Unspeakable Horror!

I'm halfway through Lee Thomas' Dust of Wonderland, and so far it is an amazing specimen in the genre of Queer Horror, but as many of you know, the conclusion of a horror novel is often the part that bellyflops, so I will give a full report when I am finished with the novel. 

It is a beautiful hardcover book, and I think it bodes well that a rising Queer Horror star like Lee Thomas was published in a beautiful hardcover from Alyson.  It could be that Queer Horror is gaining some credibility (let's face it -- the horror genre has always struggled with receiving the proper respect from the literary world). 

For starters,  I love the opening line,  "Tell me a story" that harkens back to the opening of Straub's Ghost Story.  I especially like this because Dust of Wonderland shares a common theme with Ghost Story: the past come back to haunt the present. 

I feel like this is an important work of Queer Horror because of the protagonist's portrayal in the novel, and the portrayal of his homosexuality.  The protagonist, Ken, has a complex relationship with his ex-wife and children that rings true and free from clichés or stereotypes.  As a reader, I really believe in the portrayal of the family dynamic.  The family conflicts related to homosexuality are multifaceted, multi-dimensional, and just plain realistic. 

Like I mentioned previously, this is a story of the past come back to haunt the present, and it is a scary past indeed -- surrounded by the gothic mystique of New Orleans.

I'll write more when I finish with Dust of Wonderland. 

Already I'm recommending that you buy this book -- if for no other reason, it's a majorly important work in the Queer Horror genre.