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The Lesbrary

Sapphic Book Reviews

Uncategorized

Danika reviews Fist of the Spider Woman edited by Amber Dawn

December 3, 2013 by Danika Ellis

fistofthespiderwoman

 

This book freaked me out. Again, it was one I meant to read in October for my Halloween-y reads, but my inter-library loan didn’t come in until late November. It’s a bit of a shame, because it would have made for a fantastic Halloween read. It’s a short story collection (with a few poems) that mixes erotica and horror. The stories will go from a sexy place into a kinky place into an outright horror place. This kind of slipping between genres was especially unsettling. The standard of writing was high for the entire collection, with authors like Amber Dawn, Michelle Tea, and Kristyn Dunnion contributing. The subjects varied. Some were very much in the horror genre, and some were more light.

Fist of the Spider Woman doesn’t ease you into it: the first story, “Slug”, has the main character having vicious fantasies (again, they start out as kinky… and then often end in slow death), and that’s before the “slug” element takes place. If you read the first story and enjoy it, you’ll definitely like the collection. It is horror, however, so pretty much all the trigger warning apply, including gore, rape, and gaslighting.

This may be my favourite queer Halloween/horror book that I’ve read. I especially enjoyed Amber Dawn’s “The Last Lesbian Rental In East Vancouver” and Kestrel Barnes’s “Shark”. I also personally liked that many of the authors included are local British Columbia authors. For next Halloween, or any time you want to be creeped out and unsettled, I definitely comment this collection.

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: , Amber Dawn, danika, halloween, horror

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Comments

  1. caseythecanadianlesbrarian says

    December 3, 2013 at 9:30 pm

    I love this book! The story “Slug” I think it the weirdest story I’ve ever read, and that is saying something.

    • Danika @ The Lesbrary says

      December 7, 2013 at 11:18 am

      Isn’t it so good? I kind of feel like I should re-read it every October. “Slug” is deeply weird. But I still enjoyed it…? This collection is exactly what I want from queer horror.

      • caseythecanadianlesbrarian says

        December 7, 2013 at 12:48 pm

        Yes me too! Amber Dawn did a great job with the anthology.
        I think I liked “Slug” because it was so weird. You have to admire that kind of imagination.

        • Danika @ The Lesbrary says

          December 9, 2013 at 8:26 pm

          Definitely. Admire… and fear.

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The Lesbrary is a sapphic book blog that started in 2010. It's run by Danika Ellis, and we have about a dozen reviewers from around the world recommending sapphic books in every genre. Check out the top navigation bar for more about the Lesbrary as well as options to browse by genre, age category, rating, and more.

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