Poppy Brite is a better writer than she was an editor. This book is the proof. These stories are actually quite lame, and don't do much to stimulate either the intellect or any of the other parts erotica is supposed to stimulate. Skip this one. Her follow-up book Love in Vein II is vastly superior, with a collection of well-written, and much more erotic, vampire fiction.

I guess I should have read the reviews better. This book is not Erotic as I thought it should be. [...]. I did of course read every page. These stories are not the sexy, romantic, love you forever type. They are dark and depraved. I of course bought the next book and will update it when I get the stomach to read it. I am at least prepared for this type book.

Poppy Z. Brite, one of the best new authors of dark fiction, has taken the time to gather some wonderful tales of vampiry together and bind them into a satisfying book. This baby has not collected dust on my shelf--nor will it on yours. Believe me, you'll want all of your friends to read it. Perhaps the best tale of the lot is Brian Hodge's "alchemy of the throat", a beautifully crafted story of a castrati's venture into a paridoxical world of terror and unmitigated joy. He is bought by an old man with a shady history and becomes his lover only to discover that (what else?) the guy's a vampire. Don't let this alarm you though--most of these stories aren't at all cheesy. There were only about two that i found truly tedious and pointless; the rest are gems. The cool part of the book is not the actual bloodsucking, but the variety of ways in which authors have chosen to express the concept of a vampire. It's not always Dracula or Lestat. Sometimes, it's someone or something who takes one's power away, one's life force. And that is something that we can all identify with. Read Brite's own works for further enjoyment--you won't be sorry.

What a vile little book. Do NOT buy

"Earth Strikes Back" is a colection of short horror fiction stories that vary widely in quality. My favorite is "I Remember Me," a chilling tale that envisions the end of the world in the form of a disease that slowly robs every human being of his or her memory. This is a good read for those who like horror fiction.