PIHM Book Review: Unreal Sex

Unreal Sex is a very short but very sweet anthology of queer erotica with sci-fi and horror themes. When I say it’s short, I do mean it. This little book clocks in at only about 120 pages, but given the subject matter, I think it works. I will admit I am not a regular consumer of erotica, primarily because of my (possibly incorrect) belief that the genre is overwhelmingly cishet.

Unreal Sex, on the other hand, couldn’t be more queer or more weird.

Out of the ten stories featured, I was only familiar with the one author; Alison Rumfitt, who wrote the brilliant Tell Me I’m Worthless. Here, once again, she delves into the transgressive transfeminine with “Boy in Maid Outfit Found Dead Handcuffed to Radiator in Girlboss’ Basement 11/08/2024”. This is the final story in the volume and it ends it on a suitably strange note. Rumfitt’s name alone would have sold me on it, but there is a lot to enjoy in the stories.

“Swipe Right for Non-Humans” by Gracie Beswick has a lonely astronaut exploring her sexuality beyond gender and beyond what humans have to offer. This one is cute, the most “wholesome”, for lack of a better term, out of this anthology. Its protagonist, Hannah, is an ordinary young woman who just wants to get laid, and she’s out there discovering herself along the way. Despite being about aliens, it’s very relatable.

Meanwhile, “The Ghostly Cruiser” by Rachel Dawson, is much more close to home. Quick and dirty fisting from a ghost at the side of a Welsh country road. Of course, I am going to be biased here due to the Welsh connection, but I love this one. It’s raw and it’s intimate as fucking a ghostly stranger can be. It’s two women separated by time and united by pleasure.

The last story I want to give a special mention to is “Anima Kingdom” by Diriye Osman. It is the least fantastical in its subject matter in this anthology, and the one that touches most on real-life issues. “Anima Kingdom” is about two queer Somali immigrants, Migil and Kayd, who happen to be neighbours living in London. It touches on the immigrant experience, what it is to be Black and Queer, and even what it is to be a refugee. But it is never weighed down by the weight of these topics, and Migil is thriving in his black queer family, and shares this joy with Kayd.

Unreal Sex is a great little anthology with a broad range of voices from across the Queer community, and I hope to see many more like it in future.

Review by Dai Baddley

I purchased this ebook directly from Cipher Press