Τρέμω στο άγγιγμά σου: 22 ιστορίες Σεξ και Τρόμου

by Michele Slung (Editor), Stephen King, Stephen R. Donaldson

Ταλαντούχοι χειριστές του μακάβριου, όπως ο Stephen King, η Ruth Rendell, η Angela Carter, ο Clive Barker ή ο Patrick McGrath, ρίχνουν φως στη σκοτεινή περιοχή του μυαλού μας, όπου ελλοχεύουν οι φαντασιώσεις και οι φόβοι μας. Τότε οι ερωτικές φαντασιώσεις μας γίνονται τέχνη και η σάρκα ριγεί από απόλαυση ή φόβο.

Σε αυτή την έξοχη συλλογή 22 διηγημάτων παρουσιάζεται ένα πλήθος εκκεντρικών, διεστραμμένων και ανατριχιαστικών χαρακτήρων. Ανάμεσά τους το βαμπίρ που παίζει κρίκετ, ο διαβολικός ιδιοκτήτης ενός κομμωτηρίου, μια τραγικά παραδομένη αρτίστα και ένα επιτήδειο θαλάσσιο πλάσμα, που είναι πιθανό να προσδώσει κακό όνομα στις γοργόνες.

Τρομακτικές, χιουμοριστικές και άγρια σαγηνευτικές, οι ιστορίες που περιλαμβάνονται στη συλλογή «Τρέμω στο άγγιγμά σου» θα σας κάνουν να καταπνίξετε μια κραυγή - τρόμου ή απόλαυσης.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Short Stories, Erotica, Anthologies, Fantasy, Romance

427 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Dan Fitzmaurice · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with any short story collection, this was hit or miss. There were definitely more hits than misses and some of the hits, especially the Clive Barker story, were home runs

[Bandit · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think with a name like this and a cover like that and a promise of 22 tales of sex and horror, this book disappoints. Clearly, these stories were meant to be subtle, which one can appreciate, but the subtlety in most cases seem to have translated into sheer boredom IMO. A lot of authors I was not familiar with and yet the best stories come from well known names, such as King, Barker and Carroll. Barker's story, actually, seems to be the only one that really meets the anthology's theme. The best part of this book for me was the story by Christopher Fowler, whom I've been meaning to give a try. He does indeed write "urban anxiety" so well. I'd recommend this book for fans of classic, old school, slow and very subtle horror or horrorish stories.

[Sandysbookaday (taking a step back for a while) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unfortunately I did not get the full 22 stories on the audio version, but probably got the best 4 .....
The revelations of 'Becka Paulson / Stephen King -- Becka Paulson accidentally shoots herself in the head while cleaning out the attic. The bullet lodges in her brain, and begins to have some strange effects.
A glowing future / Ruth Rendell -- Maurice returns to Betsy after a year in London and delivers a nasty shock
Death and the single girl / Thomas M. Disch -- A depressed young woman makes a date with death.
Cleave the vampire, or, a gothic pastorale / Patrick McGrath -- an unstable woman begins to see vampires everywhere.

I thoroughly enjoyed this short story collection. All are quirky, and in their own peculiar way, quite humorous.

[Samantha Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best collections of short stories I have ever read. Each one of them unique and just a little bit macabre.

My favorites and the ones that stand out the most to me are, "The Revelations of 'Becca Paulson" By Stephen King, "Keeping House" By Michael Blumlein, and "Salon Satin" By Carolyn Banks.

Not for the feint of heart or the closed of mind. I recommend I Shudder to anyone who enjoys a little bit of dark humor and a lot of horror.

[Sammy Loves Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not scary at all!! What a let down.

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creepy and hot. You might not think those two things could go together, but our apparent fascination with vampires as sexual beings is just scratching the surface. Try a mermaid. A werewolf. Sentient pants. (I couldn't make this stuff up.) It's Stephen King meets Xaviera Hollander. Don't hurt yourself.

[ΑΝΝΑ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Είπα να μην κρίνω απο το εξώφυλλο που με προιδεασε αρνητικότατα.
Κακώς,αφού το ένστικτο μου πέφτει συνήθως μέσα. Διαβάζοντας ότι πρόκειται για 22 Ιστορίες τρόμου και σεξ περίμενα κάτι αλλο. Μας βγήκε κάτι σαν Ιστορίες απο την κρύπτη που το βλέπαμε βραδάκι στο σταρ σαν έφηβοι.
Κάποιες ιστορίες αξίζουν. Σαν σύνολο το βρήκα κάτω των προσδοκιών μου δυστυχώς.

[Jack Stonecipher]

A couple great & creepy stories and a couple stinkers!!
Thank you to Margaret for getting me this two Christmases ago!

[Melanie Bouthillette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was very excited to read this book since the cover seemed to promise so much, also with a couple of big authors. Unfortunately, for me, most of the stories missed the mark. Clive Barker's story was the best one out of all of them.

[Smiles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une belle variété d'histoires qui ont suscitées diverses émotions

[Chiara · Rating 3 out of 5]

- Le rivelazioni di 'Becka Paulson: 4+\5
- Gli amanti del mare: 2\5
- Lo psicopompo: 3\5
- Un futuro radioso: 1,5\5
- La tigre ritorna alla montagna: 3,5\5
- Consanguineità: 3,5\5
- Faccende di casa: 4-\5
-Villa Désirée : NF
- Cleave il vampiro o una pastorale gotica: 2,5\5
- Le spade: NF
- Salon Satin: 4+\5
- Come giunse l'amore per il Professor Guildea: 2\5
- Ali: 3,5\5
- Il basilisco: 1,5\5
- Tu e un quarto: 4-\5
- Il costruttore: 4,5\5
- Festival: 5\5
- Donne in attesa: 2\5
- Il signor morte e la ragazza sola: 3+\5
- Master: 3+5
- Il verme conquistatore: 3,5\5
- Jacqueline Ess: testamento e volontà: 4-\5

Facendo la media matematica mi viene come risultato poco più di tre ma, se ci fossero state le mezze stelline, il mio voto sarebbe salito a 3 stelline e mezzo.
Si tratta di una raccolta molto variegata in cui sono presenti autori di varie epoche (e questo si sente, alcune storie le ho percepite proprio datate) e i temi variano molto dall'horror all'erotico in maniera decisamente casuale. In alcune è presente solo la parte erotica, in altre solo quella di paura, in altre ancora si mescolano perfettamente e altre ancora le ho trovate talmente scialbe da non essere in grado di inserirle in nessuna delle due categorie.
Il racconto che ho preferito, l'unico a cui ho attribuito 5 stelline, è Festival: non so se per il modo in cui è stato scritto, se per il mistero che avvolge la storia, o per le descrizioni dettagliate ma essenziali, non so proprio cosa mi abbia attratto nello specifico ma giuro, GIURO, di essermi totalmente estraniata dal mondo esterno, non vedevo più le parole scritte ma ho vissuto nitidamente nella mia testa tutta la storia, nei più piccoli particolari. Mi ha lasciato col fiatone, battito accelerato e occhi fuori dalle orbite.
Un altro racconto che ho amato alla follia è stato Il costruttore che riesce a coniugare perfettamente le due categorie.
Molto interessante anche il racconto per cui ho acquistato la raccolta cioè Le rivelazioni di 'Becka Paulson, e degni di nota sono anche Faccende di casa, Salon Satin, Tu e un quarto e Jacqueline Ess: testamento e volontà.
L'unico di cui non mi sono fatta un'idea precisa è Master scritto da Angela Carter: lo stile pomposo e ricercato, a mio avviso, non è adatto alla storia raccontata e ne ha rovinato l'atmosfera.

[DrCrower Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Las revelaciones de Becka Paulson" (The revelations of Becka Paulson, 1984) de Stephen King 7
"Los amantes marinos" (Sea lovers, 1988) de Valerie Martin 7.5
"Psicopompos" (Psychopomp, 1991) de Haydn Middleton 8
"Un futuro radiante" (A glowing future, 1977) de Ruth Rendell 7
"El tigre vuelve a la montaña" (The tiger returns to the mountain, 1991) de T.L. Parkinson 6.5
"Consanguinidad" (Consanguinity, 1965) de Ronald Duncan 7.5
"Cuidando la casa" (Keeping house, 1989) de Michael Blumlein 7
"Villa Désirée" (The villa Désirée, 1921) de May Sinclair 8
"Cleave el vampiro, una égloga gótica" (Cleave the vampire, or a gothic pastorale, 1991) de Patrick McGrath 7
"Las espadas" (The swords, 1969) de Robert Aickman 10
"Salón Satén" (Salon satin, 1991) de Carolyn Banks 5
"Cómo conoció el amor el profesor Guildea" (How love came to professor Guildea, 1900) de Robert Hitchens 8
"Alas" (Wings, 1988) de Harriet Zinnes 4
"El basilisco" (The basilisk, 1991) R. Murray Gilchrist 5
"Las tú y cuarto" (A quarter past you, 1989) de Jonathan Carroll 6
"El albañil" (The master builder, 1989) de Cristopher Fowler 7.5
"El festival" (Festival, 1987) de Eric McCormack 9
"Mujeres que esperan" (Ladies in waiting, 1975) de Hugh B. Cave 7
"Muerte y la soltera" (Death and the single girl, 1976) de Thomas M. Disch 7
"El amo" (Master, 1974) de Angela Carter 8
"El ciempiés conquistador" (The conqueror worm, 1982) de Stephen R. Donaldson 7
"Última voluntad de Jacqueline Ess" (Jacqueline Ess: her will and testament, 1984) de Clive Barker 9

[Cessa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nein, keine Angst hier handelt es sich nicht um etwa anstößige Literatur.
In diesem Buch finden sich Kurzgeschichten von verschiedensten Horrorautoren die eine Brücke zu schlagen versuchen um die Erotik in ihre Geschichten miteinzubeziehen.

Da diese Geschichten alle schon deutlich älter sind, sind sie natürlich für unser heutiges Verständnis werder besonders gruselig noch besonders erotisch. Zumindest habe ich es so empfunden. Ich habe mich desöfteren gefragt was mir der Autor wohl mit seiner Erzählung mitteilen wollte denn oft war eine Kurzgeschichte zu Ende und ich fand mich kopfschüttelnd und verwirrt die letzten Sätze betrachtend wieder.
Wer auf etwas aussergewöhnlichere "Horror"-Geschichten von altbekannten Größen den Genres steht kann hier ruhig mal einen Blick riskieren, für mich war es aber nichts.

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars, this book was pretty much what you would expect. Most of the stories in the collection fit the theme accurately. I thought that some were better than others. 'A Quarter Past You' and 'The Master Builder' were psychological creepers. 'Ladies In Waiting' and 'Master' were both excellent with more elements of the paranormal. 'The Basilisk' was my favorite, a retelling of the Russian legend of Marina written in a style that is the literary equivalent of Pre-Raphaelite art; romantic, lush, descriptive and beautifully detailed. Unlike many reviewers of this collection, I do not have praise for the stories of the two "big name" authors, Barker and King; to be honest I was not impressed with the contributions of either.

[Abby Luces · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of stories from several great writers, the name of Stephen King and Clive Barker lured me in to buying it; not to mention the packaging "Tales of Horror and Sex" *whistles. Like all collections of short stories, there were some I liked more than others, and some made no sense to me at all. These are the stories that I did like:

-The revelations of Becka Paulson (Stephen King)
-Sea Lovers (Valerie Martin)
-Salon Satin (Carolyn Banks)
-How Love Came to Professor Guildea (Robert Hichens)
-Jacqueline Ess: Her will and Testament (Clive Barker)

there is little sex in this book, and not much horror as well; but some of the story concepts are worth reading and finding out about.

[Donald · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up primarily to read "The Revelations of 'Becka Paulson", which was a very good, creepy, short story! What 'Becka did with her eyebrow pencil nearly made me squirm right outta my skin! Ewww.... And it was cool to read this "original" version of the story, before it's appearance in "The Tommyknockers"! Oh, by the way, I work at the post office, and never in my 15 years has a gal like Nancy Voss transferred to my office. I wish! Just sayin'...

The rest of the collection? Meh.

[Kelsey Haeuser · Rating 3 out of 5]

I disliked or was indifferent to many of these stories, but the good ones made the read worth it. My favorites:
1. Jacqueline Ess: Her Will and Testament - 5 stars
2. Master - 4 stars
3. How Love Came to Professor Guildea - 4 stars
I also enjoyed Festival, Cleave The Vampire, A Quarter Past You, and Sea Lovers.

[Phil Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some stories stood out more than others; in some cases even to the point of me skipping a couple (literally two).

[Metalfist · Rating 2 out of 5]

Soms kun je in een Kringloopwinkel wel eens leuke vondsten doen. Op een schap met pocketjes voor 50 cent viel opeens mijn oog op deze “Ik Griezel van Genot”, een verhalenbundel met een verhaal van één van mijn favoriete schrijvers! The Revelations of Becka Paulson werd door Stephen King in de jaren 80 voor Rolling Stone magazine geschreven en werd (bij mijn weten) enkel maar verzameld in een limited edition van Skeleton Crew. Fijn dus dat ik op deze manier toch de King collectie een beetje completer kon maken, maar langs de andere kant blijkt dit wel een belabberde editie te zijn.

Want I Shudder at Your Touch, zoals de Engelse originele titel luidt, is normaal gezien een verhalenbundel van 22 verhalen en om de een of andere bizarre reden is er voor de Nederlandse vertaling gekozen om maar 11 verhalen te bundelen… Gelukkig zit dat van King er nog altijd wel bij en ook Ruth Rendell & Clive Barker leveren fijn werk af, maar het lijkt wel alsof alle erotische verhalen eruit zijn geknipt. Ik ken de andere verhalen wel niet, maar in de 11 schrijvers die hier aan bod komen is er geen enkele die echt iets opwindends weet neer te pennen. Integendeel zelfs, zo’n Salon Satijn van Carolyn Banks waarin de duivel je helpt te vermageren is gewoon lachwekkend slecht geschreven. Hier en daar zit er wel eens een leuker verhaal tussen (het verhaal met de duizendpoot van Stephen R. Donaldson schiet me momenteel te binnen), maar het merendeel is vrij inwisselbaar en nodigt ook absoluut niet uit tot verdere ontdekkingen. Vreemde setup ook doordat elk verhaal begint met een korte tekst die letterlijk uit het plot is geplukt en dan een kleine introductie over de schrijver. Ik vermoed dat dat de inbreng van Michele Slung is, maar aan het einde van het boek zit dan nog eens een apart overzicht met wat korte uitleg over de schrijvers. Dan had ik liever dat die dingen geknipt waren, maar dat we wel alle verhalen te lezen kregen.

Al moet ik dus ook wel toegeven dat het merendeel van de verhalen die ik nu gelezen heb me weinig tot niet hebben kunnen boeien. Ik ga dit gewoon netjes bij de boeken van Stephen King zetten en me voor de rest er niet teveel van aantrekken. Leuke kennismaking met Clive Barker, die stond al lang op de planning, maar verder is dit hap, slik en weg literatuur. Ik had er toch meer van verwacht eerlijk gezegd.

[Seba Alcoverro · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is not a 'sensational' anthology, as it left me with mixed feelings after reading it. I'll make a quick review of it in case you want to know what is going to be worth it and what is going to be a waste of time for you to read. First things first, Stephen King has his first word in the book and it couldng be different. I mean, placing a short story from Your Majesty in the middle of the antholovy would be just disrespectful, and you would surely bother to look up the page and start reading his as you open the book. I'm glad to see how distincted his style and story-telling is from the rest. He's not too much of this or too much of that, he is just God and if he leaves something written, he will be always right. No discussion. The ending of his short story in this book is a bit non-sense, like if this should have been a long novel from the beginning. But is pretty good. From the rest of the authors, if you want to find good stuff, then read Valerie Martin, TL Parkinson, Michael Blumlein, Robert Aickman, Jonathan Carroll, Stephen R. Donaldson and Clive Barker. The rest of the authors... Just dont bother, dont waste your time. Clive Barker's story... Leave it for a quiet day. A quite night, I would say. It's a really sick, twisted, disturbing horror story which you will only like once you see some daylight.

[Steven Mayotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this collection more than I did - but all too often, I found myself bored with the story I was reading, and timing how much further I had to go until the next. This is only my opinion, and I will say nothing to disparage the writers within - but two stories stood out as truly well-written in my opinion, so those, I will highlight.
"Keeping House" by Michael Blumlein was amazingly written, and stood out as an impressive break from what, to that point, had been a hard collection to read. It is sufficiently creepy, with a well-paced build to an end that, despite its surreal impossibility, doesn't force the reader to suspend believability as much as one might expect.
The other is 'Jacqueline Ess: Her Will and Testament". Now...as disclaimer, I am always very forthright about the fact that Clive Barker is my favorite author of modern horror, so I admit there may be a slight lean toward favoritism when I encounter one of his stories. However, his writing is so good, so poignantly descriptive, that it's hard not to be. "She was a sea: and I had to swim in her". What a way to describe the level of devotion alluded to by the arc of the story! Not my first time reading Jacqueline, but I'm glad I got to read it again - it was the best way to end a slow and (Again, only my opinion) often tedious journey through these pages.

[Donyae Coles · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am giving this four stars because it was the 90s and it was a gentler, more simple time then. But overall, I wanted something a bit more, dark, I suppose, than these tales. I wanted this to mess me up and it did not.

As with all anthologies, it was a mixed bag and the sex part of sex and horror was clearly left up to interpretation. Which would be ok if so many hadn't been so BORING.

The real standouts in this anthology for me were Sea Lovers by Valerie Martin and Festival by Hugh B. Cave. They both did erotic very well. Of the others there were a few that were good and worth a read but then there were others that were clear misses. It included what would have then been contemporary stories as well as classics.

None of these stories are in any way shape or form scary. They all lacked that sort of suspense. Most of them did manage to capture some aspect of horror. Over all even though I think the collection is worth reading, I think that it is one that hasn't really aged well. The contemporary stories haven't aged well, I mean. The way women are portrayed in many of them is. . . not admirable.

Still, there were some good ones in here.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well this is a collection of horror/erotica. It ain't something I read that often, nor is there a mainstream audience or writers that put a bunch of this stuff out. To be honest, I got this from the Science Fiction Book Club years ago and I just never got around to reading it. I've spent the last few days rolling through it and yeah, it's a bit left of center! LOL
I have to say that this one isn't for everyone nor is it for the faint of heart. There are some really disturbing things going on in some of these short stories, and yet its kind of hard to put down. That sounds weird but you just have to try this genre for yourself. It makes you smile as often as it gets your blood pumping and makes you cringe. Yeah....... figure that one out.
Well there is something out there for everyone and I'm sure there is a few people out there that really dig this sort of stuff. Me, well the jury is still out but I can say its possible I reckon.

Danny

[Victoria Marañon Rodríguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

En esta antología el eros y el tánatos se fusionan para dar lugar a veintidós cuentos bien variados en donde el placer se confunde con el dolor, la muerte con el sexo, la oscuridad con la lujuria. Con escritores potentes como Angela Carter o Clive Barker, aquí hay historias que desean ser leídas por lectores ávidos de emociones fuertes.
Si bien hay algunos cuentos que me han parecido flojos o que no encajan dentro de la temática, el gusto general que me deja es satisfactorio. En especial con 'Amantes marinos' de Valerie Martin, sólo por esta historia ha valido el tiempo invertido en leer este libro.
Un libro ideal para los amantes de las historias cortas y para descubrir nuevas voces.

[LisaMarie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The edition I read of this was actually the audio with just 4 stories (but I like to have pictures of the books I read on my lists; sorry GR but your logo is a little on the bland side😊) :

The Revelations of 'Becka Paulson-Stephen King
A Glowing Future- Ruth Rendell
Cleave the Vampire- Patrick McGrath
Death and the Single Girl -Thomas M. Disch

The Cleave the Vampire one was a little silly but the other 3 were all pretty good.

[Document Of Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some really good stories in this collection but unfortunately I found a lot of them boring. My favourite stories were: Consanguinity by Ronald Duncan, Psychopomp by Haydn Middleton, Cleave The Vampire by Patrick McGrath & Salon Satin by Carolyn Banks. The other stories were forgettable and sometimes I was just slogging through for the sake of it. It is a beautiful collection though and I will keep it for my horror library.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this collection. It's rare that I find one where I love all the stories but I really enjoyed the majority of these and they all seemed to be of a good length so I didn't feel "stuck" in any of them for too long. Definitely a little heteronormative, but wonderful and weird and haunting.

[kit · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was really disappointing for me... i was so excited to read this but i really had to force myself to get through some of these. Barker's story was by far the strongest and my favorite, and i also really enjoyed Sea Lovers, but i fear i've already forgotten what most of the other stories were even about. a shame, i really wanted to like this more than i did.

[Ruth Collier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anthologies are always a bit of a risk, and to be honest I picked this up in a charity shop expecting it to be pretty cheesy. But it's a good selection, a few outstanding stories, a few I wasn't overly impressed with but no real duds. There's a good variety, but it still manages to stick to the theme and have a consistent feel.

[Marian Estoypensandoenlibros · Rating 4 out of 5]

Algunos relatos me gustaron mucho, otros no tanto.
Cómo que en partes tenés que casarle la onda a algunos escritores y no es tan fluido.

La idea es muy buena,creo que el sexo y el terror pueden ir de la mano muy bien. La idea de contar ese tipo de cosas me agrada.

Recomendable pero para leer tranqui, cada tanto, para tenerlo en la mesa de noche y leer como segunda lectura.