Book Review: Someone to Share My Nightmares by Sonora Taylor
Someone to Share My Nightmares
Sonora Taylor
CW: domestic abuse, reference to ableism
The description of Someone to Share My Nightmares calls this book “a tapestry of horrors interwoven with sensuality”, which immediately piqued my interest. As a queer man I have a fascination with stories examining the darker sides of sex and romance. Forbidden and taboo desires, painful unrequited longing, and raw primal lust are all integral to the human experience, and there are limitless possibilities for exploring this through the lens of horror. There is so much promise in this concept, particularly from a queer and/or female perspective, so I jumped at the chance to review this collection.
What I’m trying to make clear here is that I really, really wanted to like this book.
This was my first experience reading Sonora Taylor’s work, but still I even expected to like this book, and it saddens me that my overall impression was not a positive one. I hadn’t originally intended to do this, but I think the fairest way to review it is to talk about each story one by one so I can show the good as well as the bad.
The first and titular tale in this collection is the story of Kristin, a young woman who grew up in a small town on the edge of some woods which house some sort of malevolent presence. A presence also felt by Kristin’s favourite film director, who meets his death in those same woods, leading her to strike up a relationship with a handsome young actor. I adore the themes and ideas of the story, much more so than I do the execution. I will refrain from the specifics in this review, but this resulted in Taylor using the end of the story to explain the themes and the conclusion we are supposed to draw, which leaves a very bad taste in my mouth as a reader. I think it needed to be a lot longer to do the concept justice (unfortunately a pattern in this collection), or to be stripped back so it wouldn’t be trying to do too much in a short space.
(I feel obligated to add that “Someone to Share My Nightmares” includes a single use of an ableist slur, which is not included in the content warnings at the back of the book. I understand this may be a cultural difference as I am British, and I’m told that word isn’t considered as offensive in the USA.)
The second entry in this collection; “Petal, Page, Piel”, served as welcome contrast in its brevity. It’s very unfortunate that it immediately follows “Someone to Share My Nightmares”. This is about Hanna, who is putting together a book in memory of her lover Seth. I might have liked this a lot more had I not just read “Someone to Share My Nightmares”, but I was still carrying my disappointment and thoughts on that and as a result I don’t have much to say about this. It is short but effective, it delivers well on the horror side of the theme.
“Bump in the Night” is notable as the only explicitly queer story here, as well as the only comedy. It has a fun cheesy porno setup, as Tasha the witch calls a plumber one evening as her pipes need a good seeing-to. But Connie the plumber unknowingly brings something with her that might throw a wrench in Tasha’s plans. I am always game for a bit of silliness, but after the introduction of Tasha and Connie the story felt so rushed there wasn’t any space for me to have fun reading it.
“Metal Meticulous” stands out as the only poem included, and it tells a Pygmalion-esque tale about a man creating a woman to conform to his specific desires. I enjoyed this poem as an isolated piece; however I don’t feel it fits the theme of this collection. Patriarchy and female rebellion are always rich veins to mine through art, that I have no objection to, but there is no sensuality to be found here. The crafter builds his woman, but she is not his woman, he is cold and practical in his work, he doesn’t long for a woman who won’t “speak too harsh”. It is taken for granted that that is how a woman must be.
Sadly, I have the same issue with “The Parrot”. I really do like it as a story, I’m just unsure of what it’s doing in a horror-romance collection. It delivers the horror and delivers it well, but there is no romance or sensuality to speak of here. “The Parrot” is told from the perspective of Chris, who has only just been widowed and is left alone surrounded by reminders of his wife Melinda, particularly her little Alexa-style home assistant device called Parrot. Chris was an abusive husband, and he is seething with rage that she has escaped his control through death and resentful of the brilliance she had in life independent of him. Again, I like this story, but there is no hint of attraction or affection ever having existed between Chris and Melinda. I know how extremely sensitive this topic is, but I do think horror-romance could provide a fascinating angle from which to explore abusive relationships – the abuser who believes they’re acting out of love, the victim who chooses to stay, or where passion turns to possessiveness – and I really wish it was touched on here.
“Candy” once again serves to demonstrate that a simple concept done well is better than a complex piece not fully realised. Short and sweet, about one woman and her love of Valentine’s Day truffles.
“The Sharps” on the other hand, is another one I had trouble with. A marine biologist is trapped alone in a cabin by strange aquatic monsters she calls, “the sharps”, until a strange man happens to stumble by as well. The problem I had here is that I like the setup; two strangers trapped together by bloodthirsty monsters, but the monsters remained the main thrust of the story even after the love interest is introduced. The developing relationship between Camila and Joseph feels like something of an afterthought to me.
“You Promised Me Forever” - The mundane ups and downs of a relationship, but what if the couple were immortal vampires? Falling out of love even when you only have each other? It could be so painfully beautiful. That makes it even more disappointing that it felt like the beginning of a much longer story, just as I was relaxed and keen to find out what happens next, it ended.
“‘Tis Better to Want” - The final entry and highlight of this collection, Taylor has written sex in the previous stories, but this is the first time she has ventured into the pornographic, and I won’t lie; it’s hot. If it’s wrong to find this Krampus sexy, I don’t want to be right. This was what I wanted from this collection. I was happy to finish the book on a positive note, though unfortunately it did not make up for my disappointment with the rest of it.
If I’ve been unduly harsh here, it’s because there’s actually a lot in this book I like, and that makes me all the more frustrated with what I see as unrealised potential. Taylor’s skill is obvious, and I will certainly check out more of her work in future, but this one to me felt underbaked.
Grade: C
I received a copy of this book from the author.
Review by Dai Baddley
Twitter @PreparetoDai
