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Love in Vein II: 18 More Tales of Vampiric Erotica

Average customer rating:

Twice the fool...
Ok, but could have been much better.
Eh.
Stronger collection than the first Love in Vein anthology
An okay vampire anthology

Love in Vein II: 18 More Tales of Vampiric Erotica

Manufacturer: Book Sales
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Anthologies | Horror | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Brite, Poppy Z. | ( B ) | Authors, A-Z | Horror | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Erotic | Horror | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Erotica | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Anthologies | Erotica | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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Love in Vein
Wormwood: A Collection of Short Stories
Drawing Blood
Exquisite Corpse
Lost Souls

ASIN: 0785812113

Book Description

A second helping of blood and passion ...

Acclaimed dark fantasist Poppy Z. Brite's previous excursion into the nightmare realm of terrifying sensuality offered readers a sumptuous blood feast of unspeakable pleasures. Now she has done it again, serving up more provocative tales from some of the most inventive and accomplished writers in the field -- an unabashed exploration of shadow places and terrible hungers that's more dangerously seductive, more boldly erotic than the first.

If you found Love in Vein disturbingly dark, unsettlingly seductive, and deliciously carnal -- you're going to adore Twice Bitten: Love in Vein II. But be warned. It may be more than you can handle. It may open doors into the darkest corners of your unspoken fears. And it may be exactly what you've been secretly lusting for.

Customer Reviews:

Twice the fool..........2005-08-03

Once a fool, shame on you. Twice a fool, shame on me. Twice Bitten, like the first part of Love in Vein, is a major disappointment with a collection of insipid, uninteresting stories. The stories weren't dark, sensual, erotic, thought-provoking in the slightest -- well, not all of them. There are some good stories here that have the aforementioned ingredients that critics made such a big hype about. The ones I liked were "Dusting the Flowers," by David J. Schow; "Ceilings and Sky," by Lucy Taylor; and "When Memory Falls," by Roberta Lannes. I gave Twice Bitten a try because almost everyone told me that this one's so much better than the first Love in Vein offering. Nope. The subtitle "Tales of Vampiric Erotica" is a complete misnomer. Yes, there are vampires in the stories, but the erotica aspect of this book is debatable. I don't need in-your-face sex scenes to make a story erotic. I like subtle, sensual erotica, or sublime stories with erotic undertones, but said aspects in this story are few and far in between. The only thing I did like about this collection is that the stories are definitely creepy and scary. Other than that, this collection series is completely forgettable.

Ok, but could have been much better........2005-07-06

"S. Fackler 'littlebootz'" could not have said it better. The only reason why I feel I need to add my bit is to reiterate the misnomer of "Vampire" Erotica. There are only three stories or so that I felt could qualify. So if you're looking for the stereotype stuff, look elsewhere. Try "Time of The Vampires" by P.N. Elrod. You can read my review there. Brite's book is interesting and strange, so for that matter it is a decent read. I'd have to agree once again with S. Fackler regarding the stories I liked and disliked. Read this one with an open mind.

Eh........2005-03-01

To being with, it's very important that we pay attention to the exact subtitle of this book-this is "vampiric" erotica, not "vampire" erotica. While all of the stories revolve in some way around parasitic characters, only a few of them are the classic warm-thick-blood-sex vampire erotica. Most of the stories are at least creepy, and a few are quite scary.
As wth any collection of short stories, not every story will be to every person's taste, as you can see from the reviews here. In particular, the story "The Dripping of Sundered Wineskins" seems to elicit a love-it-or-hate-it opinion. Personally I loved it. I enjoyed all of the straight vampire tales, especially, of course, Neil Gaiman's excellent opening tale, "Snow, Glass, Apples". Other notable vampire stories were "Ceilings and Sky", Whispers in Walled Tombs", "First Date", and "Bloodlight."
Unfortunately, though, there are several stories I hated, too. "Armies of the Heart" was one, and I really, really hated "When Memory Fails" and "The Fly Room." Eyeball-sucking? Little mouths hanging around where they shouldn't be? Yeuch, no thank you! And "Bela's Plot" I unfortunately just did not understand. Were there actual vampires, or just sadists?
All in all, the book is worth it if you like spooky stories, and many of them are written in a slow-moving and descriptive style that gives them an erotic feel, but if you're looking for Vampire Erotica, you won't find much of it here.

Stronger collection than the first Love in Vein anthology.......2004-04-18

After reading Love in Vein, I approached Love in Vein II with trepidation. I was pleased to find that this was a collection of strong, imaginative stories. A few of the stories weren't really my taste, but they were all well written.

I do have to say that while the stories were almost always about sex in one way or another, I only found a couple slightly erotic. In fact several of the stories are not suited for the squemish -- or the less open-minded.

Ignoring the lack of erotica, the collection was quite strong. The opening story, in particular, was brilliant. I won't give the plot away, but it was a clever re-telling of a classic story.

If you like vampire stories and you are willing to stretch your definition of 'vampire' you'll probably enjoy these short stories, but don't expect a 'can't put it down' read.

An okay vampire anthology.......2003-12-09

Firstly, the book wasn't bad, but it wasn't exceptional either. Its claim of being "erotic" are a little premature. Sure, some of the stories are sexy, but not too many are erotic, and some are just borderline crude (as in bad sex crude, not stimulating crude). I even had to skip over one story (but I came back to it eventually) because it was just that bad.

There are some exceptional stories in the book such as Gaiman's short story and Brian Hodge's novella The Dripping of Sundered Wineskin, but most of the stories are only mediocre, and while they're not completely horrible, they're nothing to call home about. If you collect vampire stories as I do, then this isn't a bad addition to the collection, but if you're looking for good vampire erotica, I suggest looking elsewhere.

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