Haunted Hearths & Sapphic Shades: Lesbian Ghost Stories [Perfect Paperback]

Catherine Lundoff (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 2008

At their heart, ghost stories are often domestic tales, and so there is little wonder why women have been some of the finest tellers of such stories: cautionary tales and stories where oppression is avenged by the grim ethereal, of lovers lost to life but who refuse to part. This rich tradition finds new voices in Haunted Hearths and Sapphic Shades.

Early ghost stories are filled with characters that can be read as coded lesbians--maiden aunts and spinsters--lurking at the fringe of mortal life. But here are seventeen authors who have spun words that are fresh. These shades vary from the eerie to the romantic. These are phantoms who may well menace or linger long in the dreams of readers.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A truly remarkable anthology, Haunted Hearths & Sapphic Shades: Lesbian Ghost Stories earns it place on any savvy reader's keeper shelf. Not just for aficionados of Lesbian fiction, this wonderful collection is fantastic reading in and of itself. --Rainbow Reviews

Happily the 17 authors represented here contribute a nice variety of ghostly encounters from the cute to the cliched to the quirky. --Bay Windows

Women's writing is filled with stories of ghosts and haunted places and, as Catherine Lundoff explains in her excellent introduction to Haunted Hearts And Sapphic Shades, women's ghost stories can run the gamut from the spine-tingling to the romantic to the socio-political.
Haunted Hearts And Sapphic Shades follows in this long tradition of women's ghost stories by offering seventeen stories with a wide range of tones and themes demonstrating the breadth and depth of the ghost story.
Many of these stories use ghosts to link contemporary women to their historical counterparts, as in "Spirit Horse Ranch" by Sacchi Green, in which a contemporary rancher is haunted as much by the ghost of her own past as by any ghost from the historical past, or "Ostraca" by Brenta Blevins, in which a college student working at an archeological dig is haunted by dreams of an ancient Egyptian ghost.
Other stories provide a psychological twist to the ghost story, as in M. Christian's "The One I Left Behind" or the truly disturbing "Words Like Candy Conversation Hearts" by Kathleen Bradean s in which a ghost is attracted to a female poet for her way with words.
There are ghosts who are unconcerned with the well-being of those they haunt, as in "City Of The Dead" by Kaite Welsh, while other ghosts prove to be busybodies determined to interfere in the lives of the living, as is the ghost experienced by the modern ghostbuster in Dayle A. Dermatis's "Some Old Lover's Ghost."
Some ghosts turn out to be perfect companions, as in the amusing "Focus Of Desire" by Elise Matthesen while others turn out to be roommates from hell, as in "The Dyke You Know" by Selina Rosen. Some ghost are sweetly romantic as in "Waiting Tables And Time" by Lyn McConchie, while others are demonic forces which must be outfoxed, as in Melissa Scott's exceptional "One Horse Town."
Haunted Hearts and Sapphic Shades is an enjoyable read, whether you are looking for something spooky to read on a stormy night or searching for new collections of lesbian writing. --HorrorWorld

About the Author

Catherine Lundoff is one of the more acclaimed voices in lesbian fiction. Her work combines the eerie and fantastical with the sensual. Her collection Crave won a Golden Crown Literary Award for lesbian erotica.

Product Details

• Perfect Paperback: 268 pages
• Publisher: Lethe Press (May 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590211626
• ISBN-13: 978-1590211625
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,928,537 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm an author and editor, with 5 books currently in print/available as ebooks. I write in multiple genres including science fiction and fantasy, erotica and romance. My fiction has won 2008 and 2010 Goldie Awards for erotica, 2008 and 2009 Lesbian Fiction Reader's Choice Awards and been shortlisted for the 2008 Spectrum Award for Short Fiction and the 2009 Goldie Award for speculative fiction. An anthology I edited, "Haunted Hearths and Sapphic Shades", was a Best Other Work at the 2010 Spectrum Awards. My website: http://catherinelundoff.com/

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Paranormal love meets GLBT fiction, September 29, 2008

By 

L. Billings (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Haunted Hearths & Sapphic Shades: Lesbian Ghost Stories (Perfect Paperback)

As the title indicates, this is an analogy of lesbian ghost stories. Not erotica -- one or two of the stories might edge up as far as an R rating, but otherwise it's solidly PG-13 and under. It's from Lethe Press, edited by Catherine Lundoff.

The very first story was what hooked me in, and I still consider it one of the strongest: "Spirit Horse Ranch" by Sacchi Green, a mystery tale with a twist at the end I would never have suspected. A few others I particularly liked were "Some Old Lover's Ghost" by Dayle A. Dermatis, which I could picture myself reading in a mainstream magazine just by changing the gender of the viewpoint character; "Ostraca" by Brenta Blevins, a hilarious send-up of pompous academic silverbacks; and "The Oath" by Lynne Jamneck, which made me want to read more stories about that set of characters (hint, hint!).

But don't think that I disliked the stories I didn't single out. In fact, this anthology has no "Waste of Ink" award; even the stories I considered less strong were still pretty good. They range in style from humor to horror, and have a diverse, interesting set of protagonists. My one real criticism is that "Meeting Mr. Krenshaw" by Ka Vang might have worked better at novelette length -- anti-gay bigotry, anti-Asian bigotry, culture clash, family drama, and a relationship beset by communication issues is an awful lot of conflict to resolve in one short story, and I'd have liked to see a bit more time taken to explore at least the latter two topics.

Overall, I would rate this book at 4 stars, "above average", and recommend it to anyone who likes love stories and supernatural elements.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful mix of ghost tales, November 30, 2008

By 

S. Mann (St. Paul, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Haunted Hearths & Sapphic Shades: Lesbian Ghost Stories (Perfect Paperback)

This collection of lesbian ghost stories includes a nice mix of serious and sweet, with a few tales that really tug on the heartstrings, and a dash of silliness. The anthology doesn't go overboard with the creepy overdone ghostly tropes. These are not horror film offerings (thank goodness), but thoroughly enjoyable romantic tales.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wide variety of spirits, November 14, 2008

By 

Steve Berman "Author / Reader" (Maple Shade, NJ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Haunted Hearths & Sapphic Shades: Lesbian Ghost Stories (Perfect Paperback)

Editor Catherine Lundoff (Crave: Tales of Lust, Love, and Longing) deserves high praise for bringing together under one cover such a myriad collection of short stories. While each has lesbian themes and sensibilities, the tales range from the chilling to the humorous to the sensual. These are ghosts that haunt, that protect, that warn, and guide richly portrayed women who face more than supernatural crises - these women are torn by the commonplace worries and angst of new love,broken hearts, and growing old.