I believe that old podiatric poet Dr. Suess said it best when he wrote “Left foot, right foot; Feet, feet, feet; Oh how many feet you meet!” In the new Dynatox Ministries missive called ‘Feet! An Anthology,’ editor Boss Krall (a.k.a. Jordan Krall) has brought together a dozen short stories with a theme appealing to the basest of our lowest extremities.
Just as twelve inches equal a foot, twelve fetish stories equal ‘Feet’ in Boss Krall’s perverted vision. Taken as a whole, this celebration of feet may appeal more to fans of the Bizarro fiction genre than to true foot fetishists, although there’s still plenty of foot adoration in many of the erotically-charged stories.
In full disclosure, one of the stories in the anthology is mine, so I won’t address it in the context of this review, but there are other authors that stand out and should be recognized for their contributions.
The book kicks off (pun intended) with “Miles to Go” by Michael H. Antonio. The story is about a foot-obsessed man named Miles who is willing “to go” to any lengths to surround himself with women’s feet, even if it means taking a demeaning job mopping up sweat at a local gym. Of course, Miles becomes enamored with the first female patron who actually acknowledges his presence at the gym. Antonio perfectly captures the risks many fetishists take when they believe there’s even the slightest chance to fulfill one of their fantasies. There’s no Chris Hansen waiting for Miles when he begins stalking his victim, but the author provides one of the best plot twists in the anthology when his main character summons the nerve to break into the mysterious woman’s home.
In the story “The Ballet Master,” author Charlie D. La Marr demonstrates her mastery of the artistic subject matter with an intricate power play between a prima donna/prima ballerina and a sadistic ballet master at a renowned Russian dance school. To overcome her obstinance, the instructor forces the stubborn girl to maintain difficult poses that are excruciatingly painful to her legs and feet. The ballerina complies to his physical demands without protest, but plots to gain dominance over the heartless instructor by seducing him with an erotic barefoot recital. This character study skillfully captures the reader’s attention and makes them eager to discover which persistent personality will win out in the end.
In “Looking for Love Under All the Wrong Laces,” Mandy DeGeit explores foot fetishism from a female perspective. Yes, it’s not just men who buy rubber feet as sex toys, although typical women are usually never satisfied with what they have and are always looking for upgrades on everything. This misogynistic observation on my part is what gets the main character in trouble in the story. DeGeit’s main character takes the route of many foot fetishists and becomes a doctor of podiatry. As with Mike Antonio’s story above, DeGeit’s story delves into the depraved depths that a foot-obsessed individual will go in order to satisfy their abnormal needs. Should the doctor risk her medical practice for an opportunity to obtain a real human foot? Should she take advantage of a mentally ill person’s desire to become an amputee? Should she seek to have a severed foot mounted by a taxidermist first and then by herself second? These are the riveting questions the readers ask themselves as they progress through DeGeit’s complex morality play.
As if the classic novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ weren’t controversial enough, author Vincenzo Bilof pens a satire called "Boo Radley and the British Knights" where recluse Boo Radley is a foot fetishist and Jean Louise Finch is a prostitute scouting for johns in a small southern town. One night, one of Jean’s johns pulls a Bob Ewell move on the prostitute by taking his boot to her. Boo rescues the unconscious girl, but she later awakens to find her favorite shoes confiscated and her delicate feet soaking in an Epsom salt bath. As the parody unfolds, Jean learns that her murdered mother may have loved shoes as much as she does - but that neither woman could claim a love of female footwear as strong as the sick shut-in named Boo.
The other stories in the anthology are also sure to fit the niche of many foot-minded readers, including a superhero fantasy called “Aurora’s Surrender” by Jacques Gerard; a gigantism-influenced bondage fantasy named “Blue Suede Shoes” by Andrew Wayne Adams; some predatory kidnapping suspense pulp entitled “Feet for the Gods” by Jimmy Pudge; a toe-based culinary appetizer called “The Toe” by Anya Martin; a bizarro story of radiation poisoning and the perverted practice of trampling named “Pretty Ten Feet” by Allen Taylor; a heavy metal coming-of-age saga entitled “Allie” by Jon R. Meyers; and a satire named “The Green Yeast Formaggi” by Michael Faun, which appeared to have been influenced by a certain Charlton Heston science fiction movie.
Besides the obvious fetish theme of feet, I also noticed that this anthology mixes in some BDSM scenes in every story - some more pronounced than others. So if your interest is in Feet, Bondage/Discipline/Sadism/Masochism or just entertaining transgressive fiction, you’ll likely enjoy Boss Krall’s ‘Feet! An Anthology.’