Dead of Winter by Lucius Parhelion

[reviews_and_ramblings]

"So Richard Wallace was dead, to start off with... Of course, I didn't know yet that he'd be back."

Since the story starts with these sentences, I will not spoil anything saying that the main heroes of this really strange Christmas romance are a young student living in Pasadena in the '50 and the ghost of his hometown lover Rich. All was against their love: first being openly gay in the '50 was not an option; second Rich was 20 years older than Al and with a big secret hidden in his past; third Al now lives in Pasadena and Rich still in Bradlow, and Al has no money to come back home. So when Al receives the news of Rich's death some days before Christmas, he accepts an odd three day job to gain some money to go to Rich's wake: spending the weekend in a supposedly haunted house to prove that it's all a myth.

Al and Rich's relationship is strange, and I mean that it was strange even before Rich's death. True, from Rich's point of view he can't help to refuse Al's love: he ran away from another scandalous affair and he can't allow himself to be involved in another one. But also Al's behavior is strange; he didn't plea for love, he explained his love as a matter of fact, feigning little interest in Rich's reply; probably there are two obviously reasons: first he fears Rich's refusal and second, in the society of the time, all their life are undertone, lead without drama, always trying to be as unnoticeable as possible.

Anyway, this not so short story (47 pages with small types) is more an Halloween type of story than a Christmas romance, but I like the style of this author, since it's really a style: dry, somber, almost in black and white.

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