by Hayley Charlesworth
Lost Souls is the debut novel of one-time horror writer Poppy Z Brite, a twisted, but ultimately gripping, tale of vampires, family, friendship, and isolation.
NOTE: Poppy Z Brite now uses the name of Billy Martin, and identifies as male, so the male pronoun will be used in this review.
Lost Souls is the debut novel of one-time horror writer Poppy Z Brite, a twisted, but ultimately gripping, tale of vampires, family, friendship, and isolation.
NOTE: Poppy Z Brite now uses the name of Billy Martin, and identifies as male, so the male pronoun will be used in this review.
Lost Souls is a number of intertwining stories all taking place within Brite’s home ground of New Orleans. It’s the story of Nothing, a child left on a doorstep who has always felt different. It’s the story of a tribe of vampires, led by the beautiful Zillah, travelling the country in their van and engaging in hedonism. It’s the story of Steve and Ghost, best friends who are in a rock band called Lost Souls, and Ghost himself appears to be in some way otherworldly. One small sequence of events unites all these characters with ultimately devastating consequences.
As is common with Poppy Z Brite’s horror novels, horror is twinned with gay eroticism (with a few moments excepted, I can’t justify calling it gay romance). Teenager Nothing forms a sexual relationship with Zillah, though that’s not the only connection they have, while Steve and Ghost’s connection is only briefly explored physically and romantically, but is the driving force of the book. Unfortunately, this is a horror novel, so things are going to turn out badly for almost everyone involved. These vampires are brutal, sadistic, and pleasure-seeking, a world away from the Edward Cullens or Angels of much vampire fiction. While violent, Brite also takes the sexuality metaphors of Dracula and turns them up to eleven. Zillah is evil, but incredibly sexy, and the killings he and the other vampires commit have more than a hint of BDSM quality that would make the average 50 Shades of Grey reader blush.
Lured by Zillah’s magnetism, Steve’s girlfriend, Ann, gets impregnated with a vampire foetus. In this universe, the only way to create vampires is for a vampire male to impregnate a human female, and the foetus kills said mother during birth. Queue Steve and Ghost’s mission to save Ann’s life, while swearing revenge on Zillah’s crew. It is not the first or only instance of vampires not being created by the bite, but it is certainly an interesting choice on Brite's part. What the book has to say about femininity and pregnancy is for you to decide, but there are absolutely no apologies made for the use of the bite purely coming from hunger and sexual lust, rather than a life-giving necessity.
There are uncomfortable themes in this book: explicit eroticism, incest, and underage sex being just three of them, but Brite writes with gleefully dark prose that draws the reader into this lurid world he has created. He is not afraid to challenge her reader, and pulls no punches in telling the story he wants to tell. Those who read to the end are rewarded with a fantastic story, but it is very obvious from the first chapter that this is not a book for everybody.
As is common with Poppy Z Brite’s horror novels, horror is twinned with gay eroticism (with a few moments excepted, I can’t justify calling it gay romance). Teenager Nothing forms a sexual relationship with Zillah, though that’s not the only connection they have, while Steve and Ghost’s connection is only briefly explored physically and romantically, but is the driving force of the book. Unfortunately, this is a horror novel, so things are going to turn out badly for almost everyone involved. These vampires are brutal, sadistic, and pleasure-seeking, a world away from the Edward Cullens or Angels of much vampire fiction. While violent, Brite also takes the sexuality metaphors of Dracula and turns them up to eleven. Zillah is evil, but incredibly sexy, and the killings he and the other vampires commit have more than a hint of BDSM quality that would make the average 50 Shades of Grey reader blush.
Lured by Zillah’s magnetism, Steve’s girlfriend, Ann, gets impregnated with a vampire foetus. In this universe, the only way to create vampires is for a vampire male to impregnate a human female, and the foetus kills said mother during birth. Queue Steve and Ghost’s mission to save Ann’s life, while swearing revenge on Zillah’s crew. It is not the first or only instance of vampires not being created by the bite, but it is certainly an interesting choice on Brite's part. What the book has to say about femininity and pregnancy is for you to decide, but there are absolutely no apologies made for the use of the bite purely coming from hunger and sexual lust, rather than a life-giving necessity.
There are uncomfortable themes in this book: explicit eroticism, incest, and underage sex being just three of them, but Brite writes with gleefully dark prose that draws the reader into this lurid world he has created. He is not afraid to challenge her reader, and pulls no punches in telling the story he wants to tell. Those who read to the end are rewarded with a fantastic story, but it is very obvious from the first chapter that this is not a book for everybody.
RSS Feed
