Named one of the Top 40 Horror Books of All Time by the Horror Writers Association, Some of Your Blood begins with a confidential folder belonging ...
read full description
reviews
Apr 05, 2011
Charles Dee
rated it: 
Theodore Sturgeon wrote some of the best and most formally inventive sf of its day. But remember, Sturgeon's Law states. "90% of everything is crap." This book is by no means crap, but it has a couple of stylistic choices that put it pretty far down on the Sturgeon list as far as I'm concerned.
Letters between doctors, transcripts of psychiatric sessions, journal entries -- these are Sturgeon's nod to Bram Stoker's epistolary construction of Dracula. And it all works well ex More...
Letters between doctors, transcripts of psychiatric sessions, journal entries -- these are Sturgeon's nod to Bram Stoker's epistolary construction of Dracula. And it all works well ex More...
0 comments
like
(4 people liked it)
May 07, 2011
Ben
rated it: 
theodore sturgeon has always fascinated me, although i've never really liked any of his books. i love his short story "the man who lost the sea," but the longer stuff always kind of bored me. it always gave me the sense that he'd rather be writing short but felt he had to pad the thing out so he could make some money off it. which, hey, is probably true. and i can't really say that i blame him.
anyway, this book didn't feel that way at all, which is strange because it is tra More...
anyway, this book didn't feel that way at all, which is strange because it is tra More...
3 comments
like
(4 people liked it)
Jun 30, 2010
Emlymom
rated it: 
This book is brilliantly, cleverly, skillfully written. I especially love the whole Arthur Hitchcock this going on at the beginning and end, where the author/narrator (whom you do not hear from the rest of the time) puts in that little nudge, amps it up a bit, draws you in and makes you think about what you just read. Could it be real? How would you like it to resolve? Why? The author must have had knowledge of psychiatric analysis to use it so skillfully to draw out a fuller picture of the main
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Nov 27, 2011
Stephen King recommended author and book.
Book noted as "important to the genre we have been discussing" from Danse Macabre, published in 1981. Author noted in chapter 9.
Book noted as "important to the genre we have been discussing" from Danse Macabre, published in 1981. Author noted in chapter 9.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Oct 07, 2011
Dominick
rated it:
Wow. Very interesting. Not SF, despite the author and the section of the bookstore where I found it. Not horror, despite the title and the overt Dracula shout-outs (it's written in epistolary/journal form, the protagonist is named "Bela"). Rather, it's what I'd have to call a psychological novel about vampirism, rationalized in terms of mental illness resulting from child abuse. I'd have to say it's a pretty daring book for 1961. Not sure that the metafictional elements add anything (t
More...
Jun 09, 2011
Kurt
rated it:
Short novel told through letters, interview transcripts and a "diary" of sorts, about a patient in a VA mental ward. Lots of psychology and disturbing confessions. This novel by Sturgeon was published in 1961 and is similar to Matheson's I AM LEGEND in taking a modern, scientific approach to an old horror tale. There is some pretty disturbing stuff in this book, considering the year it was published. It's an example, for me, about what "genre" writers were doing while the mai
More...
Oct 14, 2009
Aaron
rated it:
The book is written in fragments, semi-epistolary. I struggled through the first third because it was a narrative written by a semi-literate man. (the grammar was atrocious)
I'm glad I did. Since I've started writing, I've scared myself with what my mind was able to conceive, but only on rare occasions. Horror fiction doesn't scare me as it did when I was a child--it doesn't make me look around and put the book down and hope everything is going to be okay.
I felt that way More...
I'm glad I did. Since I've started writing, I've scared myself with what my mind was able to conceive, but only on rare occasions. Horror fiction doesn't scare me as it did when I was a child--it doesn't make me look around and put the book down and hope everything is going to be okay.
I felt that way More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Mar 16, 2010
Cheryl
rated it:
I read a lot. I have never consciously sat down to consider the numbers, but I can safely say: It's a friggin' lot. Even while I am working on my own fiction and reviewing for the peeps, I read. I try to keep the idiot box turned off as much as possible in order to get a good 1-2 hours of reading in every night. I think it keeps the brain sharp when it comes to abstract concepts. Reading requires visualization, which requires thinking.
have been asked fairly often, "What do you More...
have been asked fairly often, "What do you More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Feb 12, 2008
D_Davis
rated it:
Some of Your Blood. Where to start? How do I begin to review this powerful work of fiction? Theodore Sturgeon begins the book by encouraging us, the reader, to dive in, to examine, and to experience a fictional case study, compiled by a Dr. Philip Outerbridge, of a man named George Smith.
Sturgeon says:
You know the way. You have the key. And it is your privilege...
But open your eyes now and look at the folder before you. On the index tab at its edge More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Jan 22, 2008
Robert
rated it:
Theodore Sturgeon, Some of Your Blood (Carroll and Graf, 1961)
In the world of what we shall call "psychological fiction," for lack of a better term (to wit: that fiction that deals with a person being psychoanalyzed, psychologized, and/or psychiatrized), Theodore Sturgeon's short novel Some of Your Blood occupies a very odd position. It s recognized by the Horror Writers' Association as one of the Top 40 horror novels of all time (despite it being more of a novella) despite n More...
In the world of what we shall call "psychological fiction," for lack of a better term (to wit: that fiction that deals with a person being psychoanalyzed, psychologized, and/or psychiatrized), Theodore Sturgeon's short novel Some of Your Blood occupies a very odd position. It s recognized by the Horror Writers' Association as one of the Top 40 horror novels of all time (despite it being more of a novella) despite n More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Apr 09, 2009
Derek
rated it:
First of all, let me say that Theodore Sturgeon is in the upper echelon of all contemporary writers, science fiction or not.
Second, allow me to make a bold statement: This is one of the best vampire novels of all time. (Although, to be fair, "vampire" is a bit of a misnomer here.)
Third, it is one of those rare pieces of literature that continues to replay in your mind, as you rethink what you have read before in a completely different light.
Just get a cop
Second, allow me to make a bold statement: This is one of the best vampire novels of all time. (Although, to be fair, "vampire" is a bit of a misnomer here.)
Third, it is one of those rare pieces of literature that continues to replay in your mind, as you rethink what you have read before in a completely different light.
Just get a cop
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Aug 27, 2010
David
rated it:
Uma história de vampiros muitíssimo original e com um final poderoso. Narrada em vários registos, mas sempre com um fio narrativo sólido, progride de modo impecável até ao momento que, na minha opinião, é o melhor do livro: a revelação do significado do título. Acho que se algum dia alguém quiser filmar a adaptação cinematográfica deste romance, David Cronenberg seria a escolha mais indicada. Uma das melhores histórias de vampiros que já foram escritas.
Nov 12, 2009
Pamela
rated it:
Theodore Sturgeon had a real understanding of human psychology. His characters are believable and sympathetic, even when they are also disturbing or even repellent. The difference is that Sturgeon makes you understand the characters and their motivations even as you cringe at what they are doing.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
May 29, 2009
Donna
rated it:
This is a strange novel with an unexpected twist. Don't look for your typical vampire here. Even though it is old, Sturgeon's works are classics and this one is worth reading for anyone wanting a comprehensive review of vampire literature.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Dec 14, 2008
Jamie
rated it:
This classic tale of murder and psychosis by Sturgeon was a breakout hit at the time of its publication in 1956. Despite the intervening years it is still just as effective in the 21st century. Sturgeon is the master at sleight of hand. While consciously you are reading one thing and coming to one conclusion it is only at the end of the novel that you realize how limited your vision was.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jun 23, 2010
Cooper
rated it:
A peculiar and powerful read, especially considering its provenance--written about 50 years ago by an author principally known for SF.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jan 21, 2008
Chrysta
rated it:
I started and finished Some of Your Blood in less than a day. Granted it was a short novel, only 143 pages, but it drew me in from the first page and I couldn't put it down. And dark and intense story about vampirism and mental illness, the story is not gory or frightening as much as eerie and unsettling. The main character possesses an almost charming and childlike innocence while unfolding his erotic and violent behavior. Some of Your Blood also managed wry humor and wit to counterbalance the
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Sep 02, 2010
Aaron
rated it:
Pretty awesome. A great interpretation of vampirism. I'm totally team George.
5 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jun 03, 2010
Lucysnow1851
rated it:
Written in epistolary form, this short novel takes an interesting look at the vampire myth. George Smith comes from an abusive home life and his only solace is the forest. As he grows older the orphanage/youth detention center makes him into a man. When he comes home he's ready for a relationship with a girl named Anna. But he is addicted to violence, and it's hard for George to abstain. Part thriller, part horror story, this book is easy to read yet brilliant in execution.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Feb 14, 2008
Braden
rated it:
It actually took me some time to trule appreciate this book - I had to reflect on it, as well as discuss it with a friend before understand what it really had to offer.
Talk about deceiving cover blurbs - to future readers, this is NOT a horror story. Nor is it the dark tale of a vampire. Vampirism has little to do with the story, which is actually a very human story, about a very damaged man.
Talk about deceiving cover blurbs - to future readers, this is NOT a horror story. Nor is it the dark tale of a vampire. Vampirism has little to do with the story, which is actually a very human story, about a very damaged man.
Jul 17, 2011
Thomas
rated it:
This is a Freudian epistolary novel about a soldier called George/Bela who drinks blood when he is feeling stressed. It sounds very simple but is really far more complex than the bare bones summary makes it sound. Read it.
Feb 12, 2012
Feb 12, 2012
Feb 10, 2012
