Queer Fear II

Queer Fear #2

by Michael Rowe (Editor), Robert Boyczuk, Nalo Hopkinson

Queer Fear II builds on the successes of its predecessor, Queer Fear , the groundbreaking gay-themed horror anthology that Gothic.net called "the best horror anthology of [the year]," which won the Queer Horror Award, and was a finalist for a Spectrum Award and two Lambda Literary Awards. This second volume includes among its stories new work by some stars of the previous volume—International Horror Guild Award winners Gemma Files and Michael Marano, Bram Stoker Award winners David Nickle and Edo van Belkom, and screenwriter Ron Oliver. Science fiction writer Robert J. Sawyer, winner of the Aurora and Nebula Awards, crosses genres to appear alongside newer writers like Bram Stoker Award winner Brett Savory, novelist Sephera Giron, and classic British ghost story author Steve Duffy. And if that’s not enough, Queer Fear II will also feature a new, unpublished story by internationally acclaimed horror writer Poppy Z. Brite. The dark pleasures and anxieties of the Queer Fear books have their roots in the nightmarish, viral machinations of AIDS and homophobia, as well as the ghoulish, old-fashioned thrills of confronting things that go bump in the night. Queer Fear II will keep you up long past the witching hour. Michael Rowe is co-editor of Sons of Darkness and Brothers of the Night , and author of the essay collections Writing Below the Belt and Looking for Brothers . A journalist and essayist whose work has appeared in The Advocate and The Globe & Mail , he lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Genres: Horror, LGBT, Short Stories, Anthologies, Gay, Fiction, Queer

304 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2002

About the author

Michael Rowe is an independent international journalist who has lived in Beirut, Havana, Geneva, and Paris.

His work has appeared in the National Post, The Globe & Mail, The United Church Observer and numerous other publications. He has been a finalist for both the Canadian National Magazine Award and the Associated Church Press Award in the United States. The author of several books, including Writing Below the Belt, a critically acclaimed study of censorship, pornography, and popular culture, and the essay collections Looking For Brothers and Other Men's Sons, which won the 2008 Randy Shilts Award for Nonfiction, he has also won the Lambda Literary Award. He is currently a contributing writer to The Advocate and a political blogger for The Huffington Post.

--from the author's website

Reviews

[Carolina Dean · Rating 2 out of 5]

For many years the genre of horror fiction has been almost exclusively written by heterosexuals for heterosexuals. These stories, typically involve a female victim and a male antagonist. However in this new millennium, when the line that separates gay from straight has become more and more ambiguous, art had begun to imitate life as we are now presented with an anthology of horror stories in which the protagonists as well as the victims are very clearly homosexual.

I first read Queer Fear (2000) in early 2001 after coming across it in a Bookstore I frequented. I read it from cover to cover a number of times, until I had portions of it committed to memory. So, I was extremely excited when I discovered that a second anthology had been compiled into Queer Fear II. Queer Fear II gets off to a great start with its first story, Bugcrush (which has since been made into a short film). It concerns a subject that anyone, gay or straight, can easily identify with, one's first crush. I instantly sympathized with Ben the high school student as he agonized over his own desire for Grant, the object of his crush. When Grant invites Ben over to his house one day, it seems that Ben's dream is about to come true only to have that dream descend into a nightmare of date rape and murder in a most gruesome manner.

David Coffey's On Being a Fetish, gives us a glimpse of the afterlife for Chuck, who died 20 years prior and wanders his hometown as a lonely spirit. A young man described as an Eminem wannabe draws Chuck's attention and interest after an erotic episode with a ouija board. The two begin an unlikely relationship using the ouija board in a most unusual way. The relationship goes to new levels as Chuck basically becomes a voyeur to a willing Eminem's nightly "bedtime" ritual. Other than invoking a sense of fear, the purpose of this story seems to be to disgust the reader with it's description of necrophilia; however, it also serves as a reminder that the need for love follows us even past the grave itself, and that (at least for Chuck)that search is no more easier in death than it is in life.

Other stories such as Gay Town by Robert Boyckuk, make little if any sense at all. Rather than a horror story, the author seems to be making a statement against remaining in the closet rather than living one's life openly. In the end the central mystery goes unexplained, and the reader is left without any sense of closure. Although a good story in and of itself Poppy Z. Brite's Bayou de la Mere, in no way can be considered horror by any definition of the word. Perhaps it's inclusion in Queer Fear II was meant to increase sales by drawing in the authors fans. Bayou de la Mere would likely be more comfortable in a book of gay erotica.

I really wanted to like this book, I really did. However, like many things in life, it simply does not stand up to the original. While it has a few exceptional stories, the mediocre/bad ones are more numerous. In the end, it simply is not worth the time, effort, or expense to weed through the drivel in order to get to the stories worthy of one's attention and interest.

[Stewart Horn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I stumbled across this in a queer bookshop in Glasgow and picked it up purely for the title, expecting something of mediocre quality manufactured to target a niche audience. From the very beginning I was astonished at the quality of the prose and the layers of meaning in every story. This is no exploitative cash-in but a serious literary anthology, curated and edited with love and care. I didn't take notes on the individual stories because I didn't plan to write a review, but it's definitely worth a read.

If I have a complaint, it's that almost every story is about gay men - QUEER has become more inclusive term for the whole LGBT community so I would have liked more representation of all the other flavours of queerness. That doesn't detract from the quality of the book though. Excellent stuff.

I intend to pick up volume one when I get a chance.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I was a little disappointed with this volume. I was expecting more horror and instead it is mostly just dark fantasy with a queer bent. There are some wonderful stories here, but I felt it was a wee bit misleading, as there isn't a lot of "fear" being throw about in these pages. An exception is the opening story, Bugcrush, which was excellent. Very disturbing and delightfully gruesome all while being tantalizingly erotic. Wonderful combination and balanced beautifully. On it's own I'd give Bugcrush a five, but I just can't give the entire anthology higher than the three. An enjoyable collection, but not very frightening.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a whole it wasn't as strong a showing as the first collection. There were a few standouts as there always are, Bug Crush being the obvious example, but overall most of the stories were somewhat underwhelming. Originality of concepts and generally adept writing save this anthology from being regrettable and make it ultimately worthwhile if not particularly great.

[Stephen Poltz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second of a two-volume anthology, this book explores horror, suspense, the supernatural, and the macabre with gay and lesbian characters. Winner of the Lambda Literary Award for SF/Fantasy/Horror, this volume and its predecessor were also winners and nominees of several other awards in the horror genre. The stories that comprise Volume II are mostly of the macabre nature. A few are funny, a few are gross, a few are scary fantasy. Many of them make you reflect on life, love, desire, and despair, and of course, good and evil. I really enjoyed most of the stories. Most are written well. As usual with anthologies and collections, I’ll mention a few that I really liked.

Come visit my blog for the full review…
https://itstartedwiththehugos.blogspo...

[Sucre · Rating 2 out of 5]

very little horror and even less bi/lesbian women to be found in this supposedly "queer" anthology. incredibly disappointing and a real slog to get through, to the point where there were several stories I outright skimmed or skipped because I knew if I had to read this much longer it would never be completed. apparently the first entry in this series is better, and I'm willing to give that a shot, but this collection really didn't do it for me.

[Mills College Library]

Fiction Q382b 2002

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 1 out of 5]

Revised for errors but not changed - though rating reduced from 2 to 1 star)

I was extremely disappointed with this book - although I wasn't surprised by the disappointment. While not awful most of the stories were barely so-so - and overall none of them really worked as either horror/fantasy or as gay stories - they were all to obviously stories were a 'gay' theme had been tacked onto a horror/fantasy idea. None of them stood up by themselves or would have been published outside of a 'gay horror' compilation. I want more from a horror anthology or a gay one - I want good writing, good ideas, good stories - one of the things I like about regular horror/fantasy compilations is that they are often the best writing around dealing with interesting ideas/situations - they are a wonderful break from the stories emerging from all those university writing courses.

Going by many of the reviews there are loads of people who loved this compilation so maybe I am to fussy but I haven't read, and won't bother to read the first volume, or any other volumes in this series.

[celia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was... Not really what I was expecting. In part because when I thought 'queer' fear, I expected a more diverse range of authors and main characters. The stories in general were well-enough written. I loved the story featuring la llorona and wish there had been more stories featuring, and written by women.

[Magan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The standout story for me was Steve Duffy's "Numbers." Bawled like a big baby, after reading this story. Good collection--I like this better than the first.