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mk_oldman's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
badseedgirl's review
4.0
I'm not sure I would classify this novel as horror. I guess there is that entire possible, maybe astral projection episode in the end, but again, maybe it was just a drug fueled mind trip. Regardless, this was a powerful story about two really F'ed up characters who found each other and made each other just a little better.
isaiahh's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
"[…] this house had tasted blood before, had tasted it again today. / He thought it might be getting a taste for the stuff."
Drawing Blood can be resumed in three words: blood, drugs and sex. Despite this, it's also a romance!
Our two main characters are deeply traumatised: one is the son of underground cartoonist Bobby McGee, infamous for having murdered his wife and three-year-old son before killing himself; leaving five-year-old Trevor alone in the world. Now twenty-five, Trevor is coming back to the house where it all happened, trying to understand why he was left alive. Zachary, nineteen, on his own since his teens thanks to abusive parents, is a hacker on the run from the authorities, who somehow ends up in Missing Mile, hometown of the McGees' murder house.
The two boys meet and embark on a journey to uncover the secret of Bobby's madness while navigating their (very fucked up) relationship.
Z. Brite has a knack for crafting stories that are so unhinged, but so, SO compelling, with such vibrant characters. Drawing Blood is at once very complex and very indulgent (when I say it's blood, drugs and sex, I mean it!). It will resonate with those who enjoy love that borders on cannibalism, pretty boys, New Orleans, 90's pop culture references, and gore.
To put it simply: I had a blast reading this, and I'm only half-ashamed to say it's my new comfort book. Yes, it's bloody and violent, but it's also kind of endearing at times, and very, very sexy (if you like the blood to be part of the smut. I do.).
This was only my second Z. Brite, but it has cemented him as one of my favourite writers ever. He has such a distinct voice! I cannot wait to get my grubby little hands on Lost Souls and absolutely devour it.
homogenisiertemilch's review
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
beefmaster's review
3.0
Wanted to like this, thought the prologue was stupendous, but the writing, the characters, even the mode of horror (a cyberspace chase? really???) were all so painfully earnest and 90s. Horror really struggled in the 90s and here's the perfect example of why: everything feels too blunted and forced in its attempt at disengaging with the popular mode that characterized the boom of the 80s. There's also the uncomfortable fact that while Brite may not have been aping Rice, Drawing Blood slots in perfectly into the "fetishizing gay white men for female consumption" that permeated the 90s and persists in fanfiction today. The two lead protagonists, while well drawn, felt like somebody's memory of what the 90s were like: painfully thin, pale, tight low rise pants, quirky affectations, and a boringly casual relationship to drugs. I loathe reading scenes of characters doing hallucinogenics and this novel had the most boring "tripping" scene I've read in a long time. There's so much to like about the novel though: Brite's insatiable interest in the margins of society, both the characters and the literal limits of society; his (yes, his) eye for detail is exquisite, especially place (his New Orleans felt more real to me than any other depiction I'd ever read); the sheer inclusivity of the novel (nobody in the circle bats an eye; an old man thought to be homophobic and mean turns out to be wistful for when he had a queer romance). Plus, the prose was always a delight to read. I wouldn't mind reading more of his later work, but the subjects of those novels fail to spark my interest.
theduchess93's review
4.0
my first Poppy Z. Brite book! I kind of hated the hacker guy the entire time and I'm not sure if I was supposed to, but I'm glad they worked through their trauma together, I guess. The drawing world sections were a bit disorienting.
divapitbull's review
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.