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divapitbull's review against another edition
3.0
Drawing Blood is a blast from the past that didn’t exactly age like a fine wine. My original impressions from 25 years ago – that it was sexy, and edgy and original with quirky, cool characters – sort of faded like wallpaper that had seen its better day. The book that still has a spot on my keeper shelf in paperback form, was reduced to an at times boring, at best “I like it OK” reading experience. The part that focused on the house, the haunting and the murders was still interesting; but I think I outgrew the romance between Trevor and Zach. I think I outgrew them as well. I may have found their alienated, androgynous demeanors titillating and exciting 25 years ago, but today I just wanted to give them a sandwich and a cup of soup.
The story starts in 1972 when “underground” cartoonist Bobby McGee rolls into Missing Mile, North Carolina with family in tow. To be fair, Bobby’s problems started well before he took up residence in the creepy old house on Violin Road. Bobby was already suffering from a serious case of “Drawers’ Block” and had not produced any new episodes of Birdland the “crazed, sick, beautiful" adult counterculture comic (think Fritz the Cat) that he had created in some time. Probably didn’t help that he developed a strong love of Bourbon that brought along some anger management issues.
Who could really say what caused him to snap and go all Maxwell’s Silver Hammer on his wife and 3-year-old son. Or for that matter, what possessed him to leave his 5-year-old son drugged but alive while he nipped off to hang himself in the shower. 25-year-old Trevor McGee wants to know. Instead of counting his lucky stars that fate has smiled kindly upon him; he wants to know why his father killed his whole family and why he wasn’t good enough to go with them. 20 years to the day and Trevor is headed back to Missing Mile. To his roots. His beginning. To the “murder house” on Violin Road – to find the answers to his existence.
19-year-old Zachary Bosch is running away from his New Orleans home with as much passion as Trevor is running to Missing Mile. Zach is something of a computer hacker extraordinaire. On his own since the age of 14 due to his abusive, asshole parents; he’s eked out a comfortable existence for himself thanks to his ability to make money clicking a computer mouse. Sure, he has issues with intimacy, sleeps around like a dog in heat and seeks out only meaningless sexual encounters but….19. Life for Zach doesn’t seem too bad until one of his hacker buddies tips him off that the Feds are onto him and coming for him so then he hits the road under cover of darkness for a grand adventure – and runs smack dab into asexual, virginal (but not for long) Trevor McGee.
Zach and Trevor have immediate chemistry and insta-love and Zach gets pulled into the goings on at the murder house since he shacks up with Trev. There’s a good bit of page time devoted to the romance and unfortunately PZB’s sex scenes and I don’t get on well. I tend to read them with my face screwed up and a perpetual “eeewwww” about to escape my lips. I can’t say exactly but it’s something to do with body fluids and sloppy groping that turns me off. Since I’m not interested in Trevor and Zach’s sexual exploration or the development of their relationship; that leaves the mystery of the house and the bizarre alternate dimension that exists somewhere between the house and the addled mind of Bobby McGee – that doesn’t get nearly enough attention.
Review may be read to the tune of:
Bang! Bang! Maxwell's silver hammer
Came down upon her head
Bang! Bang! Maxwell's silver hammer
Made sure that she was dead
2 stars, 2 ½ for the haunted house scenes, rounded up to 3 for the sake of nostalgia and my original 25 year old self’s 4 star rating.
The story starts in 1972 when “underground” cartoonist Bobby McGee rolls into Missing Mile, North Carolina with family in tow. To be fair, Bobby’s problems started well before he took up residence in the creepy old house on Violin Road. Bobby was already suffering from a serious case of “Drawers’ Block” and had not produced any new episodes of Birdland the “crazed, sick, beautiful" adult counterculture comic (think Fritz the Cat) that he had created in some time. Probably didn’t help that he developed a strong love of Bourbon that brought along some anger management issues.
Who could really say what caused him to snap and go all Maxwell’s Silver Hammer on his wife and 3-year-old son. Or for that matter, what possessed him to leave his 5-year-old son drugged but alive while he nipped off to hang himself in the shower. 25-year-old Trevor McGee wants to know. Instead of counting his lucky stars that fate has smiled kindly upon him; he wants to know why his father killed his whole family and why he wasn’t good enough to go with them. 20 years to the day and Trevor is headed back to Missing Mile. To his roots. His beginning. To the “murder house” on Violin Road – to find the answers to his existence.
19-year-old Zachary Bosch is running away from his New Orleans home with as much passion as Trevor is running to Missing Mile. Zach is something of a computer hacker extraordinaire. On his own since the age of 14 due to his abusive, asshole parents; he’s eked out a comfortable existence for himself thanks to his ability to make money clicking a computer mouse. Sure, he has issues with intimacy, sleeps around like a dog in heat and seeks out only meaningless sexual encounters but….19. Life for Zach doesn’t seem too bad until one of his hacker buddies tips him off that the Feds are onto him and coming for him so then he hits the road under cover of darkness for a grand adventure – and runs smack dab into asexual, virginal (but not for long) Trevor McGee.
Zach and Trevor have immediate chemistry and insta-love and Zach gets pulled into the goings on at the murder house since he shacks up with Trev. There’s a good bit of page time devoted to the romance and unfortunately PZB’s sex scenes and I don’t get on well. I tend to read them with my face screwed up and a perpetual “eeewwww” about to escape my lips. I can’t say exactly but it’s something to do with body fluids and sloppy groping that turns me off. Since I’m not interested in Trevor and Zach’s sexual exploration or the development of their relationship; that leaves the mystery of the house and the bizarre alternate dimension that exists somewhere between the house and the addled mind of Bobby McGee – that doesn’t get nearly enough attention.
Review may be read to the tune of:
Bang! Bang! Maxwell's silver hammer
Came down upon her head
Bang! Bang! Maxwell's silver hammer
Made sure that she was dead
2 stars, 2 ½ for the haunted house scenes, rounded up to 3 for the sake of nostalgia and my original 25 year old self’s 4 star rating.
narzack's review against another edition
2.0
It was decent. I can definitely see why teenage goth chicks of the 90s would devour this like a starving wolf. The story itself isn't terribly engaging, so it's mostly hanging out with ultra 90s twinky dudes who smoke weed a lot. But it has terrifically strong appeal for its target audience, and that's pretty cool.
tribefan33's review against another edition
dark
tense
5.0
Poppy Z. Brite is one of the greatest writers of "sick shit"! Very disturbing read and yet I enjoyed it, what does that say about me I wonder!
sammiereads7791's review against another edition
3.0
Compared to Poppy Z Brite’s other work, this isn’t much of a horror story. It’s more a dark romance novel. I did enjoy it, but it wasn’t my favorite. I must admit that I really did not care for Zach as a character. I’m not going to include any spoilers, but I just felt like he was pompous and on occasion, very annoying. If you enjoy descriptive, repetitive sex scenes and less horror, this is the Brite novel for you.
livstreff's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Really enjoyed this mishmash of romance, horror and supernatural thriller. It was compelling, freaky, sad, hilarious, every emotion you’d want from all of these genres, Drawing Blood has it.
Brite’s talent is in their characters - they’re always so fleshed out, so easy to imagine even just after they’ve been introduced, their motivations and feelings as tangible as their unique appearances. The characters really make this book so much better, especially the relationships between them - Brite never fails to amaze me with the way they describe characters interactions in such a deep and intense way, like their connections are living breathing entities.
I didn’t enjoy this book quite as much as Exquisite Corpse but this was definitely a happier book, despite some dark, scary scenes. The plot was good, especially the ending and a lot of the mysteries were left a little open to interpretation, which usually I don’t like, but actually fitted well for this book. However, I did feel bad for eddy at the end.
Brite is quickly becoming one of my favourite authors and I’m excited to read Lost Souls.
mehitabels's review against another edition
4.0
"This isn't about having someone to wake up next to. It's about trusting someone else not to hurt you, even if you're sure they will. It's about being trustworthy, and not leaving when it gets weird."
lecturasimpias's review against another edition
2.0
labibliotecadecarfax público hace algún tiempo esta obra de Billy Martin, más conocido como Poppy Z Brite.
Trazos de sangre
Trazos de sangre
vikingwolf's review against another edition
Dire worthless crap!I managed a few chapters,hated the plot,the dull characters and the dreadful writing style.I'd heard such great things about her books and the 4 I have looked at have been total tripe and I won't be reading any more.She needs to focus more on decent writing and less on name dropping what music each character is listening to!
0 out of 5
0 out of 5
wbfreema's review against another edition
4.0
forever grateful for the introduction to Charlie Parker.
a beautifully dark delve into what it means to be an artist.
plus, easy to read.
a beautifully dark delve into what it means to be an artist.
plus, easy to read.