Incubi [Paperback]

Edward Lee (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2005

WAS IT A SEX-KILLER? OR SOMETHING WORSE? RITUAL FOR LOVE He promises them his love, then kills without mercy. Each seduction ends in death--each victim, murdered in bed. Detective Jack Cordesman has vowed to unravel the demented mystery, to enter the heart of a maniac's temptation...where desire demands the ultimate price. PASSION FOR EVIL The stranger beckons--the man of her dreams...or of her worst nightmares. Veronica Polk longs for love, but it isn't love that awaits in the strange, moonlit manse. Something evil broods, leading her blindly into a mire of erotic obsessions and savage desires. An unspeakable secret awaits--ancient, unholy--that thirsts for her spirit and hungers for her flesh... INCUBI They'll love you...to death.

Product Details

• Paperback: 244 pages
• Publisher: Necro Publications (February 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1889186406
• ISBN-13: 978-1889186405
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #606,229 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

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incubi, by Ed Lee, April 29, 2004

By 

C. (St. Joseph, Macau) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Incubi (Paperback)

Police Captain Jack Cordesman has seen better days. Not only did his girlfriend, Veronica, just leave him, but now there's a series of ritualistic murders he's got to solve. And these aren't your normal, heat of the moment murders--these are specific, deliberate, time-consuming.

This is an old book, originally published by Berkley/Diamond in 1991, but Necro Publications is stepping up and publishing, for the first time, the uncut edition, Ed Lee's original story. At that time, splatterpunk was coming on big and everything was gore and sex and violence, and you couldn't find a horror novel that wasn't 30% gratuitous crap. But Ed Lee--now HE'S a different breed. You don't go into an Ed Lee story, and then gasp in shock when you get to the graphic stuff, because Lee isn't gratuitous in the least. He knows how to include all that stuff and make it an important part of the story (even the stuff in "Header" was PART of the story) The ritual upon which the murders are based is steeped in sex and blood, so Lee's descriptions of the crime scenes only serve to give us insight into what Jack's dealing with.

This story is more a police procedural than anything--it's not even a mystery, because it's obvious quite early on that Khoronos is the man behind it all. Who's Khoronos? Well, that's a subplot. When Veronica left Jack, she told him she was leaving for an artist's retreat--she's a famous painter. Khoronos, she says, is the man hosting the retreat, a rich foreigner who recently bought one of her paintings.

And that's enough on plot.

Let's talk about the book itself. Even though it's one of Lee's older stories, it's still, in my opinion, one of his best. The prose is tight and flowing, taking you from page to page without the plodding effort some other books take. It's not a chore to read Incubi, it's a pleasure. It's not often I'll take a book out to the porch and read in the middle of the afternoon, but I found myself doing that more and more over the summer, and every time it was an Ed Lee book.

(This next comment may come out wrong, so I'll try and explain it afterward.)

Incubi is just another example of how pathetic the public can be sometimes--Ed Lee should be a major player in big name horror publishing. Instead, his best work is only finding true appreciation in the small press. He's a star there, yes, but this man should be a major star, everyone should know the name Ed Lee, everyone should have a few Lee novels on their shelf. Instead, it's only recently, with the publication of his latest novel City Infernal from Leisure, that he seems to be gaining the widespread acceptance he should have had a long time ago. But God forbid the public love this novel with its graphic descriptions of sex and violence. This can't be horror. Surely this guy's just doing this to get a reaction from people. Sure. OR, he's a writer who knows what the hell he's doing. Well, better late than never, I guess.

And I know that may sound like a jab at the small press--nothing could be further from the truth. I love the small press, it's a place to find real quality work you don't get from the bigger houses. But there are authors in the small press who may be too big for the limited print runs, people who deserve the massive distribution a major publishing house can offer. And Ed Lee is at the top of that list. I love the small press, and I'm pretty sure Ed Lee does, too. But take my word for it--read Incubi and you'll see what I mean. Make this man a major star now.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars No one can resist the INCUBI, February 25, 2002

By 

G. Van Der Bent "Gerb" (Katwijk, The Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Incubi (Paperback)

This is another hard to find title from Edward Lee. It's a shame it isn't in-print anymore. I am a big fan of this writer and INCUBI ranks up there with his best (see my review of COVEN for more).
Lee isn't for the weak of heart (and stomach) though. His horror is of the most extreme kind and his sex is almost always nasty and/or perverted-- kind of like Richard Laymon, another favorite of mine.

INCUBI is about a pair of ex-lovers, a cop and a female artist, both of whom (in different ways) get involved with -- and become the target of -- a pair of male sexdemons who prey on the lusts of women. If you don't mind reading about people gettting sliced up in the most brutal ways and women see raped by grotesque phallusses this is your kind of book. Lee's ending isn't a happy one though and INCUBI has an epilogue which can be called downright weird.
ONLY READ THIS WHEN YOU'RE SURE YOU CAN HANDLE IT (for example with all the lights on)!

I heard Lee is now writing SF novels. I hope he'll return to his older form with more work like this. INCUBI is extreme horror/ gore at it's peak, written in a time when every horror novel didn't have to be targeted at a Young-Adult audience and/ or had te be part of a series like Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome!, December 29, 2011

By 

louann - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Incubi (Paperback)

I just can't get enough! Lee's books are gross, horrific, graphic and funny in the most macabre fashion imaginable. I LOVE his books!!! "Goon" is next...can't wait!
and.. Kindle Fire really showcases the fantastic covers!