tales from the freakboy zone…: Dark Excursions first set

Showing posts with label Dark Excursions first set. Show all posts

Thursday, August 22, 2024

booking freakboy: ABNORMALS ANONYMOUS by Stella Gray

I haven’t been this disappointed in a book since DOROTHY MUST DIE by Danielle Paige. The terrific “Real Princess of Oz” trailers promised readers a campy-bitchy fun trip down the Yellow Brick Road…

…but we ended up with a painfully long and tedious prologue disguised as a novel. I wasn’t even aware DOROTHY MUST DIE was going to be a series when I wasted my time with it, so the non-ending sent me through the emerald roof! Hey, I know what you’re thinking, but at least I called my debut ebook “DARK EXCURSIONS: first set” so readers would expect and/or dread more installments!
As for my latest dive into Vintage Gay Pulp Fiction…

The cover of abnormals anonymous by Stella Gray shows a man wearing a skirt while knitting. A brunette woman dressed in pants and a man’s shirt. A blond woman leans against a television set while wearing pants and a sweater while smoking a cigar. Text reads, Never had so desperate a group of human beings banded together ... abnormals anonymous.

1964, National Library Books

From the potentially offensive alliterative title and the gender nonconformity of its cover, I thought ABNORMALS ANONYMOUS by Stella Gray was going to be a fun, wildly crazy, non-pc look at LGBTQ+ life in the mid-1960’s. It sure as hell started out as I imagined and I was loving it! Two siblings, Kurt and Bill Rockne are causing Clint, their conservative, strait-laced father, grief by their “abnormal” desires. Kurt is allegedly hetero-centric, but allows his family to believe he’s queer after he was seen in one gay bar. He perpetuates this supposed ruse by hanging out with drag queens. The author never really explores the character, but it seems like there is more going on with Kurt. I mean, would a straight man in 1964 pretend to be attracted to men for no real reason? I think not! Bill, a more fully realized character, is all masculine swagger with new wife Prissy, a voluptuous firecracker of a woman. The thing is, Bill and Prissy had one of those “Gay Village Weddings” because Prissy is bisexual and Bill is biologically a woman.

I did not see that gender-bending twist coming and then things got wilder and crazier! Kurt and Prissy have the hots for each other and Bill agrees to let them sleep together if it means Prissy will “cure” Kurt of his homosexual tendencies. While Kurt and Prissy are getting busy, a drag queen named Leslie arrives and demands to see Kurt. Bill won’t allow Leslie to interrupt Kurt’s chance at straightness, so the solid sibling physically struggles with the determined drag queen. With Bill dressed in traditionally male clothing and Leslie all dolled-up as a feminine woman, the struggle turns to passion.

Clint couldn’t be happier that his offspring have finally tasted the “normalcy” of hetero love, even if Bill’s experience was still kinda bent. Their step onto the straight and narrow path inspires the siblings to take their father’s advice and start an “Abnormals Anonymous” meeting. Bill agrees to head the meeting and the agenda is ostensibly to help the queer community act straight in front of biological family and at their workplaces. As I said, it’s 1964, so really the ultimate goal is to make heterosexuals out of all of them. The first meeting is spectacular with various LGBTQ+ representation. A highlight is when several members brazenly call out the meeting’s bullshit and proudly leave in all of their queer glory! 🏳️‍🌈

Teaser page of abnormals anonymous by Stella gray reads, The first meeting.... "... Girls-of both sexesand fellows of both sexes. Gather round and listen to me a minute. I've got a cool idea I think you're going to dig. You see, we're starting this club— and we want to welcome all of you as members. "Sounds marvellous," Sidney gushed. "I'm all for it." "There are fifteen of us," Bill told the assembled group, "three butches, four fems, two swishes, two misters, a pair of chums, and a pair of pals. This club is not going to force anybody to change. The idea is to help members only as much as they want to be helped. If you're only interested in learning to act straight in public, nobody's going to twist your arm to go further. But if you want to switch to the opposite sex, we'll help you there, too. It'll be a kind of group therapy." "But I don't want to change!" shouted the beautiful Roberta, a notorious Lesbian. "I’m happy the way I am!" All at once there were fierce arguments all over the room. The gray-haired Clint Rockne looked on in deep despair. He was footing the bill for Abnormals Anonymous for just one reason-his own children, the worst abnormals in the lot!...

Teaser page at the beginning of the book.

That is pretty much the last enjoyable moment in the book. It suddenly becomes all about random hetero strangers showing up to the meetings with kinks and fetishes as their “abnormal” issues. Bill and the gang help a sexually frustrated Peeping Tom, a masochist and a borderline necrophiliac who needs the woman to remain perfectly still during sex. All of this was sort of interesting but seemed more like a distraction from the real plot and was not what the cover promised! However, if I had read the back of the book, I would’ve realized what I was getting into.

The back cover of abnormals anonymous by Stella Gray shows the front cover tinted in red, with an excerpt from the book that reads, "Don't turn on the light. If she looked this way and saw us sitting in the window, she'd draw her blinds," Prissy said. “There she is, Tom. She’s getting up. She’ll be getting ready for bed soon.” "Wonderful," he said. "It's much closer than I thought it'd be. I've never had such a splendid view. This is a peeper's paradise.” "I know. Isn't this exciting? Just wait, you will see how beautiful she is without all those clothes." “Gosh, prissy, I believe you're enjoying this as much as I am.” "Naturally. Remember, I'm a Lesbian. The club hasn't yet changed me enough to keep me from getting a kick out of watching a good-looking woman taking off her clothes..."

Anyhoo, after all the kink freaks are dealt with, Bill decides to continue to dress an act in a traditionally male way, but Leslie has forsaken his drag persona and is now a “real man.” Then, in the most horrifically disturbing part of this book, Bill and Leslie fight it out over who will be dominant. To add to this already triggering scene, Clint, Kurt and Prissy are cheering on Leslie to beat Bill into womanly submission and he does. Bill agrees to wear dresses again and be called by the previously discarded birth name “Billie.” To add insult to injury, there is a triple straight wedding ceremony between Kurt & Prissy, Billie & Leslie, and Clint & Mattie, the gorgeous family cook. I was hoping the cook would be revealed as a biological male, but nope, she’s a woman. Then the very last page made me wonder if the author was ultimately trying to show how straight people are just as “abnormal” and sex-hungry as queer people. If that is what it’s supposed to mean, I say, too little too late!

The final page of abnormals anonymous by Stella gray reads, "I love you, Mattie." "And I love you, you great big red-blooded hunk of normal manhood. You're right, Clint, it's great to be straight." Clint was too busy tearing the last shreds of the cotton dress from her body to answer. THE END

In conclusion… I won ABNORMALS ANONYMOUS through an overpriced eBay auction, and no, I won’t tell you the amount of my accidental winning bid. Let’s just say it had been a long time since I actually had to compete at an auction and I thought the price was far lower as I clicked the button which adds a dollar to the current highest bid. So the double moral for today is…

Be careful what you bid on, because you just might win it…and…don’t judge a book by its awesome cover!

Freak Out,

JLH

P.S. click a pic ⤵️ to read about far superior Vintage Gay Pulp Fiction…

Cover of desire in the shadows by Joe Leon Huston

Cover of death of a transvestite by edward d. Wood, jr.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

My queer words are available from an Amazon near you…

Screenshot of John L Harmon’s amazon author page shows a photo of the author in sunglasses with groovy red and black rings surrounding him. Text reads, About the author. My queer words...before and after a loss of vision.

Sunday, March 19, 2023

A Decade of Dinkel (the 10th anniversary of “DARK EXCURSIONS: first set”)

Calling myself out
Stepping into light
Without a thought or plan
Just a dream held tight
-excerpt from 2013, a poem from VISION BENT (half-blind poems)

It was March 19th, 2013 when I called myself out as an indie author and stepped into light with the release of my first ebook.

The ebook cover for Dark excursions first set shows a pool of blood on a marble floor

DARK EXCURSIONS: first set was out in the world and I was simultaneously excited and terrified. I wondered if anyone would read my soap opera tale of murder, manipulation and lust. Then, when a few copies were downloaded, I worried what the readers would think. Would they understand? Would they enjoy it? Would they think it’s utter crap?

Thankfully, the years have brought some positive reviews. I try to wear those kind words as a shield from the cricket-chirping silence from other readers. I interpret silence as having nothing good to say, but those quiet readers don’t matter. If they don’t get my story, then they don’t get me.

Now, ten years later, those readers who get me are still here providing support and encouragement. This means the world to me and I can’t thank you enough. You’ve made the last ten years worth it and will make the next ten years even better.

To celebrate the 10th Anniversary of DARK EXCURSIONS: first set, I seriously considered unpublishing the ebook, but that was born from a dark moment of self-doubt. Instead, I put together a hardcover edition and this rather spiffy looking book is available from an Amazon near you.

The hardcover edition of DARK EXCURSIONS: first set, by john L. Harmon is displayed with mad scientist glasses and other books

My proof copy is obviously not for resale

So, thank you for loving Dinkel, the one-armed gardener and loving to hate Anapola Van Der Van, the manipulative matriarch. They are two of my favorite emotionally damaged characters and are waiting to be discovered by new sets of eyes and rediscovered by familiar ones.

Thank you for reading or listening to any and all of my words over these last 10 years.

Freak Out,
JLH

P.S. Read the origin of DARK EXCURSIONS…
https://freakboyzone.blogspot.com/2015/04/whipping-midnight-oil-excursion-behind.html

Sunday, March 13, 2022

DARK EXCURSIONS (my dream cast)

Gill of Realweegiemidget Reviews is getting ready to read my modern take on gothic romance, which is exciting and a bit nerve-wracking for me. That’s how I always get when someone announces they are reading one of my books. Anyhoo, she asked which actors I would cast if DARK EXCURSIONS became a film or TV series. This wasn’t the easiest question to answer, but I thought I would give it a shot.

So, for better or for worse, meet my dream cast of DARK EXCURSIONS…

(NOTE - age of actors may not completely fit with characters)

Anapola Van Der Van - Nicole Kidman

(I had her in mind as the manipulative matriarch while writing the book)

Crop Hoppins- Colin Farrell

(He would exude the former stable boy’s roguish charm and sizzling sensuality)

Cheryl Van Der Van - Lili Reinhart

(This RIVERDALE actor would perfectly circumnavigate Cheryl’s emotional growth as she confronts the past)

Dinkel - Josh Hutcherson

(I think this HUNGER GAMES actor would easily express the one-armed gardener’s strength and vulnerability)

Xylem Smith - Timothy Olyphant

(For some reason, his role in SANTA CLARITA DIET made me imagine him as the busy businessman)

Luchia Diego-Smith - Salma Hayek

(She would expertly bring out the fierceness and loneliness of this rich housewife)

Ivan Kramnik - Alexander Skarsgård

(He would be brazen, intimidating and sexy as the Russian tennis instructor)

Dr. Jannette Parker - Gal Gadot

(Intelligent, statuesque and mysterious…this WONDER WOMAN actor would be perfect as the psychiatrist harboring a life-altering secret)

Father John Francis - Tobey Maguire

(Well, if I can’t play the less than faithful priest, then the SPIDER-MAN actor will do nicely)

Sister Beatrice Cross - Naomi Watts

(I pictured her as this sweet, but determined nun when writing the book)

Peter Obelisk - Ross Lynch

(This CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA actor looks the part of Xylem’s chauffeur, at least in my mind)

Sheriff Mick Webb - Sam Rockwell

(He would bring sympathy to this sad, down on his luck lawman)

Well, that’s my dream cast. Hope you found it interesting. There are a few more characters, but I’ll let Gill and other readers cast them.

For more about Gill and her extremely entertaining entertainment blog, click the pic ⤵️ to experience an eye-opening interview… 👁

For more info or to order a copy of DARK EXCURSIONS, click the pic…⤵️

"The character development is quite simply brilliant." - Amazon reader review. Available from Amazon

Thank you for reading or listening to my half-blind words!

And a huge THANK YOU to Gill!!!

Freak Out,

JLH

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Don’t forget to check out my recent blog serial…⤵️

Saturday, March 30, 2019

Interview with a freakboy...(or wrapping up March)

Is March really almost over? This month has zipped by, yet the first day of March somehow feels like forever ago. Ah, our fluid perception of time never ceases to amaze me. I will have to ask The Doctor about such wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff in June, but more about that in the near future.

From the JLH archive:

The original cover of DARK EXCURSIONS: first set. (March 2013)

I've predominately blogged about the sixth anniversary of DARK EXCURSIONS: first set and the release of the paperback edition of VISION BENT, with a brief detour through Stepford. So, I wasn't certain how to summarize March without sounding repetitive. I wasn't certain, that is, until a fellow blogger requested an interview with me. Well, I couldn't say no to him and my extremely exclusive fan club. (slips on shades & acts aloof while sipping an Orange-Vanilla Coke)

As a perfect ending to a busy month, here is the link to the in-depth interview of this freakboy conducted by Dave for his always entertaining blog My Gay Opinion...

http://www.mygayopinion.com/3178/john-l-harmons-vision-bent/

Thank you for reading or listening to the interview and for all the support over the last six years!

VISION BENT goes to the library. (March 2019)

Also, a huge thanks to Dave for popping my interview cherry. Yes, it was good for me, but he probably ruined my future interviews. Sure, chatting with Graham Norton or John Oliver would be fun, but it just wouldn't be the same penetrating experience I had on MGO.

Freak Out,

JLH

P.S. Here is a lovely photo of VISION BENT, with DARK EXCURSIONS sneaking into the shot, that I received from a reader in Paris, France!

Yes, my European Invasion continues!

https://thejlhcollective.blogspot.com/2019/02/vision-bent-half-blind-poems-trailer.html