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Exquisite Corpse
To serial slayer Andrew Compton, murder is an art, the most intimate art. After feigning his own death to escape from prison, Compton makes his way to the United States with the sole ambition of bringing his "art" to new heights. Tortured by his own perverse desires, and drawn to possess and destroy young boys, Compton inadvertently joins forces with Jay Byrne, a dissolute playboy who has pushed his "art" to limits even Compton hadn't previously imagined. Together, Compton and Byrne set their sights on an exquisite young Vietnamese-American runaway, Tran, whom they deem to be the perfect victim.
Swiftly moving from the grimy streets of London's Piccadilly Circus to the decadence of the New Orleans French Quarter, and punctuated by rants from radio talk show host Lush Rimbaud, a.k.a. Luke Ransom, Tran's ex-lover, who is dying of AIDS and who intends to wreak ultimate havoc before leaving this world, Exquisite Corpse unfolds into a labyrinth of murder and love. Ultimately all four characters converge on a singular bloody night after which their lives will be irrevocably changed — or terminated.
Poppy Z. Brite dissects the landscape of torture and invites us into the mind of a killer. Exquisite Corpse confirms Brite as a writer who defies categorization. It is a novel for those who dare trespass where the sacred and profane become one.
Swiftly moving from the grimy streets of London's Piccadilly Circus to the decadence of the New Orleans French Quarter, and punctuated by rants from radio talk show host Lush Rimbaud, a.k.a. Luke Ransom, Tran's ex-lover, who is dying of AIDS and who intends to wreak ultimate havoc before leaving this world, Exquisite Corpse unfolds into a labyrinth of murder and love. Ultimately all four characters converge on a singular bloody night after which their lives will be irrevocably changed — or terminated.
Poppy Z. Brite dissects the landscape of torture and invites us into the mind of a killer. Exquisite Corpse confirms Brite as a writer who defies categorization. It is a novel for those who dare trespass where the sacred and profane become one.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
About the author
Poppy Z. Brite
158 books3,359 followersPoppy Z. Brite (born Melissa Ann Brite, now going by Billy Martin) is an American author born in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Born a biological female, Brite has written and talked much about his gender dysphoria/gender identity issues. He self-identifies almost completely as a homosexual male rather than female, and as of 2011 has started taking testosterone injections. His male name is Billy Martin.
He lived in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Athens, Georgia prior to returning to New Orleans in 1993. He loves UNC basketball and is a sometime season ticket holder for the NBA, but he saves his greatest affection for his hometown football team, the New Orleans Saints.
Brite and husband Chris DeBarr, a chef, run a de facto cat rescue and have, at any given time, between fifteen and twenty cats. Photos of the various felines are available on the "Cats" page of Brite's website. They have been known to have a few dogs and perhaps a snake as well in the menagerie. They are no longer together.
During Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Brite at first opted to stay at home, but he eventually abandoned New Orleans and his cats and relocated 80 miles away to his mother's home in Mississippi. He used his blog to update his fans regarding the situation, including the unknown status of his house and many of his pets, and in October 2005 became one of the first 70,000 New Orleanians to begin repopulating the city.
In the following months, Brite has been an outspoken and sometimes harsh critic of those who are leaving New Orleans for good. He was quoted in the New York Times and elsewhere as saying, in reference to those considering leaving, "If you’re ever lucky enough to belong somewhere, if a place takes you in and you take it into yourself, you don't desert it just because it can kill you. There are things more valuable than life."
Born a biological female, Brite has written and talked much about his gender dysphoria/gender identity issues. He self-identifies almost completely as a homosexual male rather than female, and as of 2011 has started taking testosterone injections. His male name is Billy Martin.
He lived in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Athens, Georgia prior to returning to New Orleans in 1993. He loves UNC basketball and is a sometime season ticket holder for the NBA, but he saves his greatest affection for his hometown football team, the New Orleans Saints.
Brite and husband Chris DeBarr, a chef, run a de facto cat rescue and have, at any given time, between fifteen and twenty cats. Photos of the various felines are available on the "Cats" page of Brite's website. They have been known to have a few dogs and perhaps a snake as well in the menagerie. They are no longer together.
During Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Brite at first opted to stay at home, but he eventually abandoned New Orleans and his cats and relocated 80 miles away to his mother's home in Mississippi. He used his blog to update his fans regarding the situation, including the unknown status of his house and many of his pets, and in October 2005 became one of the first 70,000 New Orleanians to begin repopulating the city.
In the following months, Brite has been an outspoken and sometimes harsh critic of those who are leaving New Orleans for good. He was quoted in the New York Times and elsewhere as saying, in reference to those considering leaving, "If you’re ever lucky enough to belong somewhere, if a place takes you in and you take it into yourself, you don't desert it just because it can kill you. There are things more valuable than life."
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July 13, 2022god, this was WILD. i don't know if, technically speaking, exquisite corpse was all that great. it was really a whole mess, but also metal as fuck, and i can wholeheartedly say that i've never read anything quite like it lol. if ur a hardcore horror lover, maybe u should read this (if u aren't...for the love of god, don't start here). it's splatterpunk, so *very* weird, dark, and downright disgusting most of the time. but, I was surprised (and kind of in love with) PZB's talent for writing pretty words about the violence and viscera in the story & the grimy, southern gothic atmosphere was some pretty solid shit.
all i can say for certain is that i will never forget this nasty little book and i will be reading more from this author ASAP.
cw: gore, murder, torture, rape, necrophilia, cannibalism, homophobic and racial slurs, did i mention gore? much gore, and a lot of discussion about the HIV/AIDS epidemic (idk if that needs a warning or not, but it's a predominant part of the story and not many reviews i've seen mention it. so, heads up i guess)
all i can say for certain is that i will never forget this nasty little book and i will be reading more from this author ASAP.
cw: gore, murder, torture, rape, necrophilia, cannibalism, homophobic and racial slurs, did i mention gore? much gore, and a lot of discussion about the HIV/AIDS epidemic (idk if that needs a warning or not, but it's a predominant part of the story and not many reviews i've seen mention it. so, heads up i guess)
August 2, 2023
“It was like discovering that your innermost fires and terrors, the things you believed no one else could fathom, were in fact the basis of a recognized philosophy. Some part of you felt intimately invaded, threatened; some other part fell to its knees and sobbed in gratitude that it was no longer alone.”
In 1990s New Orleans, recently escaped British serial killer Andrew Compton joins forces with Jay Byrne, an American playboy who has pushed his ‘art’ to a new level. A level where both men are able to realise their most profane and deplorable fantasies. They set their sights on what they deem to be the perfect victim, a young Vietnamese-American runaway named Tran.
Exquisite Corpse is very obviously influenced by Jeffrey Dahmer and his highly disturbing crimes. Written and set in the early 90s you can also expect homophobia and HIV/Aids phobia. I’ve seen quite a few negative reviews trashing the author for including these ‘facts’ but, when this book was written, Jeffrey Dahmer had only recently been captured and the despicable attitudes towards gay people and HIV/AIDS was out of control during this time. I think sometimes people pick up a book in 2023 and forget that it was written at a different time.
With that off my chest, you can expect extreme gore, cannibalism, murder, necrophilia, rape, and a LOT of graphic sex and torture. It goes without saying this one isn't for the light of heart, or for the squeamish.
“Peter Straub once said of the author ‘the only writer who could write a guidebook to hell that would make me want to go there’”
This is a novel that, despite having two sadistic killers as its main characters, you want to learn more about them. Our main initial focus is Andrew and then Jay. Throughout the novel, we want to know WHY these men are like this, and why they feel that love can only be achieved when the person is dead. We fear for Tran who, though unbeknownst to his own actions, is involved with Jay, and we learn how much Tran's ex-lover cares about him. There is sad, beautiful love in this story, there is also sadistic and evil love.
The writing is incredible. I don't think I've ever seen such beautiful descriptions of graphic violence, of sexual terror, of human dissection, of blood and gore, the prose is a mixture of poetry and clinical facts. At one point when a dead man is cut open the horror of his disease riddled innards and entrails is a banquet of succulent and devastating power to the killers who performed the act.
There were times this book made me feel sick. There were more than a few instances where I cringed, but l am a fan of extreme horror. I want to be repulsed and horrified and for horror to push me to my limit!
I am fascinated with the appalling beauty of this book. Unabashed violence and carnal destruction.
Exquisite Corpse is a Feast of Death.
I Highly Recommend to lovers of extreme horror.
“There was a chill in the air, to be sure, a damp cool vapour drifting round corners and rising from drains. But I had just come from London, where November vapours were like ill-intentioned hands sliding beneath your collar to encircle your coat-chafed, chicken-skinned throat, where November winds cut more deeply than my stolen scalpel ever did.”
In 1990s New Orleans, recently escaped British serial killer Andrew Compton joins forces with Jay Byrne, an American playboy who has pushed his ‘art’ to a new level. A level where both men are able to realise their most profane and deplorable fantasies. They set their sights on what they deem to be the perfect victim, a young Vietnamese-American runaway named Tran.
Exquisite Corpse is very obviously influenced by Jeffrey Dahmer and his highly disturbing crimes. Written and set in the early 90s you can also expect homophobia and HIV/Aids phobia. I’ve seen quite a few negative reviews trashing the author for including these ‘facts’ but, when this book was written, Jeffrey Dahmer had only recently been captured and the despicable attitudes towards gay people and HIV/AIDS was out of control during this time. I think sometimes people pick up a book in 2023 and forget that it was written at a different time.
With that off my chest, you can expect extreme gore, cannibalism, murder, necrophilia, rape, and a LOT of graphic sex and torture. It goes without saying this one isn't for the light of heart, or for the squeamish.
“Peter Straub once said of the author ‘the only writer who could write a guidebook to hell that would make me want to go there’”
This is a novel that, despite having two sadistic killers as its main characters, you want to learn more about them. Our main initial focus is Andrew and then Jay. Throughout the novel, we want to know WHY these men are like this, and why they feel that love can only be achieved when the person is dead. We fear for Tran who, though unbeknownst to his own actions, is involved with Jay, and we learn how much Tran's ex-lover cares about him. There is sad, beautiful love in this story, there is also sadistic and evil love.
The writing is incredible. I don't think I've ever seen such beautiful descriptions of graphic violence, of sexual terror, of human dissection, of blood and gore, the prose is a mixture of poetry and clinical facts. At one point when a dead man is cut open the horror of his disease riddled innards and entrails is a banquet of succulent and devastating power to the killers who performed the act.
There were times this book made me feel sick. There were more than a few instances where I cringed, but l am a fan of extreme horror. I want to be repulsed and horrified and for horror to push me to my limit!
I am fascinated with the appalling beauty of this book. Unabashed violence and carnal destruction.
Exquisite Corpse is a Feast of Death.
I Highly Recommend to lovers of extreme horror.
“There was a chill in the air, to be sure, a damp cool vapour drifting round corners and rising from drains. But I had just come from London, where November vapours were like ill-intentioned hands sliding beneath your collar to encircle your coat-chafed, chicken-skinned throat, where November winds cut more deeply than my stolen scalpel ever did.”
December 13, 2020
Audio 5+++ Stars
Story...5 Stars??? 🤷🏽♀️
Trigger warning: Too many to list so let's just go with all of them, including don't eat while reading or listening to this book. 😬🤢
Lots of POVs in this serial killer meets serial killer...um...romance?
This is the progression of my experience with this book:
The end
Story...5 Stars??? 🤷🏽♀️
Trigger warning: Too many to list so let's just go with all of them, including don't eat while reading or listening to this book. 😬🤢
Lots of POVs in this serial killer meets serial killer...um...romance?
This is the progression of my experience with this book:
The end
January 30, 2011
Why didn't I review this one before? Probably because I'm a leetle bit embarrassed - okay, more than a leetle bit embarrassed - to have read it at all. I remember reading this on a jolly family holiday in Dorset, a short walk away from Thomas Hardy's cottage. Georgia was making sandcastles and bouncing on trampolines and there was I reading about gay serial killers who eat their victims and then each other. It was inappropriate. No other word.
As stupid books go this was insanely gruesome but it was all the kind of pasted-on photo-shopped necrophilia, you couldn't really believe a word of it. Kind of book a 17 year old goth boy would write. So this is a novel recommended to all 15 year old goth boys. They'll think it rocks to fuck and back.
As stupid books go this was insanely gruesome but it was all the kind of pasted-on photo-shopped necrophilia, you couldn't really believe a word of it. Kind of book a 17 year old goth boy would write. So this is a novel recommended to all 15 year old goth boys. They'll think it rocks to fuck and back.
September 20, 2024
What can be said about EXQUISITE CORPSE that hasn't already been said? Even though this read is all the things everyone says it is, (gross, disgusting, explicit), it's much more than that.
Set in the time when HIV and AIDS were just becoming known terms, two men were destined to meet in New Orleans. Andrew, a serial killer recently escaped from prison in a way Edmond Dantes would have admired; the other a wealthy, long time New Orleans resident named Jay whose tastes mirror Andrew's. They prowl the streets of New Orleans together, searching for new prey. Will they find it? Will they ever be caught? You'll have to read this to find out!
Perhaps this would be a good point to say choose this book carefully? In this time of trigger warnings, this book has them all. Be warned. All that violence, sex, cannibalism and extreme horror are here; the warnings are true.
But for me, there was an entire backstory which consisted of a number of things: how gays were treated, labeled, and bullied at that time in American history. How when the HIV/AIDS epidemic began it made life for gays even worse. Not only were they having to watch their friends and lovers die, they had to endure humiliation and violence daily in their own lives. What kind of life is that? What makes life even worth living, knowing that you'll be taunted, laughed at, beat up, dragged through the mud, and maybe even killed, and no one would care. They'd say you got what you deserved...how long before you start thinking that maybe "they" were right?
Joshua Saxon, the narrator, delivered a fine performance, that I'm sure must have been difficult at times, considering the subject matter. Despite all of the violence and gritty sex, he, (in conjunction with the author), somehow conveyed an air of melancholy sadness that seemed to hover over the entire story.
It was that melancholy sadness that stood out the most for me. Sure, it's well written and once again, the shocking violence and sex permeated nearly every chapter of EXQUISITE CORPSE- but none of it even began to touch the despondency and grief I felt emanating from every single page. (Do you still phrase it like that when you're listening instead of reading? I say yes.)
Drawing out my empathy, even in the midst of all the nasty things happening, means that the author got to me, and most likely not in the way they intended, but then again, maybe so? Maybe I'm just crazy because I don't see many other reviews talking about these aspects of the story? Each reader takes away something different from a tale, and this is what I have chosen to take from this one.
Recommended for sure, but only for those who can handle such explicit horrors.
Get your copy here: https://amzn.to/384StKu
*Thank you to the narrator for the Audible download in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*
Set in the time when HIV and AIDS were just becoming known terms, two men were destined to meet in New Orleans. Andrew, a serial killer recently escaped from prison in a way Edmond Dantes would have admired; the other a wealthy, long time New Orleans resident named Jay whose tastes mirror Andrew's. They prowl the streets of New Orleans together, searching for new prey. Will they find it? Will they ever be caught? You'll have to read this to find out!
Perhaps this would be a good point to say choose this book carefully? In this time of trigger warnings, this book has them all. Be warned. All that violence, sex, cannibalism and extreme horror are here; the warnings are true.
But for me, there was an entire backstory which consisted of a number of things: how gays were treated, labeled, and bullied at that time in American history. How when the HIV/AIDS epidemic began it made life for gays even worse. Not only were they having to watch their friends and lovers die, they had to endure humiliation and violence daily in their own lives. What kind of life is that? What makes life even worth living, knowing that you'll be taunted, laughed at, beat up, dragged through the mud, and maybe even killed, and no one would care. They'd say you got what you deserved...how long before you start thinking that maybe "they" were right?
Joshua Saxon, the narrator, delivered a fine performance, that I'm sure must have been difficult at times, considering the subject matter. Despite all of the violence and gritty sex, he, (in conjunction with the author), somehow conveyed an air of melancholy sadness that seemed to hover over the entire story.
It was that melancholy sadness that stood out the most for me. Sure, it's well written and once again, the shocking violence and sex permeated nearly every chapter of EXQUISITE CORPSE- but none of it even began to touch the despondency and grief I felt emanating from every single page. (Do you still phrase it like that when you're listening instead of reading? I say yes.)
Drawing out my empathy, even in the midst of all the nasty things happening, means that the author got to me, and most likely not in the way they intended, but then again, maybe so? Maybe I'm just crazy because I don't see many other reviews talking about these aspects of the story? Each reader takes away something different from a tale, and this is what I have chosen to take from this one.
Recommended for sure, but only for those who can handle such explicit horrors.
Get your copy here: https://amzn.to/384StKu
*Thank you to the narrator for the Audible download in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*
December 9, 2022
✦ this book centers around two serial killers (who btw are based on real serial killers), who meet while on the hunt and recognise the monster in the one another. they fall for each other in their own psychopathic way. murder, torture, necrophilia, and cannibalism ensues.
"it was like discovering that your innermost fires and terrors, the things you believed no one else could fathom, were in fact the basis of a recognized philosophy. some part of you felt intimately invaded, threatened; some other part fell to its knees and sobbed in gratitude that it was no longer alone."
✦ very well written, twisted and tragic as fuck. while this book is very horrific, shocking, gory and gruesome on the surface, it's way deeper than just that.
✦ this had a lot of discussion around the HIV/AIDS epidemic, touched on some issues that the gay community faces such as discrimination, ostracization, marginalization. in my opinion, what makes this book more disturbing than the very graphic and gory scenes is when you realise just how much truth and reality is hidden within all of the fucked up things that happen in this book.
✦ i really enjoyed this overall and if you're a fan of horror and books that leave you feeling dirty and disturbed, i definitely recommend giving this a shot.
"it was like discovering that your innermost fires and terrors, the things you believed no one else could fathom, were in fact the basis of a recognized philosophy. some part of you felt intimately invaded, threatened; some other part fell to its knees and sobbed in gratitude that it was no longer alone."
✦ very well written, twisted and tragic as fuck. while this book is very horrific, shocking, gory and gruesome on the surface, it's way deeper than just that.
✦ this had a lot of discussion around the HIV/AIDS epidemic, touched on some issues that the gay community faces such as discrimination, ostracization, marginalization. in my opinion, what makes this book more disturbing than the very graphic and gory scenes is when you realise just how much truth and reality is hidden within all of the fucked up things that happen in this book.
✦ i really enjoyed this overall and if you're a fan of horror and books that leave you feeling dirty and disturbed, i definitely recommend giving this a shot.
February 3, 2022
I very, very rarely quit on a book halfway through. I always feel guilty and have to slog through it just so I can feel like I gave it a fair chance. This was one of the few books I couldn't stand to finish. Now, I'm not squeamish, so the gore and sociopathy described in the book didn't bother me at all. What did was the lack of dimension in the characters (Brite seems to think that writing characters who are evil and disturbed will automatically give them some sort of depth - it doesn't) and the lack of... moral, for lack of a better word, throughout the story.
From what I could tell, there was no point to the book except for a teen goth-esque "nyah, nyah, look how dark and twisted I am, look what I can write". And the only prose that's purpler is Anne Rice's. Frankly, the writing was over the top, the characters not only flat but unlikeable (and believe me, likeable and serial killer are not mutually exclusive) and mostly, I was just bored.
From what I could tell, there was no point to the book except for a teen goth-esque "nyah, nyah, look how dark and twisted I am, look what I can write". And the only prose that's purpler is Anne Rice's. Frankly, the writing was over the top, the characters not only flat but unlikeable (and believe me, likeable and serial killer are not mutually exclusive) and mostly, I was just bored.
July 21, 2021
I feel very unclean and dirty after finishing this… AND ABSOLUTELY LOVING IT. Proceed with extreme caution. Sick and fucked up, but I couldn’t put it down!! So well written too.
May 22, 2008
Favorite book of all time. Lucky to have read it because I stumbled on to it by accident. I was looking for a book at a book store in Nashville. I read the jacket and was intrigued by the serial killer meets serial killer plot. I was even more interested when I saw that it was written by a women. But when I opened it and saw that the author dedicated the gruesome book to her mom I had to get it. I wasn’t disappointed. Some of the most shocking things I have ever read. Shocking in a gross, murderous, gay cannibal, endearing kind of way. The things that the author Poppy Z. Brite describes in the book were unimaginable when I first read it. I just kept wondering what kind of sick person could think up this kind of stuff. But the best part of the book is that it isn’t just some shock thriller. Poppy creates terrific characters in unimaginable situations. She draws from her own life in New Orleans to describe a city that is horrible and alluring at the same time. Wow, that sounded cheesy! But it’s true. I have let a few people borrow the book and most could not finish it. Not something that everyone would enjoy. BUT I DID!
May 25, 2024
No way to spoil this book...
EXQUISITE CORPSE by Poppy Z. Brite
There is no way to spoil this book: Made it about a quarter of the way through...decided why torture myself?...
I've read bloody... and I've read necrophilia but... this was overkill and bloodletting nonstop...
The opening chapter where the first killer, Compton, is escaping from the morgue was just plain stupid... unbelievably stupid...
...Additionally, I found the book overall to be boring...
Sad to say, but this was my one and only experience with Poppy Z. Brite...
My advice... save your money.
EXQUISITE CORPSE by Poppy Z. Brite
There is no way to spoil this book: Made it about a quarter of the way through...decided why torture myself?...
I've read bloody... and I've read necrophilia but... this was overkill and bloodletting nonstop...
The opening chapter where the first killer, Compton, is escaping from the morgue was just plain stupid... unbelievably stupid...
...Additionally, I found the book overall to be boring...
Sad to say, but this was my one and only experience with Poppy Z. Brite...
My advice... save your money.
October 15, 2016
Grossest book I've ever read. After not finishing Asylum, I wanted something scary. Brothers and sisters, that's what I got with Poppy Z. Brite's Exquisite Corpse.
I have an exceptionally weak stomach, which is why I usually avoid gore. I've never seen the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies. I've never seen the Freddy Kruger films. Gore's just not my thing; I'm more of a psychological terror guy. Horrors left offscreen are more effective on me. This book is quite scary psychologically, but it also revels in blood and guts and feces. This one is filled to the brim with necrophilia and cannibalism and rape and harsh feelings. Brite's characters are all terrible people doing terrible things, for no real reason except the fact that they can. If that isn't your thing, move on. There's nothing for you here.
This is an extremely visceral read, and (for lack of better terminology) I felt a little triggered at times. I debated going into that in this review, but decided against it. I don't know who, if anyone, in my personal life reads what I post here but I would rather play it safe. That being said, if you're curious — feel free to drop me a line via personal message. I would love to discuss this book (and how it impacted me) more than what is possible in a public review. Guess I'm pretty paranoid, but I'm always up for a conversation.
I closed this book feeling excessively sick, which I'm pretty sure is what the author was going for. I kept a running tally of how many times my stomach turned from the book's first chapter to the last. Grand total? Twenty-seven. Yeah, baby. I was in this gruesome, cursed tale's clutches from page one. And I must say, it was nice seeing an author not trying to excuse away a villain's bad behavior. The folks who populate Exquisite Corpse's pages are vile and revel in it. This short novel about the tragic love affair of two serial killers is cold and hard, and comes completely alive with direct, hard-hitting prose that hits the mark consistently. I think Brite accomplished exactly what she set out to do, and I totally enjoyed the journey. Five half-eaten kidneys.
I have an exceptionally weak stomach, which is why I usually avoid gore. I've never seen the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies. I've never seen the Freddy Kruger films. Gore's just not my thing; I'm more of a psychological terror guy. Horrors left offscreen are more effective on me. This book is quite scary psychologically, but it also revels in blood and guts and feces. This one is filled to the brim with necrophilia and cannibalism and rape and harsh feelings. Brite's characters are all terrible people doing terrible things, for no real reason except the fact that they can. If that isn't your thing, move on. There's nothing for you here.
This is an extremely visceral read, and (for lack of better terminology) I felt a little triggered at times. I debated going into that in this review, but decided against it. I don't know who, if anyone, in my personal life reads what I post here but I would rather play it safe. That being said, if you're curious — feel free to drop me a line via personal message. I would love to discuss this book (and how it impacted me) more than what is possible in a public review. Guess I'm pretty paranoid, but I'm always up for a conversation.
I closed this book feeling excessively sick, which I'm pretty sure is what the author was going for. I kept a running tally of how many times my stomach turned from the book's first chapter to the last. Grand total? Twenty-seven. Yeah, baby. I was in this gruesome, cursed tale's clutches from page one. And I must say, it was nice seeing an author not trying to excuse away a villain's bad behavior. The folks who populate Exquisite Corpse's pages are vile and revel in it. This short novel about the tragic love affair of two serial killers is cold and hard, and comes completely alive with direct, hard-hitting prose that hits the mark consistently. I think Brite accomplished exactly what she set out to do, and I totally enjoyed the journey. Five half-eaten kidneys.
October 25, 2020
This book is demented. It reads a bit like a bad joke, two serial killers walk into a bar.... But actually it's the most obscene and grotesque thing I have ever read. Like looking at crime scene photos and being unable to look away. And yet I enjoyed it so much it made my teeth ache. But I very much feel the need to wash out the inside of my skull now. It is definitely not for the squeamish.
April 2, 2008
It appears that 2008 is going to be the year I plunge blindly into the ever-growing morass of uninspired and weak drivel that is gay literature. Every other book I pick up concerns one recurring element; completely unbridled homosexual revelry. And I’ll be honest; I’m disappointed. One would think that in all that time that the homosexual minority is busy being shunned, alienated, and whatever else they gripe about in their heart-wrenchingly ‘honest and unbiased’ tales of ostracism (generally being so so so alone and obviously with time on their hands, enough to, you know, write books), they would use that time to come up with a decent story, instead of piddling and embellished Seinfeldian meanderings loosely based on the ‘unfathomably-hilarious-yet-sorrowful’ chain of events which has defined their lives. Wrong. In order to try and help them save a little face, I’ll venture that they must be too preoccupied with their stylish drug habits to present a finished product worth its weight in axolotl shit.
On a positive note, with the list of homocentric books I’ve read this year readily available, any of my friends who have been questioning my own morbid sexuality for years may now have some flimsy foundation to base their assumptions on, instead of their baseless, previous claims involving my disrobing them and taking pictures while they’re passed out, or gleefully pairing male action figures in positions they were never intended to assume, or festooning every scrap of paper with a stick figure attached to some freakishly-proportioned and climaxing tool, or even the little trifle of asking them to break out the tummysticks.
On another bright note, for all the children out there, starstruck and amazed by the antics of that wicked-awesome rapscallion Harry Potter and his loyal crew, let it be known that Exquisite Corpse does indeed deliver a reference to the Hand Of Glory (that gnarly thing Draco ‘Small-Time’ Malfoy had); albeit only in the form of a cleverly named Gay Bar in New Orleans, where a pair of mass-murdering, cannibalistic, homosexual necrophiliacs meet, and let the clandestine forces of fortune's favors lead where they may.
Oh, wait, that’s right, you might want to leave this off the bedtime reading list, this book is indeed about the extremely carnal courtships between two ridiculous couples; one pair is a recently-acquainted duo of gay murderers that feast on the cooling flesh of their victims in whatever way suits their unspeakable ends, and the other couple are two drug-addled queer fiends tiptoeing through the treacherous terrain of a generation either infested with or constantly beset by the dread AIDS virus, basically, the kind of forgettable and unwanted byproducts of society that we’re more than happy to provide as sacrificial lambs to the niche-market players like the former couple. Does the story’s awkward milieu somehow satirically reference our own decadent age, in which an impersonal-and-compassionless-society-run-amok produces psychopaths and also creates a substrata of victims? Did Poppy Z. Brite actually stumble across some sort of social relevance in this otherwise lacking tale?
Don’t be fooled; if anything I’m trying to help Brite out here, there is absolutely nothing of substance or worth within. This should have been the book on trial in “The Seven Minutes”; while I guess I’m ‘against’ censorship, I’m twice as opposed to abject stupidity, and Exquisite Corpse certainly makes its case for belonging in that category.
But don’t take my word for it, let’s bring out the cast and let them speak for themselves:
Andrew Compton: Mass-murderer, homosexual, necrophiliac, AIDS-infected, and worst of all, a Londoner.
Jay Byrne: Mass-murderer, homosexual, necrophiliac, cannibal, recreational drug abuser, alleged Cajun.
Tran Vinh: Lissome and hairless North Vietnamese homosexual, recreational drug abuser, runaway, presumed to have contracted AIDS.
Luke Ransom : AIDS-infected homosexual junkie, aspiring misanthrope, moron, pirate radio personality, author, and a grown man with infantile emotional development. As his on-air alter ego of Lush Rimbaud, Luke manages to put into summation everything I admittedly don’t like about gay culture during his rants, poor ‘victim’ of the epidemic that he is.
With a cast like that, how can you possibly go right? Nimrods all; you can only hope for the worst for them, but unfortunately, you know that someone has to make it out alive. But, should this totally hopeless cast not be warning enough, let me give you a taste for what you are really in for, as this book is basically just a glimpse into the gender-confused soul of Poppy Brite, whose penis-envy and partiality for cadavers spills forth from every page. Published in 1996, Brite was obviously fascinated by Jeffrey Dahmer, and presumably longed for a phallus of her own with which to plumb his depths while engaged in an orgy of self-mutilation and unbound buggery, if only to be rewarded by the acquisition of HIV to justify her deeds.
If the characters weren’t bad enough, Brite’s ‘style’ seals the deal on this dud. Some chapters are told in the first-person past-tense of Andrew, the rest are all third person omniscient in the present, which is relatively annoying (and lame). It’s also very lame that while Andrew is the only one from the UK, everyone else thinks in ‘proper’ english spelling.
These stylistic complaints pale in comparison to the inanity constantly pouring from the stunted thought processes of the focal characters:
“AIDS had eaten huge holes in the older gay population, levying an outrageous surcharge for the revels of the preceding decade,” Luke whines while reminiscing, sending out an open invitation to join his pity-party. (Note: this party is BYOB; Bring Your Own Boy-toy)
“He wondered what the slackers, technoheads, and baby peaceniks at the rave tonight would thing about that. Probably they would think it was cool, that such people were in touch with the earth, which they all wanted to save as long as they didn’t have to stop dancing to do it,” Tran sagely contemplates, oblivious to the fact that he is the epitome of this unfavorable condition, and that his own flamboyantly queer dancing days are leading him on a collision course with perverts beyond his comprehension.
And lastly, the predominance of this romantic stuff: “He’d rubbed his mouth across those velvety muscular globes, licked a wet stripe down the center, teased the sweet bud of the asshole until it opened to his tongue…he had rolled on top and rubbed himself to orgasm in the spit-damp crack of Tran’s ass, then wallowed in the wet warmth of his own come for a long time.”
I’m not about to play the holier-than-thou card and besmirch the time-honored act of laying in one’s own post-coital filth, but let’s face it, when the only time you hit the mark in your novel is describing some asscrack-tonguing, you should probably reconsider your worth as an author.
Please note that this despicable trash warrants two stars for the following reasons: 1) it isn't The Bell Jar, 2) it is April Fool's Day.
On a positive note, with the list of homocentric books I’ve read this year readily available, any of my friends who have been questioning my own morbid sexuality for years may now have some flimsy foundation to base their assumptions on, instead of their baseless, previous claims involving my disrobing them and taking pictures while they’re passed out, or gleefully pairing male action figures in positions they were never intended to assume, or festooning every scrap of paper with a stick figure attached to some freakishly-proportioned and climaxing tool, or even the little trifle of asking them to break out the tummysticks.
On another bright note, for all the children out there, starstruck and amazed by the antics of that wicked-awesome rapscallion Harry Potter and his loyal crew, let it be known that Exquisite Corpse does indeed deliver a reference to the Hand Of Glory (that gnarly thing Draco ‘Small-Time’ Malfoy had); albeit only in the form of a cleverly named Gay Bar in New Orleans, where a pair of mass-murdering, cannibalistic, homosexual necrophiliacs meet, and let the clandestine forces of fortune's favors lead where they may.
Oh, wait, that’s right, you might want to leave this off the bedtime reading list, this book is indeed about the extremely carnal courtships between two ridiculous couples; one pair is a recently-acquainted duo of gay murderers that feast on the cooling flesh of their victims in whatever way suits their unspeakable ends, and the other couple are two drug-addled queer fiends tiptoeing through the treacherous terrain of a generation either infested with or constantly beset by the dread AIDS virus, basically, the kind of forgettable and unwanted byproducts of society that we’re more than happy to provide as sacrificial lambs to the niche-market players like the former couple. Does the story’s awkward milieu somehow satirically reference our own decadent age, in which an impersonal-and-compassionless-society-run-amok produces psychopaths and also creates a substrata of victims? Did Poppy Z. Brite actually stumble across some sort of social relevance in this otherwise lacking tale?
Don’t be fooled; if anything I’m trying to help Brite out here, there is absolutely nothing of substance or worth within. This should have been the book on trial in “The Seven Minutes”; while I guess I’m ‘against’ censorship, I’m twice as opposed to abject stupidity, and Exquisite Corpse certainly makes its case for belonging in that category.
But don’t take my word for it, let’s bring out the cast and let them speak for themselves:
Andrew Compton: Mass-murderer, homosexual, necrophiliac, AIDS-infected, and worst of all, a Londoner.
Jay Byrne: Mass-murderer, homosexual, necrophiliac, cannibal, recreational drug abuser, alleged Cajun.
Tran Vinh: Lissome and hairless North Vietnamese homosexual, recreational drug abuser, runaway, presumed to have contracted AIDS.
Luke Ransom : AIDS-infected homosexual junkie, aspiring misanthrope, moron, pirate radio personality, author, and a grown man with infantile emotional development. As his on-air alter ego of Lush Rimbaud, Luke manages to put into summation everything I admittedly don’t like about gay culture during his rants, poor ‘victim’ of the epidemic that he is.
With a cast like that, how can you possibly go right? Nimrods all; you can only hope for the worst for them, but unfortunately, you know that someone has to make it out alive. But, should this totally hopeless cast not be warning enough, let me give you a taste for what you are really in for, as this book is basically just a glimpse into the gender-confused soul of Poppy Brite, whose penis-envy and partiality for cadavers spills forth from every page. Published in 1996, Brite was obviously fascinated by Jeffrey Dahmer, and presumably longed for a phallus of her own with which to plumb his depths while engaged in an orgy of self-mutilation and unbound buggery, if only to be rewarded by the acquisition of HIV to justify her deeds.
If the characters weren’t bad enough, Brite’s ‘style’ seals the deal on this dud. Some chapters are told in the first-person past-tense of Andrew, the rest are all third person omniscient in the present, which is relatively annoying (and lame). It’s also very lame that while Andrew is the only one from the UK, everyone else thinks in ‘proper’ english spelling.
These stylistic complaints pale in comparison to the inanity constantly pouring from the stunted thought processes of the focal characters:
“AIDS had eaten huge holes in the older gay population, levying an outrageous surcharge for the revels of the preceding decade,” Luke whines while reminiscing, sending out an open invitation to join his pity-party. (Note: this party is BYOB; Bring Your Own Boy-toy)
“He wondered what the slackers, technoheads, and baby peaceniks at the rave tonight would thing about that. Probably they would think it was cool, that such people were in touch with the earth, which they all wanted to save as long as they didn’t have to stop dancing to do it,” Tran sagely contemplates, oblivious to the fact that he is the epitome of this unfavorable condition, and that his own flamboyantly queer dancing days are leading him on a collision course with perverts beyond his comprehension.
And lastly, the predominance of this romantic stuff: “He’d rubbed his mouth across those velvety muscular globes, licked a wet stripe down the center, teased the sweet bud of the asshole until it opened to his tongue…he had rolled on top and rubbed himself to orgasm in the spit-damp crack of Tran’s ass, then wallowed in the wet warmth of his own come for a long time.”
I’m not about to play the holier-than-thou card and besmirch the time-honored act of laying in one’s own post-coital filth, but let’s face it, when the only time you hit the mark in your novel is describing some asscrack-tonguing, you should probably reconsider your worth as an author.
Please note that this despicable trash warrants two stars for the following reasons: 1) it isn't The Bell Jar, 2) it is April Fool's Day.
February 7, 2023
"I want you to love me forever."
If you have a thing for serial killers and 'villain gets the boy/the girl', then read this one!!!! 'The love of my life'? HAHAHAA!!!
Plus, one of the MCs is obviously based on Jeffrey Dahmer, the other one is based on Dennis Nilsen, hehehee. Do check out the documentaries about these two!!!! Plus we have a lot of details about dismemberment right from the start hahahaa! Later in the story, there will be more goodies for you to feast on!
That's what I like about Brite.
I used to suck up every early novel by Brite because they are like my yaoi horror wet dreams come true!!! Exquisite Corpse is also
Edited@08/10/2022:
It had been years since I last opened this book and this year I decided to pick it up from the library and read it before Halloween, and wow, wa!
So...I read through the book in a hurry and I don't think I have the stomach to read the last part. My stomach isn't what it used to be 10+ years ago, hahaha.
This time I truly noticed how the whole book is under the shadow of HIV/AIDS and how the MCs are more or less all living under the shadow of this illness, it really adds to the scent of death and decay which haunts the whole story, right?
PS: In this re-read I started to feel really bad for Tran, the POC teenage runaway character. OMG he is in such a horrible situation: his family just 'let him go' after they found out he is gay, he is homeless and has nothing but the drug trade to support himself, and what can he do next? I guess he would have no choice but to sell his body. That's just horrible, no one should become so helpless in such a young age. T_T
August 7, 2022
To escaped serial killer Andrew Compton, murder is an art, the most intimate art to ever exist. After feigning his own death to escape from a life sentence in prison, he makes his way to America with the intention of bringing his art to new heights. Tortured by his own perverse desires, he inadvertently joins forces with Jay, a dissolute playboy. They set their sights on a young Vietnamese-American runaway, whom they deem to be the perfect victim. An orgy of blood and madness ensues.
Exquisitely horrific, shocking and grotesque. The intensely vivid and uncomfortably erotic details will leave even the most established horror enthusiasts feeling a bit squeamish at points. Hannibal Lecter would probably view this book as the greatest "romance" novel of all time. This is a poetic and disturbing character study of society's most rejected degenerates, a vivid exploration of the minds of killers and taboo fetishists. Splatterpunk at its finest.
***
If you're looking for dark ambient music that's perfect for reading horror, thrillers, dark fantasy and other books like this one, then be sure to check out my YouTube Channel called Nightmarish Compositions: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPPs...
Exquisitely horrific, shocking and grotesque. The intensely vivid and uncomfortably erotic details will leave even the most established horror enthusiasts feeling a bit squeamish at points. Hannibal Lecter would probably view this book as the greatest "romance" novel of all time. This is a poetic and disturbing character study of society's most rejected degenerates, a vivid exploration of the minds of killers and taboo fetishists. Splatterpunk at its finest.
***
If you're looking for dark ambient music that's perfect for reading horror, thrillers, dark fantasy and other books like this one, then be sure to check out my YouTube Channel called Nightmarish Compositions: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPPs...
May 22, 2021
I'm sorry y'all. I know alot of people love this book, but this one just didnt do it for me. It was way too pretentious and way too "wordy" for my liking.
Most of the book is comprised of these characters' inner ramblings that go on way too long and its also filled with the author over describing everything, taking forever to get to the point.
I know alot of you are probably going to call me a dumbass for not appreciating the brilliance of this book, but if a book doesnt entertain me I could care less about how "brilliant" or "astounding" it is.
Most of the book is comprised of these characters' inner ramblings that go on way too long and its also filled with the author over describing everything, taking forever to get to the point.
I know alot of you are probably going to call me a dumbass for not appreciating the brilliance of this book, but if a book doesnt entertain me I could care less about how "brilliant" or "astounding" it is.
April 23, 2023
“What are you?” he asked.
I touched my fingers to the bead of scarlet on his throat, brought them to my lips and tasted his blood for the first time. “I’m your nightmare. Did you think you were done with nightmares, now you’ve become one?”
i like books that make me feel a little bit insane.
there's something about relating love and lust to death and cannibalism that makes the whole experience more intimate. to quote richard siken
"...but we both know how it goes.
I say I want you inside me and you hold my head underwater,
I say I want you inside me and you split me open with a knife."
like yes!!! the inherent violence of love!!! give me more of that!!! (but in the cool poetical way not in the average dark romance way cause yikes)
also like siken, this book was beautifully written. i loved the prose, i loved the characterisation of the characters and their dynamics, i loved the discussions of death and the role aids played in the lives and experiences of every character.
if you like your books a little fucked up and obsessive and enjoy literature on a deeper level than "but he kills people!!!:(" or if you ship hannigram - i can't recommend this one enough.
tw: death, murder, gore, cannibalism, mutilation, suicide, necrophilia, ...
read as part of 202-Queer 🌈✨
april reading: 18/26
I touched my fingers to the bead of scarlet on his throat, brought them to my lips and tasted his blood for the first time. “I’m your nightmare. Did you think you were done with nightmares, now you’ve become one?”
i like books that make me feel a little bit insane.
there's something about relating love and lust to death and cannibalism that makes the whole experience more intimate. to quote richard siken
"...but we both know how it goes.
I say I want you inside me and you hold my head underwater,
I say I want you inside me and you split me open with a knife."
like yes!!! the inherent violence of love!!! give me more of that!!! (but in the cool poetical way not in the average dark romance way cause yikes)
also like siken, this book was beautifully written. i loved the prose, i loved the characterisation of the characters and their dynamics, i loved the discussions of death and the role aids played in the lives and experiences of every character.
if you like your books a little fucked up and obsessive and enjoy literature on a deeper level than "but he kills people!!!:(" or if you ship hannigram - i can't recommend this one enough.
tw: death, murder, gore, cannibalism, mutilation, suicide, necrophilia, ...
read as part of 202-Queer 🌈✨
april reading: 18/26
July 12, 2022
Poppy Z. Brite's EXQUISITE CORPSE is darker and infinitely more disturbing than any of their previous works. This is an unflinching, unapologetic love story between two cannibalistic serial killers.
Brite's writing is done so well you can almost smell the scents of the decadent French Quarter. The dialogue is clear, cutting and painfully honest, the imagery so vivid when that first slice is made into the delicate human abdomen you feel your own guts begin to churn. The story is made all the more chilling because of the point of view switches. Brite takes the reader into the head of not only the victim but the killers as well. Be warned this is not a book for the faint of heart. It's filled with powerful, grotesque erotic images, and unspeakable acts of pain, torture and humiliation. Unlike many other killer novels the author makes no excuses for her characters. They were not molested, beaten or neglected as children.
EXQUISITE CORPSE is a chilling trip into the darkest corners of the human mind and puts a new spin on the idea of eternal love. Exquisitely Frightening.
Brite's writing is done so well you can almost smell the scents of the decadent French Quarter. The dialogue is clear, cutting and painfully honest, the imagery so vivid when that first slice is made into the delicate human abdomen you feel your own guts begin to churn. The story is made all the more chilling because of the point of view switches. Brite takes the reader into the head of not only the victim but the killers as well. Be warned this is not a book for the faint of heart. It's filled with powerful, grotesque erotic images, and unspeakable acts of pain, torture and humiliation. Unlike many other killer novels the author makes no excuses for her characters. They were not molested, beaten or neglected as children.
EXQUISITE CORPSE is a chilling trip into the darkest corners of the human mind and puts a new spin on the idea of eternal love. Exquisitely Frightening.
June 22, 2007
i read the ultra-dark gothic erotic thriller exquisite corpse for the first time in a mad 24-hour fever dream, while hopped up on vicodin and cold medicine; and maybe this is the best way to get through the book, in fact, in that this atmospheric yet disturbingly violent tale takes some getting used to. don't get me wrong; i love this book! be aware, by the way, that author poppy z. brite has gone through a big change in her career since then; she's now much more known for a series of funny relationships dramadies set in a series of new orleans restaurants. new fans of brite, don't jump into her old work lightly!
October 24, 2019
Though I was naked and he was clothed, though he still held a weapon and I had only my flesh, I felt his world’s foundations tremble as he realized that he was in the presence of a creature worse than himself.
Violence comes in many forms, as does love.
Violence comes in many forms, as does love.
December 7, 2022
Omicidi, cannibalismo, atti di estrema violenza fisica e psicologica, omosessualità, droga, AIDS, delinquenza.
Definire “Cadavere squisito” un libro splatter è un eufemismo. Qui c’è tutto, ma davvero tutto, quello che scotta, con delle scene che solamente ad immaginarle, verrebbe voglia di rinchiuderlo in un cassetto e di perdere la chiave per sempre...e infatti, l’ho letto per curiosità, convinta che non gli avrei dato nemmeno un centesimo.
E invece no.
A mio avviso questo non è assolutamente un rivoltante libraccio splatter senza valore come si potrebbe supporre: certo, richiede una bella apertura mentale, un ampio respiro, l’assenza di ogni forma di pregiudizio e di moralismo, ma con queste premesse svelerà in modo lucido, a tratti persino poetico, il complesso mondo della deviazione psichica, e dirà tanto su questioni di fondo come l’emarginazione causata dall’AIDS (mi ha fatto molto riflettere a tal proposito il pezzo del monologo alla radio), la solitudine, la forza e il coraggio di portare fino in fondo le proprie scelte, con tutte le conseguenze personali e familiari che ne derivano.
Perciò, se splatter è, di certo non è uno splatter a vuoto, fine a se stesso, ma qualcosa che, a mio avviso, seppur nella sua ripugnanza, vuole lanciare un messaggio.
In conclusione perverso, morboso, malato ma a suo modo avvincente, psichedelico, poeticamente delirante. E poi, diciamocelo, ben venga ogni tanto qualche libro che sfida la censura se poi è in grado di “dire” qualcosa!
Definire “Cadavere squisito” un libro splatter è un eufemismo. Qui c’è tutto, ma davvero tutto, quello che scotta, con delle scene che solamente ad immaginarle, verrebbe voglia di rinchiuderlo in un cassetto e di perdere la chiave per sempre...e infatti, l’ho letto per curiosità, convinta che non gli avrei dato nemmeno un centesimo.
E invece no.
A mio avviso questo non è assolutamente un rivoltante libraccio splatter senza valore come si potrebbe supporre: certo, richiede una bella apertura mentale, un ampio respiro, l’assenza di ogni forma di pregiudizio e di moralismo, ma con queste premesse svelerà in modo lucido, a tratti persino poetico, il complesso mondo della deviazione psichica, e dirà tanto su questioni di fondo come l’emarginazione causata dall’AIDS (mi ha fatto molto riflettere a tal proposito il pezzo del monologo alla radio), la solitudine, la forza e il coraggio di portare fino in fondo le proprie scelte, con tutte le conseguenze personali e familiari che ne derivano.
Perciò, se splatter è, di certo non è uno splatter a vuoto, fine a se stesso, ma qualcosa che, a mio avviso, seppur nella sua ripugnanza, vuole lanciare un messaggio.
In conclusione perverso, morboso, malato ma a suo modo avvincente, psichedelico, poeticamente delirante. E poi, diciamocelo, ben venga ogni tanto qualche libro che sfida la censura se poi è in grado di “dire” qualcosa!
October 9, 2022
I don't know if I can bring myself to write much about the equal parts beautiful and horrifying experience of reading this. A deeply tragic story of death, love and hatred made even more disquieting considering how much truth is concealed within its disturbing events. I'm still processing this.
June 27, 2020
I read this in one sitting. If that explains ANYTHING. I read this based on the supposition that this is the grossest book a lot of people have read... but... unfortunately (or fortunately lol) that was not the case for me. I have read FAR grosser books (like Carlton Mellick a Chandler Morrison). But the grossness is not what I focused on because the perpetrators see it as art and there are so many other themes prevailing here.
So let me back up. Andrew Compton is a serial killer in a mirror image of Jeffrey Dahmer in prison in London. He fakes his own death and finds his way to New Orleans. Jay Byrne is an "artist/photographer" in New Orleans who has a dark obsession with... I just want to say dark and twisted things as to not spoil it for you. Then we have Tran, a runaway Vietnamese-American who starts falling for Jay. Tran is the embodiment of gay hope and love in a disease and drug-ridden gay world. I can just picture him being this radiant and jubilant ball of sunshine and always the life of the party. Now, I think Jay and Tran might make it work. Tran intoxicates Jay in a way that he stops his deranged behavior and it seems like Jay could change. Then Jay meets Andrew in a bar. And all hell breaks loose. And there is NO going back.
But while this book is loaded with gore and extreme sexual situations with vivid descriptions, that is not the focus of the book. This book heavily explore what it means to be alive and living. HIV/AIDS is always on the forefront in the book as most of the book is connected to blood and sex. Fear, acceptance, life, living, love, death, everything. There's a lot to be said about physical pain vs a disease that is slowly killing you before it turns full-blown lethal, too. There's a WHOLE lot truly happening in this novel. SO MUCH.
And Brite's writing is SO intellectual and intoxicating. It felt like reading Bret Easton Ellis meets Anne Rice meets gore porn. This book explores the darkest corners of the mind as we journey to understand the minds of serial killers, how they love, and how they view killing, sex, and death.
So let me back up. Andrew Compton is a serial killer in a mirror image of Jeffrey Dahmer in prison in London. He fakes his own death and finds his way to New Orleans. Jay Byrne is an "artist/photographer" in New Orleans who has a dark obsession with... I just want to say dark and twisted things as to not spoil it for you. Then we have Tran, a runaway Vietnamese-American who starts falling for Jay. Tran is the embodiment of gay hope and love in a disease and drug-ridden gay world. I can just picture him being this radiant and jubilant ball of sunshine and always the life of the party. Now, I think Jay and Tran might make it work. Tran intoxicates Jay in a way that he stops his deranged behavior and it seems like Jay could change. Then Jay meets Andrew in a bar. And all hell breaks loose. And there is NO going back.
But while this book is loaded with gore and extreme sexual situations with vivid descriptions, that is not the focus of the book. This book heavily explore what it means to be alive and living. HIV/AIDS is always on the forefront in the book as most of the book is connected to blood and sex. Fear, acceptance, life, living, love, death, everything. There's a lot to be said about physical pain vs a disease that is slowly killing you before it turns full-blown lethal, too. There's a WHOLE lot truly happening in this novel. SO MUCH.
And Brite's writing is SO intellectual and intoxicating. It felt like reading Bret Easton Ellis meets Anne Rice meets gore porn. This book explores the darkest corners of the mind as we journey to understand the minds of serial killers, how they love, and how they view killing, sex, and death.
June 5, 2023
the setting of the 1980s aids crisis was really interesting and heartbreaking; i almost wish this was just historical fiction without all the necrophilia and murder but to be fair, if this wasn't a horror book i wouldn't have read it so maybe it's fine the way it is. pretty gross tho
December 26, 2008
I first read this book aout ten years ago. I had read two other books by Poppy Z. Brite, and was a big fan of them (Lost Souls and Drawng Blood). Exquisite Corpse took me into a place that was darker than I had ever been, and disturbed me like no book I had read up to that point. The writing, as always with PZB, is first-rate. She is extremely talented, and a master of her craft. The book manages to be both violent and sexy; the super-graphic blood and gore may prove to be turn-off for some readers.
While nearly every character in the book is gay, this is probably not a book that will appeal to most gay readers; it is darker than Dennis Cooper, and I don't really know all that many gay men that read Dennis Cooper, so this novel about serial killers in love will probably not ever be considered a classic, though if there were justice, it would be.
Expect graphic scenes of murder and sex, and expect to have a queasy, fascinated, watching-a-ten-car-pile-up feeling in your stomach when you read it. You can't put it down, and you will be devastated if you manage to finish it. Heartbreaking and beautiful ending
While nearly every character in the book is gay, this is probably not a book that will appeal to most gay readers; it is darker than Dennis Cooper, and I don't really know all that many gay men that read Dennis Cooper, so this novel about serial killers in love will probably not ever be considered a classic, though if there were justice, it would be.
Expect graphic scenes of murder and sex, and expect to have a queasy, fascinated, watching-a-ten-car-pile-up feeling in your stomach when you read it. You can't put it down, and you will be devastated if you manage to finish it. Heartbreaking and beautiful ending
September 20, 2024
Morbid!
Story 4/5
Narration 5/5
I enjoyed Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite. I found this horrifying and depraved story engrossing.
This book is not very original in my opinion, because it’s based on murders committed by real notorious serial killers. I recognized some similarities that I read about, in True Crime’s books. But, the writing style, the characters development, and the plot kept me rooted in the story.
I recommend it, if you enjoy horror and don’t mind depraved and gruesome sexual acts, performed by men, on men alive or dead.
Story 4/5
Narration 5/5
I enjoyed Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite. I found this horrifying and depraved story engrossing.
This book is not very original in my opinion, because it’s based on murders committed by real notorious serial killers. I recognized some similarities that I read about, in True Crime’s books. But, the writing style, the characters development, and the plot kept me rooted in the story.
I recommend it, if you enjoy horror and don’t mind depraved and gruesome sexual acts, performed by men, on men alive or dead.
December 14, 2012
I set out to read a horror for the season, knowing nothing about the author, but having his name and some books dropped on several groups. What I got was a gay grotesque, horrible I suppose if one were a victim, difficult to identify with the needs of the victimizers (thank the gods). This is a psychosexual horror without any occult elements. It is quite straight forward, requiring little work on the reader's part.
Others have summarized the plot (see below). His style is effective, the characters believable if one has read about serial killers. Depth is lacking. There is little explorations of the roots of Andrew and Jay's sexual dysfunction. It's like a dish served that satisfies for which one has no interest in getting the recipe. In effect it's a simple read that will creep out or disgust most people.
Those were not my main emotions while reading his novel. Its main effect was reminding me of the days when I did autopsies, 80 or so over a year's time as a 1st year pathology resident. It brought back the smells and tastes of the autopsy room and open bodies, the textures of different organs, normal and diseased. One is amazed at the strength of olfactory memories. The main effect of this novel for me was reminiscence, especially of the discomfort of the 1st few autopsies and of places and people I had forgotten. And, how easy it becomes to take such things as just a days work, without feeling. It was an interesting time.
What the book did not do was give me any understanding of why or how the protagonists' behaviors satisfied their sexual and emotional needs. An exploration in depth of these possibilities, giving the characters more dimension, could have made this a great book for those interested in such dysfunction. Also, and I may be a bit old-fashioned in saying this, I was a bit saddened about how such a novel could provide fodder for the social conservatives and theocraps in their fight to stamp out sexual or affectional varieties.
I give an extra star for my personal memories stimulated.
Others have summarized the plot (see below). His style is effective, the characters believable if one has read about serial killers. Depth is lacking. There is little explorations of the roots of Andrew and Jay's sexual dysfunction. It's like a dish served that satisfies for which one has no interest in getting the recipe. In effect it's a simple read that will creep out or disgust most people.
Those were not my main emotions while reading his novel. Its main effect was reminding me of the days when I did autopsies, 80 or so over a year's time as a 1st year pathology resident. It brought back the smells and tastes of the autopsy room and open bodies, the textures of different organs, normal and diseased. One is amazed at the strength of olfactory memories. The main effect of this novel for me was reminiscence, especially of the discomfort of the 1st few autopsies and of places and people I had forgotten. And, how easy it becomes to take such things as just a days work, without feeling. It was an interesting time.
What the book did not do was give me any understanding of why or how the protagonists' behaviors satisfied their sexual and emotional needs. An exploration in depth of these possibilities, giving the characters more dimension, could have made this a great book for those interested in such dysfunction. Also, and I may be a bit old-fashioned in saying this, I was a bit saddened about how such a novel could provide fodder for the social conservatives and theocraps in their fight to stamp out sexual or affectional varieties.
I give an extra star for my personal memories stimulated.
March 16, 2021
Wow. I need to process. Extreme horror fans, most of you are intimately acquainted with Brite. If not, you need to be.
July 23, 2023
Exquisite Corpse is more character than plot driven, and Brite serves up some pretty unsavory characters to say the least. First, we have a serial killer, Andrew Compton, who lured boys and young men to his flat in London only to kill them and sleep with their corpses; a real necrophiliac in all senses of the word. We also have another serial killer, Jay, who preys on boys and young men in the French Quarter of New Orleans; rather than sleeping with the corpses, Jay stores and eats them. Then we have Luke, a gay writer/playboy who now lives in New Orleans, who also works as a DJ/commentator on the pirate radio station WHIV. Finally, we have young Tran, a young Vietnamese man who was Luke's lover until Luke tried to shoot him up with his HIV infected blood.
You could say another 'character' is HIV; Brite wrote this in the 90s when HIV was terrorizing the gay and junkie communities. I love Brite's prose and this is very readable, albeit I felt like I needed a shower afterwards. While Tran and Luke are somewhat sympathetic characters, Jay and Andrew where both revolting in their own ways and following their 'exploits' was not very fun at all. I do not want to say more to avoid spoilers, but expect lots of sex, blood and corpses in this one. I guess you could call this a horror novel as two of the main characters are homicidal maniacs, but really, it seems more like sharp poke in the eye to raise awareness of the plight of the many infected with HIV. Gruesome to say the least in any case. 3 bloody dead corpses.
You could say another 'character' is HIV; Brite wrote this in the 90s when HIV was terrorizing the gay and junkie communities. I love Brite's prose and this is very readable, albeit I felt like I needed a shower afterwards. While Tran and Luke are somewhat sympathetic characters, Jay and Andrew where both revolting in their own ways and following their 'exploits' was not very fun at all. I do not want to say more to avoid spoilers, but expect lots of sex, blood and corpses in this one. I guess you could call this a horror novel as two of the main characters are homicidal maniacs, but really, it seems more like sharp poke in the eye to raise awareness of the plight of the many infected with HIV. Gruesome to say the least in any case. 3 bloody dead corpses.
January 17, 2013
wow I honestly don't know what to think with this book or where to start.
I spent most of the book wondering how many stars to even give it because in all honesty I am not even sure I liked it. The best way to describe this book its to liken it to a pile up on the M1, you don't want to keep reading/watching but you have to you hope its not to gory but you keep reading when it it.
Sometimes I was like....
then I was....
However the story line/plot was fantastic and the way poppy tells the story really takes you into the mind of a psycho> All in all I am glad I read this book and manage to finish it, it was a roller coaster ride from start to finish and it is certainly NOT for the faint of heart this book sucked me right it and will not let me go for a long time now I have read the last page.
I finally decided on 4 stars for the journey the author took me on.
I spent most of the book wondering how many stars to even give it because in all honesty I am not even sure I liked it. The best way to describe this book its to liken it to a pile up on the M1, you don't want to keep reading/watching but you have to you hope its not to gory but you keep reading when it it.
Sometimes I was like....
then I was....
However the story line/plot was fantastic and the way poppy tells the story really takes you into the mind of a psycho> All in all I am glad I read this book and manage to finish it, it was a roller coaster ride from start to finish and it is certainly NOT for the faint of heart this book sucked me right it and will not let me go for a long time now I have read the last page.
I finally decided on 4 stars for the journey the author took me on.
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