Fist of the Spider Woman: Tales of Fear and Queer Desire. Amber Dawn, ed. Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp, 2009. 190p. $17.95. ISBN: 9781551522517.

This collection of five poems and eleven short stories addresses how fear and fantasy intersect for queer women. Considering this topic, it isn’t surprising that many of the tales involve SM sex turning frighteningly real; however, the ones that stand out are those that either transcend this idea or deviate from it.

One of the best among this collection is Nomy Lamm‘s “Conspiracy of Fuckers,” a story about a phone sex worker who hates giving into the trite, traditional fantasies of her clients, yet is inevitably drawn to them in the end. Just as compelling is Amber Dawn‘s “Here Lies the Last Lesbian Rental in East Vancouver,” which takes place in a house inhabited by a young dyke couple and haunted by a violent lesbian ghost.

Elizabeth Bachinsky‘s poems addressed to the Marquis de Sade reveal her conflicted emotions about SM sex, and Aurelia T. Evans‘s “In Circles” reframes the childhood legend of Bloody Mary, describing the fate of intersex women at the hands of a demon who forces them to look at their bodies before she kills them.

Not all the entries work; Suki Lee‘s story about being stalked by a Parisian landlady takes a bizarre turn when the narrator is covered with the bodies of dead mice, and Megan Milks‘ fantasy about sex with a giant slug will have limited appeal.

Purchase for women’s studies collections and where queer fiction is popular, but make no mistake: This is erotica, and will draw challenges in some communities.

Reviewed by Daisy Porter
Senior Librarian
San José Public Library