Red Caps: New Fairy Tales for Out of the Ordinary Readers by Steve Berman

Red Caps: New Fairy Tales for Out of the Ordinary Readers Reviews

• 
  Mir

  My favorite story was "The Harvestbuck." So many different horror elements playing smoothly together! I would love to see this turned into a longer work. Poor Brent.
  
  My second favorite was "Only Lost Boys are Found." Love those liminal elements and complicated sibling relationships.
  
  I liked most of the other stories, except the one with the musical numbers. Was it supposed to be Glee or something? I haven't seen Glee.
  
  That story, "Gommorahs of the Deep," and a couple others ("Persimmon, Teeth, Boys" eg) had a common element that bothered me. They seemed to be suggesting that it's not enough to be self-accepting or even out, that gay people are obligated to some performance of being overtly gay. Maybe (hopefully) I misunderstood this.
  
  Anyway, a solid collection.
  
  Most of the stories included were originally published elsewhere:
  "Only Lost Boys are Found"
  Speaking Out: LGBTQ Youth Stand Up
  "Most Likely"
  Boys of Summer
  "Thimbleriggery"
  The Beastly Bride: Tales of the Animal People
  "Persimmon, Teeth, Boys"
  Glitterwolf: Issue 4
  "Steeped in Debt"
  Willful Impropriety: 13 Tales of Society, Scandal and Romance
  "Bittersweet" Journal of Mythic Arts, Summer 2007
  "Three on a Match" Strange Horizons 10/14
  "Worse than Alligators" The Dark #3
  "Gommorahs of the Deep"
  Best Gay Romance 2012
  "All Smiles"
  Teeth: Vampire Tales
  
• 
  Larry Benjamin

  Some writers can write “It was a clear blue sky.” Other writers can look at that same sky and carve a description out of fire and music. Steve Berman is one of those writers.
  
  The characters in the individual stories in "Red Caps" don’t just jump off the page; they dance. And as they dance around you, they spin their tale they pull back the curtain on a world you didn’t know existed. Quite simply reading this book is a transcendent experience. I expect great things from Mr. Berman.
  
• 
  Hilcia

  Do you know what I love about Steve Berman's young adult stories? His characters always come across as young adults, neither too young nor too old. And, whether his short stories are strictly contemporary, speculative fiction or fairy tales, the core of the queer themes have weight and meaning, and there's always a sense of fun to be found in them -- creepy, adventurous, romantic, weird, fun. Their endings vary from the happy to the memorable, to the twisty weird, but as a whole they usually have a positive message.
  
  That's what you will find in Red Caps: New Fairy Tales for Out of the Ordinary Readers. Thirteen stories where today's queer youth face contemporary issues, except that in most of them there's a sprinkle of magic, a dose of the unexplained, encounters with ghosts and/or mythological beings, loads of imagination, a bit of horror here and there, and plenty of atmosphere to reel the reader in. Add fifty original illustrations contributed by thirteen different artists and you have a stand out collection that any young adult (or lover of LGBT YA literature) would be proud to own.
  
  All of Berman's stories have something to offer. For example, "The Harvestbuck" has an ambiguous ending, yet it is one of the most atmospheric, hair-raising yarns in this collection. "Three on a Match," on the other hand becomes riveting due to the plot's evolution and ending. "Worse than Alligators" is a horror piece that begins with a fun, relaxed atmosphere that evolves into a nightmare. And "Gomorrahs of the Deep, a Musical Coming Someday to Off-Broadway" is Berman's musical! Yes, he wrote a musical about Melville and Moby Dick that is both creative and amusing.
  
  There are also two fantasy fairy tales, "Thimbleriggery and Fledlings" is infused with magic. In it, the wizard's daughter finds freedom through self-confidence. And in "Steeped in Debt to the Chimney-pots," a quasi-Victorian piece, an ex-chimney boy steals from the fairy folk and falls for one of them. I was swept away into the world of this fairy tale, and loved the illustrations that fit this piece to perfection.
  
  With one exception, all the stories in this collection have been previously published in anthologies and/or magazines. The only original piece, "A Calenture of the Jungle" begins with two young Jewish girls, one with too much imagination and the other with none, falling into a sort of frantic attraction fueled by role play, and evolves into an adventure with a twisty role-reversal, ending in a feverish dream-like madness where the narrator's imagination overtakes reality.
  
  I do have particular favorites, one of them is "Cruel Movember," the only strictly contemporary young adult piece included. In this great piece boyfriends Beau and Easton learn the importance of communication in a relationship and how to lend support and understanding during rough times when during the month of November, Easton participates in the Movember mustache-wearing charity, causing havoc in school and embarrassing Beau.
  
  In "Persimmon, Teeth and Boys," another favorite, Cecil, a nerdy black high school kid who has dealt with labels throughout high school, seeks help from a twisted tooth sprite and gains clarity about those labels and awareness about the attraction he feels for bright, brave, out and proud Bergen. "Bittersweet," another contemporary young adult piece with just a hint of magic, highlights relationships and confidence-building through two boys dealing with health problems as one goes into surgery and both suffer from fear and doubts.
  
  I previously read and loved the following three stories and that still holds. I still believe "All Smiles" is a fantastic young adult speculative fiction piece with a hint of horror, great action and a wonderful ending. "Most Likely," a contemporary romance-based story with a speculative fiction flavor is memorable for the great sibling relationship and sweet ending.
  
  And, the collection ends with the magnificently spun "Only Lost Boys are Found." Beautifully illustrated by Brian Britigan, this is a rescue adventure that takes the reader through a winding world of closets, where kids may hide or find a door to freedom while encountering pirates, ninjas, remorseful siblings, friends or boyfriends, and where reality and fantasy are seamlessly woven into my very favorite short story by Steve Berman. Recommended.
• 
  Jean Roberta

  Here is a teenage boy’s description of his friend’s Stepfather from Hell in “The Harvestbuck,” a story in Steve Berman’s single-author collection:
  
  “As I make a sharp turn, the wheels kicking up bone-white sand, the headlights wash over a figure standing among the trees.
  
  Rick’s ranger uniform is filthy and unbuttoned. He’s tied sticks to his head. They can’t be real antlers. He’s grinning at me. “Heard you like black boys, Sean. Come back soon for Brent—he’ll be a right Jack of Spades when we’re done with him.” He laughs.
  
  I tremble and floor the Jeep at Rick. The wheels sputter in the loose sand. He’s gone. Gone but I hear his laughter behind me as I’m driving too fast down this little path.”
  
  Is the narrator hallucinating? Is Rick actually a demon, or the Horned God? The reader can never be absolutely sure, but anyone who remembers adolescence will recognize the menacing adult, the spooky atmosphere in the woods at night, and the reckless driving.
  
  This collection of thirteen uncanny stories is hard to classify as “young adult” because it seems suitable for adults in general, but the central characters are all young and queer. Most are serving time in high school, hoping to survive long enough to reach the age of majority while coping with real and metaphorical monsters.
  
  The Red Caps in the title are an elusive band that are always off-stage, but the narrators of the stories collect souvenirs of them, such as red caps. The name also suggests a euphemistic term for pills which could cause hallucinations.
  
  In “Most Likely,” Roque and his sister Leo are trapped indoors by rain while spending summer vacation at the beach. Looking at a magical school yearbook, Roque discovers that the captions say what his classmates actually think. This might be considered the sign of a curse, but the unexpected honesty leads Roque into the car (and the arms) of the boy he has a crush on, who has come to the beach to find him.
  
  Teenage fickleness has its place in these stories, as in “Bittersweet,” in which Dault runs around with the “gingerbread boy” while his boyfriend Jerrod is grounded by foot surgery. The title of “Three on a Match” says it all.
  
  By far the funniest story in the batch is “Gomorrahs of the Deep, a Musical Coming Someday to Off-Broadway.” Greg, the narrator, has a boyfriend in school, and their relationship is tolerated by their classmates and teachers. However, Greg doesn’t want to push his luck. He is alarmed when his boyfriend announces his plan for a presentation in English class:
  
  “I’m going to do a whole presentation—not some sixth-grader’s book report—on the homoeroticism in Moby Dick.”
  
  Greg tells him: “You might as well sing it.” This is the cue to turn the rest of the story into a kind of musical comedy.
  
  Two stories that are fantasy from beginning to end, and not necessarily about teenagers in a modern sense, are “Thimbleriggery and Fledglings” (a lesbian retelling of the Swan Lake story) and “Steeped in Debt to the Chimney Pots” (an ambitious, atmospheric tale about a hard-luck young man who falls in with bad company—the fairy folk—in Victorian London). These two stories are well worth reading, but they seem only marginally related to the stories about magic that arises from the ordeals of contemporary teenage life.
  
  These stories are accompanied by illustrations by various artists which could have been drawn in notebooks by several of the young narrators. Altogether, this collection is greater than the sum of its parts. It will suck you in like a phantom lover or a dream that seems more real than your waking life. The storyteller’s magic still works.
  
• 
  Jake

  Am I the only one here feeling incredibly swayed by that blurb? That blurb is too tempting. Now to locate the book and buy it....
  
  (UPDATE)
  So I finally got it. I really enjoyed a lot of the stories but I found a couple to be incredibly dispiriting. Even that would have been fine but I felt the fey element was kind of watered down and we never got to meet these mysterious Red Cap band! But it was good writing and the art was intriguing aswell. Some of it was overly simple and more line with basic tones but others were quite a bit more complex.
  I do confess to rounding up my rating by 0.5 out of an appreciation for some of the stories inside. What was amusing was the two stories I really enjoyed were the one with Amelia who lacked imagination and Odile the maiden who wished to learn her fathers skills and be free.
• 
  Jesse

  Steve Berman's collection of loosely connected gay fantasy stories is excellent, full of sublime writing and imaginative stories. While I enjoyed his novel "Vintage," I felt that it was a bit hampered by the restrictions of the YA format. Not so here. With these stories Berman lets loose, and within them touches on the same themes of alienated gay teens he explored in "Vintage," but with a much more satisfyingly complex air. Though they are all fantasy, the stories are diverse, with some playing fast and loose with form, utilizing things such as surrealism, rhyming verse, and 2nd person perspective. Some are relatively straight modern drama, some are antiquated fantasy, some are magical realism, but they're all fascinating and exciting visions of young gay men and women, and I'm ecstatic that Steve Berman is such a talented writer.
• 
  Anthony

  My review of this appears on the Strange Horizons website:
  http://www.strangehorizons.com/review...
  
  And individual story reviews are appearing daily at:
  http://365shortstories.livejournal.co...
• 
  Nikki

  I loved this book and the grittiness of the settings and characters. Check out my full review at
  http://bookalicious.org/2014/04/revie...
• 
  Kat C

  I nice little collection of GLBT+ stories, most falling under boy&boy but a few others feature other combinations as well. Personally the strength of each tale is hit or miss individually but over all a solid collection. Worth reading if you like fairy tale aspects mixed in with modern day teens.
• 
  Elisa Rolle

  2014 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention (5* from at least 1 judge)
  
• 
  Jerry L. Wheeler

  Everyone remembers Grimm’s Fairy Tales–or at least sanitized versions of the stories in that book. Steve Berman must have read them as well. Though his collection of YA stories (many previously anthologized), Red Caps, isn’t quite as disturbing as Grimm’s, it certainly doesn’t stint on realism even when disguised as fantasy. But that makes these tales all the more worth telling…it’s the last story, “Only Lost Boys are Found,” that best summarizes this collection. Elements of spec-fic are wrapped around a tentative story of love, exposure, and “firsts” to create a truly engaging story. It blends those elements of fantasy and reality into a heady brew whose side effect is that you immediately want to run to the computer to see if you can create something as wonderful. And perhaps you can. Until then, there’s Red Caps.
• 
  Alix Long

  As the book was an American edition, I LOVED the size of the book and the wonderfully floppy pages. Luckily enough for me, the inside of the book was just as beautiful as the outside. From the first page, I fell in love with Berman's writing and the way he created such fantastic scenes and characters. Unusually for a YA book, Berman's short stories featured such an amazingly diverse range of characters- different sexual orientations, races, religions and genders. This was so refreshing as I'm so used to reading about straight, white people in YA- and Red Caps completely contravened this.
  
  I absolutely loved ALL of the characters, and for a change they also appeared like young adults- not too young, not too old. It appeared as if Berman really understood young people, and wanted to treat their feelings, lives and experiences with respect. All of the stories had weight and meaning, and also there was always the little twist of magic and supernaturalism (as they were fairytales) in between. In each story, Berman grapples with contemporary issues, and what it's like to grow up in a world that is not always accepting of each individual. The result is a fantastic set of YA short stories, that are better than the 'old fairy tales' in the sense that they make 'being different' that much more exciting.
  
  To be perfectly honest, I enjoyed some stories more than others, and that is why I gave this book 3.5 stars. Although I recognised that this was a book of modern fairytales, I actually preferred the stories with limited supernaturalism. That might be because I prefer contemporary to fantasy any day, but I also found it easier to connect to the story and the characters, when the story was like your average contemporary YA. However, I did finish every story, and I came away at the end of the book having thoroughly enjoyed the collection as a whole :) Also, can I just point out that this book has ILLUSTRATIONS?! Gorgeous ones at that. I really wish YA as a genre included more illustrations, because the illustrations in Red Caps really brought this book to life.
  
  I would highly recommend Steve Berman's Red Caps if you love fairytales, if you want to get into reading short stories, or if you fancy reading something a bit different, with characters you are sure to adore.
• 
  Cheyenne Blue

  This collection of queer fairytales started with a bang, adhering to the principle of starting a collection with your strongest stories. I loved the opening trio of stories in this anthology, with their strong writing, creepy theme (in Harvestbuck) and great characterization. Unfortunately, as I got further in, I found some of the stories to be less compelling, and somewhat repetitive (there were two or three stories, for instance, where the protagonist gains new insights from coming into contact with something). The collection also ended well, with possibly my favorite story in the anthology, “Only Lost Boys Are Found”.
  
  The vast majority of stories are gay; there are only two or three lesbian stories in the collection, and unfortunately these are some of the least memorable. I only finished this book a couple of days ago and while some stories remain clearly in my head, I can’t recollect any of the lesbian tales.
  Stand out stories for me were The Harvestbuck, Most Likely, Persimmon, Teeth , and Boys, Cruel Movember, and Only Lost Boys are Found.
  
  Overall, a solid collection of YA queer stories.
  
• 
  Kate

  *More of a 3.6 stars rating, but I'm rounding it off.
  Berman's short stories incorporate out the ordinary situations happening in rural towns, beach houses, and suburbs in the various characters' worlds. Don't let their mossy pine forests, pavements, or fluorescent lights around you begin to fool you. The readers may spot glimpses of the Leeds Devil, sorcerers, ginger bread boys, vampires, fey, and other spectral beings. Here the reader will question whether the white swan was a cursed princess or a greedy opportunist given punishment? Perhaps see fairies and sprites in a new light. Maybe break into a musical and ask if Melville is hiding homoerotic symbols in his book (Bosom buddies!). Or be immersed (in a second person perspective) into a magic realist, Neverlandesque world to save your boyfriend from becoming a lost boy. A lot of adventures to choose in this! My only personal qualms are that some end ambiguously short. Especially those horror based tales endings that leave it open. Are they ends or larger novel beginnings? Favorites though are definitively "Thimbleriggery and Fledglings," "Gomorrahs of the Deep," and "Steeped in Debt to the Chimney-pots".
• 
  Tyrannosaurus regina

  The stylistic tendency towards ambiguous endings didn't entirely work for me (it often left me feeling too unsatisfied) but there were still some definite highlights among the stories. The final two stories, "Worse Than Alligators" and "Only Lost Boys Are Found" were probably my favourites, for entirely different reasons—one was creepy as fuck, and the other gave me the satisfaction I was looking for. And of course I adore the LGBT protagonists throughout; I wish I'd had this book to read when I was younger (though it's certainly no less appealing to an adult). A three, but definitely a high three.
• 
  N.N. Heaven

  An incredible new take on fairy tales that is addictive but surely too Grimm for kids. Many of the stories just remind me of my senior year in high school. Not that I 'ever' used pills for recreation.
  
  Completely original and modern, perfect for Pride Month. This book reminds me of shows I've binged lately. I was pretty addicted to Tell Me a Story and this book is a great parallel to that.
  
  Short but full of detail and exciting, these stories are super. An intense read at times that’ll make you happy you read it.
  
  If you are born in the last 30 years, then this book is for you. If you want modern takes on fairy tales, then buy this book. A great book for the LGBTQ community when they want some edgy reading.
  
  Disclaimer: I bought a copy on Amazon CA.
  
  My Rating: 5 stars
  
  Reviewed by: Rudy
  
  This review first appeared:
  https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/po...
  
• 
  Peter

  This was...interesting.
  
  Some of the stories were creepy. Some of them were touching. And some were kinda meh.
• 
  Sarina

  Review written for Love Bytes.
  
  
  I’m going to have to admit that I was SO CONFUSED by this book. I honestly couldn’t give you an adequate description of the majority of the stories here; some were recognizable like a reimagining of the Swan Princess, which was one of the better ones in the book, but others I read and then sat there wondering what it was I’d just finished. I can say that the stories were all well written and that the overall theme was that each story had some twist dealing with the paranormal or magical (more paranormal, truthfully) but besides that? I’ve got nothing.
  
  The main characters in the book are all young adults, which was nice, but many of the tales simply lacked the context needed for me to either understand or even enjoy them. (I will give kudos to the author for the variety of stories presented here, however.) This also isn’t the book for someone looking for a happily ever after; a few stories might fit that bill but the rest are either happy for now or…not. *shrugs* I really wish I had more to say about this one but I literally spent the majority of the time reading this with a perpetual cloud of ‘what the hell was that?’ hanging over my head and the rest of the time I was trying to read faster just I could be done with it that much sooner. You might enjoy this if you’re looking for young adult stories that are more off the wall but don’t go into the book with the ‘fairy tales’ part of the title in the forefront of your mind, you’ll be disappointed.
• 
  Mitya

  
  DNF after the gingerbread man story, though I tried to skim through some of the others. Most of what I read didn't really feel like fairytales, just contemp lit with a light, light dusting of something magical. After gingerbread, I was done. I don't mind sad fairytales, some of the best are, but I do mind being told I'm going to be reading fairytales and what I actually get is another variation of the same tiresome, depressing Literature I've read a thousand times. Because what, it's not real or good or important if it's not riddled with cheating scumbags and ambiguous endings? BTDT, DNW.
• 
  Roof Beam Reader (Adam)

  This is an interesting and entertaining collection of loosely-related alternative-queer fantasy stories (or, as the book calls them, "New Fairy Tales"). Some of the stories are better than others, naturally, but the collection as a whole is rad - a sort of modern pop-culture-meets-Grimm's Fairy Tales. Simultaneously creepy and cool. The illustrations are fantastic. Unfortunately, something went awry in the proofing stage - there are a large number of surface/copy errors that become distracting...
• 
  Dick

  I am not a fan of short stories for the most part and so this didn't thrill me. The fairy tales were totally different than what I expected but the writing was fairly well done and that accounts for the three stars. Also, the art work didn't always seem to be consistent with the story line. However, the art work was very imaginative and well done.
  I might read a full book by Berman is someone in my reading group strongly recommended him.
• 
  Rosa

  None of the stories really did it for me, to be quite honest. They were all pretty meh, but the ones I liked the most were "The Harvestbuck" (creepy and weird, though I have no idea what it was even about), Thimbleriggery and Fledglings (a nice lesbian retelling of the Swan Lake story), "Persimmon, Teeth, and Boys"(such a promising premise! ), "Three on a Match" (super interesting premise, wish there'd been more), and "Steeped in Debt to the Chimney-Pots" (once again, interesting premise and yet...). I just don't think Berman's writing style works for me. Plus, there were some problematic aspects that I really didn't care for (e.g. ableism, straight girls obsessed with gay guys, two girls playing at being "Africans"...).