5.0 out of 5 stars There is a legitmacy in this eroticly edged voice.
Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2024
I really connected with Stromin's tone and voice throughout this collection of erotic short fiction.
From the opening pages of the collection's title-story, we are reminded that we are voyeurs, readers, observers and participants, of all that lay between these covers, and that no matter what, we....the readers...have entered on our freewill. There so much power to explore at that point, and the author does so with dark mastery and acknowledgement.
"We are witnesses to one another's vulnerability."
A deeply human thread runs through this collection, even as the set and settings explore the length and breadth of kink and sexuality, thrill and erotiocally-tinged danger, the extremes that no longer seem so extreme...reflections in funhouse mirrors that we immediatly recognize and relate to.
From fish hooks to fire-eaters, BDSM dynamics and department store intrigues, from Santa Monica Boulevard to French hotel rooms, Stromin serves us these stories with the exactitude of a cokehead sports reporter, and the congeniality of a favored, rapscallion, Uncle.
'subspace' invites us to explore dark and twisted alleys and bedrooms and corners of lives, because we want to, because we like to, because we...need to?
You know what you are. You know what you've done.
No confession is required to join this communion of fallen Saints and elevated demons.
Author Stuart Stromin knows why you'll keep turning these pages. So will his bleak and beautiful characters, that exist within, throughout, and beyond the kink in this collection.
Titillating tales from the dark side
Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2024
Los Angeles author Stuart Stromin (known to many of us as Stuart Canterbury) gained his fame and credentials for writing books about the making of pornography as a veteran producer-director in the adult movie industry. Incredibly, he has over 300 major feature films to his credit and awards (not only from applauding audiences) but also from the industry. He has produced and directed titles for studios such as Penthouse, Hustler, Brazzers, Adam and Eve, Arrow, Video Marc Dorcel, among others. In other words, he knows this business `top to bottom' and after his novel WILD CARDS, he pushes the button with SUPSPACE into the realm of the growing popular obsession with pornography – and it works exceptionally well!
The twelve stories selected here (some have been published before in such collections as Macabre Ladies, Horror Sleaze Trash, etc) survey the psychological proclivities of the unguarded mind: such states are becoming increasingly poignant as the social media encourages ‘acting out.’ Stromin relates episodes of BDSM, exhibitionism, and other “stretches” of behavior, and while the actions are well described, the high class of writing allows entry into the psyches of the ‘perpetrators’ – encouraging understanding as well as stimulation. An example, from a story about BDSM - ‘There will be violence. The violence is part of the trust. We are in a dance of trust, intimate, vulnerable, and to the edge of danger. We are performing a ceremony, like a religious ritual, or a marriage…We are witnesses to one another’s vulnerability…’ The reader becomes not only a sheltered observer, but also the welcome possibility of perception!
Satisfying on many levels – provocative, clandestine, alluring, shocking without being odious – Stromin’s literary talent brings new light to the dark side of human behavior, allowing a welcome understanding of ‘different’ behaviors. Recommended.
