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"The Gratista Clan has done it again!"
I was patiently waiting for the next collection of works from this group, and once more, I'm happy to say I was NOT disappointed. The themes in this anthology might be considered 'touchy' by the more stiffer and mundane-minded, but once you read this, you'll see that it's not what you think.

"Pain" is received on many different levels and can be taken in so many ways. Sometimes, one's pain is another's pleasure. There's a wonderful medley of stories here, some hilarious, some quite sad, and some even mildly erotic. I was quite intrigued with Mr. Mullen's "The Gomorra Incident", as well as Mr. Glascow's "Vinigrettes of Pain" in which he... More > offers excerpts from stories he's written--which I hope one day to actually read in their entirety! "Contemplating The End" by Spider was a hoot--the ending will throw you for a loop! And my jaw dropped when I read "Hotline", again by Mr. Glascow. (What a twist on the whole 'suicide helpline' thing!!!) Ms. Poff's "Vampires

Hurricane Ball" was a spicy treat. Camille, Dominic, Spider, and Phylis give their haunting offerings of poetry, and once again, Ms. Santiago wows the reader with her gothic photography, and I am very much in love with the cover as well. another image that really caught my eye within the book was of a large stone staircase and what looked like the ruins of a piece of a 19th century mansion or something! And although Mr. Boye's story, "Bastion's Pride" was a more conventional piece this time around, it was still dark enough to fit into the category of 'pain of loss' VERY well.

I give this group another round of applause. < Less