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Quest for Sex, Truth & Reality
“The three stories in this chapbook are among my favorites of my stuff,” Lee says. The stories are the intellectualized b-movie-like “The Seeker” and the Lieberesque “The Goddess of the New Dark Age,” plus the potent existential porn piece, “Sex, Truth, & Reality” aka “Pay Me.” The latter has never been reprinted, and was originally accepted in the early ‘80s by HUSTLER magazine, even to the point that Lee’s manuscript was copy-edited and sent to the typesetter. “Jut my luck,” Lee recalls. “Right before they were going to pay me something like 800 bucks,” the fiction editor left the company and the story was rejected by his successor, said HUSTLER was no place for philosophical fiction. It’s the only time I’m ever gotten a manuscript returned with copy-edit marks.”
68 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 1992
3 people are currently reading
131 people want to read
About the author
Edward Lee
271 books1,460 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Edward Lee is an American novelist specializing in the field of horror, and has authored 40 books, more than half of which have been published by mass-market New York paperback companies such as Leisure/Dorchester, Berkley, and Zebra/Kensington. He is a Bram Stoker award nominee for his story "Mr. Torso," and his short stories have appeared in over a dozen mass-market anthologies, including THE BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES OF 2000, Pocket's HOT BLOOD series, and the award-wining 999. Several of his novels have sold translation rights to Germany, Greece, and Romania. He also publishes quite actively in the small-press/limited-edition hardcover market; many of his books in this category have become collector's items. While a number of Lee's projects have been optioned for film, only one has been made, HEADER, which was released on DVD to mixed reviews in June, 2009, by Synapse Films.
Lee is particularly known for over-the-top occult concepts and an accelerated treatment of erotic and/or morbid sexual imagery and visceral violence.
He was born on May 25, 1957 in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Bowie, Maryland. In the late-70s he served in the U.S. Army's 1st Armored Division, in Erlangen, West Germany, then, for a short time, was a municipal police officer in Cottage City, Maryland. Lee also attended the University of Maryland as an English major but quit in his last semester to pursue his dream of being a horror novelist. For over 15 years, he worked as the night manager for a security company in Annapolis, Maryland, while writing in his spare time. In 1997, however, he became a full-time writer, first spending several years in Seattle and then moving to St. Pete Beach, Florida, where he currently resides.
Of note, the author cites as his strongest influence horror legend H. P. Lovecraft; in 2007, Lee embarked on what he calls his "Lovecraft kick" and wrote a spate of novels and novellas which tribute Lovecraft and his famous Cthulhu Mythos. Among these projects are THE INNSWICH HORROR, "Trolley No. 1852," HAUNTER OF THE THRESHOLD, GOING MONSTERING, "Pages Torn From A Travel Journal," and "You Are My Everything." Lee promises more Lovecraftian work on the horizon.
Edward Lee is an American novelist specializing in the field of horror, and has authored 40 books, more than half of which have been published by mass-market New York paperback companies such as Leisure/Dorchester, Berkley, and Zebra/Kensington. He is a Bram Stoker award nominee for his story "Mr. Torso," and his short stories have appeared in over a dozen mass-market anthologies, including THE BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES OF 2000, Pocket's HOT BLOOD series, and the award-wining 999. Several of his novels have sold translation rights to Germany, Greece, and Romania. He also publishes quite actively in the small-press/limited-edition hardcover market; many of his books in this category have become collector's items. While a number of Lee's projects have been optioned for film, only one has been made, HEADER, which was released on DVD to mixed reviews in June, 2009, by Synapse Films.
Lee is particularly known for over-the-top occult concepts and an accelerated treatment of erotic and/or morbid sexual imagery and visceral violence.
He was born on May 25, 1957 in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Bowie, Maryland. In the late-70s he served in the U.S. Army's 1st Armored Division, in Erlangen, West Germany, then, for a short time, was a municipal police officer in Cottage City, Maryland. Lee also attended the University of Maryland as an English major but quit in his last semester to pursue his dream of being a horror novelist. For over 15 years, he worked as the night manager for a security company in Annapolis, Maryland, while writing in his spare time. In 1997, however, he became a full-time writer, first spending several years in Seattle and then moving to St. Pete Beach, Florida, where he currently resides.
Of note, the author cites as his strongest influence horror legend H. P. Lovecraft; in 2007, Lee embarked on what he calls his "Lovecraft kick" and wrote a spate of novels and novellas which tribute Lovecraft and his famous Cthulhu Mythos. Among these projects are THE INNSWICH HORROR, "Trolley No. 1852," HAUNTER OF THE THRESHOLD, GOING MONSTERING, "Pages Torn From A Travel Journal," and "You Are My Everything." Lee promises more Lovecraftian work on the horizon.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 7, 2024
A short story collection about exactly what the title says lol sex truth and reality. Such a good read. Most of these stories were from when he was just 24 years old. Really good read.
April 27, 2015
A collection of three short stories in which a writer searches for truth amid scenes of depravity that will startle average readers, but which are actually fairly tame by Ed Lee standards. What really struck me about these stories was the writing. The first story is downright poetic and should probably be taught in college lit. courses. I had no idea Ed Lee was such a fine wordsmith. The other two stories are also incredibly well-written, but they have a nasty edge likely to turn off most non-horror fans. The last story has been described by the author as "socio-philosophical porn" and was initially supposed to have been published in HUSTLER. And yet, I personally didn't find it pornographic because (1.) it was so artistically done (Was the author really only 24 when he wrote this?!) and (2.) because nothing about it is sexy despite its graphic sexual nature.
All three stories explore the idea of truth as being malleable--a notion that I whole-heartedly disagree with. The stories have a David Lynch-esque quality to them, and you'll probably need to refer to Lee's Afterwords for help in deciphering the plots. Yet, as with a David Lynch movie, the imagery and language is so captivating that the actual storyline seems almost incidental.
All three stories explore the idea of truth as being malleable--a notion that I whole-heartedly disagree with. The stories have a David Lynch-esque quality to them, and you'll probably need to refer to Lee's Afterwords for help in deciphering the plots. Yet, as with a David Lynch movie, the imagery and language is so captivating that the actual storyline seems almost incidental.
March 25, 2014
Only three short stories in this collection, but a great introduction to Edward Lee. All are about seekers – writers by trade – who find something more and quite other than they hoped for. Truth, transposition and mutability form a common thematic thread. What separates Lee from pure gross-out is his fascination with what he calls the “collision of opposites” – that moment, to make up an example, when you’re reading Sartre and step in a puddle of puke. Tropes of extreme horror become wry observations on the nature of life: In these stories you get both your Sartre and your puke.
November 7, 2019
It’s funny that somehow I felt like I’ve read the first 2 stories somewhere else. Maybe in some other compilation of short stories.
Anyway I gotta say, I didn’t really enjoy this one. The philosophical part just didn’t work for me. When I read horror, I want it to be purely horrifying. Edward does a good job out of it, but inserting all that philosophical stuff just spoils the entertainment.
Perhaps the story I like most would be The Seeker. The beginning almost bore me to tears, but soon it was followed by gut wrenching scenes of demented horror that I’ve come to associate with Edward Lee’s writing. I love and appreciate how natural and succinct he described those scenes. Really reminds me of the crazy gut wrenching world in City Infernal.
Anyway I gotta say, I didn’t really enjoy this one. The philosophical part just didn’t work for me. When I read horror, I want it to be purely horrifying. Edward does a good job out of it, but inserting all that philosophical stuff just spoils the entertainment.
Perhaps the story I like most would be The Seeker. The beginning almost bore me to tears, but soon it was followed by gut wrenching scenes of demented horror that I’ve come to associate with Edward Lee’s writing. I love and appreciate how natural and succinct he described those scenes. Really reminds me of the crazy gut wrenching world in City Infernal.
February 13, 2020
Quest for Sex, Truth & Reality is a collection of three short works of existentialist splatterpunk horror by Edward Lee; Goddess of the New Dark, The Seeker, and Pay Me. All three short stories are told from the narrative perspective of a writer in search of some form of absolute truth, and each includes a brief afterword by the author regarding the origin of the piece in question. All three stories are philosophical in nature, but if you're just looking for is chunkblowing gore and depravity, you won't be disappointed by this collection.
August 26, 2018
Just not good. Three stories that are odd unfocused and not interesting. Ed Lee has done way better.
November 28, 2024
A little chap book of Ed Lee,
is much like a little case of
gonorrhea.
It stays with you for a while,
but is curable.
is much like a little case of
gonorrhea.
It stays with you for a while,
but is curable.
August 10, 2025
I mean it is a book about sex truth and reality i guess
October 17, 2012
I love Edward Lee’s work. His extreme horror fiction is a little “wet” for some readers, but when Lee gets too “dry” and academic that’s when the trouble starts.
Unfortunately the first tale in The Quest for Sex, Truth & Reality, “The Goddess of the New Dark Age ,” falls into Lee’s bone dry category. It’s reminiscent of some of Lee’s work in The Ushers, a collection of philosophical musings about the afterlife and the netherworld, rather than the character-driven tales of terror and suspense which are Lee’s specialty.
Things get slightly more interesting in the second story, “The Seeker,” which combines allegorical prose with B-horror movie gross outs.
The final tale, “Pay Me,” is described by Lee in the afterward as “socio-philosophical pornography,” which is as apt a description as any for this strange story. Things get extreme here–way out there–but it somehow doesn’t pack the emotional or visceral punch of Lee’s other hardcore tales, like The Bighead or his Micah Hayes stories.
The Quest for Sex, Truth & Reality isn’t Lee’s best work, but true fans will surely find some fun here, and for a price of $2.49 you don’t feel ripped off.
Unfortunately the first tale in The Quest for Sex, Truth & Reality, “The Goddess of the New Dark Age ,” falls into Lee’s bone dry category. It’s reminiscent of some of Lee’s work in The Ushers, a collection of philosophical musings about the afterlife and the netherworld, rather than the character-driven tales of terror and suspense which are Lee’s specialty.
Things get slightly more interesting in the second story, “The Seeker,” which combines allegorical prose with B-horror movie gross outs.
The final tale, “Pay Me,” is described by Lee in the afterward as “socio-philosophical pornography,” which is as apt a description as any for this strange story. Things get extreme here–way out there–but it somehow doesn’t pack the emotional or visceral punch of Lee’s other hardcore tales, like The Bighead or his Micah Hayes stories.
The Quest for Sex, Truth & Reality isn’t Lee’s best work, but true fans will surely find some fun here, and for a price of $2.49 you don’t feel ripped off.
November 19, 2011
Very interesting read. I absolutely loved "Pay Me". I found it to be very dark but beautiful.
April 3, 2013
Lee on a quest for answers of this reality in a fictional world where nothing is as it seems is the theme of these stories/tales. Very philosophical. Just OKAY.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews