Creative, erotic "gay vampire" collection | Midnight Thirsts: Erotic Tales: Erotic Tales of the Vampire |...

Great Read - Timothy Ridge is an author to watch | Midnight Thirsts: Erotic Tales: Erotic Tales of the Vampire | Michael Thomas Ford, Greg Herren, ...

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	• Midnight Thirsts: Erotic Tales: Erotic Tales of the Vampire Michael Thomas Ford, Greg Herren, ... Kensington, 2004 - 304 pages average customer review:based on 4 reviews view larger image
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Sexy vampires get blood flowing

I haven't read many vampire stories beyond Anne Rice (and one of the characters in this collection jokingly gives his name as "Lestat" in tribute to the quintessential vampire). Each of these novellas offers a new twist on vampire lore and takes Rice's homoerotic vampire theme to a new level.

Herren's concept of the "nightwatcher" is a fresh look at vampires who protect mortals even as they feed on them. The story provides a delicious sexual tension and could easily be developed into an entire vampire book with its three protagonists. The New Orleans setting itself is almost a character in the story and Herren uses it well.

Ford's story, well-written as it is, is less about vampires and more about being an "other," as it presents the lives of people who live outside the boundaries of normalcy and acceptance in its Midwestern 1940s setting. The exploitative villain truly is one and deserves his fate at the hands of Ford's vampire.

Ridge's story is the most densely textured of the four. The shifts in time provide the origin of vampires, and this story's vampire in particular, without the vampire having to tell the tale to the modern-day protagonist. Ridge provides plenty of vampire sex (indeed, the vampires in all of these stories are capable of doing much more than drinking blood, and they do a lot of it). Again, this is a story that could be developed into a full-length novel and offers a couple of unexpected twists in the art of vampire deception.

I'd have enjoyed Wolfe's story more if his vampire's lost love hadn't been glossed over. I like a haunted vampire (Rice is a genius at providing this), and the vampire here acts out of rage and heartbreak, but it's often directed in unnecessarily cruel ways toward undeserving victims. Wolfe redeems him in the end, when he grants one important victim's request, but in getting to that point, the story was less erotic than violent.

The collection should offer something for anyone who's interested in gay vampires--plenty of sex, plenty of blood, and all of the stories have benefited from good editing.

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Creative, erotic "gay vampire" collection

I'll admit I first added this book to my Amazon "wish list" shortly after its announcement, thinking it was the latest in Herren's mystery tales. Since I am not usually a fan of the "vampire" fiction genre, I usually would not have chosen this book, a 321-page compilation of four erotic short stories about gay vampires. In retrospect, I'm glad I did.

Of the four stories, my least favorite was Timothy Ridge's "The Vampire Stone," simply because it had a rather convoluted plot, bouncing back and forth between modern and ancient times It is, however, a well written tale about an antiques dealer who comes across a mysterious wooden box from the 16th century, which changes his life forever.

I enjoyed Herren's "The Nightwatchers", which, like his novels, is based in New Orleans. Phillip is a 20-something would-be-actor working as a waiter and moonlighting as a male escort. After Phillip first spots the aluring and seductive Kevin Lockhart in a contest at a gay bar, his best friend Rachel finds herself working with a mysterious old man to save him from the consequences of his lust.

Michael Thomas Ford's "Carnival" brings us to the dark side of the lives of those who left their rural homes to tour with the carnival, as reclusive lifetime midway handyman Joe Flanagan finds his soulmate in Derry, a young man who is a new addition to their traveling show. He is warned to stay away from Derry by Mr. Star, the curator of the "freak show" wing of the carnival, and he finds himself caught up in a coverup of a series of murders.

My favorite out of the four was the very creative and entertaining "Vampire, Inc." by Sean Wolfe, which brings a "Vampires are people too!"-type vibe to the book. We meet notorious vampire Christo, still bitter over the death of his lover centuries ago, as he arrives in Denver CO, and takes in the local bar scene looking to "feed." Having been to Denver, I know at least two of the bars mentioned are real, as is his description of the gay scene there. But we learn of a "private club" that caters to kind of a gay circuit crowd into vampires, and we learn that politics and backbiting (taken a bit more literal in the context of vampires) is pretty much universal even in such circles.

All four are generally gay-positive, well written and quite erotic, and recommended for those who want "something different" in their reading.

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Great Read - Timothy Ridge is an author to watch

I really enjoyed this book and was tempted to read some of it again."The Vampire Stone" by Timothy Ridge is by far the best written. It's filled with great details about the locations and characters.
So descript, you actually feel like you're right there in this sleepy Hudson River village. Articulate and exciting, the Vampire Stone's character Roceres, is devilish and sometimes frightening to the point of feeling real chills. The wooden box's contents keep you reading and the sex leaves you wondering, who is this guy and where did he learn to do that?...Mr. Ridge is an accomplished writer and I'll be looking out for him in bookstores more. The other stories were also great reads, which is why I gave Midnight Thirsts 2 fangs up!

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Hungry. Ruthless. Irresistibly erotic. Succumb to desire as dark and mysterious as the men featured in these four tales of sensual-and deliciously sinister-passion. . .

Midnight Thirsts

The Nightwatchers, by Greg Herren

Aspiring actor Phillip Rutledge is looking only for a role in a local theater production when he finds something much more tempting in the arms of mysterious Kevin Lockhart. Yet what Kevin craves may be more than Phillip is willing to offer as he learns that one more night in the sensuous stranger's embrace may be his last. . .

Carnival, by Michael Thomas Ford

As chief mechanic for a traveling show, Joe Flanagan has found the perfect place to hide what has always set him apart-his desire for other men. But when a new attraction is added to the carnival, presided over by the seductive Mr. Star, Joe finds himself a player in a dangerous game that promises a kind of pleasure he's only dreamed of. . .

The Vampire Stone, by Timothy Ridge

Antiques dealer Roland Weir is thrilled with the chance to sell a valuable, ornately carved box dating back to the 1700s-but he's even more intrigued by the man who offers it, and the strange caveat that accompanies the object. Suddenly, the life Roland has known hangs in the balance as the necklace inside the box reveals the promise of unearthly power-and untold bliss.

Vampire, Inc., by Sean Wolfe

A typical boys' night out becomes an odyssey of pleasure when Chance Foster meets Christiano Montez, a newcomer to Denver. Startled to discover that the charismatic, otherworldly young man is a vampire, Chance is still willing to risk everything to hold onto his sensual new lover-even in the face of a rival vampire's deadly blood lust. . .

Indulge in the forbidden pleasures of the vampire in this collection of lushly erotic stories that will make your blood run hot. . .

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