Second Thoughts: More Queer and Weird Stories

In his second collection of stories and essays, author Steve Berman once more guides readers through the dark paths of his imagination with such tales as a nursery rhyme tempting a young lover, the ghost of the corpse in the trunk of the car demands the hustler behind the wheel finds a proper burial spot, the scent of loneliness enticing children to eat away a caretaker’s historic house, and a pair of Victorian-era burglars seeking their fortune in a fey-filled London.

"Each of the stories that make up this book is accompanied by such an Author’s Note in which Berman discusses the background and purpose of the piece. The tone is informal and the device effective, giving the reader a greater insight to the writer while enhancing the impact of the tale. Though Berman’s style varies greatly throughout the 200 plus pages of this selection of stories, it is consistent in its quick pace, punchy dialogue and confident originality. No two stories are the same, but are linked in their fine marriage of reality and surrealism. This collection is excellent for readers of the lesser-found gay supernatural fiction, or anyone appreciative of twisted tales in their many forms." - Chroma

"The stories are without exception well-wrought, fluent gems that reveal Berman's gift for taking absolutely unremarkable situations, little fragments of everyday life, or sometimes bits of popular apocrypha, and twisting them off their path into bizarre and surprising places." - Rambles.net