Martyrs and Monsters in Queereaders

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Martyrs and Monsters

Robert Dunbar,

Greg F. Gifune (Introduction)

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What Members Thought

Jun 23, 2009 Nancy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: shelf-inflicted, favorites, gay, short-stories, horror

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I loved Martyrs & Monsters for its variety of rich, intense stories, and its diverse cast of characters, many of whom are troubled people who struggle through life and live on the edge.

These disturbing and unsettling stories are not graphic, but they will creep up on you and won鈥檛 let go.

Though each story in this collection will linger on in my memory, a few favorites stand out:

Getting Wet 鈥� Very murky, damp and unsettling. Tim and Conrad were extremely well developed ...more

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Dec 23, 2008 Robert Dunbar rated it it was amazing · (Review from the author) · review of another edition

So many of my colleagues have been very supportive of this collection. I am deeply grateful.

鈥淩obert Dunbar has the unique personal vision, command of language, and atmospheric style to enrapture you in the wildest, deepest nightmare.鈥�
TOM PICCIRILLI
author of SHADOW SEASON and THE COLDEST MILE

鈥淩obert Dunbar is not聽just a writer's writer, he's also a reader's writer (as all writers should be): his brilliance with characters and the thorny, nightmarish聽situations in which聽they find themselves聽makes ...more

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Nov 28, 2011 Robert Dunbar rated it it was amazing · (Review from the author)

It's a little hard to explain really -- what this book has meant to me, how important it's been in my life. Over the years, I'd grown so dispirited, so frustrated with reviews for my previous books, not that they weren't excellent. But a critic would rave that The Pines was a "masterpiece of genre fiction" or that The Shore was "surprisingly good for a horror novel." With MARTYRS & MONSTERS -- for the first time -- reviewers began to discuss my work purely in terms of its literary significance. ...more

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Feb 19, 2010 Paul Jr. rated it it was amazing

Shelves: horror, stoker-award-nominee, black-quill-nominee, psychological-horror, psychological-suspense, glbt-characters

If Alfred Hitchcock were alive today and desired to 鈥渞e-imagine鈥� his 1948 classic 鈥淩ope,鈥� he鈥檇 want Robert Dunbar to write the screenplay. Guaranteed.

Dunbar starts his impressive collection off with 鈥淕etting Wet,鈥� a moody, tension-filled piece that does indeed measure up to my all time Hitch film, with Dunbar鈥檚 Con and Tim evoking the controlling Brandon and the nervous, needy Phillip. But this isn鈥檛 some re-tread of familiar material as, really, the two stories share little in common other tha If Alfred Hitchcock were alive today and desired to 鈥渞e-imagine鈥� his 1948 classic 鈥淩ope,鈥� he鈥檇 want Robert Dunbar to write the screenplay. Guaranteed.

Dunbar starts his impressive collection off with 鈥淕etting Wet,鈥� a moody, tension-filled piece that does indeed measure up to my all time Hitch film, with Dunbar鈥檚 Con and Tim evoking the controlling Brandon and the nervous, needy Phillip. But this isn鈥檛 some re-tread of familiar material as, really, the two stories share little in common other than two fascinating lead characters and the realistic and dangerous relationship between them. Quite frankly, if anything, this is 鈥淩ope鈥� with crack heads, and is completely and utterly engrossing.

When I finished this first story I knew I was in for a great ride with this collection and I wasn鈥檛 disappointed. Throughout the book, Dunbar maintains the tension, and creates some really wonderful characters that you want to visit with again. And that鈥檚 good, because in some cases the characters do come back to haunt you in other stories. Personally, I was happy to see Con and Tim reappear in 鈥淎re We Dead Yet?鈥� which gives us even more insight into their characters and relationship. It serves as a prequel of sorts, but stands beautifully on its own.

Dunbar masterfully creates emotional reality just as well as he creates atmosphere, and each character in each story is brimming with emotion. Whether it鈥檚 a young man who deeply needs to protect his abusive brother in 鈥淗igh Rise,鈥� or a Mother who will do anything to protect her children in 鈥淕ray Soil,鈥� these are very real, human beings (even when they鈥檙e not) in extraordinary circumstances. In fact, if I could narrow it down to one theme that seems to run through this entire collection it is the overwhelming sense of need that appears to drive each character. There is something that they don鈥檛 just simply want or desire. There is an insistent need that drills into their bones and it is so palpable that it becomes almost an additional character in each of the stories. This is especially true with the boys in 鈥淟ike a Story,鈥� characters that indelibly etched in my mind. For me, the collection works the best when Dunbar sticks closest the the realistic emotional core of the characters. Lucky for us, he does that consistently.

Dunbar also gives us some nice moments of dark humor with 鈥淭he Folly,鈥� an out and out laugh from me in 鈥淪aturday Night Fights,鈥� and anyone who has ever attended a comic book/sci-fi/horror convention will surely see some familiar faces (perhaps even their own?) in 鈥淓xplanations,鈥� which had me smiling all the way through despite the very dark center of it.

What I also appreciate about Dunbar鈥檚 work is that it is challenging. Dunbar doesn鈥檛 talk down to his readers, nor is he going to hold their hands through the stories. There may be times when the reader goes 鈥渨ait, what the hell is going on?鈥� but that has a wonderful effect of keeping the reader slightly off kilter as all the pieces come together in a satisfying conclusion.

The collection ends with 鈥淭he Moon (Upside Down),鈥� a wonderfully quiet piece of work, that evokes Armistead Maupin鈥檚鈥淭ales of the City鈥� had those Barbary Lane characters been infused with a little darkness, a smidge of tarot, and an almost fatalistic outlook on life.

In the end, this collection will challenge you, move you, and make you hold your breath. It鈥檚 dark fiction, it鈥檚 horror, it鈥檚 character study, it鈥檚 literary fiction. And it鈥檚 damn good.

Originally posted at ...more

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