Lost Souls
Poppy Z. Brite

I first encountered Poppy Z. Brite in Neil Gaiman's journal awhile back, particularly when Katrina hit New Orleans. A name like that sticks. It sounded unique and it doesn't have the everyday normality of let's say a Jane Smith. So when I had the opportunity to get a couple or so of her works I jumped at the chance even if I was not familiar then with any of them.

Now I know she writes horror.

Lost Souls is her first novel. It's a vampire story, a ghost story, a rock and roll story and quite possibly a handful of unsolved crimes story all rolled into one. Set in the fictional Missing Mile, North Carolina the book centers around two main storyline; Nothing (yes, that's the name of the character) sets out to find the rock band that somehow sings songs that speak to his heart, not to mention escape his adoptive family after realizing that he doesn't belong there (considering that he actually is a son of a vampire and a human being, something that he doesn't know). Then there's Ghost (yes, again that's the name of the character), someone you'll call a seer, lead singer of the rock band called Lost Souls, the same band that Nothing is seeking.

Since this is a horror story something terrible will occur when the two finally cross paths.

The vampires are different from Stoker's version. In Brite's case, she imagined them to be of a different specie, who can tolerate the sun and can even eat food, drink anything, do drugs and yes, procreate. Of course they feed on blood still and lots of it. Unlike the vampires of Anne Rice however or even say Stephenie Meyer's vegetarian ones, Zillah, Molochai, Twig and even Christian are not sympathetic characters. I liked Christian initially though but he was never a strong character to begin with. I hated the three. I mean, yes I guess I'm supposed to hate the three. But I like my hate to have a certain meaning not just for the heck of it. There's nothing human in them to like. I didn't even like their vampireness. Sorry.

I adore Ghost however. With everything that has happened - it has graphic descriptions of just about anything fit for a horror book - reading Ghost's parts feels clean. Pure even. I wished I was musically inclined to come up with the melodies for the songs their band played in the book.

I somehow speed read the last few parts. It wasn't holding my attention for sometime and it picked up again when the last few pages occurred. More like I enjoyed reading Ghost's parts. It works as a horror book if you're after the gory blood and violence type. It would've been perfect for the RIP Challenge but I started and finished this around early November.

Drawing Blood
Poppy Z. Brite

I was actually hesitant to read this after Lost Souls. I'm glad I persevered. I find this one way engaging and possibly scarier. This one doesn't even have loathsome vampires!

It tells the story of Trevor McGee, a son of a comicbook artist and the sole survivor of his father's murderous and suicidal rampage one night which also claimed his mother and younger brother's lives. The story is set still in the fictional Missing Mile. Years after that horrendous event, Trevor now a comicbook artist in his own right, returns to their house apparently haunted by his dead father. For years he is tortured by the question of being spared his father's wrath that fateful night.

In another thread, Zach, a master hacker who siphoned off lots of cash by manipulating computer security codes, escapes the city of New Orleans after being warned that government agents are on his heels. He ended up in Missing Mile as well.

The two met and fell in love. Oh ok, enough spoilers.

This book is structurally better as it doesn't feel forced. Even the side plot - of FBI's search for Zach is convincing. The hauntings are scary and believable I could still picture the whirlwind of torn drawings falling on the bodies of Trev and Zach one night, or the vines of kudzu shrouding the house. But of course I had to search for what a kudzu actually looks like; at first I was imagining kamote vines (a local vegetable that is somewhat uh, clingy) but I laughed at the mere thought until I checked the photo of kudzu online and realized I wasn't that far off in my imagination. And then there's the artist pool which somehow reminds me of Lisey's Story.

Brite's a genius with descriptions. I haven't been to New Orleans but at times it felt like I was there in the market with Zach, popping peppers in my mouth without being bothered by its spiciness. Her descriptions of the house and the hauntings jump at me - I could see the blood stains on the walls, heck I could feel myself wiping the blood off the ax, not quite the lovely thoughts I should think about before bedtime, right? Oh, and there's rampant drug use not to mention detailed sex scenes which I somehow expected after reading Lost Souls.

Despite the hauntings though, this book is basically a love story.

I just realized that graphic gore and violence isn't really my cup of literary tea. Hahaha! Still, I somehow enjoyed this foray into Brite's world. With that I end my PZB post. I've yet to read Exquisite Corpse. I don't know if I'll read Exquisite Corpse. I think I've used up my quota of graphic horror tomes from her for the time being. Maybe next year, when the third round of Readers Imbibing Peril comes up.