Jeff Gelb & Micheal Garrett [eds] - Dark Passions

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Jeff Gelb & Micheal Garrett [eds] - Dark Passions: Hot Blood XIII (Pinnacle, Oct. 2011; originally Kensington, Sept. 2007)

Jeff Gelb & Micheal Garrett - Introduction

D. Lynn Smith - A Building Desire
David Benton & W. D. Gagliani - Mood Elevator
Dave Zeltserman - The Thirteen Locks
Richard Wilkey - Beauty and the Beast
Roberta Lannes - Tres Hermanas
Trevor Anderson - The Mile-High Club
Christina Crooks - Care and Feeding
Cody Goodfellow - Magna Mater
Steve Vernon - Change of Pace
Ed Gorman - Hot Hot Hot
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro - Miss Faversham's Room
Gary Lovisi - Axis
Jeff Gelb - The Bonfires of Humanity
David J. Schow - What Scares You
Lisa Morton - The Last Resort
Steve Armison - Secret Admirer
Thomas Tessier - Goo Girl
Steve Niles - Nocturnal Invasions
P. D. Cacek - Less Than Perfect
Graham Masterton - Son of Beast

About the Authors

Blurb:
Not all love is innocent.

Some desires swallow you whole.

There's more than meets the eye to the twenty twisted pleasures collected here, with death and desire lying in wait behind every corner.

One goth girl finds the man whose love can make her beautiful and whose body can bring her ecstasy - if she can stomach the price. . .

A zombie apocalypse destroys a man's family, but "til death do us part" is a vow his wife won't forget - even if she's now more on the undead side.

A vampire hunter wakes up the morning after and has to discover what forbidden pleasures he indulged in the night before - he suspects they might involve the drop-dead gorgeous bloodsucker next door. . .

These and many more tales of sinister passion lie inside - if you aren't afraid of the dark ...

Final volume in the series. Dedicated to Graham Masterton, an ever-present from the debut on.


D. Lynn Smith - A Building Desire: Of all the times for a selfish husband to cheat on his wife, it has to be now she's heavily pregnant with the child the doctors said they could never have. And he's given her gonorrhoea. Told from the perspective of the blood-lusting claw hammer vengeful mum-to-be found in the woods.

David Benton & W. D. Gagliani - Mood Elevator: Affluent young professionals Artie and Susan move into a Manhattan apartment block whose owner, an Adonis named Mark Anthony, is preparing a necromantic ritual to return his beloved Aurors DiLusiac, "The Greek Marilyn." Lots of love in an elevator. Lashings of blood.

Dave Zeltserman - The Thirteen Locks: To attain the treasure of Hazza, Jack McFarssen, master occultist, must reach orgasm with the thirteen Furies in a twenty-four hour period. Fail, and they will eat him alive. Unfortunately for Jack's sex drive, their nubile beauty turns to vomit-provoking hideousness at his touch ("it was like fucking a vat of mucous"), but the prospect of immortality and command of these demonic entities drives him on.

Richard Wilkey - Beauty and the Beast: Carla believes all men are perverts and predators, only after one thing. To prove it, she picks up guys in bars, invites them home to be drugged, stripped and bound to a chair to take her lie detector test. Fail, and a certain part of their anatomy is destined for pickling in a jar.

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Trevor Anderson - The Mile-High Club: On a flight to LA, Tawny introduces Eric to the joys of sex in the sky for a modest $1000. Eric returns the favour by introducing Tawny to an elite 'Mile High Club' of his own.

Christina Crooks - Care and Feeding: Valeria, a suicidal, blood-fetishist with weight issues, meets the well hung (and then some) vampire of her fantasies at Goth/ Fetish/ Industrial hang out, the Belfry.

Cody Goodfellow - Magna Mater: Violet, the new cashier at the Tender Trap Adult Book & Video Store, discovers that those furtive types who enter video booth nine, never come back out ....

Steve Vernon - Change of Pace: Oysters, green M & M's, Ravel's Bolero ... Approaching fifty and terrified of losing the best thing that ever happened to him, Malcolm has tried everything to rekindle his sex life with Maria, but his best efforts only make matters worse. And then pal Seymour suggests he lace her bedtime cocoa with Spanish Fly ....

Thomas Tessier - Goo Girl: Gretchen, 24, madly in love with Drew, is happy to indulge his every fantasy ... until she discovers the snide bastard has been secretly photographing her post-facial and sharing the results with his three vodka buddies.

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Gary Lovisi - Axis: Julie, a young bloodstain analyst assisting the police in the hunt for a torture murderer, enjoys an increasingly brutal sex life with Ron the hot shot Wall Street trader. Guess where this one's heading.

Steve Armison - Secret Admirer: Distraught that wife Sharla has entirely lost interest in sex since the death of their grandchild, Edmund Leach emails her as 'Mystery Man,' a date from way back who has remained a secret admirer. Sharla, believing it can only be her old flame, Lewis Michaels, replies. The subsequent internet romance fast gets out of hand, driving a jealous Leach to murder. Can't get Babooska out of my head now.

Enjoying this well enough, certainly more than Fear the Fever, but it's maybe for the best there wasn't a vol. XIV.

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Jeff Gelb - The Bonfires of Humanity: It's the Zombie Apocalypse, and Alissa and Jack are desperate to bow out with a flourish. Can the lovers reach orgasm before their decomposing bodies fall to pieces? Sad, if ultimately life-affirming, as it is gross.

David J. Schow - What Scares You: Set in Back 40, a pick-up joint for the desperate. If I understand this story correctly (unlikely), it's a modern day variation on J. D. Beresford's The Misanthrope, except Niall Otheringame's anti-gift is contagious?

Lisa Morton - The Last Resort: Fresh from catching George in bed with her manicurist, Emmie hits a biker bar to drown her sorrows. A hard case mystery woman, Lori, takes the tearful gal under her wing, tells her what she should do. Demonic possession by executed female serial killer ensues.

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Ed Gorman - Hot Hot Hot: Cam's very modern revenge on her philandering husband. Dr. William Carlyle, neurosurgeon, multimillionaire, aging Lothario, really ought to be more careful who he hits on in bars. Aids Mary variation.

Steve Niles - Nocturnal Invasions: Cal McDonald, a private detective and vampire hunter, investigates the disappearance of Harris, last seen entering West Hollywood Goth hang out, the Fang Club. A My Partner, the Ghoul set up. McDonald's sidekick, Mo'Lock, is a benign zombie.

Graham Masterton - Son of Beast: A serial killer loose in Cincinnati, raping heavily pregnant young women, suffocating them in layers of cling film. Nine victims in sixteen months and rising. Detective Helen Foxley of the Personal Crimes Unit is called upon to make a huge sacrifice. Helen is required to endure impregnation by Richard Vuldus, whose genetically modified sperm produces human horse-leech hybrids. Puke-provokingly, hilariously horrible, etc.

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Roberta Lannes - Tres Hermanas: Jim, drunk and broken, implores detective pal Benny to find his lover, Carmen Almanza as he is addicted to her, and more-so the trippy sex. Turns out Carmen and her sisters, Yolanda and Esme are vampiric witches, sucking the life from their conquests. Or something. Ending lost me altogether.

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro - Miss Faversham's Room: Heiress of a global luxury hotel chain reserves a suite in each, there to entertain her lovers. A journalist, who spends the night in one of Miss Faversham's rooms, endures nightmare erotic visions, and possibly a visitation from her ghost. Don't know what it is, but this is not the first time I've found myself zoning in and out of a CQY story, wondering 'is it over soon?'

P. D. Cacek - Less Than Perfect: Jeannie Wallace can't keep a man because she's too beautiful for our frail ego's to handle. How can we be the centre of attention when every eye in the room is on our gorgeous partner? Jeannie approaches Dr. Doand Drake, plastic surgeon, to ugly her up some. He in turn refers her to Dr. Mangrove, hunky psychiatrist, for an alternate remedy .....

Can't say I'm sorry to be done with Dark Passions. It's not the most rewarding of Hot Blood's.