Brides of the Impaler (Leisure Fiction) [Mass Market Paperback]

Edward Lee (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0843958073 | ISBN-13: 978-0843958072 | Publication Date: September 2008

Internationally published horror novelist Edward Lee unleashes his 37th book and his very first vampire novel! When a new couple moves into a New York brownstone, they find their ultimate dream house...until they go into the basement. Suddenly, a macabre nun is seen lurking about, with an entourage of lewd and gibbering homeless women who seem to KNOW what evil secret lurks in the bowels of the old house. As the couples' dreams turn to lust-stained nightmares, and the bodies of missing persons are found impaled, the basement's secret is revealed at last: the remnants of Dracula himself...

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Cristina Nichols fears the future through the harrowing whispers of her past. She longs to forget the depraved abuses she suffered in her youth that left her afraid of love and passion. But something, somewhere, is suddenly tantalizing her, beckoning into a muse of carnal revelation and ecstatic fulfillment... Deep in the cryptic New York City brownstone, something awakens, brimming with hot, real breath, libidinous longings and desires of the flesh the likes of which Cristina cannot conceive. There's a secret lust buried for ages, and in the basement she finds it, a sinister evil finally unbound, reaching forth in vampiric bloodlust to prey upon her most forbidden fantasies and plummet her body and soul into a chasm of wantonness as black as the most timeless sin. The impaler beckons, and his secret will drench your desires in blood...

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 340 pages
• Publisher: Leisure Books (September 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0843958073
• ISBN-13: 978-0843958072
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #994,331 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Edward Lee is an American novelist specializing in the field of horror, and has authored 40 books, more than half of which have been published by mass-market New York paperback companies such as Leisure/Dorchester, Berkley, and Zebra/Kensington. He is a Bram Stoker award nominee for his story "Mr. Torso," and his short stories have appeared in over a dozen mass-market anthologies, including THE BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES OF 2000, Pocket's HOT BLOOD series, and the award-wining 999. Several of his novels have sold translation rights to Germany, Greece, and Romania. He also publishes quite actively in the small-press/limited-edition hardcover market; many of his books in this category have become collector's items. While a number of Lee's projects have been optioned for film, only one has been made, HEADER, which was released on DVD to mixed reviews in June, 2009, by Synapse Films.

Lee is particularly known for over-the-top occult concepts and an accelerated treatment of erotic and/or morbid sexual imagery and visceral violence. He was born on May 25, 1957 in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Bowie, Maryland. In the late-70s he served in the U.S. Army's 1st Armored Division, in Erlangen, West Germany, then, for a short time, was a municipal police officer in Cottage City, Maryland. Lee also attended the University of Maryland as an English major but quit in his last semester to pursue his dream of being a horror novelist. For over 15 years, he worked as the night manager for a security company in Annapolis, Maryland, while writing in his spare time. In 1997, however, he became a full-time writer, first spending several years in Seattle and then moving to St. Pete Beach, Florida, where he currently resides.

Of note, the author cites as his strongest influence horror legend H. P. Lovecraft; in 2007, Lee embarked on what he calls his "Lovecraft kick" and wrote a spate of novels and novellas which tribute Lovecraft and his famous Cthulhu Mythos. Among these projects are THE INNSWICH HORROR, "Trolley No. 1852," HAUNTER OF THE THRESHOLD, GOING MONSTERING, "Pages Torn From A Travel Journal," and "You Are My Everything." Lee promises more Lovecraftian work on the horizon.

Bibliography

Nightbait (1982) written under the pseudonym Philip Straker
Nightlust (1982) written under the pseudonym Philip Straker
Ghouls (1988)
Coven (1991)
Incubi (1991)
Succubi (1992)
The Chosen (1993)
Creekers (1994)
Sacrifice (1995) written under the pseudonym Richard Kinion
Header (1995)
Goon (1996) with John Pelan
The Bighead (1997)
Shifters (1998) with John Pelan
Portrait of the Psychopath as a Young Woman (1998) with Elizabeth Steffen
Splatterspunk: The Micah Hays Stories (1998) with John Pelan
"Masks" (1999)
"Operator B" (1999): Cemetery Dance Publications. Published as a 26-copy leather-bound hardcover and 450-copy limited hardcover.
"Dahmer's Not Dead" with Elizabeth Steffen (1999): Cemetery Dance Publications. Published as a 52-copy leather-bound hardcover and 1000-copy limited hardcover.
"The Stickmen" (1999): Cemetery Dance Publications. Published as a 52-copy leather-bound hardcover and 1000-copy limited hardcover.
"The Deaths of the Cold War Kings: The Assassinations of Diem & JFK" with Bradley O'Leary (2000): Cemetery Dance Publications.
"City Infernal" (2001): Cemetery Dance Publications. Published as a 26-copy leather-bound hardcover and 1000-copy limited hardcover.
(April 2002): Leisure Books. Published as a Mass Market Paperback.
"Mr. Torso" (2002): Published as a 52-copy hardcover and 300-copy limited softcover.
"Sex, Drugs and Power Tools" (2002)
"Family Tradition" (2002) with John Pelan
"Monstrosity" (2002): Cemetery Dance Publications. Published as a 26-copy leather-bound hardcover and 1000-copy limited hardcover.
Leisure Books. Published as a Mass Market Paperback.
"Ever Nat" (2003): Published as a 52-copy hardcover and 300-copy limited softcover.
"The Baby" (2003): Published as a 52-copy hardcover and 300-copy limited softcover.
"Teratologist" (2003) with Wrath James White
"Incubi" (2003): Necro Publications.
"Infernal Angel" (2003): Cemetery Dance Publications. Published as a 26-copy leather-bound hardcover and 750-copy limited hardcover.
(January 2004): Leisure Books. Published as a Mass Market Paperback.
"Messenger" (August 2004): Leisure Books. Published as a Mass Market Paperback.
"The Backwoods" (October 2005): Leisure Books. Published as a Mass Market Paperback.
(December 2005): Cemetery Dance Publications. Published as a 52-copy leather-bound hardcover and 750-copy limited hardcover.
"Monster Lake" (2005). Necro Publications. First book for young readers.
"Flesh Gothic" (February 2005): Leisure Books. Published as a Mass Market Paperback.
"Slither" (2006: Necro Publications.)
"Gast" (2007)
(October 2009): Leisure Books. Revised, retitled "Black Train", and published as a Mass Market Paperback.
"House Infernal" (October 2007): Leisure Books. Published as a Mass Market Paperback.
(February 2008): Cemetery Dance Publications. Published as a 26-copy leather-bound hardcover and 1000-copy limited hardcover.
"Minotauress" (December 2008): Necro Publications. Published as a 26-copy leather-bound hardcover and 300-copy limited hardcover.
"Brides of the Impaler" (September 2008): Leisure Books. Published as a Mass Market Paperback.
(May 2011): Cemetery Dance Publications. Published as Hardcover Limited Edition of 1000 signed copies bound in full cloth and Smyth sewn and Traycased Hardcover Lettered Edition of 52 signed and lettered copies bound in leather with a satin ribbon page marker.
"Golemesque" (March 2009): Necro Publications. Published as a 26-copy leather-bound hardcover and 300-copy limited hardcover.
(April 2009): Leisure Books. Published as "Golem" as a Mass Market Paperback.
"Trolley No. 1852" (May 2009): Bloodletting Press. Published as a 26-copy leather-bound hardcover and 300-copy limited hardcover.(October 2010) Deadite Press, Trade Paperback.
"Haunter of the Threshold" (Summer 2009) Bloodletting Press. Exclusive limited-edition. (December 2010) Deadite Press, Trade Paperback.
"City of Sixes" (2009) Necro Publications. Exclusive limited-edition chapbook included with copies of "Infernally Yours".
"You are My Everything" (January 2010) Necro Publications.
"Going Monstering" (January 2010) Bloodletting Press. Exclusive limited-edition.
"Header 2" (June 2010) Camelot Books. Exclusive limited-edition.
"The Innswich Horror" (Summer 2010) Cemetery Dance. Exclusive limited-edition (Club Members Only), (July 2010), Deadite Press Trade paperback.
"Lucifers Lottery" (October 2010) Leisure Books. Currently eBook only, possible release date of July 2011 for physical book.
"Pages Torn From a Travel Journal" (January 31, 2011) Bloodletting Press.
"Vampire Lodge" (January, 2011) Necro Publications. E-Book only (second book for young readers)
"Witch Water" (Spring 2011) Bloodletting Press. Limited edition hardcover
"The Dunwich Romance" (tbd)
"Header 3" (Heads) (tbd) Bloodletting Press. Limited edition

Collections
The Ushers (1999)
Of Pigs and Spiders (1999) with John Pelan, Brett Alexander Savory and David Niall Wilson
Partners in Chyme (2001) with Ryan Harding
Sleep Disorder (2003) with Jack Ketchum
Haunted House (2007)
Brain Cheese Buffet (2010) Deadite Press
Bullet Through Your Face (2010) Deadite Press
Carnal Surgery (April 2011) Deadite Press

Anthologies
Infernally Yours (2009) 'The Senery' by Edward Lee Necro Publications, a limited-edition hardcover.
Dark Seductions: Tales of Erotic Horror (1993) 'Private Pleasures' by Edward Lee
Bizarre Sex and Other Crimes of Passion (1994) 'I'd Give Anything for You' by Edward Lee & Jack Ketchum
Deadly After Dark: The Hot Blood Series (1994) 'Mr. Torso' by Edward Lee
Seeds of Fear: The Hot Blood Series (1995) 'Grub Girl' by Edward Lee
Stranger By Night: The Hot Blood Series (1995) 'Dead Girls in Love' by Edward Lee & Gary Bowen
Darkside: Horror for the Next Millennium (1996) 'The Stick Woman' by Edward Lee
Fear the Fever: The Hot Blood Series (1996) 'Love Letters from the Rain Forest' by Jack Ketchum & Edward Lee
White House Horrors (1996) 'Night of the Vegetables' by Edward Lee
The UFO Files (1997) 'Secret Service' by Edward Lee
Inside The Works (1997) 'The Pig' by Edward Lee
Whitley Strieber's Aliens (1998) 'Scripture Girl' by Edward Lee
999 (1999) 'ICU' by Edward Lee
Graven Images (2000) 'Masks' by Jack Ketchum & Edward Lee
Triage (2001) 'In the Year of Our Lord 2202' by Edward Lee
Excitable Boys (2002) 'The McCrath Model SS40-C, Series S' by Edward Lee
Damned: An Anthology of the Lost (2004) 'Angel' by Edward Lee
Small Bites (2004) 'The Room' by Edward Lee

Movies
Edward Lee's story "Header" has been made into the film Header. Edward Lee and Jack Ketchum are featured in cameo roles in the movie.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Dracula story with not much Dracula, September 28, 2008

By 

mrliteral - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Brides of the Impaler (Leisure Fiction) (Mass Market Paperback)

I've been reading a lot of Leisure Fiction's horror novels this year, and even before I read a page of Edward Lee's Brides of the Impaler, I had decided that, at the very least, it had the best title in the bunch. With the Impaler reference, it has to be a story about Dracula (a.k.a. Vlad the Impaler), it is also reminiscent of the old Hammer Films titles, particularly Brides of Dracula.

The horror allusions don't stop there, as Lee also names characters after Euro-horror cult figures Paul Naschy and Jess Franco among others and even has a Ketchum Hotel, an obvious nod to writer Jack Ketchum. So Lee pays his tribute to the genre, but is the book any good? My only other experience was the weakest story in the anthology Triage (with co-writers Ketchum and Richard Laymon); this was a more positive experience.

As the title hints, this is a Dracula story, though the character is off-stage for most of the novel, relegated to historical accounts by other characters. The villains are the title characters, an unappealing bunch of homeless women who are recruited by the mysterious New Mother to assist in a secret ritual. This ritual will involve, among other things, the brutal impaling of several people and the use of some ancient artifacts.

These artifacts are currently buried in the basement of the newly purchased home of Cristina Nichols and Paul Nasher. Paul is a loving fiance but otherwise a typical wealth-obsessed lawyer who wants the best of everything. Cristina is the designer of some morbid figurines that have become popular collectibles. Something in the house is affecting Cristina, giving her ideas for new figures and hypercharging her sex drive, but also giving her nightmares and putting her in trances.

Though the sex and violence is more than you would ever have seen in a Hammer Film, Brides of the Impaler does evoke memories of the studio's old Dracula films. But even you've never seen one of those movies, this is a nice read. Lee shows that you can write a good Dracula story without even much Dracula in it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A short tale in book format - why the extra pages?, November 12, 2009

By 

TastyBabySyndrome "Matthew Lewis, author of M... ("Daddy Dagon's Daycare" - Proud Sponsor of the Little Tendril Baseball Team, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brides of the Impaler (Leisure Fiction) (Mass Market Paperback)

Edward Lee has dealt with many a subject, but one of the things he hasn't dealt with are vampires (to my knowledge he hasn't at least - unless there was a short story I missed in the process). Since he is working off his home turf, I could not only tell that there were problems involved but I could also see flaws in the story he was presenting. I keep telling myself that was the reason that the tale may have suffered, and why I did not find much of the author that can switch topics and still keep on keepign on.

Amongst some of the problems i found was the fact that I did not get the feeling that this was a vampire tale through and through - it dealt with the subject and it had a vampire pop up, but it really did not have that much vampire in the story. What it did have was locations and extra description, reminding me of one of the tricks that authors use to keep a story alive and kicking. That was sad for me to see, too, because I really wanted to like this book. I say that because I'm accustomed to Lee having something tremendous to add to the mix, and i'm not accustomed to the thriller not being something deadly and depraved. It really hurt to find that some places felt like filler instead of answers, and that other places seemed disjointed and not really on the proverbial ball. That made me feel like some of the tale was a bit weak, and it made the read slow and somewhat hard to hold onto.

When Edward Lee writes something, I normally like it and i normally finish it quickly. I also want to normally give it more than one read, but this book had none of those elements. It took a week to finish the book and did so simply because I found parts of it i liked enough to keep going. That said, this book reminded me of the things i found in the book Coven, where I found repeats here and things that were put in for the sake of filling pages in others, and all to complete a book.

The one reason I said that i liked it was because it had a good story for a time, and it did have some of the Edward Lee staples that I seek out quite often. Still, those staples were not the sexy little storylines that I long for but were instead detours that made me less-than-happy. I really felt like this was a shorter book and, if the book was missing around 200 or so pages, it would have been better. That was not the case at all, however, and the filler constricted much of what I wanted to find.

If you want to pick up something new by Lee, go for the Black Train or something older. If you are new to the whole experience, then go get Creekers and see what can be accomplished when Lee puts his mind to it. He has this ability to make horrific things with beauty marks, and i have always liked that about him. I also like the fact that he does not turn away from the death but instead forces energy on whatever devils are walking through his storyline. Here, however, the devils were not what I expected and the vampire was not really strong enough to be the center of the book's attention. It was as if he was writing for the sake of writing, and i cannot recommend someone pick up a book that does not have the strength that Lee normally brings to the table.

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Sorry Mr. Lee, but this one wasn't good, August 23, 2008

By 

Ravenskya "Princess of Horror" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Brides of the Impaler (Leisure Fiction) (Mass Market Paperback)

Let me begin by saying that I read this book today, while very sick, so that my have tempered my ability to fully enjoy this book. Needless to say, I really didn't enjoy this book... I have actually been struggling to read through it for 3 days, which is a record for me since I usually read about 300 pages a day and this is only a 330 page book. As far as I am concerned, this story commits the ultimate sin that a horror novel can commit, it's BORING.

I would like to do a summary but it's hard since this book flips back and forth between so many different people. First we have the couple, Christina and Paul who have just bought a new house in NYC that used to belong to a Catholic Church... something that the church long ago forgot was hidden there. Then we have a pack of junkie prostitutes who suddenly have a new leader that is guiding them to commit strange acts, including murder. We've got the cop trying to figure out how the theft of Christmas tree stands and whittling knives combine to create murder, then we have the priest who remembers what's buried in Christina and Paul's house and doesn't know what to do about it... and we have an archeologist who shows up just long enough to get the ball rolling then to tell us what is actually going on later in the book.

Lee is famous for being an "Extreme Horror Writer" unfortunately there really isnt' anything extreme in this book. The gore is pitiful, never once did I even raise an eyebrow or consider what I was reading was gross. The sex, though plentiful is boring rather than entertaining. I would NOT advise this to an Extreme Horror fan.

For all that is going on in this tale, there is really about only 100-150 pages of the actual story, the rest is filled up with sex, sex and more sex... when it's not sex its someone playing with themselves or fantasizing. The problem is that it's not even GOOD sex, by the third time you're reading about it... it's boring, and you've still got about 200 pages of it to wade through. Perhaps Lee thinks we're all 14 and get a kick out of it... but more than likely he needed a lot of padding for what is actually a very short and sadly uninteresting story. The characters aren't entirely unlikable, but at the same time only two of them are worthy of our interest, but they are busy playing with themselves through most of the book so we don't get much meat on them.

I really wish there was more I can say, but I don't want to come across as a complete hater... the idea was good, the second coming of Dracula should have been an exciting topic... but it took a second seat to the padding of the story. I can't really advise this for Vampire fans, because there aren't any vamps until the last 20 pages, Extreme Horror fans will be disappointed in the gore level, people looking for story will be bored as I was.

I considered giving this a single star, but it did have a lot about Vlad the Impaler, which is a personal obsession of mine so it got bumped up to a 2 star story for that purpose only. I'm very disappointed because Lee is capable of so much more.