The 30 point type instantly let me know that there wasn't much writing going on in this book (it would've made a decent pamplet). Not really any good pictures either. Basically it's just way too fluffy. I'm completely fascinated by the subject but this really only gives you names, dates and locations not much detail and absolutely no analysis. And its choice of storys is really odd. It's a sort of greatest hits that you already know about and obscure stories you don't care about, with everything inbetween left out. Where's Robert Smithson's plane crash or Bas Jan Ader's ill fated attempt to cross the Atlantic in a row boat? As for the serial killer art and motion picture deaths. Those topics properly researched and documented are books on there own, I think they were needed here to make this long enough to be a book. Basically I feel a little ripped off.

This book is a real treasure for anyone is interested in the darker side of art. The book combines pictures, writing, and also many little informational boxes that elaborate on the certain subject. Some of the art in the book is shocking and graphic, so I wouldn't recommend this for any young art appreciaters. The art in the book is wonderful though. Some of the images are haunting and really stick with you even after you have put the book down. This book explores both art thats subject matter is macbre and also art where the media used to create it was of a human origin. This is a really fantastic art book for those who are looking for an atypical book. The writing is interesting and east to read. This would make a wonderful coffee table book to spark conversations--trust me on this one. I recommend it.

this book doesn't have many pictures and it's full of a lot of useless cheap filler 'shock value' junk... ...but i found the chapters on 'sculpting' and 'performance art' to be really interesting in a pure artistic sense. all in all i'd suggest picking up a copy and READING it for inspiration.

(if it wasn't for those two chapters i mentioned, i'd give this book a 1 rating)

Poppy Brite's novella Plastic Jesus is her homage to the Beatles and the culture of the 1960's. It is not, however, about the Beatles. Make no mistake there are simalarities but Seth and Peyton are not John and Paul. Brite uses the love story between the two founders of the group to explore issues of prejudice and acceptance.Peyton grows as a character by reflecting on his life as a member of the most important rock group of the decade. In doing so he must also reflect upon his life in general, the issues of fame, and finally his ability to go on after a startling tragedy.

This is not profound reading but the book makes some interesting points.

As part of the British band the Kydds, Seth Grealy and Peyton Masters conquered the world in the mid-60s and 1970s. When they came out as lovers, after witnessing the Stonewall riots on TV, Peyton and Seth find themselves both embraced and rejected by those around them and the world, and their lives are changed irrevocably. And years later when Seth is killed, Peyton has to come to terms with his own life and with his lover's killer. "Plastic Jesus" is a glorious homage to the Beatles and Beatlemania, as well as a tragic love story in the vein of Emma Donoghue's "Hood". This illustrated novella, while missing Brite's usual gothic textures, nonetheless radiates her storytelling prowess.

When I got this book I put of reading for a week. I read Guilty But Insane first. I came upon the chapter "Would You?" and I thought Poppy only you would. This however was not negative. I am not a child of the 60's and Beatles have never had a place in my heart but I know many millions of people love out there have been "changed" by this band. They have become this beautiful perfect, pristine entity and no longer humans.

Poppy Z. Brite is the only writer audacious enough to say, "This is my fantasy. This is my story about two legends who were human, who where real and who were in love."

Push the envelope, print your dreams, expose your thoughts and come what may. I think Poppy did embrace the lion in this book and I was captivated. Many fans out there cannot accept when your favorite genre writer writes in another. They become stagnant and create a success formula. This is dominant in the Horror genre and that's why we seek out new writers for our catalogues.

Thankfully Poppy Z. Brite hasn't fallen into the trap of formulas and that makes this novella even more of a masterpiece. Those of you out there, who are willing to understand the lion (Guilty But Insane #5), will embrace this novella as the magnificent, charming, eloquently written love story that it truly is.

My hat is off to you Poppy Z. Brite and thank you for your genius.

I love Poppy. I really, really love Poppy. She's an awesome writer when she really gets going, and her new stuff is amazing. She's writing about very, very human things, which are just so much scarier than the subjects of her first few books. Take Zee, in "The Crystal Empire." She doesn't get what her boyfriend sees in this singer--she's a little scornful of the whole situation. However, she still openly believes that what he says, goes. That's SCARY. I've known people like that, who are willing to sacrifice their own will to another.

"Onion" is actually the best CRK story I've read since reading "Souveniers" in The Dreaming series. However...she still needs work. I had to read and reread "Onion" to figure out just what was going on. It's better than Silk or Threshold, but not by much. Oh well.

"The Rest of the Wrong Thing" was GREAT. PZB and CRK are fabulous collaborative writers. It brought back that wonderful small-town creepiness that I loved about Drawing Blood (and, to a lesser degree, Lost Souls. I just didn't like LS very much).

All in all, a B+ effort from two great writers.

"Wrong Things" contains an original story each by Brite and by Kiernan, as well as the collaboration "The Rest of the Wrong Thing", which has some connections to Brite's novels "Lost Souls" and "Drawing Blood". Poppy Brite's "The Crystal Empire" is a dark, seductive story about what's done under the thrall of love as a guy named Matthew asks his girlfriend to help him kill someone. Caitlín Kiernan's "Onion" is an enticing tale about a couple who've both had visions of other worlds in their past and about how they are bound by this, as well as driven apart by it. Kiernan also includes a little afterword about where the idea for "The Rest of the Wrong Thing" came from. Fans of either or both will delight in this collection. I just wish it were a less expensive edition...

Caitlin Kiernan and Poppy Z. Brite, the two masters of short horror fiction, join forces to bring us this one-of-a-kind collection that surpasses all levels of expectations. Short stories aren't as loved as they once used to be. These two authors (who have also written great novels of gothic horror) make us open our eyes and wonder why the short stories have become a lost art form. They are able, in a very few words, to make their readers care for the characters and for the things they feel and do, something that many authors aren't even able to do in a full-length novel.

The collection opens with Brite's The Crystal Empire, about a man who falls in love with a musician and who's only way out is to murder the signer. The story is dark and atmospheric, everything you'd expect to find in a Poppy Brite story.

Kiernan's Onion is the best short story I've read in a long time. Here, we have a couple who saw things in their young age, other worlds, places that were never meant to be seen by the naked eye. Salvation time has come for this troubled couple. Verging the lines of dark fantasy, Onion is a very unique story that masterfully blends emotions, terror and drama. It makes you stand on the very edge of sanity.

And then we have the collaborative work, a story called The Rest Of The Wrong Things. This story takes the best of both authors and puts it to full use. Three people are brought to an old factory where (what else) dark things abide. And one of them holds the key to their awakening.

I loved every moment I spent reading Wrong Things. This anthology proves once and for all that Kiernan and Brite have perfectly mastered the art of short fiction. If you are a fan of either authors, or if you enjoy dark fiction, then do not let this one pass you by!

i read several of poppy's books before this, and i enjoyed _drawing blood_ very much. this book, however, is awful. the writing is often very immature and the cover art is so poor that it is laughable. don't waste money buying a book that isn't worth the paper upon which it was printed.

I bought this because I'd read Drawing Blood, Lost Souls, Exquisite Corpse and Wormwood and I loved all of them. I like this one, too, although not as much as the others. Among my favorite stories in this book are Monday's Special and America. The way she always strays back to her previous characters (like in America) at least every once in a while appeals to me. After reading some of the other reviews, I have just one question to ask. Why is the cover of the book so important to everyone? It's the COVER...

Are You Loathsome Tonight is another verdant collection of raw and oozing tales with the ever present scent of eroticism. For this collection we get a greater variety of tales from Brite's mind. I especially liked the introductions to each tale which gives better insight into Brite's writing career. Great characterization, well written plots - a good companion to Wormwood.

Though Brite's stories are not quite as impressive as her novels (Lost Souls, Drawing Blood, Exquisite Corpse, The Crow: The Lazurus Heart), they are still beautiful little gems that are worth reading. This collection was a bit weaker than her first--Wormwood, a.k.a. Swamp Foetus--but it still has some good strong stories. "Arise" and "Saved" are the finest examles in the book. Some of the worst stories are "Vermis Veritas," "America," and "Are You Loathesome Tonight?" If you are a true fan of Poppy, you won't want to miss this collection, but if you have yet to read her or are not a die-hard fan, I might have to recommend you pass on this one.

...you'd probably appreciate this one. Poppy sticks with a formula (erotic horror/thriller fiction starring young gay men) that s/he knows how to work well. Possibly hir greatest moment is "Monday Night Special", in this fan's opinion.

There are two reasons that I suggest you pick up Are You Loathsome Tonight. Reason number one--Poppy Z. Brite is a wonderful author. Each novel, short story, and chapbook that she has written and I have been able to get my hands on I have fully enjoyed. Are You Loathsome Tonight is no exception. It contains some excellent examples of why Poppy is a leading voice in dark horror fiction.

Reason number two--J.K. Potter's illustrations are a perfect match to Poppys writing. His visuals in this book are stunning. His art is dark, macabe and fantastic.

Together Potter and Poppy create the mood of this book. Her writing is potent and wonderful. His illustrations are haunting. Together when they are combined they will leave you (the reader) with a dark resonating image of what true excellent horror fiction and illustration can be.

when i first bought this book i thought it was wonderful. i mean, thewriting is fantastic, and it's great to finally learn abit aboutcourtney love's background. i was enthrawled with it. but then i began to actually read every word. the problem here is that Poppy z. Brite has made courtney out to be the victim 100% of the time. generally , she was, but when Billy Corgan, Kurt Cobain (especially), and Kat Bjelland came up in the book, it was insinuated that they had done everything in their power to destroy courtney. most specifically, ms. brite attacked Kurt Cobain for heroin use, and for overall putting courtney in a grumpy mood. not once did she mention how Courtney attacked him, cheated on him, or how in the last days of his life, Kurt was most serious about getting a divorce and cutting courtney out of his Will. hmmmmmmmm.... bottom line: this book is great for background knowledge of Courtney Love, but don't take everything to literally. when you get to the middle chapters, you have to realize that Courtney was not the only victim in that relationship - he killed himself, and she wasn't helping him stay. but,it's great writing, even for a load of bs.

Courtney Love and I are like night and day, entirely different. Although I've never been a big fan of her music, I've always been intrigued by her life, and I would like to add that I enjoyed her very much in "The People vs. Larry Flynt". She did more before she was 20 years old than most people do in an entire lifetime. This book isn't a disgrace to literature as one reviewer says, at least not in my opinion. To me, it's inspirational. She had a horrible, horrible childhood. She didn't receive the love from her Mother and Father that most other children do. It seems she never had a real sense of family. I feel very bad for her about that, although I don't believe that Courtney is the type of person who wants sympathy. This woman was up against insurmountable odds from day one, and not only survived it, but went on to achieve a great amout of success, and she did it (and is still doing it) on her own. I have nothing but respect and admiration for her. Even if you don't have a clue as to who Courtney Love is (which is unlikely), you'll enjoy this book. Interesting doesn't even begin to describe it, but most of all it's an inspiration to everyone, especially women. I guarantee that you won't be able to put it down.

Courtney Love: The Real Story is a must have book, if you are a hardcore Courtney fan, ( which I am). Poppy Z. Brite gave me yet another perspective on her. She put in my mind that Courtney is loving, caring and generous. But is a brutal bitch to those she hates. Poppy made me Live Through Courtney's childhood, teens years, and some of her adult life. This book made me cry when going through the custody battle of Frances Bean and the suicide ("murder"according to Tom Grant ) of her late husband, Kurt Cobain. you'll LOVE this book if you LOVE Courtney Love Cobain.

I'm not too familiar with The Crow. I had seen the first movie a few years back but I didn't really remember much about it other than thinking that it was ok. Being the huge Poppy Z. Brite fan that I am I, of course, had to read this book. I was a bit disappointed by it though. Poppy's writing style is as wonderfully descriptive as ever but the plot was very inconsistent.

I felt that the main character, Jared, wasn't given nearly enough character development needed to make me care about him. I would have loved to hear more about his past with the twins. Another character, Frank, had great character development but he barely figured into the rest of the book. The killer could have used more character development as well. If we had learned more about what drives him, like with Jay and Andrew in Poppy's previous novel Exquisite Corpse, it would have made the main plot a lot more interesting.

All in all, I found the main plot of the book to be pretty dull but a few of the back stories made this book wort reading. My favorite part was the chapter when we were introduced to Frank. I found the events that happened with him and his ex partner to be particularly memorable. I was really disappointed that he wasn't in the book more. I also enjoyed the back story of the twins. That would have made a terrific short story.

I'd recommend this book to hardcore fans of Poppy and/or The Crow but if you are looking to get into Poppy's writing, I suggest you start with Lost Souls, Drawing Blood, or one of her short story collections if you are a fan of short stories.

The was the first book I read by Poppy Z. Brite, and I do not regret it one bit. I recognized the name, but the main reason I bought it was that it was a The Crow novel that didnt cost 13-20 bucks.
Brite's dark style of writing and chracterization was great. She went a little away from the Crow mythos, but did a great job none the less. I love all of her referances to Edgar Allen Poe and the main charater's (a crow and RAVEN are relatives)were interesting. But going away from The Crow mythos was probably her only flaw.
This inspired me to test her other stuff out, so I read Lost Souls, which was really great. I would definately suggest this one.

I must admit before you read this that I have been a HUGE Poppy Brite fan since reading "Lost Souls". I was, however, not really familiar "The Crow" beyond the limited notion that it came - I believe - from a comic book format; that Brandon Lee was killed during the making of a mediocre movie; and that a sequel was made with Vincent Perez. I was NOT aware that there was a series of books until I read an interview with PZB in which she stated she was writing a "Crow" book. In that interview, she JOKINGLY said that she was writing it cause - paraphrasing - they were paying her a boat load of money. That made me apprehensive about its quality. That apprehension was unwarranted. Brite has created in this book another boat load of memorable characters who find themselves at the mercy of their circumstances. What Brite manages to do in her novels (and in this one as well) is create people who - even though they may be very different from the reader - resonate love, desire, pain, dreams, and fears with which anyone can empathize. Her protagonists, while dark and flawed, are all - at heart - wonderful examples of literary Innocents. And her "villians" are terrifying because you know that they are not that far removed from the reality of the world. What I appreciate greatly about this book (and PZB's others) is that she does not spoon feed us as to why the "bad guys" have done what they've done. She gives us enough "explination" that we walk away satisfied AND permitted to extrapolate the motivations for ourselves. Brite also does not feel it necessary to give us a happy ending. Refreshing. All this is all wrapped up in a dark, scary, inviting and seductive package created by her understanding of the human condition. We are all different, Brite knows, but not that different. So, will "The Crow: Lazarus Heart" make me run out and buy every "Crow" book on the market? Nope. It simply will make me wait with great anticipation! for Poppy Brite's next work of fiction...one which I hope comes quickly.

After reading "Love in Vein", I was very pumped for the next set of stories but was very disappointed. Overall, there wasn't an interesting story in the bunch and some of them just went nowhere.

The first book really delved into interesting storylines. Not every story was great, but it was fresh, erotic, with storylines that were interesting and focused on the vampire figure as a being.

Brite has done an excellent job of collecting a number of vampire and vampire-like short stories to keep readers both entertained and thinking. I especially enjoyed the "Sundered Wineskins" story, which made me think about the nature of God and worship. (Plus, that short story tied in with a short story by the same author in the original "Love in Vein" collection -- how clever!) Not all the stories were as enjoyable; "Dusting the Flowers," for example, was a turn-off and made little sense, since we never got to see precisely what motivated the characters. I did expect more sex, but on the other hand, the physical sensuousness, in its broader term, was there in abundance. Overall an enjoyable book.

I thought Love In Vein II was merely 'okay' until I read Brian Hodge's and Pat Califia's submissions. That's what made this book truly amazing. I highly recomend it, though some parts, I admit, are a little inane and repetitive. Once you get hooked, though (and I know you will!), I suggest following with Brite's collection of short stories, "Wormwood."

I was excited to pick up this book but I could barely finish it. It seems real self indulgent and it's not like Lost Souls was a masterpiece or anything. I wouldn't recemend it to my friends.

This book was a good insite to Poppy's mind and ideas before the real evolution of Lost Souls. I think it was a wondeful Idea to release it the way it was, As a collectors item. So If you really Like Poppy and can find a copy now. I highly reccomend it.

This is definitely a book for big Poppy fans. It's limited and signed and tells the story of her first book, Lost Souls. She gives some insight for writers and some of her opinions on such things as vampire stories. I recommend this book to ALL of you major Poppy fans.

PZB's been my favorite author for a long time, and I thought The Value Of X would be just as good as her earlier stuff. I was wrong. Her older work is disturbing, offensive and controversial, which is partly why I liked it so much. The Value Of X is completely watered-down and noncontroversial, without a single thing that would offend anyone, and to be honest, it [is bad]. The characters are one-dimensional and the plot is predictable and has been done about 4,983 times before--and better. Even her writing style, which I've always loved, is boring here. Like someone else said, it's like a bad piece of fanfiction. Anyone--someone just starting to read PZB or a longtime fan--should avoid this at all costs.

I have deeply loved each and every one of Poppy's previous stories, both long and short and couldn't wait to get my hands on "The Value of X". Sad to say, I was very disappointed. This book reminded me of nothing so much as poorly written fanfic. The characters are sweet and engaging but their dialogue is wooden and artificial sounding. Whereas the jacket promised an in depth look at the "pirate crew" culture of the restaurant world, I felt that I was getting a mere glimpse. Overall it seemed like this was "Poppy-lite", nothing dark, nothing dangerous. It felt like it was written for adolescents. Maybe that's because she was trying to capture the mindset of her young protaganists but I think she did a much better job with Nothing, Steve, Ghost, Tran and my favorites, Zach and Trev. I'll definitely still read anything new of Poppy's but have my fingers crossed that it'll be a lot better than "X".

Poppy's new book is unlike anything she has written before. Her writing style and everything has become more sparse, but at the same time more concrete. I have always been a borderline fan of Poppy's, but that might be because the first book of hers I tried to read was _Exquisite Corpse_, which I had to put down. Her writing of late, whether it be short fiction or novel length, is just really good! Because of this, I now count myself an addict and avidly look forward to what ever comes next.