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· 9,850 ratings · 360 reviews

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A good old haunted house story is something I've always loved, so when the narrator of this tale offered me a chance to listen to the audio in exchange for a review, I jumped at it. Poppy Z. Brite is an author I've heard a lot about and I've been wanting to read his work for quite some time. I learned a few things while reading this book and one of them is that Poppy Z. Brite can write.

Trevor is a young man returning to the house where his mother and brother were killed 20 years ago. Shortly aft

Trevor is a young man returning to the house where his mother and brother were killed 20 years ago. Shortly after his arrival in Missing Mile, his old hometown, he meets a young computer hacker on the run, named Zach. The two immediately feel a connection and together they go to face Trevor's childhood home. What will they find there? Is the house actually haunted? You will have to read this to find out.

While the writing quality here was good, I have to admit that I was disappointed in the story itself. This is not the author's fault, nor the narrator's, it was my sky high expectations. I expected a scary as hell story- and while there was a little darkness, there was way too much romance for me. I don't mind explicit sex scenes, (gay or straight), if they are integral to the story. Now I totally get the term insta-love. These two just met, one of them a virgin, and before you know it they are going at it at a breakneck pace. And going at it again. And again. The sexy times were sexy, don't get me wrong but after a while they finally led me to ask "Can we get to the horror already?"

Eventually, we did get to the horror, but after such a long build, it failed to move me much. I'm not sure if I was just bored by that point, or if all the romance had inured me to what should have been an exciting finale.

The narration by Matt Godfrey was excellent as always, I especially loved his Jamaican accent. Yeah, mon!

As I said, I did like the writing, and in a few spots it was nearly lyrical. From what I understand this is one of Poppy Z. Brite's, (now he goes by the name Billy Martin), earlier works. While I didn't find this novel to be a true horror story, I'm told his later works definitely are and I will be tracking those down in the future, maybe even the near future.

Recommended, as long as you're not looking for a horror tale and you don't mind a lot of romance and sexy times!

*Thanks to Matt Godfrey for the audio of this book in exchange for my honest review. This is it.*

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Dec 13, 2008 Paul Jr. rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: horror readers, m/m fiction readers

Back when Anne Rice was all the rage, dozens of authors jumped on the brooding, melodramatic historical vampire quickly turning what Rice wrote into a literary cliché. The shelves were littered with Rice wanna-be's. Then along came Poppy Z. Brite, a short story writer who was making the horror world sit up and take notice by blending very realistic, human characters with an almost splatter-punk kind of sensibility. To boot, Brite was doing what many authors had never even contemplated. She was m Back when Anne Rice was all the rage, dozens of authors jumped on the brooding, melodramatic historical vampire quickly turning what Rice wrote into a literary cliché. The shelves were littered with Rice wanna-be's. Then along came Poppy Z. Brite, a short story writer who was making the horror world sit up and take notice by blending very realistic, human characters with an almost splatter-punk kind of sensibility. To boot, Brite was doing what many authors had never even contemplated. She was making gay characters the protagonists in her stories. When her first novel, Lost Souls, was released, it breathed new life into the bland, clichéd vampire that had become de rigueur, by giving us vamps that loved being what they were and mixing them with goth scene characters who were actually more than brooding, pretentious teens in black clothes, nail polish, and eyeliner. In short, she made her vampires and her other characters real people, warts and all. Her characters weren't homoerotic. She wasn't willing to dance around the subject. He characters were homosexual.

With Lost Souls, Brite burst on the scene and along came the comparisons to Rice, the claims by critics and Rice lovers that she must have been influenced by Rice's writing, despite statements from Brite that she had never read Rice's work. Wisely, Brite was not one to be satisfied with her immensely popular vampire characters (in fact, she has never returned to them despite what must have been a very lucrative temptation to), and we were treated to another reinvention by Brite, the haunted house story in her second novel, Drawing Blood.

For once, the publisher's blurb lays out the story very well, so there is not really a need to go into the details of the plot. So, this review can be all about the writing, writing that is still as appealing as it was 15 years ago when I first read this novel.

From the beginning, Brite shows a critical eye for detail in her writing. Each locale is described fully, but never wanders off into frustrating verbosity. In very naturalistic and yet somehow poetic prose, Brite describes not only the sights of a place, but the smells as well (an often over looked area in some genres of fiction), and the result is that we get the psychological reaction of the characters to everything that is about them and a wonderful sense of time. Take this for example:

Missing Mile, North Carolina, in the summer of 1972 was scarcely more than a wide spot in the road….You might think that here was a place adrift in a gentler time, a place where Peace reigned naturally, and did not have to be blazoned on banners or worn around the neck.

And the same detail goes into her characters. The five-year-old Trevor at the beginning of the novel rings utterly true, the wide-eyed outlook of a child tempered by the reality that he has lived with a father who is unpredictable bordering on abusive. Yet, Trevor's father isn't reduced to some stereotyped drunkard. We get to see inside him for the brief time we know him. We see the crushed dreams, the pressures, the paranoia that lead him to do the horrible thing he does. When Bobby McGee kills his family, we as readers are horrified by it, but we can see why it happened, why it was almost inevitable. The only thing we can't understand is why he didn't kill Trevor as well. And that in itself is what brings Trevor back to Missing Mile some 20 years later.

We're also introduced to Zachary Bosch, a brilliant computer hacker out of New Orleans, who finds himself dangerously on the wrong side of the law. As he flees New Orleans, we also get to meet the people important in his life, most notably Eddy, a feisty Asian American stripper who is in love with Zach but also his best buddy. But we don't get some stereotype here either. Eddy isn't the stock fag-hag. She's tough, smart, inventive and someone to be reckoned with from the get go. She knows that Zach is not a good match for her. She knows she needs to move on. But she can't and she never broods about it and never once do you feel that beyond Zach lies a life of loneliness. And the FBI agents following Zach get the full treatment as well, becoming more than one would guess in a novel of this type.

The residents of Missing Mile are equally fascinating, a mix of character traits which could have become cartoonish in lesser hands, but remain blessedly real in the human emotion underneath each of them, the force that drives them. You can see Kinsey's smile, feel the weight of his family history. You can feel the relationship between Terry and his girlfriend. Even Calvin, who threatens to come between Zach and Trevor, has a likable streak to him.

But when the novel starts to really sing is when Trevor and Zach meet one another in Missing Mile. Both members of the walking wounded, the two cautiously get to know one another and, ultimately, become lovers. It isn't an easy courtship given the baggage each of them carries, and it isn't a relationship that is easy to define. There are no tops and bottoms here. No alpha or submissive. Like every relationship, it changes with the ebb and flow of time and events that draw them closer together and push them further apart. It is a wonderful exploration of who each character has been, who they want to become and who they might be together if their relationship lasts. It is, to this day, one of the fullest depictions of gay men I have ever found in literature and, hands down, some of the most erotic and real love scenes I've ever read.

Now, don't get me wrong. This is not some mushy love story in the slightest. It is balls-to-the-wall horror–albeit heavy on the psychological horror. The tension is palpable, the finely tuned description, exquisite, and the dialog completely real. Each character has a purpose in this piece. Each character (and the locales themselves) has a place here. There is very little fat in this novel, each aspect weaving together easily with those that came before and those which follow. By the time we get to the climax of the book, we are utterly invested in each of these characters. We want Trevor and Zach to survive. We can't help but ache for Eddy and her loss. We understand how Missing Mile will never be the same after the events that take place in that dilapidate old house out on Violin Road. We care because Brite created characters we love despite all their faults. We care because Brite has drawn us a vivid picture of where we have been living as we took the journey along with Trevor and Zach. We care because Brite has taken the time to show us all the pieces that go into making the puzzle of man. In short, she has created a place we want to visit and characters who feel like real friends.

For me, Drawing Blood is a classic…classic horror, classic gay fiction and classic character fiction. Hell, it is even manages to be a classic romance, in the very best and non-traditional sense of the phrase. It was and remains a ground breaking literary work and should be required reading for readers and writers not only of horror, but of gay fiction, gay romance and even gay erotica. This is how it is done, folks.

Originally reviewed for Uniquely Pleasurable.

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I GOT MY HANDS ON THE AUDIO!!!! Review soooon.

I always refer to this book as my second most favorite book in the world (Geek Love by Katherine Dunn will always be my #1) but I haven't read it since it was first released back in 1993 so I approached this recent audio release with equal amounts of joy and dread. Would it still be my almost favorite? Would I find giant flaws and pick it all to hell? Would I tarnish all of those memories of book perfection by reading it now when I'm all jaded and crabby(er)?

Everything I remembered loving about

Everything I remembered loving about Drawing Blood was still here. Granted those memories were a little fuzzy around the edges but the impressions and the emotions felt left a mark on me and once I started listening, I was immediately transfixed and reminded of all the reasons why I held this book so close to my heart. It's full of tragedy, dark romance, and real life horrors as well as some out there, woo-woo ones. If you like those things along with a well-drawn sense of place, gorgeously lush writing, flawed characters and you don't mind explicit sex between two men (and lots and lots of it) you should give this a listen. Or a read. Or maybe both.

This is one of Brite's (now Billy Martin) earlier works and it has all of the gothic trappings of that era. The characters have sharp edges, are ethereally young and beautiful, the sex is explicit and often and it's always earthy and descriptive, the characters that populate this world drink and drug copiously, fall in love quickly and deeply as young lovers tend to do and music always plays a huge part in their lives. I'd say this tale is about 50% haunted house/dealing with your past shit and 50% dark and dangerous love story and it's all beautifully gory and messy.

Trevor is a young artist who returns to his hometown to face down the demons of his past and his demons are bad ones. Zach is a hacker on the run who lands in Missing Mile. Both have hellish pasts and when they meet everything clicks and feels right. Yes, folks, it is the dreaded insta-love in full bloom. And, yes, I am a big huge hypocrite because I typically knock off points for insta-love because it drives me crazy but in this case I JUST DIDN'T CARE. I loved them both too much to care. They don't even meet until the book is at least a third of the way through (maybe more) but by then I knew them so well that when they finally meet it was a relief. They were both such broken souls when apart and together they just fit. They talked, they fought, they lived a lifetime of dysfunction in a few days and I will make no more excuses because, yeah, it's insta-love and it was glorious and nothing anybody says will ever change my mind.

It's such an intoxicating read. The love story, the setting, the darkness. All of it. Brite assaults the senses with her prose and everything comes alive right down to the scents and tastes - no matter how gross! This isn't a book for everyone and I'm not here to pretend that it is but if any of this sounds appealing to you, grab a copy and read that sucker until your eyeballs dry up. I don't think you'll regret it.

If you're an audio fan, I also highly recommend giving it a listen. Matt Godfrey's narration is terrific. He creates distinctive voices for the characters. Zach's voice is deeper and has just the slightest Cajun-esque accent to fit him and where he's been, while Trevor comes off as more innocent/wide-eyed. How you express that with voice is way beyond me but Godfrey manages to do it. There are quite a few secondary characters that he voices very well too.

Now I'm off to listen all over again :)

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Dec 17, 2007 Gemma rated it liked it

Talk about your guilty pleasures, eh?

I'm always torn about Poppy Z Brite's books. On one hand, lots of hot sex scenes between pretty boys, lashings of the supernatural, and comic books.
On the other, her female characters are all mothers/bitches/vaginas/die horribly delete as applicable. It makes me conflicted. The things I really love, along with pet peeves.

This is the only one of her books I would actually recommend- one of the female characters actually lives, and I don't want to actively slap

Talk about your guilty pleasures, eh?

This is the only one of her books I would actually recommend- one of the female characters actually lives, and I don't want to actively slap the main two males.

So: for all you pervy paranormal fiction lovers, this one's for you. (p.s there was a short story based on these two as well if you can track it down)

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Aug 05, 2021 Chris Lawton rated it it was amazing

Just like many years ago when I read it . Beautiful timeless will reread again and again.

Jan 15, 2019 Nev rated it liked it

I came across this title while Googling "gay horror books." It's definitely very gay but it's actually pretty light on the horror until about two thirds of the way into the book. This was originally published in the early 90s. So it was cool to see a queer story that was written and published in that time period, but it also meant there were definitely some dated aspects.

The story follows Trevor, whose father killed his mother and younger brother in their house in North Carolina before committi

The story follows Trevor, whose father killed his mother and younger brother in their house in North Carolina before committing suicide. Twenty years later Trevor returns to try and figure out what happened and why his father left him alive. Zach, a hacker from New Orleans, is on the run from the government and his path ends up crossing with Trevor's. The two guys start a whirlwind relationship while staying in the possibly haunted house of Trevor's childhood.

I think this book was way longer than it needed to be. There was so much time spent setting up the two main characters in the beginning. It's good to establish the characters, but it just seemed excessive with how much meaningless stuff was happening. It takes over one third of the book for the two main characters to even meet. And then once they do… oh man, the instalove is ridiculous. I did enjoy their chemistry, but c'mon with the instalove.

I wouldn't really suggest going into this book expecting straight up horror all the way through. Most of the horror is reserved for the last third of the book, and even then I didn't find it to be all that satisfying. This is really more of a smutty story about two guys meeting and instantly falling in love rather than a horror story. I think if you know that going in you might enjoy it more.

But alas, I was hoping for a book with A LOT of horror… but what I got was a book with A LOT of blowjobs 😂

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Jul 29, 2007 Wealhtheow rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: fans of slash, Crumb and gore

My favorite Brite novel, and the one with the best characterization. A young man returns to the home where his father went homicidally insane years ago. While there, he meets and falls in love with a hacker on the run. Is their love enough to combat the sinister madness of the house?

I remember this being like a weird fever dream. The further into the story I went, the less sense it made, but I didn't care. By that point I was into the ride.

This is probably my favorite book by Brite...but they're all a love/hate mix.

I remember this being like a weird fever dream. The further into the story I went, the less sense it made, but I didn't care. By that point I was into the ride.

This is probably my favorite book by Brite...but they're all a love/hate mix.

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Nov 05, 2021 Ryan rated it liked it

3.5 stars out of 5, rounding down.

The first chapter/prologue of this one immediately hooked me. The writing is absolutely gorgeous, and the story kickstarts very quickly. Unfortunately, I thought the book slowed down quite a bit in the middle, as we got to know our characters.

Brite loves to over explain pretty much everything, from a character's background to what a convenience store looks like (I'm not kidding). These gratuitous explanations were very easy to read through, so overall the book

3.5 stars out of 5, rounding down.

The ending was okay, but I thought maybe a little different in tone than the rest of the book. Not really where I expected the story to go, but that's okay.

Some people are going to love this book, and I understand why, but for me I thought it was just okay. I expected more after it showed so much process with a great opening.

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This is a book I read to tatters as a teenager and yet haven't touched in years as an adult.

Well, that changed this weekend.

Re-reading a favorite book for me is so much like slipping into a comfortable dream. I know these pages so well, the words cradle me, the paragraphs are like a lullaby and at the same time they can be like a knife.

I know how it all ends.

That can be a good or bad end depending on the book.

Missing Mile, North Carolina is but a blip on the map. Perfect for the McGee family to

This is a book I read to tatters as a teenager and yet haven't touched in years as an adult.

Well, that changed this weekend.

I know how it all ends.

That can be a good or bad end depending on the book.

Missing Mile, North Carolina is but a blip on the map. Perfect for the McGee family to start anew. That is until Bobby McGee loses his mind one fateful night and murders most of the McGee family and himself. He leaves only one person alive in the massacre, his five year old son, Trevor, who discovers the bodies the next morning. Twenty years later the house is empty and abandoned and Trevor returns. He is still wondering about his existence – why did his father leave him and him alone alive?

His path and destiny collides with another lost soul. Zachary Bosh, 19 year old fugitive computer hacker who is on the run from the FBI from New Orleans. Together they collide at the old, haunted house on Violin Road where they face their ghosts, confront new demons, but most of all they fall in love.

Big sigh of happiness. I love this beautiful book full of gorgeous prose gay sex and horrific gore. It's stunning and the characters are gorgeous and I want to meet Zach and Trevor and give them the biggest hugs in existence because NOBODY should have to go through the shit that they did.

Massive trigger warnings all over. There is child death in it. First chapter full stop and it's pretty descriptive and awful.

Trevor's father to me is a selfish asshole who chose to wipe out his family just because he has lost himself. And his demise meant the end of the rest of his family in his own fucked up mindset.

Trevor and Zach as characters are wonderfully fleshed out. I can imagine them so perfectly that I can smell them. Brite's prose has always been amazing and he does such a great job that I've never loved characters more than I've loved these too. Zach makes me laugh out loud with his insanity. I really loved in the book how his downfall was caffeine and to reach the mythical world of Birdland coffee was the key. It worked out so well, it was perfect.

The side characters were perfect as well and my heart broke for Eddy although I did not much like the treatment of her I also felt it was lifelike because girl…I've been there. And it STINGS. That heartbreak is like no other. What I would really love is a book just about Eddy and her kick ass adventures tbh. She deserves so much more.

In the book, Bobby McGee is an artist who cannot draw anymore, Trevor has inherited his father's artistic ability and fears that one day it too will fade away . Trevor has nothing except his art until he and Zach meet and now Trevor sees the dilemma that Bobby faced that fateful night.

This is a story about love, blood, and eluding the police. There's strong dashes of magical realism involved too. Plenty of ghosts as well. Poppy Z. Brite writes gothic horror well and doesn't pull any punches. It's a miasma of lust and wrath twisted together. I mean, there's literally a scene where the sink is flooding with blood and semen.

My rating for this book years ago was 5 stars and I find that that rating is still the same. The prose is beautiful, the characters are amazing, and the plot is original and terrifying. There is diversity amongst the cast and the leads are LGBT. If you're looking for some lusty gay horror this is the book for you.

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Poppy Z. Brite, Drawing Blood (Dell, 1993)

I've been a fan of Poppy Brite's novels ever since I read Exquisite Corpse back in 1997, but (and here I lose most of my cred with my goth friends), I've never been a fan of Steve and Ghost. It's a testament to Brite's characterization ability that my problem with them is a simple personality clash; they just never clicked with me. Because of it, however, I never did read Drawing Blood, a Missing Mile novel that, as it turns out, contains Steve and Ghost

Poppy Z. Brite, Drawing Blood (Dell, 1993)

The book opens with underground comics artist Robert McGee and his family having their car break down in Missing Mile, North Carolina. McGee has found himself unable to draw, and it's making him edgy. So much so, in fact, that he kills his wife and one of his sons before committing suicide, leaving only his five-year-old son Trevor alive. Fast-forward to twenty years later, and Trevor, rootless, finally returns to Missing Mile to confront the demons of his past and to try and figure out why his father left him alive. Meanwhile, in New Orleans, computer hacker Zachary Bosch finds out some very nasty people have discovered his activities and are after him. He flees the city, ending up in (surprise!) Missing Mile. The two become fast friends, and then something more, but will Zach's influence help Trevor with combing to terms with the house, or the opposite?

This is an early novel from Brite, and it does show in a few places; there are pieces here that seem disconnected from anything, character quirks that exist just for the sake of being character quirks (Zachary's penchant for eating hot peppers, for example) rather than being truly integrated into the characters. It's not a big thing, but it does jar now and again. As well, the subtlety that makes the Rickey and G-man novels so wonderful wasn't fully developed here. That's not necessarily a bad thing, and it could be argued that horror novels are not subtle creatures by their very nature, but it felt a little rough around the edges to me. Still, I don't want to give the impression this is a bad book by any means; I burned through it in a couple of days, because it grabbed my attention and didn't let go. Worth your time. ***

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May 07, 2007 Anne rated it really liked it

Please ignore the cheesy title and crappy back cover descriptions. This is less a horror novel than a love/adventure story — in fact, I would say that the "horror" elements are the weakest part of the story (thank goodness they're only really heavy in one chapter towards the end). Brite's lush descriptive prose is enticing (an outdoor market in New Orleans is bursting with such fantastic color and scent it makes the mouth water) and she's created some fantastic characters, most notably in Trevor Please ignore the cheesy title and crappy back cover descriptions. This is less a horror novel than a love/adventure story — in fact, I would say that the "horror" elements are the weakest part of the story (thank goodness they're only really heavy in one chapter towards the end). Brite's lush descriptive prose is enticing (an outdoor market in New Orleans is bursting with such fantastic color and scent it makes the mouth water) and she's created some fantastic characters, most notably in Trevor. I infinitely prefer Drawing Blood to Brite's first novel set in the same universe, Lost Souls, though I would say Lost Souls is worth a read if you're bored and like Anne Rice. ...more

Jan 14, 2017 Badseedgirl rated it really liked it

I'm not sure I would classify this novel as horror. I guess there is that entire possible, maybe astral projection episode in the end, but again, maybe it was just a drug fueled mind trip. Regardless, this was a powerful story about two really F'ed up characters who found each other and made each other just a little better.
I'm not sure I would classify this novel as horror. I guess there is that entire possible, maybe astral projection episode in the end, but again, maybe it was just a drug fueled mind trip. Regardless, this was a powerful story about two really F'ed up characters who found each other and made each other just a little better.
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What must be stated first is this novel isn't strictly "horror" — at least not to the extent the synopsis promises. Don't go into this expecting gore to splatter the page from the jump. Drawing Blood is a character study of the best sort; the characters and their situations (and traumas) are developed slowly, carefully, until things come to a head. This is my favorite sort of horror.

What the best Abyss Horror paperbacks dealt in was experimental storylines, offbeat characters, unique and pervas

What the best Abyss Horror paperbacks dealt in was experimental storylines, offbeat characters, unique and pervasive scares . . . Poppy Z Brite's sophomore novel features all these things with exquisite prose to boot. Deeply erotic and unsettling and wickedly magical, this longish novel about returning home to childhood horrors and running from present ghosts was a better experience than I anticipated (and I love this author, so I was expecting quite the ride!)

One criticism I often see thrown at this book is the insta-love between two of the characters. I actually don't usually insta-love, if written well, and I think the characters and their feelings are written with spectacular grace and skill.

Did this book scare me? Yes, deeply. But it also made my heart ache, and it made me nostalgic for my own childhood, and I had a fucking blast at times too. If you're a horror fan and have somehow never read Poppy Z Brite, do yourself a favor and change that!

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Jan 31, 2010 Eddie rated it it was amazing

Somewhere near the end of this book, I decided it was the best story I've ever read. I actually did like it to this extent and I highly recommend this book to all the young gays out there who wouldn't mind a little bit of gore and some exaggerated mentions of drug use, filthiness and death.

Although many of you would think of "Drawing Blood" as a horror book, I found the highlight of its plot being the love story between the two protagonists Trevor McGee and Zachary Bosch, the two cross paths in the town of Missing Mile, NC. Each with a different past and different reasons that, however, brought them to this same place. A place Trevor is no new-comer to. He is back in the hope of finding answers to what happened in that house on Violin Road twenty years ago when his father Robert McGee, a notorious comic book writer, murdered his wife and younger son before he committed suicide leaving Trevor as the sole cast-off of the bloodily obliterated McGee family . Zach is a nineteen-year-old computer-hacking daredevil who had escaped from his abusive parents at age fourteen and ends up on the run from Secret Services agents for all the illegal hacking and on-line thievery he'd been pulling for years with impunity. Shortly after Trevor and Zach meet, they decide to stay in that very house on Violin Road where the murders had occurred. Eventually, the house turns out to be haunted and hazardous for both of them which hardly hinders Trevor from his questing for the truth.

Even though it's been written by a female author, Brite masters the art of depicting male-to-male sexuality with such grotesqueness, sensuality and innocence it'll make gay and bi male readers of this book get a hard-on every time a chapter drifts into a sex scene and will seldom make your eyes water at the tenderness those boys convey each other.

Brite's prose in "Drawing blood" is enjoyably fluent with vigorous character development and a suspenseful course of spooky events. Besides Zach and Trev, I grew specifically attached to one particular character; Kinsey Hummingbird, it seemed as though this character was all about portraying kindness and helping others without expecting much in return, I loved that about him. There's other few recurring characters from Brite's previous vamp novel " LOST SOULS" which in my opinion is nowhere near as good as "DRAWING BLOOD".

A MUST-READ.

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Sep 23, 2011 M rated it really liked it

This was, I think, my first queer romance. I read it years ago, found in an old library, back when that was still a thing I did. And it blew my mind. I became obsessed with it. Two beautiful, damaged boys fall in love and have sex in a metaphysical ghost story?? Absolute insanity. I was probably reading it while listening to that My Chemical Romance album. Anyway, my adult brain has some reservations. It's trying so hard to be Southern gothic, there are too many unnecessary characters, it gets v This was, I think, my first queer romance. I read it years ago, found in an old library, back when that was still a thing I did. And it blew my mind. I became obsessed with it. Two beautiful, damaged boys fall in love and have sex in a metaphysical ghost story?? Absolute insanity. I was probably reading it while listening to that My Chemical Romance album. Anyway, my adult brain has some reservations. It's trying so hard to be Southern gothic, there are too many unnecessary characters, it gets very weighed down in itself sometimes. The Jamaican caricature is shocking in 2021. But like, I have a soft spot for it, it opened a door for me, so I won't judge it too harshly. ...more

Nov 05, 2021 Jessica rated it really liked it

The perfect 90s goth book and set partially in one of my favourite cities (New Orleans) too! The setting descriptions are so immersive, and the spook factor of the haunty bits are intense. The relationship between the two young men was stormy and sometimes frustrating from my now mid-30s perspective, but I just felt that the author nailed so much of realistic reactions from that age group, or from the side characters as well. The ending went a bit off where I hoped it would, but I still really e The perfect 90s goth book and set partially in one of my favourite cities (New Orleans) too! The setting descriptions are so immersive, and the spook factor of the haunty bits are intense. The relationship between the two young men was stormy and sometimes frustrating from my now mid-30s perspective, but I just felt that the author nailed so much of realistic reactions from that age group, or from the side characters as well. The ending went a bit off where I hoped it would, but I still really enjoyed this read. I've finally tried a PZB book, and now I should try some of his others! ...more

Drawing Blood is a blast from the past that didn't exactly age like a fine wine. My original impressions from 25 years ago – that it was sexy, and edgy and original with quirky, cool characters – sort of faded like wallpaper that had seen its better day. The book that still has a spot on my keeper shelf in paperback form, was reduced to an at times boring, at best "I like it OK" reading experience. The part that focused on the house, the haunting and the murders was still interesting; but I thin Drawing Blood is a blast from the past that didn't exactly age like a fine wine. My original impressions from 25 years ago – that it was sexy, and edgy and original with quirky, cool characters – sort of faded like wallpaper that had seen its better day. The book that still has a spot on my keeper shelf in paperback form, was reduced to an at times boring, at best "I like it OK" reading experience. The part that focused on the house, the haunting and the murders was still interesting; but I think I outgrew the romance between Trevor and Zach. I think I outgrew them as well. I may have found their alienated, androgynous demeanors titillating and exciting 25 years ago, but today I just wanted to give them a sandwich and a cup of soup.

The story starts in 1972 when "underground" cartoonist Bobby McGee rolls into Missing Mile, North Carolina with family in tow. To be fair, Bobby's problems started well before he took up residence in the creepy old house on Violin Road. Bobby was already suffering from a serious case of "Drawers' Block" and had not produced any new episodes of Birdland the "crazed, sick, beautiful" adult counterculture comic (think Fritz the Cat) that he had created in some time. Probably didn't help that he developed a strong love of Bourbon that brought along some anger management issues.

Who could really say what caused him to snap and go all Maxwell's Silver Hammer on his wife and 3-year-old son. Or for that matter, what possessed him to leave his 5-year-old son drugged but alive while he nipped off to hang himself in the shower. 25-year-old Trevor McGee wants to know. Instead of counting his lucky stars that fate has smiled kindly upon him; he wants to know why his father killed his whole family and why he wasn't good enough to go with them. 20 years to the day and Trevor is headed back to Missing Mile. To his roots. His beginning. To the "murder house" on Violin Road – to find the answers to his existence.

19-year-old Zachary Bosch is running away from his New Orleans home with as much passion as Trevor is running to Missing Mile. Zach is something of a computer hacker extraordinaire. On his own since the age of 14 due to his abusive, asshole parents; he's eked out a comfortable existence for himself thanks to his ability to make money clicking a computer mouse. Sure, he has issues with intimacy, sleeps around like a dog in heat and seeks out only meaningless sexual encounters but….19. Life for Zach doesn't seem too bad until one of his hacker buddies tips him off that the Feds are onto him and coming for him so then he hits the road under cover of darkness for a grand adventure – and runs smack dab into asexual, virginal (but not for long) Trevor McGee.

Zach and Trevor have immediate chemistry and insta-love and Zach gets pulled into the goings on at the murder house since he shacks up with Trev. There's a good bit of page time devoted to the romance and unfortunately PZB's sex scenes and I don't get on well. I tend to read them with my face screwed up and a perpetual "eeewwww" about to escape my lips. I can't say exactly but it's something to do with body fluids and sloppy groping that turns me off. Since I'm not interested in Trevor and Zach's sexual exploration or the development of their relationship; that leaves the mystery of the house and the bizarre alternate dimension that exists somewhere between the house and the addled mind of Bobby McGee – that doesn't get nearly enough attention.

Review may be read to the tune of:
Bang! Bang! Maxwell's silver hammer
Came down upon her head
Bang! Bang! Maxwell's silver hammer
Made sure that she was dead

2 stars, 2 ½ for the haunted house scenes, rounded up to 3 for the sake of nostalgia and my original 25 year old self's 4 star rating.

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May 30, 2014 Maria Lago rated it it was amazing

Ok, Brite might have lost his mojo a while ago, according to some, but let us think about when he was everything we needed. He was angsty and sexy and bold and original, and so were his characters, who were wonderfully impossible and wonderfully imperfect. For me, it wasn't like I wanted to be with Zach or Trevor, it's not that I wanted to be them; I just wanted to read about them: pure vouyerism. Their love story is exactly the same as the passionate stories we find in bodice rippers, it's pass Ok, Brite might have lost his mojo a while ago, according to some, but let us think about when he was everything we needed. He was angsty and sexy and bold and original, and so were his characters, who were wonderfully impossible and wonderfully imperfect. For me, it wasn't like I wanted to be with Zach or Trevor, it's not that I wanted to be them; I just wanted to read about them: pure vouyerism. Their love story is exactly the same as the passionate stories we find in bodice rippers, it's passionate and desperate, it's pure fiction, it's deliberatly as far away from reality as it can get, because, who would want reality when you can fall in love the way these two did?
Trevor's character is by far my favourite of Brite's ever. I do not identify with him one iota, but I find him fascinating. I wrote a letter to Brite to tell him how much I loved this book, and Trevor in particular, not expecting him to reply. Imagine how I jumped up and down when I received a parcel that included a handwritten letter and a signed copy of The Lazarous Heart.
Come on: Brite was absolutely great and I'm still on his side. But I think it's unfair to expect him to write the same way he used to two decades ago. It was a different time for all of us, and intelligent people change. There was (or there is) something really great in him and his first novels are good proof of it. ...more

It was a typical Poppy Z Brite novel. :/ Very nicely written, great descriptions and beautiful prose but promising a lot more than it delivered. I was not satisfied at all with the few short incidents that could actually be considered the horror aspect in this novel. Instead it's a fucked up M/M romance novel that was set in a haunted house. It took FOREVER to get to the climax of the story, where they enter Birdland, and it was brief and not really satisfying...however I was full up on gay sex It was a typical Poppy Z Brite novel. :/ Very nicely written, great descriptions and beautiful prose but promising a lot more than it delivered. I was not satisfied at all with the few short incidents that could actually be considered the horror aspect in this novel. Instead it's a fucked up M/M romance novel that was set in a haunted house. It took FOREVER to get to the climax of the story, where they enter Birdland, and it was brief and not really satisfying...however I was full up on gay sex before I even reached the second half of the book.

However, I should mention that unlike Lost Souls I actually genuinely liked Zack and Trevor. They were both severely screwed up, but that made it all the more appreciated that together they were a really sweet and empowering couple. I felt really sorry for Eddy, but then Brite is never very kind to the sparse females in her books. At least Eddy was a bad ass in the end, rather than act like a jack-ass, getting pregnant and then dieing.

Blah...I'm going to read Wormwood next so I can take them all to Bookmans and get them off my shelf in on fell swoop.

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Mar 06, 2013 Mizuki rated it it was amazing

I used to suck up every early novels by Brite because they are like my yaoi horror wet dreams come true!!!

May 31, 2020 Tokio Myers rated it really liked it

This book was one hell of a wild ride.

"Trevor cupped his hands around it, felt Zach's heartbeat throbbing between his palms. The skin of the shaft was textured, slightly rippled beneath the surface. The head was as smooth as satin, as rose petals. Trevor rubbed his thumb across it, squeezed gently, heard Zack suck air in through his teeth and moan as he let it out. He could see blood suffusing the tissue just beneath the translucent skin, a deep dusky rose delicately purpled at the edges, crown

This book was one hell of a wild ride.

So, this was my first Poppy Z. Brite horror novel and damn did I pick a good book to start on. This book was haunting and I have become obsessed with the unique writing style that Brite uses. At times her writing felt like I was in a David Lynch film and isn't that a crazy thought.

I would not say this book scared me but made me feel uneasy. I am not even sure if the novel was about a haunting house or about a group of characters who deal with drugs and heavy baggage and the ability to let go. Almost every character in this book is about a character who is so flawed and drugged out that you should feel sorry for them, but really you just want them to run to their house and smoke more pot in peace and away from the horrors of the real world, and when they go to a different world you have the sense to be more afraid for them cause almost none of them deserved the horrors that happen in this book, yet none of them are good people. Does that make sense? Have I gone crazy? I am also convinced this book is actually about how love can destroy or make you, but if I get into way I think that it would just lead to spoilers

God. I want to talk about this book with someone so much, but who do I recommend this book for? This book is a fine line of erotic horror to a horror erotic and most people will not have the stomach for this. The beginning of the book is going to turn most people away, and half the imagery is disturbing and not in the Stephen King way. So, I guess read at your own risk?

Quote I liked:

Aren't you scared he'll freak out and murder you in your sleep?
Zach laughed. "No. If Trevor decideds to kill me, he'll make sure I'm awake for it."

I actually find this line super romantic, but I'm disturbed

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Nov 01, 2020 BookChampions rated it it was amazing

"The body is a puzzle of flesh and blood and bone."

My last book of October just happens to be the very best one. And it is also one of the best books I've read all year.

I've seen Poppy Z. Brite hyped a number of places over the past few years, but I don't think I was prepared for how gorgeous and unsettling and emotional this book actually was. 1993's *Drawing Blood* is clearly a visionary horror masterpiece--but is is also so much more. It's a profound love story and a gritty outsider tale, a l

"The body is a puzzle of flesh and blood and bone."

My last book of October just happens to be the very best one. And it is also one of the best books I've read all year.

Zach and Trevor are such loveable characters, both with horrific pasts (i.e., abuse, violence, murder) and only the glimmer of a future. The dream (alternate reality?) sequences are cinematic and insanely good. So what is also one of the best haunted house stories turns out to be about trust and creativity and, most of all, love.

While not for the faint of heart (or prudish), *Drawing Blood* would be a perfect read for any fellow horror head, and for those interested in or delighted by portrayals of queerness in literature. *Drawing Blood* is Brite's second Lambda Literary award nomination, and I am now anticipating his first like next year's Halloween.

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Jun 29, 2021 Centi rated it liked it

Ok listen if I was going off pure enjoyment I'd give this a 4 stars. Because it was pretty fun and when the horror amped up it was actually pretty scary (though it's considerably a smaller part of the book than you might expect). I also really enjoyed the 90s hacker stuff. Absolutely dates the book but not in a bad way ("HACK THIS SYSTEM D00D!!!"). Now, the plot left some things to be desired, for me. E.g. the main characters fall deeply in love suuuper fast, one guy just happens to be an amazin Ok listen if I was going off pure enjoyment I'd give this a 4 stars. Because it was pretty fun and when the horror amped up it was actually pretty scary (though it's considerably a smaller part of the book than you might expect). I also really enjoyed the 90s hacker stuff. Absolutely dates the book but not in a bad way ("HACK THIS SYSTEM D00D!!!"). Now, the plot left some things to be desired, for me. E.g. the main characters fall deeply in love suuuper fast, one guy just happens to be an amazing singer and born to the stage (despite never having performed) the very night that the band is in need of a lead singer, some parts seem a little racist (clumsily so, rather than maliciously). Far from a perfect book, but I can't deny I did have a good time and got attached to a few of the characters. And it was sexy. ...more

Zombieslayer/Alienhunter's 31 Days of Hallo-reads #4.

In June of 1972, cult-worshipped comic book author and artist, creator of the one and only Birdland, Bobby McGee (probably not that one) butchered his wife and three-year-old son with a hammer and then proceeded to hang himself in a farmhouse on Violin Road in Missing Mile, North Carolina.
His five-year-old boy, Trevor, was not harmed.

After being a ward of the state for thirteen years, Trevor McGee (selling his own artwork under the name of Tre

Zombieslayer/Alienhunter's 31 Days of Hallo-reads #4.

After being a ward of the state for thirteen years, Trevor McGee (selling his own artwork under the name of Trevor Black) ran. Far. And fast. Away from Missing Mile, away from Violin Road, away from the suffocating presence of his mother, father and little brother.
Seven years of such transient behavior have gotten the poor boy exactly nothing.
With nowhere else to turn to, wanting answers and willing to face the music to get them, Trevor returns.

The eccentric townspeople of Missing Mile readily accept Trevor, and on his second day there, who should he stumble into, but a soul as lost as himself?

Zach Bosch, six years younger than Trevor but possibly a lifetime more experienced, is on the run. His screwing around in cyberspace has landed him in hot, federal water and 'They', the G-men, are after him. He blows New Orleans in a flash and leaves no trace.
Or so he thinks.
In an attempt to tell his friends in the Big Easy he's alright, Zach accidentally gives away his location. He hopes huddling down in Missing Mile will shake 'Them' off his trail, but he can't hide forever.

The house on Violin Road has taken three victims, but it wants more blood.
And so it shall be drawn.

He needn't have worried about accidentally coming about the Devil's Tramping Ground, he realized.
The Devil's Tramping Ground had come to him.

Billy Martin*'s highly psychological, atmospheric book stole two days from me.
I'd heard of his work for years and been told "Oh my God, you'll love it!".
The same things I'd heard about Anne Rice, actually, and they all proved true.

Martin's writing style was hard to get used to (for about five pages) but it grew on me.
It's not as oversaturated with purple ink as I was dreading it might be. It's blunt when need be, but most of the writing is beautiful.

Thought deserted him again. He felt like a man made out of television static, of a million roaring, hissing sliver dots.

I deducted some points for overuse of all-caps SHOUTING and triple exclamation points used on the same word. Individually I might have been able to ignore them, but on the same word?
No. Sorry.
It's nothing to be a special kind of bitch about. I was probably four-starring this anyway.

Psychological horror as its very best, with beautiful, truthful depictions of southern small-town beauty and danger.
I'll be continuing with Martin's work, starting, I hope, with Lost Souls which apparently also takes place in Missing Mile.

So, uh, on a wee bit of a, um... *clears throat* Personal note, getting this book finished by October 11th was kind of important for me, hence tossing it in for Hallo-reads at the last second.
October 11th is National Coming Out day, nicknamed in the community as 'Outoberfest'.
So, uh...
Have I mentioned that

I'm actually 99% sure I have, I think I mentioned it in at least one review, possibly two, but there it is for ya.
Annnd I just ruined what I meant to be a heartfelt review for a book I loved and a message that hit home with a dumbass gif.
I should probably feel ashamed about that but that would be the opposite of what I want anyone reading this here review to feel, so meh.

The inner third-person monologue of an eighty-something-year-old man who witnessed Trevor and Zach kissing actually woke my cold dead heart up a little and brought some tiny little tears to my jaded bitch eyes.

Now they could do it in public if they wanted to, with the nonchalance of any young couple in love. He wished he had been born in such a time, or had been brave enough to help make that time.

In closing, if there are any teenyboppers reading this review-
Hey, wait a sec. This is a review for a graphic horror novel. Get outta here before I kick your ass!
... Okay, are the squares gone?
Alrighty then, let's level.
Look, not as many people want you dead as you think, okay? The key to accepting yourself and being alright with who you are is getting that through your skull.
I'm not saying don't watch your back, because it ain't ideal and it might still be a while before it really is, but the world isn't out to get you.
The sooner you realize that, the happier you'll be.
And don't waste your time with people who don't accept you or respect you, (a root point in Drawing Blood, if you want a book report term) because life is too short.

Happy Outoberfest, my friends.

-Zombie S.A Hunter.

*The author who wrote under Poppy Z. Brite has undergone gender-reassignment and goes by the name Billy Martin*

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I think I realize that I like Poppy Z. Brite wirting style

3.5 stars
It focused a bit too much on the romance than the house to my liking, but nonetheless I enjoyed it very much. Imperfect but likeable characters and written in a style that makes it easy to read. I found this book in our little library and I'm glad I did.

Poppy Z. Brite (born Melissa Ann Brite, now going by Billy Martin) is an American author born in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Born a biological female, Brite has written and talked much about his gender dysphoria/gender identity issues. He self-identifies almost completely as a homosexual male rather than female, and as of 2011 has started taking testosterone injections. His male name is Billy Martin.

Poppy Z. Brite (born Melissa Ann Brite, now going by Billy Martin) is an American author born in New Orleans, Louisiana.

He lived in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Athens, Georgia prior to returning to New Orleans in 1993. He loves UNC basketball and is a sometime season ticket holder for the NBA, but he saves his greatest affection for his hometown football team, the New Orleans Saints.

Brite and husband Chris DeBarr, a chef, run a de facto cat rescue and have, at any given time, between fifteen and twenty cats. Photos of the various felines are available on the "Cats" page of Brite's website. They have been known to have a few dogs and perhaps a snake as well in the menagerie. They are no longer together.

During Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Brite at first opted to stay at home, but he eventually abandoned New Orleans and his cats and relocated 80 miles away to his mother's home in Mississippi. He used his blog to update his fans regarding the situation, including the unknown status of his house and many of his pets, and in October 2005 became one of the first 70,000 New Orleanians to begin repopulating the city.

In the following months, Brite has been an outspoken and sometimes harsh critic of those who are leaving New Orleans for good. He was quoted in the New York Times and elsewhere as saying, in reference to those considering leaving, "If you're ever lucky enough to belong somewhere, if a place takes you in and you take it into yourself, you don't desert it just because it can kill you. There are things more valuable than life."

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"Didn't he have to admit, begrudgingly, that in some extra-perverse corner of his brain the idea of having to be out of town before sundown appealed to him? New Orleans had been the only constant thing in his life. But didn't he yet an itchy foot sometimes, didn't he sometimes think about just throwing all his stuff in his car and going?
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Why Drawing Blood Bad for Anemics

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