Are You Loathsome Tonight?: Stories

by Poppy Z. Brite

Poppy Z. Brite, author of four novels, LOST SOULS, DRAWING BLOOD, EXQUISITE CORPSE, and THE LAZARUS HEART, plus several collections of short stories, has gone to the edge and back with ARE YOU LOATHSOME TONIGHT (titled SELF-MADE MAN in Europe). Join Poppy as she explores the outermost regions of murder, passion, death and religion in twelve extraordinary short stories.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Fiction, LGBT, Fantasy, Collections, Queer

160 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

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.

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."

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of a dozen short stories from the mid- to late-'90s, accompanied with interesting notes from the author and an introduction (which I found kind of incomprehensible) by Peter Straub. Some of them contain some rather graphic portions of gore, sex, and violence, so anyone concerned with trigger warnings should avoid it. The stories are for the most very well written and quite literate. The author (now known as Billy Martin) gained a lot of notoriety because of photographs and quotes and content and activities that overshadowed the work, as seems to frequently happen in the fantasy fiction field, but I found this volume quite worthwhile. My favorites were Self-Made Man, King of the Cats, and Mussolini and the Axeman's Jazz.

[Laurie (barksbooks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Are You Loathsome Tonight?" is a little pricey for such a small volume (185 pages) but as a big fan of Poppy Z. Brite's work I felt it was worth splurging on. Why? Because I got a quickie update on two of my favorite lovers, Trevor and Zach from "Drawing Blood" who, as she puts it, are still in "happy, disgusting, perfect love" - that short story alone was worth the cost of the book for me. Other highlights were "King of the Cats" a sweet, kinky, imaginative retelling of the fairytale "The Poor Miller's Apprentice and the Cat", "Self-Made Man" is another favorite because I can't seem to resist a good graphic zombie/cannibalistic tale, and "Saved" was another stand-out that is both violently erotic and terribly sad. If you've never read Poppy Z. Brite you might want to start out with "Drawing Blood" or "Lost Souls" before you delve into this collection.

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twisted, dark

A lot of dark and twisted stories here. Well written. Full of gore, sex and some controversial themes. Not for everyone. But anyone who's a fan of Poppy Z. Brite knows there are no filters.

[Danielle (Danni) Vinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poppy Z. Brite has a disturbing imagination and I love it. This was a fun collection of very different stories. Excellent stuff.

[Bookworm of the Damned · Rating 5 out of 5]

Join me as I celebrate pride month with Poppy Z. Brite's "Are You Loathsome Tonight?"

https://youtu.be/xiIAzxBH-Vs

[Juushika · Rating 4 out of 5]

In twelve stories, Brite explores the darkest recesses of the human id, its erotic and violent drives, its deepest motivations. Reading Brite is often like reading fanfiction in the best, and most essential, sense: her writing is so id-motivated that it's the purest sort of wish-fulfillment--not despite, but rather because of, its lingering and loving gruesome detail. It's about death and drugs and feces; it's about what those conjure and where they originate, for characters but more often for reader and writer. Are You Loathsome Tonight? is that in a condensed form, with bonus cameos from characters in Brite's novels, and so it literally reads as Brite fanfic--of, for, and by the author. This sort of distilled, grotesque indulgence will suit few tastes; nor is it Brite's best. The collection becomes almost masturbatory, which suits its theme but is nonetheless excessive. Some stories are obviously driven by premise or a certain literary experiment, and the effect is too transparent--they'd be better suited to the themed anthologies that prompted them, or to a workbook.

But no matter its flaws, Loathsome never fails to be engaging--and for the right sort of reader, its willingness to push and destroy every boundary can make it a success. "In Vermis Veritas" is brief but brilliantly on point, the consummate opener; "Saved" is my favorite story of the collection, surpassing all others with its grasp of theme and proclivity towards excess. In such a short and compelling volume, the standout selections make the whole work well worthwhile. As a Brite fan, I feel privileged to have stumbled upon this collection; I imagine that other fans may also enjoy this distillaition, albeit exaggeration, of Brite's work. New readers will get a strong taste of Brite from Loathsome, but her novels may be a better starting place on account of their sustain, refinement, and accessibility. On the whole, however, I enjoyed and recommend it.

[Robert Beveridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poppy Z. Brite, Are You Loathsome Tonight? (Gauntlet, 1998)

I've read some of Poppy Z. Brite's novels over the course of the last ten years, but have somehow not read any of her short stories until now. Perhaps, judging by the reviews, this wasn't the best place to start. If so, I can't wait to get to the other collections I have lined up.

Most fans (and professional reviewers) seem to consider this one a weaker piece of output. While some of the criticisms are justified (not knowing some of the characters are from previous novels, for example, may confuse), they don't take away from the writing in general. And it's the quality of the writing in this collection that makes it worth reading. It's rather like Caitlin R. Kiernan's From Weird and Distant Shores; the subject matter may not be what the more plot-centric fans were hoping for, but the style is unmistakable, and wonderful. Probably the best book I've read in the past three weeks (and that's not as left-handed a compliment as it sounds, since that encompasses some twelve books). ****

[Skirmish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Reaction: https://neverhollowed.com/2018/10/31/...
Rating: 4 Stars - minor quibbles but I loved it to bits

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

a long preface, but bear with me...
Brite is one of those authors with a fiercely devoted following that seethes with energy and anger and ferociousness and love... i often dislike unbridled fan appreciation, since it often leads to gushing about trivial and sophomorically written pieces or various length and dubious provenance, and, even worse, scathing criticism of anyone who decides any story/collection is not "the MOBBESTTHINGEVER!!" because the fans have decided - with no prodding or support from the author - that any-and-everythign the author writes speaks to their soul-of-souls and therefore can brook no criticism or dislike (read: your opinions are worthless tripe)... every author has penned garbage, every single one, because everyone sees a particular piece in their own way as it relates to their life experiences... Brite speaks to the marginalized/oppressed, and rightfully so considering her personal life, but there are times when her stories speak ONLY to those groups and therefore have little relevance or meaning for those on the 'outside', an irony for sure, as her fans are often labelled as 'outsiders'... i loved the trilogy starting with 'Under the Poppy' (though it weakens towards the end somewhat)... 'Lost Souls', 'Drawing Blood' and 'Exquisite Corpse' are amazing... but, yep, always that word... i found this collection to be rather thin, and not just in page count... there seemed an over-reliance on each story's foreword to pull in the aforementioned fans and less reliance on quality storytelling and concept... she writes great short tales, seemingly none of them made it here... but i will always get the next book because of what Brite can do...

[David Piwinski · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first Poppy Z. Brite book I’ve read, and it probably wasn’t the best place to start. I liked some of the stories quite a bit, but on the whole it felt like a collection of odds and ends without any real theme. Sequels/prequels/side-stories featuring characters from novels I haven’t read, that sort of thing.

Still, I’ve read enough to know I’m a fan and will be making more of an effort to get around to Brite’s more substantial work.

[Dev · Rating 3 out of 5]

I generally think his novels are better than this short stories just because when you get a lot of the short stories together it's more noticeable how similar almost all of them are. I will say that the Axeman's Jazz story was pretty unique compared to everything else in here though so I'll give points for that. Also found it interesting that the Self Made Man story was so similar to Joyce Carol's Oates' book Zombie especially since I think that one came first. And as always there's a weird amount of Orientalism that isn't really surprising if you've read any of his other books but I still feel like I should give a cursory warning for. This is definitely a product of its time but I still find it weirdly fascinating.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man I forgot how much I like Poppy Z Brite. Queer horror southern splatterpunk erotica like I read so much of. Gonna be dogging back into more in the real near future. 4.5 Stars

[Rebecca Boyett · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always, it was a pleasure, Poppy.

[Emma ( Mrsbreads ) · Rating 2 out of 5]

DnF at 75% this got to much for me so had to leave.

[Elle · Rating 3 out of 5]

an interesting look into rather dark musings. mostly felt like writing exercise dumps, but there were some standouts. orientalism really dates some of them. could have benefitted from better curation of stories. this was published in 2000, seemingly in a limited capacity, so it is what it is.

[A. E. S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNR the preface.

In Vermis Veritas: A short-lived rambling that had a point. I had forgotten this by the time I was done reading AYLT. 0/5

Arise: The first story clearly about possession, which was also short-lived and a bit vague. Forgotten this one too. 0/5

Saved: Are you serious? I hadn't known Brite to go for the transparent Biblical references. This ranks among my least favorite. 0/5

King of the Cats: My favorite story from this collection. I've never read a gay fairy tale! 4/5

Self-Made Man: It's zombie time! The skull-drill scene in this made me REALLY queasy, and I've read almost every Stephen King that comes out (the entire collection is not on my Read). 4/5

Pin Money: I wonder if this one is as "predictable" as my long list of experience would allow it. This is literally the only other story in this collection I found tolerable. Why did this man find it necessary to kill his mother? Answering my own question: evil doesn't care for reason. 4/5

America: Characters from another book make a cameo; they probably should not have. 0/5

Entertaining Mr. Orton: The second story about possession. There was a murder-suicide in their apartment, which is why there need be no "second ending". 3/5

Monday's Special: Autobiographical. Somebody was force-fed to death? It reminds me of the movie 7even. 0/5

Vine of the Soul: Transcendent yage-taking turn of the millennium. I'm not sure about this one other than the face that it was nice. 2/5

Mussolini and the Axeman's Jazz: What a groaner! I was really looking forward to this historical fiction, and it's my least favorite. 0/5

Are you Loathsome Tonight?: We already understand plenty about Elvis Presley's last week on this earth. Constant references to a boa constrictor and whatever substance was causing his severe constipation? I don't get it just yet. 0/5

There are things that I don't understand in this collection, which is to be expected with Brite. Granted this involves a lot of her early writing, this isn't the best volume I've ever read. I may not be used to her...she's very visceral. I came to AYLT expecting vignettes branching off of the novel I'd already read, and I was very unpleasantly surprised. I don't expect every story to be a fanciful grown-up fairy tale, or a tale of satisfying, icy revenge. I do however, look forward to her next collection.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never thought I'd get to feast on old-school Poppy Z. again. I don't begrudge a favored author her opportunity and right to grow and change in her writing, but Poppy's current "foodie lit" stage is not at all doing it for me. It's like a completely different writer adopted her name, watched an epic marathon of Food Network shows, threw together the thinnest of plots, and stuck in some gay characters for edge value. This, after I spent ten years reading and re-reading Wormwood and Lost Souls and buying copy after copy for friends.

So I was pleased to find in this thin book of short (some very short) stories familiar Poppy territory; aging musicians, ghosts, gay sex (and how), beautiful Asian goth boys, New Orleans, historical fiction, a tale very closely based on Dahmer (with zombies!), Steve and Ghost, and Trevor and Zach.

The introduction by Peter Straub is also pretty rewarding. I've never read Straub and may give him a shot now based on this alone.

The cover art is horrible. Don't judge a book, etc. etc.

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Found cheeeep in a used bookstore today; every time I've seen it new, it was always almost twenty bucks, and it's barely 100 pages.

[Grainne Rhuad · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you haven't liked Poppy Z. Brite's other writiong you won't like this either. This is not for the squeamish nor is it for those who are bothered by darkness, because it gets very very dark. I will say however, my two favorite stories in here were less than dark- "Entertaining Mr. Orton." a perfectly un-loathsome ghost story; so long as your aren't a homophobe. (And if you are, you shouldn't be reading Mz. Brite anyway) And I loved the title story, which I understand pissed off a great many people because it contains Elvis and Elvis fans I guess don't like any less than reverent treatment of Elvis. I don't care. To me it could have been spot on; maybe that's what they didn't like.

[Wally Flangers · Rating 2 out of 5]

Published in 1998 by Gauntlet Press, “Are You Loathsome Tonight?” is a short story collection comprising of twelve different stories. The book contains an introduction by Peter Straub and closing by Caitlin R. Kiernan, providing some informative background information on the book and the author. This book was recommended to me and is my first Poppy Z. Brite book. Note: I had no idea who the author was prior to reading this collection so I had no idea what to expect. Had a I done a little research first, I would have been better prepared for what I was getting myself into.

As with all my short story collection reviews, I rate each story individually and then calculate the average rating as the total rating for the book. But, I warn you…. Some of the reviews of each individual story includes a brief synopsis, which may or may not include a SPOILER. I write my short story reviews this way for future reference to remind me of which ones are worth the time re-reading and which ones are not. Although I do not ruin a good story by announcing any significant spoiler….. If you happen to come across one, it will be in a story that I hated and never intend on reading again. But, you can avoid potentially stumbling across a spoiler by skipping to the very bottom of the review, where it says “FINAL VERDICT”. That is where my overall review for “Are You Loathsome Tonight?” is listed. The stories within the collection include;

IN VERMIS VERITAS – This story was too short to rate or write any summary of any kind, so I won’t even bother.

ARISE – Terry Cobb, a believed to be dead musician now living incognito in Africa, learns on the television hat one of his former bandmates committed suicide. Shortly after hearing the news, he receives a package that was sent by that musician prior to blowing his brains out. The package contains a hand written letter and a box of goodies that breath new life in Cobb. Overall, this story was descent and very well written. Although I was not fond of the ending, I was still interested in the story so I would give it 3 stars.

SAVED – This story was written with Crista Faust and is mainly about a fag playing with a gun and a hooker. There really isn’t much else going on in the story. It is very simple and a suspenseful read. The ending is terrific and the best part of the story. I would give this story 3 out of 5 stars.

KING OF CATS – This story was written with David Ferguson and is an incredibly strange fantasy story about a dude in search of a horse so he can win some stupid contest to inherit a mill. The beginning is intriguing because you have no idea how the story could pan out (since a cat can actually talk), but ultimately the story was not for me. I would rate this around 1.5 to 2 stars.

SELF-MADE MAN – Another one involving a couple gay guys. This was one was pretty and was basically about a queer dude torturing bodies. I was not fond of it and would rate it 2 stars.

PIN MONEY – A mother has a son who ends up getting taken out because of his father’s status and the father ends up dying the same way his son did. This is a story of karma. I gave it 3 stars.

AMERICA – A very short and strange story involving a man who has a friend named “Ghost” and likes to sing the song “America”. The strangest character in this story is a man-headed cat. It was very odd…. I can’t handle stories like this and would rate it 1 star.

ENTERTAINING MR. ORTON – Another disappointing 1 star story about a couple fags who are paranoid the other wants them dead.

MONDAY’S SPECIAL (A DR. BRITE STORY) – Short, but interesting read about a coroner diagnosing the cause of death of some black dude who had a meal to die for…. Although there wasn’t much complexity or crazy plot twist in this one, the closing paragraph made me laugh. I gave this one 3 stars. It was one of my favorites in the collection.

VINE OF THE SOUL – Another story about gay dudes, surprise-surprise, and drugs…. After several of these types of stories, I am now used to it so I’ve accepted nut to butt action will probably take place somewhere in the story. This one is about two dudes who meet a fashion designer in Amsterdam, who introduces them to a synthesized snortable hallucinogen. The events that take place thereafter will make a hetero male wince. Overall, I would give this story 2 stars – mainly because the first half was intriguing and I expected a completely different ending.

MUSSOLINI AND THE AXEMAN’S JAZZ – After being assassinated, the duke gets revenge in the afterlife and seeks out a human body to perform the act for him. This was actually a pretty descent story and the longest in the book. The ending had a little twist to it, as well. Overall, I enjoyed this one so I would rate it 3 stars. In my opinion, this should have been the last story in the book (or the first).

ARE YOU LOATHSOME TONIGHT? – Somewhat of a tribute to Elvis Presley with a fictional story about events that could have gone down leading up to his death. The title pokes fun at one of his hit songs and, you guessed it…. I was not fond of it and would rate it 1 star.

FINAL VERDICT: I give this book 2 out of 5 stars. Overall, I was not fond of “Are You Loathsome Tonight?” but I’ve always said I will give any author a second chance…. I hear “Exquisite Corpse” is one of Poppy Z. Brite’s best books so I will give that one a try down the road. But, for now, I need a break from dick on dick stories – for I have a feeling that book may touch on that.

[Xan Rooyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection featured a short about Ghost and Steve. I read it just for that and loved it even though it was way too short and I could happily read an entire novel dedicated to the awesome whimsy that is Ghost.

[Christy Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great selection of stories that demonstrate the diversity in Brite's writing.

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had previously read a couple of Brite's short stories, one found in this collection, and was interested in reading her more. Obviously, the stories I had read of hers were very tame and not indicative of her style as I really didn't like this collection much. Poppy's writing style is very readable but her topics, no, I should say content is less than to be desired for my tastes. There is a lot of explicit sex which I don't enjoy but don't really have an issue with. What really I didn't appreciate was the violent graphic sex. Violent sex is just not what I want to read. I don't anticipate reading her again unless a short story comes along in a future anthology I read.

1. In Vermis Veritas (1996) - Very brief story narrated by a maggot living in a slaughterhouse. Pretty gross. (3/5)

2. Arise (1998) - A famous musician fakes his death in 1985 and now he comes out of the shadows when his co-band member and writing partner commits suicide. The musicians' similarity to John Lennon and Paul McCartney doesn't go long unnoticed. Oh, and this is a ghost story, btw. (3/5)

3. Saved (with Christa Faust) (1994) - Not my thing. A story of perverse violent sex with guns filled out with vile blasphemy for good measure. (0/5)

4. King of the Cats (with David Ferguson) (1995) - The introduction to this story calls it a gay fairy tale. It has all the tropes of a fairy tale but there is nothing enchanted about it. It contains both graphic rape and bestiality. Not something I get any enjoyment from. (0/5)

5. Self-Made Man (1997) - The main character, Justin, as the author admits in the intro, basically "is" Jeffrey Dahmer. First, we get his pov as he finishes with one victim and finds his next. Then pov changes to his last victim and we get his story from his days in Thailand, move to LA, and his treatment at the hands of Justin. This is horrific enough, but at this point, the real horror starts where Justin's victims get revenge but a final twist brings a gloomy ending. Very graphic violence; this time the kind I *can* stomach but I did find the whole idea of the story disrespectful to the real Dahmer victims. (3/5)

6. Pin Money (1997) - It is 1917 and a French woman has just given birth to a very rich Chinese man's only son, an heir. Then fast forward and the pov switches to that of the son. It's a short story so I can't really give the plot but I'll sum it up as the vengeance of a ghost. (4/5)

7. America (1996) - This is basically a joke. The brief story of the man-headed cat is the setup and it ends with the punch line. It's a crude joke but it got a small grin out of me. (3/5)

8. Entertaining Mr. Orton (1997) - A story of a couple who have become bored to tears with each other. One night they complete a murder-suicide. Skip ahead 30 years and a similar artistic couple move in, that's when the ghost of the murdered man becomes cognisant. Not bad. (3/5)

9. Monday's Special (1998) - Very quick little story narrated by a coroner telling of the body that arrived this morning (3/5)

10. Vine of the Soul (1998)- A couple in Amsterdam gets high on a new drug and has sex on the eve of 2000. Not my thing. (0/5)

11. Mussolini and the Axeman's Jazz (1995) - The longest story in the book and by far the best. I've read this one before andwish the other stories had been on par with this one. This piece is written straight without the use of sex to shock the senses. In fact, there is no sex at all. An historical piece concerning Archduke Ferdinand possessing a drunk retired policeman who becomes the Axeman of New Orleans. He is out to kill the mage Cagliostro who will change the future for the worse. On the other hand, Cagliostro, hundreds of years old and part of a Freemasons cult is working to make the future a better place, according to him. The ultimate goal is to stop Hitler through the demise of Mussolini. The politics are a bit confusing for me but not paying attention to them the story plays out as a good paranormal thriller. (4/5)

12. Are You Loathsome Tonight? (1998) - I'm not sure what this is. We are given a look at Elvis' last few days and death. Flashes to information about his past: the cutting of his first record, his patronizing a black men's clothes shop in the 50s, his interest in an albino python. Obviously, the connection is between the python and Elvis' constipation. Interesting from an historical point for what it's worth, but there is no plot or climax. (2/5)

[Joel Hacker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read that this is probably not the best volume of Poppy Z. Brite's work, and while I'm not extensively familiar I can certainly see that being the case. This is a pretty scattershot collection of (I believe) all previously published short stories without much in the way of unifying theme. Oh, the lackluster and frankly confusing introduction by Peter Straub rattles off a few themes he felt the collection focused on, but as far as I'm aware those are over-arching themes of (at a minimum) all of Brite's horror genre work.
I don't wish to mislead though, the writing here as one might expect is amazing. The subject matter, however, my not be to everyone's tastes. That's actually the reason for my relatively low rating compared to quality of the writing itself, a lot of the stories were just not what I was looking for.
So one knows what to expect, though this isn't necessarily what turned me off the stories, there is a lot of sexual and sexualized violence. I would classify it as erotica myself in a number of cases, though I don't know that Brite would. For fans, there are some characters recurring from previous stories, which should be a solid hook. I know some readers have been put off by "Self Made Man" being too similar to Dahmer, but the fun Dahmer-meets-Night of the Living dead tale was probably my penultimate pick from from the collection. My favorite story, which came as a surprise to me because I expected it to be much more mundane and less to my liking, was "Mussolini and the Axeman's Jazz". A great supernatural spin on early 20th century history, serial killers, and one of America's favorite sweaty noir settings. You've everything here from Armstrong to Cagliostro in a few short pages.
All in all I'd say more of a collection for true fans, rather than for casual readers, although Gauntlet Press does a great job pulling together books.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was difficult to choose a rating for. The stories that I liked, I REALLY liked, but some flopped pretty hard in my opinion. Ultimately, I'm deciding to go with 3.5 stars and round up.

What I liked: Brilliant writing with lasting imagery, beautiful prose, and a little dark humor where appropriate. Many of the stories have extremely well developed characters for just a few pages. The writing is (mostly) very natural, so even the absurd flows well into these stories.

What I didn't like: This is just preference (or coincidence), but the stories I cared the least for were at the end and it made the end of the collection drag for me. One story relied on characters who were not developed in this book, but rather another work that I wasn't familiar with.

Overall, I enjoyed "Are You Loathsome Tonight?" This type of collection is certainly the appropriate place to branch out and try some new stuff, so it's OK that some of them didn't work for me. I really enjoy Brite's writing and am looking forward to reading more of this author's work.

[Rachel Grey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Old-school but scattered -- it included mostly stories that had been written for differently-themed anthologies and they didn't really hang together as a collection. The introduction by Peter Straub is equally all over the place, but the Georges Batailles quotes in it certainly hit me a little harder after readingStory of the Eye.

I think I need to go back to the novels, maybe read Drawing Blood again. In the meantime, this is old-school Brite, and if you miss the heat-soaked gay southern horror, this is the place you can take the edge off some nostalgia. I definitely appreciated the short vignette about Steve and Ghost for that reason.

[Kym · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just don’t get it. I’ve heard so many amazing things about Brite’s writing and therefore was so excited to read a short story collection by her, but this? This was horrendous.

I couldn’t get into any of these stories. In fact I disliked them all so much I made notes on why I disliked them. The only story that had any saving grace was so heavily based on Jeffery Dahmer (which she does say at the start), it feels like she’s just writing about his life, and at that point can you class it as an original piece of writing when it’s a blatant rip off of what he got up to?

I bought Exquisite Corpse as I’ve heard amazing things, but if I can’t get into that, then it’s going to be clear that Brite’s work is just not for me.

[Fenriz Angelo · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, this collection of short stories is really good. We have twelve stories that range from fairytale to horror and crime, mostly horror. I enjoyed all of them but the ones that stay with me are Saved (this one was TOO fucked up for my liking -consider i can dig almost everything dark-), Self-Made man was a small version of Exquisite Corspe which i enjoyed a lot (my fav story of the book) and Entertaining Mr. Orton (i wanted to know more about the past of the characters and their future). The other stories to me seem forgettable but good regardless.

[Myffanwy Geronazzo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this for the story of Zach and Trevor, otherwise skip this one for Wormwood. Wormwood had much better stories.
Loathsome is...not quite as bad as that word, but it does leave a rather sour taste in the mouth. Being a HUGE Billy Martin fan, I expected the raw savagery of his images and the invoking feelings of disturbia and core-wrenching horror.
You don't get that with this collection, it's more the B-cut of a good author's work and doesn't reflect the true genius of Mr.Martin.

But definitely read it if you want to get goose-bumpy good feelings about arguably two of his best characters.

[Joshua Gross · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story collection was more horror filled than other ones I've read recently, but had several stories I really, really enjoyed, particularly ones featuring gay men. I enjoyed most of the stories, tho the Mussolini/Axeman story was a bit long and convoluted and the title story is more writing exercise than actual story. I always like Dr. Brite stories and while this collection only had one short one it was very entertaining. I really enjoyed the story she did with Christa Faust so I decided I'll read their novel Triads as well. All in all this was a great collection.

[Meaghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was mostly just perverse stories. A LOT of explicit sexual content. Overall, just ok in my opinion.
.
Ratings by story:
-"In Vermis Veritas" - 4/5
-"Arise" - 3/5
-"Saved" - 3.5/5
-"King of the Cats" - 2/5
-"Self-Made Man" - 3/5
-"Pin Money" - 4.5/5
-"America" - 2.5/5
-"Entertaining Mr. Orton" - 2.5/5
-"Monday's Special" - 4/5
-"Vine of the Soul" - 2/5
-"Mussolini and the Axeman's Jazz" - 5/5
-"Are You Loathsome Tonight?" - 2.5/5