Whispers in Darkness, which contains my story, “The Dreams in the Laundromat,” has received some really nice reviews! Two of them mention my work specifically, and I’m going to quote them here.
Amanda Gannon of Adventurotica described Whispers in Darkness as “a rock-solid anthology,” and has written an in-depth review. Here’s what she said about my story:
No description of this story’s particulars can convey its appeal. It is definitely the odd story out; it’s a college story, and the setting and voice are more frankly modern than any of the others. It’s also a sweet story, not horrific at all. And it’s extremely hot.
It’s a beautiful exploration of the vulnerability of revealing yourself to another person – how we are all to some degree alien to ourselves and each other. It’s odd that a Lovecraftian erotica story should be touching, but it really was; terrible secrets, if shared, can lead to great intimacy. And, apparently, mind-blowing tentacle sex. The attention to detail in the sex scene is first-rate. It feels real, and if it doesn’t make you at least a little envious, I will mail you a dollar.
The author took a risk submitting a story that is not meant to be horrifying, and the editor took a chance including it. I am so glad they did, and enjoyed the pleasant surprise.
AncientHistory at Yog-Sothoth also wrote a review, saying of my story:
Short but brilliant, set in the modern day and reads like National Lampoon’s sequel to The Dreams in the Witch House. Actually, this is probably the only story of the bunch I would love to see a sequel to, since the eponymous Laundromat is never visited directly in the story. Reeve’s dialogue and college-think is clever and fun to read, and refreshingly honest for the brand of horny college student we all wish we’d run into. The phrase “Arkham-bad” has now entered my personal lexicon.
One of the other authors in the anthology, Annabeth Leong, described “The Dreams in the Laundromat” as “the sweetest, most romantic tentacle sex story I’ve ever read.” (She includes a nice, lengthy excerpt from her story, “The Artist’s Retreat,” in that post which is well worth checking out, by the way – I love the way she echoes Lovecraft’s writing style, and you can see a lot of that in the segment she’s chosen.)
I’m glad to see that what I was aiming at with “The Dreams in the Laundromat” – weird, sexy, sweet (and more than a little goofy) – seems to have hit the mark with more than one reader. And I’m not gonna lie…the idea of writing a continuation of “The Dreams in the Laundromat” has occurred to me. We’ll see!
