Trysts: A Triskaidecollection of Queer and Weird Stories by Steve Berman Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Trysts: A Triskaidecollection of Queer and Weird Stories
Book Review: Fallen
Summary: 5 Stars
All the stories were good. The stories from the Fallen were the best and I hope there are more ?Book Review: Mixed Bag
Summary: 3 Stars
This collection of short stories is, as the headline indicates, a mixed bag. Several of the offerings are cleverly written and erotically charged. Unfortunately, the author decided to take a turn into arena of "Weird Stories" (as indicated in the title). The turn, for this reader did not work well. Despite this fact, Mr. Berman is a talented writer, and you, the reader, should read his other works as well.Book Review: Trysts is creepy, fun and queerly strange stuff,a great book
Summary: 4 Stars
Well, it's been a little bit since I've read any gay books, so I thought it was time. I had Trysts on the shelf for several months and pulled it down for a closer look. Once I started this book of short stories, I pretty much read them all thru. I like to read short stories and interject them into my novel and non-fiction reading, but these were too interesting, odd and funly strange. I especially liked the last set of stories that are all tied together and take place in small altered pockets of America. A strange event has caused certain areas to Fall, making them into twisted realms filled with magic, monsters and rag tag groups of people looking for something, be it love, drugs, sex, acceptance.
My favorite story in the bunch was Finn's Night, which really didn't have any fantasy to it at all. It is a spin on Huck Finn and takes a gay gambler into youngins and mixes him up with Huck and a lady conartist. Very interesting, funny and romantic in an oldstyle way. Very different from anything else you'll tend to read.
Cries Beneath the Plaster was one of the creepiest. A man turns tricks into a work of art...until the art comes to life. This one was very strange and creepy, but I won't say anymore as to spoil it.
Other stories in this book of 13, take on a prostitute ring that isn't quite what it seems and the john that gets taken into a dark circle. A youth makes a perfect man out of cuttings from magazines and then runs into him...kinda... and then there is the secret desires that only a ghost can reveal thru a Ouija board.
Some I liked better than others, of course, but all had twists on life, love and loneliness; drugs and sex; youth and desires. All had a queer tone or directly queer character and then put them in odd and bizarre situations. I recommend this as good queer reading. Girls, you should like it too as a few stories have lesbian characters as well.
So find Trysts by Steve Berman...and have a freaky night.
Book Review: Found it, bought it, read it, liked it!
Summary: 4 Stars
I found this book when I happened to meet Steve Berman at DragonCon back in 2002 and during a chat he skillfully talked me into buying it :) Trysts is a cool little book. Steve has labeled it "a triskaidecollection of queer and weird stories" (yes, that's 13 stories) and I think that description fits pretty well.
Some of the stories reminded me of Twilight Zone plotlines gone horribly, horribly wrong (and that's saying something!), while others were almost traditional horror stories like I grew up reading in those big Alfred Hitchcock anthologies. Sure, they were "queer and weird" (and I don't think Twilight Zone would have gay men and lust in the middle of most stories) but Steve certainly has a handle on the basics of horror!
One of the main themes, maybe even the theme of the story collection seems to be that of a character or a group of them stepping away from normal life (either willingly or by accident) and getting sucked into situations or whole worlds which are just scary -- painful, corrupt, wrong, immoral, or just not part of the normal world, instead belonging to a dark side of life, from which the characters can't escape.
One story, "Cries Beneath the Plaster," has an artist seeing his own creations (and past misdeeds) coming after him in revenge. Several of the stories take place in a nameless city where large sections have somehow changed, so they are now "Fallen" areas where people live in madness, magic, corruption, and are just generally no longer living the safe, happy lives they were before.
My favorite story in the book is "Path of Corruption." Reminding very much of Storm Constantine's stories, "Path" tells the story of a young gay college student in New Orleans who step by step abandons his safety and propriety to join up with a male prostitute. And it's not just that he ends up basically living in a whorehouse, but that the man he's with, the men in the house, aren't just ordinary whores but more like a cult. The story ends with a shattering scene of whores carrying out a ritual half-way between an H.P. Lovecraft story and something in Storm's Grigori series!
This is a great short story collection and one I'd strongly recommend to people looking for horror and dark fantasy with some queer content and/or sex mixed in. Go out and hook up with Trysts!
Book Review: dark, erotic, and sexy... I love it!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Don't be fooled by this books small size! Any fan of the genre will find hours of reading pleasure with this little gem. Trysts draws the reader into the dark underworld Mr. Berman creates that is as suductive as it is compelling. One story demands you read on to the next one. It was impossible to put this book down! I don't usually leave a review, but Trysts is one of these rare finds that I had to comment on. From the erotic darkness in "Path of Corruption", to the playful, whitty and fun adventure in "Finn's Night", to the magically bizarre stories that take place in The Fallen, this book has a story that is bound to please just about anyone into the genre. I was surprised that so much character depth was created for each story in such a short framework, but it works! I found myself caring, rooting, angry, and even teary-eyed at the fate befallen some of these characters. My hat's off to Mr. Berman, can't wait for the next installment!