I did not think i could find an horror novel escapist but this was the case with this one; it is my first book by Ms Brite and I found much in it to be pleased about.The story, if not particularly original, is not worn out and/or dumb. Writing is fairly good and to the point but could be more polished and achieve both more beauty and more tension: from the first page I knew there was going to be a happy ending and as much as I love my endings to be happy I still wish to get more thrills.I would not be writing this if I did not believe Ms Brite to have much potential. Some pages are just professional but just as many wield real power: raw and uncouth but thrilling one to the bone with luscious descriptions, meaningful dialogues, clever innuendoes. She just needs more focus.Nominally this is a horror but the author is evidently much more interested in her characters' interaction: they are faceted, interesting, endearing. The side ones are well rounded and believable; the two main ones just adorable: their love grows quickly but convincingly and you feel for them before you know it.There are some sex scenes and they are explicit, graphic, intense: I do not know how a woman could write this well about gay male sex but her sex scenes are perhaps the best parts of the whole novel.The ending is satisfying, it leaves no loose threads and allows one to think "and they lived happily ever after", which is a very good thing.just a short poisonous comment: one of the two main heroes is bisexual... "ms brite, please, be aware that true bisexuality is such a hard thing to find..."

LOVED this novel. Erotic and terrifying. Hot sexy times as well.

This is my favorite of Poppy Brite's books. As the two main characters, Zach and Trevor, fell in love with each other, so I fell in love with them. The horror aspect of the book became an interesting backdrop for the romance.The prose is a bit on the purple side sure but it's also lush and descriptive and fun, almost but not quite as over the top as say, VC Andrews.If you like boys who like boys and the supernatural this is the book for you.

Quite interesting themes, story, characters, and imagery but wasn't great

Sadly, this book did not make me feel the same things Lost Souls did.Something was missing, and I do not quite know why. The story was gripping and utterly creative, the characters broken and bent, the prose as flawless as always. Brite has a way of telling stories that has me spiraling down into a writers-depression with every word I read, and still - the book felt incomplete.