Exquisite Corpse, Poppy Z. Brite

★★★

A treacherously grotesque and horrific love story.

Each chapter is filled to the brim with gory, unremitting filth and the pages pore out a tragic tale of deception, love, and the dark and exotic passions of some very vicious men.

When I initially picked up the book I expected it to be an interesting depiction of two different serial killers and I was excited to see what would happen when they met. I was, however, violently thrown by the gore and the deep cuts this book made on my psyche. What's more, I was so surprised to turn the book over to see it was written by an elfin-looking woman by the name of Poppy Z. Brite. She should be heralded as the queen of horror, because this book reaches in the very pit of fear and pulls out some very dark, deeply intelligent men.

As a warning, this book depicts dark, gory, stomach-turning love scenes and death scenes. Not for the faint of heart.