Customer Reviews

Love in Vein II : Eighteen More Tales of Vampiric Erotica

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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

Brite has done an excellent job of collecting a number of vampire and vampire-like short stories to keep readers both entertained and thinking. I especially enjoyed the "Sundered Wineskins" story, which made me think about the nature of God and worship. (Plus, that short story tied in with a short story by the same author in the original "Love in Vein" collection -- how clever!) Not all the stories were as enjoyable; "Dusting the Flowers," for example, was a turn-off and made little sense, since we never got to see precisely what motivated the characters. I did expect more sex, but on the other hand, the physical sensuousness, in its broader term, was there in abundance. Overall an enjoyable book.

I thought Love In Vein II was merely 'okay' until I read Brian Hodge's and Pat Califia's submissions. That's what made this book truly amazing. I highly recomend it, though some parts, I admit, are a little inane and repetitive. Once you get hooked, though (and I know you will!), I suggest following with Brite's collection of short stories, "Wormwood."

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

This collection will appeal to those who enjoy vampire stories and erotica -- if you're looking for straight erotica, be warned that this stuff can get pretty violent and weird. It delves a bit too much into the Goth scene at times, but still outdid collections like Hot Blood. Overall, it was an enjoyable and erotic read.

After reading "Love in Vein", I was very pumped for the next set of stories but was very disappointed. Overall, there wasn't an interesting story in the bunch and some of them just went nowhere.

The first book really delved into interesting storylines. Not every story was great, but it was fresh, erotic, with storylines that were interesting and focused on the vampire figure as a being.

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

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

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

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

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

a few gems, but in general a weak collection. my standouts: "...wineskins" by brian hodge; "dusting the flowers" by david schow, and pat califia (who is just good at erotica period)... this book seems like too many of brite's friends called in a favour.

This collection is vastly superior to its predecessor, with some very strong writing indeed. You know it's going to be good when the book opens with Neil Gaiman's off-kilter retelling of the Snow White story. And no, it's not downhill from there. The following stories are well-crafted and fascinating. My favourite was "The Dripping of Sundered Wineskins" by Brian Hodge. It is an imaginative story about a modern-day wannabe saint, and the pre-Christian trinity he is obsessed with. I wish this could be made into a novel. I was wrapped-up in the world Hodge created.

My only qualm about this book was the lack of an introduction. I'd really like to have read how Poppy chose these stories, and how she was introduced to the various authors. Ah well....