Rating: 
Summary: the goddess of horror...
Review: I was so glad to FINALLY come across this book! A friend of mine told me about it last year & i've been looking ALL over for it! I absoutly adore Poppy Brite and have read all her books. Her writing is incrediable and like a excellent cup of coffee, it leaves you wanting more!
Rating: 
Summary: Don't judge a book by it's cover ,indeed!
Review: This book has long since been thrown in the trash!
Wormwood is a terrific book of short stories. The opposite of that book is Are You Loathsome Tonight. There are only 2 stories that are good, the rest are terribly uninteresting or just not enjoyable. It is like Brite is trying too hard to write about shocking things, just to be a rebel. This book was a present and I'm so glad that I didn't pay for it myself. Her first three books are great, mind you. It's just that this book is sooooo horrible. Brite should give the money back to everyone who has ever bought this book, and apologize for it's awfulness! She starts the book with a letter from someone who doesn't like her which is sort of clever. Too bad what follows is garbage- which is where mine is!
Rating:
Summary: One Star is a Compliment
Review: This is my first time reading Poppy Z.Brite and it will most definately be my last. My husband bought this book for me after reading the reviews and seeing that she has wrote along with some of my favorite authors, Stephen King and Peter Straub. I only read two and a half stories before deciding I coudln't take anymore. The story "Saved" was very disturbing and in my opinion, sacrilegious. [...] The stories I read all had homosexual characters and described their sexual activities in way too much detail.
The letter in the front of the book begging the editor not to publish this book was right on in his descriptions of her work. I laughed at first when I read the letter, but as I read on I started realizing how true his words were. I wish that I had never read her book because it left me feeling ashamed and dirty after reading it. I normally donate or sale my books. I would not feel right passing such trash on for anyone else to read. And as for the cover, I despised the cover from first glance. It disturbed me somehow, and now that I have read some of the book I see why. So in hindsight, the cover is perfect for the contents.
I advise anyone to not waste their money or time on this book. .
Rating:
Summary: THE "MAVEN OF MACABRE" RETURNS!
Review: What more can one say about Poppy Z. Brite that hasn't already been said a million times? What more can I, personally, say her about her that I haven't already said in my reviews of EXQUISITE CORPSE and WORMWOOD? Once again, with ARE YOU LOATHSOME TONIGHT?, Miss Poppy delights us with her unique blend of terror, torture and erotic suspension. Once again, she proves to us in her inimitable way, that there really is a fine line between pleasure and pain. LOATHSOME, however, is a slight departure for our Maven of the Macabre. While she still serves up a heapin' helpin' of thrills, chills, seductions and gooseflesh, she also spreads her wings a little ... tries out a new format or two, collaborates darkly with other Dark Geniuses, and gives us a few new insights into some very old and very familiar themes. The result? We continue to squirm with every turn of the page.As with WORMWOOD (a.k.a. SWAMP FOETUS), each story in this latest anthology to emerge from the dark, dank sepulcher of Brite's obscure universe, takes you to a place you have likely never been before ... a dark place with no windows, no way out and the fetid stench of decay at your back. Each story challenges you to wake up from the everyday daydream of sunshine, suburbia and mediocrity and to look deep into your own soul. She challenges you to confront the fears that are latent within you. This time, however, Brite challenges you to go a step further. From the opening story, "In Vermis Veritas", she eloquently uses first person perspective to convey a unique view on death and decomposition ... from the stance of a maggot in a slaughterhouse. In "Saved" she brews a heady stew of gender roles, violence and murder ... and in the end, we somehow find ourselves identifying with both the slayer and the slain. For an extra special treat, Brite throws in three additional gems that parlay her unique perspectives on some rather well-known historical figures - Elvis Presley, Joe Orton and Benito Mussolini - into a divinely decadent dance with history. It is clear from LOATHSOME that Brite remains the unchallenged Vixen of Viscera. Has she taken us a step too far? Perhaps. But like with all good fiction, the choice is yours. Pick your own poison. If you can't stand the raw honesty of Brite's world, you can always put her book aside, bury your dark side deep in your subconscious where it can fester and get your daily dose of the willies from the next riveting episode of "The Jerry Springer Show".
Rating:
Summary: Starts with a Maggot, ends with Elvis
Review: Yep, anybody who writes a story from the point of a maggot eating the flesh of rotting corpses in the slaughter house gets my attention right away. I love dark horrorific stories and Brite has always satisfied me with her vivid gruesome writings and her characters murky views on life. Yes the story with the boy and his handgun (a luger?) was a little too much for me, but I still read it and despite the terrible twisted ending I can't say I didn't like it. Brite's way of using words to her pleasure is unbelievable. I am glad a collection of her short stories was released, and the Elvis story near the end is amusing. Yes my friends the King is dead. It all begins with maggots and all ends with "the king" what more can you ask for?
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