Customer Reviews

The Ghost of Carmen Miranda: and Other Spooky Gay and Lesbian Tales

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In the anthology, The Ghost of Carmen Miranda and other spooky Gay and Lesbian Tales, the editors Julie K. Trevelyan and Scott Brassart have assembled a lively, lavender corps of ghost stories. As the title implies, this Alyson publication is not strictly a horror collection, although some of the tales certainly qualify. All the stories, however, focus on lesbian or gay characters as well as elements of the supernatural with manifestations of ghosts in some form or another.

Many of the stories, like Don Sakers' title entry "The Ghost of Carmen Miranda" -- wherein a morbidly obese gay man, trapped in a dead end existence on a space station, finds help and inspiration in a different kind patron saint -- are queerly witty and delightfully amusing. Several stories address the idea of the spirit of a loved one returning or being trapped until some unfinished business can reach closure. A. J. Potter's "Taking Care of Faith" fits this theme. The peanut butter eating ghost, Brandon, returns to his apartment, to check on his "widowed," lover, Evan. When Victor, the new renter, realizes it's not really strong cockroaches raiding his peanut butter, he is taken aback, to say the least. A rather nonchalant spectral Brandon, complains about Victor's choice of low fat variety, "It's peanut butter, for chrissake. If you're going to eat peanut butter, eat the real thing." (p19)

Abbe Ireland's "Case of the Sapphic Succubus" features a "ghost busting" Frances who must face another kind of "bust" when she agrees to spend the night in a historic bed and breakfast with an unusual guest service. Frances learns that facing a succubus isn't as difficult as facing what resides in the researcher's heart. "Paisley" has an archaeologist in the Appalachias of East Kentucky disinterring a casket that holds the bodies of two women. When the image of a woman in a paisley print dress begins to visit Charlotte, one of the summer's grunt workers, the story of those long dead women becomes hauntingly real.

While many of the stories are touching, arousing, and humorous; several are spooky, and some of these tales brought genuine shivers to this reader. A leather master learns what it really means to own and be owned when a neglected lover returns as illusrated in Simon Sheppard's intense, erotic, and ultimate power exchange, titled "My Possession." From the skillful storytelling of M. Christian, readers are treated to "Echoes." And are asked to question how and why a man might become haunted and what lengths he might consider to exorcise himself. The idea of possession is further explored by Hall Own Calwaugh in "amat67.jpg." Keith has just been sent an email that will change his life and prompt him to question his desires, briefly. By far the most chilling story to this reader was J.M. Beazer's "The Thing at the Bottom of the Bed." Haley returns from her father's funeral to find herself facing a horror from which she has hidden for much of her life.

The Ghost of Carmen Miranda and Other Spooky Gay and Lesbian Tales, found its way onto this reader's bookshelf when it was published in 1998. A seasonal rereading of its stories, was no less touching, arousing, humorous, and most importantly, thought provoking. The stories mentioned here are just a few of the 23 contained in its cover. Although out of print, this title is worth tracking down. Think of it as your own little seance for the Halloween season and enjoy.

Definitely not in the eerie category, they tended to all be romantic in nature, and most were very similar "reincarnated or look-alike meets ghost that wants to talk or have sex".

The majority of stories in this collection - edited by Julie K. Trevelyan and Scott Brassart - deal with ghosts helping the living find love: of past loves trying to help their partners move on and to find love ("Taking Care of Faith" by A.J. Potter, "Old as a Rose in Bloom" by Lawrence Schimel); older ghosts and other supernatural beings helping new lovers to find one another ("The Course of True Love" by d.g.k. goldberg, "Paisley" by Jessica Kirkwood); and, of course those with a more evil bent ("amat67.jpg" by Hall Owen Calwaugh). They're all fairly pleasant tales, easy to read an enjoyable; however, this collection is almost like reading the same story over and over. Some of the standouts making this a worthy collection to read are "The Haunting of Room 110" by Michael Price Nelson about a ghost waiting for his lover to join him, and "Eyes" by E.J. Galusha, which really did put the scare in me and is a fitting finale to the collection. An overall good collection for anyone wanting a gay take on ghosts.

Few of the stories produce authentic chills - they tend to be more romantic than eerie(the book's common theme is the intervention of a ghost in the love lives of the living) - but some deliver, most notably M. Christian's perversely erotic "Echoes" and J. Beazley's "The Thing at the Botton of the Bed." Other stories have nice touches of humor, such as R. Neu's "Remembrance of Tom Perdue". In the main, however, the stories telegraph their "shocks" or "surprises" on the first page, and whiffs of political correctness don't help either. More astute editing would have helped. Overall, though, this is an enjoyable enough collection for the not-too-discerning fan of ghost stories.

I could not put these short stories down! A real page turner. Abbe Ireland (The Case of the Sapphic Succubus) is hilarious and very romantic. Highly recommended!

I found this book to be one that I will certainly add to my library. We all know that there are far too few gay and lesbian stories out there--not to mention gay and lesbian ghost stories. I enjoyed each item, but there were a couple I felt a lack of understanding after I finished. Among the best were "The Case of the Sapphic Succubus," "The Haunting of Rom 110," and "Amat67.jpg." Enjoy these stories of love, lust, and supernatural intrigue--you won't regret this purchase!