The fact that V. Castro is a two-time Bram Stoker Award winner and the fact that I have no idea who V. Castro is (never read anything by them), shows how out of the loop I am with horror fiction, other than what might be hyped by the big publishers. (Which is not to say I don’t enjoy Grady Hendrix, Stephen King, Catriona Ward, and many others, because I do.)
I was drawn to this book for a number of reasons. 1) I am a fan of short fiction. 2) I really do enjoy dark and/or horror fiction. 3) The title. Seriously – something about a Pink Agave Motel already sets such an odd, quirky tone. Yes, anything can happen, and probably will, in a Pink Agave Motel.
When I got to finally reading this collection, I had forgotten that it was from a Bram Stoker Award winner and likely dark, horror stories, though that became pretty obvious with each tale. But what I wasn’t sure about was whether or not this had been billed as a collection of erotic tales, because some of these stories were deeply, darkly erotic.
I liked a lot of the stories here (though not all of them) but I don’t think there was a favorite or any one that was significantly more impressive.
“Carnival of Gore” really sets a dark tone for the book. It’s hard to imagine it could get darker – or sexier.
“Bruja Barbie and Her Ken” seems particularly fitting given the recent (as I write this) Barbie movie.
“Shrouded” was one of the first stories that I highlighted. Short and dark and quite well written.
“Full Nude” struck me as a work of flash fiction, but again, very well written. I dare say this was ‘cute.’
“Corpus Christi Nights” was spicy, hot, and funny. My note to myself in my Kindle was simply “Wow.”
The final two stories in the collection, “Tres Leches Told by The Baker from Dark Delights” and “Snake Hips” were both very dark and very sensual (though not sexual). I’m not a fan of second person narrative, so “Snake Hips” didn’t work quite as well for me.
Perhaps my least favorite work was the titular The Pink Agave Motel. Perhaps this was because it was a longer work (more novella or short novel rather than a short story) and I was definitely in the mood for, and enjoying, shorter works. Still, I found this collection quite delightful and a good showcase of the author’s talent. I may not have been familiar with Castro before reading this, but I’m definitely going to see our more of her work.
A side note – as I grabbed the cover of the book from Goodreads to paste on my blog, I couldn’t help see the relatively low rating and a number of low ratings and reviews for the book. I’m quite disheartened by this as I truly think this a wonderful collection of stories that showcase dark eroticism. I can’t help but wonder if some people just aren’t used to reading short fiction. And the style of work is most definitely not everyone’s cup of tea.
This book contains the following:
“The Four Horsemen Inn”
“Bruja Barbie and Her Ken”
“The Last Halloween”
“Only Fans”
“Shrouded”
“Full Nude”
“Dirty Deck”
“Burning Beds”
“Corpus Christi Nights”
“Mako”
The Pink Gave Motel
“Love Bites”
“Infatuation”
“Sorcery”
“The Escape”
“Property Hunt”
“Forget Me Nots”
“The Winemaker”
“Wine Tasting”
“To the Death”
“Awakening”
“Excerpts from Victim of Love by Monique Culebra”
“Tres Leches Told by the Baker from Dark Delights”
“Snake Hips”
Looking for a good book? The Pink Agave Motel: And Other Stories, by V. Castro, is a very good collection of short stories that are dark, devious, and often extremely erotic. It’s well worth a read.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
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The Pink Agave Motel: And Other Stories
author: V. Castro
publisher: CLASH Books
ISBN: 9781960988300
paperback, 244 pages
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