Day of the Dead by Victoria A. Brownworth; Spinsters Ink, $14.95

Victoria A. Brownworth, the B.A.R. 's witty and insightful TV critic, offers this magnificent collection of short tales. New Orleans, a city the author once called home, is the primary locale for her stories. In her introduction, Brownworth eloquently expresses her deep love for a city that offers so much beauty, albeit one that has suffered greatly.

B.A.R. readers know Brownworth for her television critiques. On the East Coast, she's a well-known investigative journalist who contributes to both LGBT and mainstream publications. Her writing style is fluid and easy to follow, and she brings to the table a deep knowledge of lesbian culture and an equally deep understanding of world events.

Six stories of varying lengths comprise Day of the Dead. In each of them, the supernatural is lurking just around the corner. What makes the stories so brilliant is the manner in which Brownworth takes real-life horrors in and places them in ghostly netherworlds.

In the first story, Maeve is dying of AIDS. She's being cared for by Rita, another HIV+ woman. Maeve is near death when Rita takes her in. Maeve is nursed back to health by her new friend, and the two woman have a very brief fling. The story opens in a clinic in the French Quarter, then moves to Rita's house in Desire, the neighborhood which served as the locale for Tennessee Williams' most famous play.

The story is primarily about women struggling to survive the HIV epidemic, yet it's as creepy as the best ghost stories. New Orleans is a city where voodoo and spirits are part of the local culture. As Maeve hovers nears death, she hears and feels those already dead calling to her. They're all around her.

This first tale, which gives the book its title, sets the tone for what's to follow. In every story, Brownworth expertly weaves real-life horror, including Hurricane Katrina and the inadequacies of the Bush White House, into a web in which ghosts, vampires and succubi wait in the shadows.

The author's years as an investigative journalist, and her years as a resident of the Big Easy, serve her well. She magically captures the aura of New Orleans – readers might feel the humidity in the air, or smell the burning incense. When she writes of the all-too-real horrors that have plagued that city, her fact-checking is impeccable. She knows how to make her readers share her outrage at the world's injustices.

Though Day of the Dead was written by an out, proud lesbian who offers stories of women loving women, its themes are universal. This book will hopefully cross over to a wider readership beyond the lesbian community.