Poppy Z Brite’s first full novel. Tells the story of evolved vampires and how they’ve adapted. Oh, and they’re fully functioning, as in breeding capability.

Not a book for the squeamish—reading about the feeding sessions, the rough sex, and the incest got disturbing at times. But I think that discomfort comes from knowing that this subculture does exist, and it worries me that this sort of pain is manifesting in our world. I’m not so afraid for myself, but for those who “don’t belong.” This subculture is a case in which “if you build it, they will come” is not the greatest idea out there. I just can’t make this “circle of life” equation match up. Does having predators who cull the weak make our species stronger in Brite’s universe? Is that what the vampire genre is all about? An exercise in fantasy to counteract the imbalances our society had created and nurtured?
Our collective conscious knows that to experience true life, there is physical and emotional pain to be had. Society has created ways to get rid of both kinds of pain without having to process and grow from its lesson. Society has also created acceptable space for those who thrive on the attention that pain and illness can generate. My theory is that many people have forgotten the way of transition towards healing, growth, and personal evolution. Or, they believe that their life is only about survival and “getting theirs,” ergo no room for and no communication with the divine within.
[well, so much for writing about the book… funny, the stuff that comes up for a reader]