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36th out of 332 books
—
697 voters
Drawing Blood
Escaping from his North Carolina home after his father murders their family and commits suicide, Trevor McGee returns to confront the past, and finds himself haunted by the same demons that drove his father to insanity.
Paperback, 416 pages
Published
October 1st 1994
by Dell
(first published 1993)
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Jul 30, 2007
Wealhtheow
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
fans of slash, Crumb and gore
Shelves:
paranormal_romance,
queer-characters
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?
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...more
Poppy Z. Brite seems to have been excoriated for the Gothic trappings of her writing, or possibly simply her wild-child, pretentiously "decadent" persona. Although she trips up in her short story collection, "Wormwood," and can veer into ridiculousness with her overlong and sometimes florid descriptive style, underneath the layers of lace and eyeliner, her longer works of nonfiction have legitimately interesting characters and original plots. Drawing Blood is particularly good, as Brite revists...more
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...more
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...more
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...more
I learned that, I would never want to have sex in a house where an entire family was murdered.
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Of the early fiction by Poppy Brite I think this is my favourite. She's got herself a name for writing vampire fiction in spite of only ever writing one vampire novel, her first, Lost Souls. I read Lost Souls as a Penguin proof copy and knew then that it would become a dark classic of the vampire genre. Drawing Blood, in spite of the name, is not a vampire novel however. It's an intense and sometimes quite scary modern ghost story and the writing takes a vast leap from the simplicity of it's pre...more
I think this is the first one of Poppy Z. Brite’s books I have come across with a reasonably happy ending. If there is such a thing as intelligent pulp fiction, I think that Brite has hit the nail on the head. Much like her previous work, “Drawing Blood” has a heavy nostalgic feeling for old jazz and 90’s phenomenon. The novel is noticeably dated as one of the protagonists, Zach, makes his money from hacking into various computer data bases – often at the expense of the United States government....more
Poppy Z. Brite offers up another dreamy, sex-filled story of teens and young adults who have grown up to be punks, goths, and the beautiful, fragile people on the margins of late 20th century society. Her writing here is less florid than in her first novel Lost Souls, but then again none of these characters are vampires. She also has a real plot for this novel, unlike her first. It's an unlikely love story with a smattering of the supernatural, much of which is actually drug-induced hallucinatio...more
1 like · like · see review
Jun 06, 2010
Eve
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
horror fans, glbt novel fans, gothic horror fans
Recommended to Eve by:
Jeannette
Oh my god, the things I read in high school. This book is about an artist who was orphaned as a young boy when his father killed the rest of their family, then himself, in a house in rural North Carolina. The boy grows up in the foster care system and eventually wends his way back to that same house for reasons he can't fathom. A second young man flees New Orleans and government officials who have caught on to his early 1990s cracking activities. Internet outlaw! In the rooms of this haunted hou...more
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...more
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...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Brite, Poppy Z. DRAWING BLOOD. (1993). ***. I have to state right off that this novel is in a genre that I typically can’t get into: gothic, horror. Ms. Brite is a young writer who hails from New Orleans. The city probably had an effect on her since it is a hotbed of superstition and belief in the supernatural. This novel tells the story of a young man, Trevor McGee (kind of sounds like Travis McGee), who is the sole survivor of a family where the father killed his mother and his younger brother...more
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...more
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...more
Who in their right mind gives up on a book after making it all the way to the 70% mark? Apparently that would be me. Why? Because it took three days just to force myself to that point.
There honestly is no kind way to describe the tedium of this book. All the right words were there and bordered on brilliance in some places, but the plot was lacking in anything that resembled a passion for the story being told, nor stirred even a modicum of interest to inspire me to forge on to the bitter end.
Ther...more
There honestly is no kind way to describe the tedium of this book. All the right words were there and bordered on brilliance in some places, but the plot was lacking in anything that resembled a passion for the story being told, nor stirred even a modicum of interest to inspire me to forge on to the bitter end.
Ther...more
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Good book, thought it was about vamps when my friend Marc recommended it to me, but it's not...which is fine. Awesomely bloody non-stereotypical gay love story between a skinny goth hacker from New Orleans on the run and a hippie-looking young graphic artist whose whole family was murdered by his father 20 years ago. Whew! They end up playing house in the actual house the murders happened in, and yes, it's haunted! Lots of hot gay sex, large ganja spliffs, southern gothic hanging moss, rock n' r...more
“Aren’t you scared he will freak out and murder you in your sleep”
Zach laughed.”No. If Trevor decides to kill me, he’ll make sure I’m wake for it”
After Zach (19, runaway hacker) talked out Trevor (25, an artist) of killing him they become friends and lovers. Zach has to keep running away from law but he stays with Trevor who has returned to house where his father 20 years ago murdered his wife and younger son and committed suicide leaving behind his oldest son alive. While with every day agents...more
Zach laughed.”No. If Trevor decides to kill me, he’ll make sure I’m wake for it”
After Zach (19, runaway hacker) talked out Trevor (25, an artist) of killing him they become friends and lovers. Zach has to keep running away from law but he stays with Trevor who has returned to house where his father 20 years ago murdered his wife and younger son and committed suicide leaving behind his oldest son alive. While with every day agents...more
It was difficult not to be reminding of my days in roleplaying games while reading Drawing Blood, both running a character and running a game. The novel takes the horror standard of the haunted house and takes it into a “modern” direction, which means there’s more angst and soul-searching than characters running for their lives. Considering the factors at work, namely that the two main characters use mild hallucinogenics constantly throughout the story, and the primary protagonist Trevor is a de...more
May 20, 2010
Private Grave
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
goths, deathers, poppy z. brite fans
Growing up P.Z.B., as a writer, meant so much to me. Her dark, twisted, and aching characters filled my head as if they were people in the real world –stories from a darker part of the world that if I looked hard enough on the fringes of society I could find.
I’m twenty-five now, an old man by my standards, and I find myself rereading P.Z.B. books looking for that key to the darker world. The key to the place where I feel like I truly fit in.
At twenty-five I see P.Z.B.’s characters as childish, y...more
I’m twenty-five now, an old man by my standards, and I find myself rereading P.Z.B. books looking for that key to the darker world. The key to the place where I feel like I truly fit in.
At twenty-five I see P.Z.B.’s characters as childish, y...more
I somehow had never heard of PZB until I was 15 or 16, despite my being cloaked in black liquid eyeliner and combat boots. At that ender age I randomly found this book at the local library, checked it out on a whim, and was blown away. Her writing is decisive, vivid, cutting and stark and her characters are extreme to the point of being unreal. With a few keystrokes she creates amazing worlds of pain, darkness and desperation. I sure as hell never read a book like this before that fateful day an...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...more
The description of everything (initially i thought i would be put off by it) but surprise! wasn't tedious or overbearing, I actually quite enjoy reading the descriptions of the places in the story.
It wasn't that much of a horror story for me, the love story of the main protagonists(?) was what did it for me. I could feel the mutual attraction they had for each other and it was really good.
One thing that was bothering me (oh i'm just nit-picking) is that this story could have been so much better...more
It wasn't that much of a horror story for me, the love story of the main protagonists(?) was what did it for me. I could feel the mutual attraction they had for each other and it was really good.
One thing that was bothering me (oh i'm just nit-picking) is that this story could have been so much better...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This book was a fairy tale- familiar to me in Brite's beautiful heart-breaking prose and with well-loved characters and places- but haunting nonetheless. It's an extended metaphor for anyone who has ever been afraid that their wreck of a past will reach into their future and strangle it before it can begin. If you've ever been afraid to love because of what is buried in your past, you need to read this book and see how two boys, both FUBARed, deal with the fear when life presents them with one g...more
A beautiful book. Much more violent and psychological than Lost Souls, but equally as enchanting and gripping.
The characters were so well developed, I felt like I'd known them forever. Trevor and Zach were a lovely couple, but I feel their relationship was rushed just a tiny bit.
The mentioning of Steve and Ghost littered throughout the novel were quite teasing. She insists Drawing Blood isn't a sequel but she makes sure you remember and think about Lost Souls at the same time.
The description...more
The characters were so well developed, I felt like I'd known them forever. Trevor and Zach were a lovely couple, but I feel their relationship was rushed just a tiny bit.
The mentioning of Steve and Ghost littered throughout the novel were quite teasing. She insists Drawing Blood isn't a sequel but she makes sure you remember and think about Lost Souls at the same time.
The description...more
3.85
I was totally absorbed by this book until the 'shroom tripping began toward the end -- just after page 300, I believe. The subsequent self-indulgent orgy of violence made little sense to me and resulted in a lot of skimming on my part. I believe Trevor's demons could have been exorcised without it, and the mystery of his father's motivation solved with a great deal more subtlety. (Hell, I had trouble enough accepting Zach sticking around following Trevor's first early punch.)
So . . . althoug...more
I was totally absorbed by this book until the 'shroom tripping began toward the end -- just after page 300, I believe. The subsequent self-indulgent orgy of violence made little sense to me and resulted in a lot of skimming on my part. I believe Trevor's demons could have been exorcised without it, and the mystery of his father's motivation solved with a great deal more subtlety. (Hell, I had trouble enough accepting Zach sticking around following Trevor's first early punch.)
So . . . althoug...more
I randomly bought this at Bookthugnation because it was one of my favorites when I was a teenager, and it miraculously stood the test of time for me. As far as horror novels are concerned, I can't imagine a better one, and I wish all teenagers would read this sort of thing. Seriously-- a gay romance between a New Orleans hacker on the lam and a disturbed comic book artist set in a haunted house in small-town North Carolina? What? I mean, sure, it induced a little eye-rolling, but for the most pa...more
This book was amazing. It was creepy, romantic, scary, endearing, and ultimately very fulfilling to finish. The characters were so fun to read, and the descriptive writing style absolutely made the story. If you like cerebral horror (though the book doesn't focus so much on cheap scares; the horror is more emotional than anything), a general air of creepiness, and a good love story on top of it all, this book is perfect. I would recommend it to fans of Francesca Lia Block as a grownup upgrade.
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Easily one of the best books I have ever read. Needing something to read for writing inspiration, I picked up Lost Souls and while it took me a while to get into her style, once finished, I needed more. I found Drawing Blood and I've never been more satisfied with a book. The only thing missing is a sequel. While that probably won't happen, this is definitely worth a read and will leave you wanting more.
The characterization, the story, the style, everything. I have yet to find something compara...more
The characterization, the story, the style, everything. I have yet to find something compara...more
3.5 stars. This was good, but oh so weird.
The first 40% were pretty boring, especially since the two MCs didn't even meet until that mark. But when they did meet it started getting reaaally good. I absolutely LOVED the connection between Zach and Trevor. From the moment they met, they immediately connected and I loved reading about it. I do feel like they fell in love kind of quickly and it wasn't very realistic, but then again, like Zach said, he'd been waiting 19 years to fall in love and it j...more
The first 40% were pretty boring, especially since the two MCs didn't even meet until that mark. But when they did meet it started getting reaaally good. I absolutely LOVED the connection between Zach and Trevor. From the moment they met, they immediately connected and I loved reading about it. I do feel like they fell in love kind of quickly and it wasn't very realistic, but then again, like Zach said, he'd been waiting 19 years to fall in love and it j...more
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Poppy Z. Brite (born Melissa Ann Brite) 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.
He lived in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Athens, Georgia...more
More about Poppy Z. Brite...
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.
He lived in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Athens, Georgia...more
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“All at once it hit him: this was power too, just as surely as smashing your fist into someone’s face, just as surely as putting a hammer through someone’s skull. The power to make another person crazy with pleasure instead of fear and pain, to have every cell in another person’s body at your thrall.”
—
7 people liked it
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He wasn’t much for erasing anyway. Sometimes your mistakes showed you the really interesting connections between your brain, your hand, and your heart, the ones you might otherwise never know were there. They were important even if you had no idea what they meant.
Like now, for instance. Coming back here might be the biggest mistake he’d ever made. But it might also be the most important thing he’d ever done.”
—
4 people liked it
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He wasn’t much for erasing anyway. Sometimes your mistakes showed you the really interesting connections between your brain, your hand, and your heart, the ones you might otherwise never know were there. They were important even if you had no idea what they meant.
Like now, for instance. Coming back here might be the biggest mistake he’d ever made. But it might also be the most important thing he’d ever done.”
Apr 18, 2013 03:24pm