isn’t always 'nice,' and those who would dig down to the roots of human folly should expect to get their hands at least a little dirty.

"This collection transports readers to the realm of the forbidden, probing the dark, seldom-explored reaches of illicit desire and obsession where opposites attract and lust burns on any fuel it can find. Ranging in mood from the comically macabre title story, to the poignant realism of  'All the Things They Never Got to Say'. . . and 'Another Detour (Alternate Timeline),' these tales challenge our comfort zones and scandalize the earnest little angels sitting on our shoulders, while inviting their opposite numbers to come out and play.

"If the stories in this book were made into movies they would no doubt be rated somewhere between R and NC-17. Not so much for graphic content (though there is a fair amount of that) as for “adult situations.”


Overall review

Kiss-Off is a superb, memorable, vivid, entertaining, erotic and taboo-bursting story collection, one worth owning – if you are a mature, non-PC reader, not put off by works that are fearless, sensual and provocative.

Stories

"All the Things They Never Got to Say”: Cinematic-vivid tale about three foster siblings whose cruel adoptive mother drives them to tender and dark extremes. Excellent, erotic work that integrates close-to-taboo topics with Bible-based abuse. This is one of my favorite reads in this collection.

“Birthday Girl”: A fickle and cruel young woman with a sleazy, alcoholic family tries to sexually “play” her her godfather, with dangerous results.

“Muse in the Neon Twilight”: Good read about a young woman (Julia) who finds she has a strange attraction to her boyfriend’s long-winded and freak-minded professor.

“A Girl From White City”: During a game of Truth or Dare, a young woman (Danni) tells her fellow players about her first interracial affair. What sets this work apart from other tales of this setup/ilk is Shaw’s brief-but-effective exploration of the inconsistencies of the human mind and desire.

“Kiss-Off the Devil”: Excellent, plot-twisty work about a disgraced teacher with a penchant for adolescent girls, a sexy Tinkerbell (who seems to be of legal age), and her ex-boyfriend. This story is a hybrid genre piece that is often funny, always dark and un-PC, fearless in its just perversity. This is one of my favorite entries in this anthology.

 “All the Surveys”: A physically unattractive and pervy-erudite educator speaks about his divorce, Wild Orchid (film, 1989) and sex in this eighteen-page “interview,” where the female interviewer remains unheard. This first-person point-of-view story read like an intentional, alternate version of “Kiss-Off the Devil” in certain parts.

 “Becoming Roxanne”: Seventeen year-old Lois works her first escort gig with her best friend (Tegan). Their clients: the savvy, sexy Mr. Silverman and a grotesque, brusque Russian named Bruno. “Roxanne,” like other tales in this collection, is un-PC. It embraces sex and its professionals, without being cliché and cheap; this is an outstanding read, as long as you do not require romance and are not put off by smart, adolescent-themed desire.

“The Why in Everything”: Chatty work about familial mortality, socially inappropriate urges, human nature and the thematic layers of the 1989 film Dead Calm. Excellent, unsettling and wise story.

“Detour (Alternate Timeline)”: Two of the characters from “The Why in Everything” – siblings Dave and Traci – are shown in a variable take of events. This, like its co-dependent tale, is full of unsettling conversations about familial matters, the differences between lust and love, the underying BDSM themes of John Norman’s “The Chronicles of Gor” series, and how people – with their surprising layers – change over time. Excellent, provocative, standout stuff.

Take Me Like the World Ends at Midnight by Terrance Aldon Shaw

(2015: erotic story anthology)

From the back cover:

"They say forbidden fruit is always the sweetest. They never tell you how hard it can be to get. . .

"These stories are all about the thrill of the unexpected: a handsome stranger's touch in a dark theater; a night of forbidden passion with the most unlikely of mystery men; the sheer adrenaline rush of sudden contact; the silent promise of ecstasy. . ."


Overall review:

World is an excellent, thoughtful and genre-elevating anthology, whose works entertain with their character-centric, relatable circumstances and expert pacing -- worth owning, this.


Review, story by story:

1.)  "Her Dark Passage": Excellent, noir-atmospheric tale about a woman (Jessi) whose quiet life of forty years take a wild turn when a movie date goes seemingly awry. Shaw's writing, sometimes sexually explicit, maintains that necessary sense of mystery and danger -- more than a mere dark, carnal fantasy piece, this.


2.) "Saturday Nights in the Middle of Nowhere": A country singer, Suzan L'Amour, meets an A&R man (Stu Dragon) whose reach and talents go beyond the music business. Off-beat and fun work. 


3.) "The Sweet Guy Tells All": A "sweet guy", who gets stuck in the Friend Zone with women, tries to shatter end his pattern of  heartbreak.


4.) "Sleeping Dogs and Southern Comfort": Genre-twisty tale about a young woman (Nancy) whose cabin hang-out with friends takes on weird overtones when an unexpected coupling occurs.


5.) "Night Vision": An old, broke jazz DJ in a gentrified neighborhood is drawn further into club land via his soothing voice and a young woman's vacuous-minded inattention. Atmospheric, effective read.


6.) "Three Lies Before the River": Good, nonjudgmental piece about a sexually aggressive and successful businesswoman (Terri) whose juggling of men, past and present, brings her to a crossroads moment.


7.) "Mr. Friday's Midlife Crisis": The dates of an escort (Sami) and her only customer (Mr. Friday)  highlight this character-deep (for the genre) story, with its multi-POV* structure, character-appropriate issues and all-around excellent writing. This is one of my favorite works in this collection.


8.) "Summer of '69": Enjoyable, good coming-of-sexual-age story about a young man whose step-aunt opens up a new world for him, in many ways.

Dog Men by Alana Noël Voth

(eBook; 2014: erotic story anthology)


Overall review:

Dog Men is one of the best anthologies -- erotic and otherwise -- I have read in a long time. Its stories transcend the usual genre bullcrap and cut to the often dark, emotional core of its characters and their disturbing circumstances, while maintaining the necessary sexual heat that keep it erotic.

Own this in-your-face, cinema- and music-savvy collection, already. Dog Men can be purchased here.


Standout stories:

1.) "Dog Men": Two friends (Tally and Amber) head into the deep woods with two hot-looking brothers (Cannon and Justin) whose house holds secrets which may prove fatal to the young women.

This is an excellent, entertaining work, with its initially-sexy-now-dread-inducing foreshadowing, waste-no-words-effective pacing and its relatable, hope-they-get-out-okay lead characters (Tally and Amber).


2.) "Benediction": A gay teenager (Brent Johnson), in love with his heterosexual best friend (Ron McDermott), wrestles with his awkward desires, as well as the small town bigotry surrounding him. Relatable (for its 'wanting what you can't have' theme), vivid and otherwise superb tale.


3.) "Boxy Temples": A vain, beautiful and wealthy young man ( Hyacinth "Hancy" Jackson) gets a brutal comeuppance when he hooks up with Phillip Wheeler, a man who's more leech than lover. Emotionally raw, hard-hitting and moral piece.


4.)  "My Name is Brighton":  A date rape victim-turned-zombie seeks out one of the men (Paul) who used her - without being aware that he had done so.

Excellent, sympathetic and character-veracious horror-sex tale, this.  (Brighton was also published in the erotic story anthology Coming Together: Hungry for Love, edited by Sommer Marsden.)


5.) "Marcelle": In Portland, Oregon, a young man (Ronan) with guilt issues and a bent for masochistic sex gets involved with a domme (Marcelle), who pushes him -- and herself -- toward dark, kinktastic salvation. Like the rest of this sometimes disturbing love story, the end-line is a stunner that not only sums up the BDSM lifestyle, but resonated with me on an emotional level. One of my favorite stories in this collection.


6.) "Resevoir B*tch": Two "trailer trash" teenagers -- Rand, and his ultra-tomboy friend, Spike (a.k.a. Marie) -- experience an afternoon where their bond deepens in a way that neither of them expect, a bonding that may violently cure at least one of their obsessions.

Voth imbues this plot-mini-twisty tale with a dark, erotic tension, sympathetic characters and an ending (specifically end-line) that's stunning. Great story, this -- another favorite in this anthology.


7.) "Genuflection": A half-Mexican, half-Caucasian porn clerk (Manny) in East Colfax falls for a beautiful, dangerous hustler (Carlos). When Manny and Carlos meet to hook up for a trick, it sets Manny down an unexpected and even darker path. Excellent, intense  story.

**My latest poetry anthology, Mondo febrifuge: omnibus poems, was published today

I just published my second of two books this year - Mondo febrifuge: omnibus poems, which mixes older previous published (and reworked) mainstream verses with quite a few newer works penned within the past two years.

The poems are, per my usual style, rough and tumble free verse works that detail a tumultuous youth dealing with my own fictionalized dumbassery and growing up, a journey infused with the loving, often raw elements of familial discontent, religion, sex, horror films, heavy metal, nature (read: animals) and living in northern California and eastern Washington state.  While these poems are mainstream, many of them would sport hard R-ratings if they were films subjected to the MPAA film board.

Like Welcome to Horrorsex County: microstories, published earlier this autumn, it's a personal milestone book - a way for me to officially bid farewell to one phase of my writing and move onto the next, whatever its final form takes.

 Feel free to click on the above links if you (or anyone you know) would be interested in picking up the aforementioned books. They cost $9 or less (+s/h) apiece, and thanks for the support!

 (back cover of Mondo febrifuge)

Paradise Left Behind, by TreSart L. Sioux

(pb; 2013: erotic anthology)


Overall review:

Paradise is an excellent, mood-effective and often humorous collection of lesbian sex stories with a strong emphasis on character, smart writing, mood, foreshadowing and other elements that are vital to superb storytelling.  This is one of the best single-author erotica anthologies I've read in a while, one that easily transcends its genre.  If you're a fan of lesbian sex works, this is likely a must-own book for you.



Standout stories:

1.)   "Suckin' It Up": A bartender (Emily) hooks up with one of her customers, a dark-eyed beauty named Stephanie.  Nice balance of sexual tension, humor and storytelling to this one.  Thoroughly entertaining read.


2.)   "The Truth Be Told": Funny microstory about alphabet soup, the author, and - according to this work of fiction - one of her personality traits.


3.)   "A True Love":  After her lover passes away from ovarian cancer, a woman (Megan) pines for her rotting lover.  This especially worthwhile Gothic and witchcraft toned work brings to mind certain Edgar Allan Poe stories.


4.)   "Hurtful Imagination":  Romantic, entertaining tale about a heartbroken woman (Regina) whose best friend (Claire) and a hot next door neighbor (Grace) work her out of her love funk. 


5.)   "The Shady Motel and the Secret Door":  Excellent, intriguing - if you don't mind extreme sexual darkness - thriller-update of the Bluebeard fable.  Its ending may be familiar to those well-acquainted with the aforementioned fable and Seventies horror films, but that familiarity does little - if anything - to detract from its masterful lead-up.


6.)  "One Hell of a Friend":  A deal with a devil takes a personal and traitorous twist.  Succinct, perfect microstory.

Into The Woods, by Michelle Augello-Page

(pb; 2014: erotic anthology.  Illustrations by Alphonse Inoue.)


From the back cover:

"Escape into nine dark and erotic stories which explore sex and transformation written in dreams across the body, etched in the language of skin.  Each story is interwoven with magic, music and art, as lost and damaged characters navigate their broken worlds, searching for wholeness and connection.  Many of the stories are sexually explicit, engaging the reader in aspects of kink, fetish, and BDSM.  Some stories represent sexual trauma, abuse, negligence and cruelty.  Other stories seek to express the esoteric and transcendental power of sex.  Into The Woods is. . . rooted in the female, immersed in the physical and the spiritual and steeped in the rich archetypal landscape of fairy tales and mythology."


Overall review:

The above back cover blurb essentially says what my review notes say: this anthology is dark, theme-focused, provocative, enticing (on multiple levels) and mood-effective, with no wasted words and plenty of nuance.  All of these stories here have something to recommend them.  Coupled with Inoue's anthology-appropriate, equally alluring artwork, this is a great read, as well as one of the best erotic anthologies I've read in a long while.  Worth owning, this.


Standout stories:

1.)   "Into The Woods":  This "contemporary retelling" of Hansel and Gretel lives up to that description, with its troubling, sweet and non-erotic brevity and excellent finish.  One of my favorite stories in this collection.


2.)  "The Siren": A famous promiscuous singer, troubled by a recent betrayal of sorts, fraks and performs her way toward her next life stage.  One of my favorite tales in this mix.


3.)  "Into The Labyrinth":  On Halloween, a death metal vocalist and his girlfriend engage in holiday-dangerous BDSM sex.  Entertaining, fever dreamish and, at times, brutal read.

Best Sex Writing 2013: The State of Today's Sexual Culture, edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel

(pb; 2013: sex essay/nonfiction anthology.  Foreword by Carol Queen, PhD)


Overall review:

Best Sex Writing 2013 is a choice anthology of essays centered around the current vibe of our Western culture, carnal and (sometimes) beyond it.  This is one of my favorite anthologies Bussel has edited, as well as one of my all-time favorite sexual anthologies, for its scope and (mostly) bullstuff-free take on what's going on in our world.

Only one of the essays didn't grab me because it was long-winded (Jonathan Lethem's "Live Nude Models").  Lethem's verbiage was occasionally clever, but ultimately not worthy of his essay's supposed pay-offs.

Lethem's work aside, this is an exceptional collection of works  - one worth owning.



Standout essays:

1.)  "Sex By Numbers" - Rachel Swan:  Excellent piece about polyamorous relationships.


2.)  "Very Legal: Sex and Love in Retirement" - Alex Morris:  The title says it all.  Especially good read.


3.)  "Notes From a Unicorn" - Seth Fischer:  A bisexual man details his evolution as a person and a sexual being.  Emotionally engaging, exceptional essay.


4.)  "Rest Stop Confidential" - Conner Habib:  The mindset of rest stop cruising is explored.


5.)  "When on Fire Island. . . A Polyamorous Disaster" - Nicholas Garnett:  The joys and pitfalls of polyamory play out in affecting and tragic fashion.  One of the best entries in this collection.


6.)  "Cherry Picking" - Julia Serano:  Wonderful, thoughtful piece about a transgender woman and her series of sexualized "firsts".


7.)  "Baby Talk" - Rachel Kramer Bussel:  A lover's predilection for 'age play' leads the author to consider her own predilections, carnal and otherwise.


8.)  "Dear John" - Lori Selke:  A woman parts ways with the traditional power dynamics of leather culture.


9.)  "Christian Conservatives vs. Sex: The Long War Over Reproductive Freedom" - Rob Boston:  The author outlines the history of birth control and religious/political interference; more importantly, he tells why we, as advanced cultures, must fight to defend our reproductive rights.  Excellent, a must-read entry.


10.)  "Porn Defends the Money Shot" - Dennis Romero:  Another exemplary essay.  In a shifting world, porndom finds itself having to change - or else face a tumbledown in their revenue streams.


11.)  "Lost Boys" - Kristen Hinman:  Overblown governmental budgets, social denial, corruption and other factors - some of them surprising - contribute to the misreporting and exacerbation of underage prostitution across the United States.  Illuminating call-to-action, this - and easily one of the best entries in this anthology.


Other essays:

"The Original Blonde" - Neal Gabler;  "Happy Hookers" - Melissa Gira Grant;  "Ghosts: All My Men are Dead" - Carol Queen;  "Enhancing Masochism: How to Expand Limits and Increase Desire" - Patrick Califia;  "Sex By Any Other Name" - Insiya Ansari;  "Holy F**k: The Fourth-and-Long Virgin" - Jon Pressick;  "Can a Better Vibrator Inspire an Age of Great American Sex?" - Andy Isaacson;  "Submissive: A Personal Manifesto" - Madison Young