Victor J. Banis (1937–2019)

At the beginning of "The Gay Haunt", formerly gay Paul is having a dinner party for his new fiancée Margo, his boss' daughter when a strangely familiar appears out of nowhere. A strangely naked man, too, however no one but Paul seems to notice him. Trying to regain his composure, Paul excuses himself from the party and hides away in his bedroom, locking the door behind him, stretching out on the bed and closing his eyes. Only then does he recognize the naked man: his former lover Lorin. But show more that would be impossible because Lorin passed away a few years ago. Even more shocking is when he opens his eyes to see a naked Lorin standing over him with a huge grin on his face.

Through a series of comedic and very bawdy -- VERY bawdy -- adventures, Lorin leads Paul on a romp of self re-discovery, re-visiting old memories and friends while trying to show Paul that he can't change his nature, that doing so would only be lying to himself and to others. It's actually very funny, in a 1970's sex-comedy-meets-"Ghost" kind of way.

I enjoyed the adventures of Paul and Lorin, their interactions with other characters, and just the simple fun of the book. With Banis' writing I found it very easy to picture all the events (ahem), and though it took place during the early 1970s, it didn't come across as dated. And what a surprise to find it has a happy ending for the gay characters. No one committing suicide because they're oppressed by how society views them or killed outright because they're gay. It's a sexy, fun book -- not for everyone -- but good to read. show less

My two friends that supply me with tons of these books just handed me this and said, "We haven't read it yet. Thought you could be our guinea pig". Not sure if that was intended to express my great evaluation of literature or if they were expressing something that I might not want to examine too closely. Nonetheless...read it I did...and I liked it. I felt rather sorry for poor Tom. He was not expecting Stanly or the effect that Stanly had on him. He thought it was a bad case of indigestion show more but Pepcid was not helping any and every time Stanly looked at him he had to take some more. Them working that out was almost as good as the rest of the story. In Deadly Nightshade, we are introduced to the transgender world of San Francisco and certain parts are an eye opener for me....since I didn't know much about the transgender population. The story is layered with suspense and I never guessed the murderer. As for the ending, it is one exciting climax. I'm going to tell my two friends they can purchase book #2 anytime now. show less

NEIGHBORS by Victor J. Banis is a short story that says a lot. Linda is married to Ray but the luster of marriage has dimmed. She hears that her new neighbor Amy is a lesbian and she is intrigued but fears Ray’s reaction if she pursues a relationship with Amy. Ray is crude in his words and Linda does not want to be embarrassed by him. But she wonders what would happen if she is just neighborly with Linda.

While NEIGHBORS is short, Victor J. Banis says so much in it. No word is superfluous. show more Each is important to portray what Linda’s life is like with Ray and to let us into her thoughts, wishes, hopes. I loved NEIGHBORS. It made me think of what happens inside a person and how much is bottled up from fear of saying what is important and being misinterpreted and ridiculed. I could not walk away without thinking of the similarities in my life. show less

This one's darker than the first book Deadly Nightshade, dealing with family issues, homophobia within and without and Tom's realization that even if he can't say "I love you" to Stanley, he's getting closer to doing so. I like the way this series is progressing.