Poisoning Eros Paperback – June 1, 2013

THE ONLY 2 AUTHORS WHEN TEAMED UP ,THAT COME CLOSE TO MONICA AND WRATH,WOULD BE ED LEE AND JOHN PELAN. THAT ALONE, SHE BE REASON ENOUGH FOR BUYING THISINCREDIBLE TO NOTCH READ. I NOTICED SOME HATERS WHINING THAT THEY DON'T LIKE THIS BOOK BUTSTILL CONSIDER THEMSELVES FANS OF EXTREME HORROR. I THINK THEY SHOULD REDEFINE THEMSELVES'THIS IS AN EXAPMLE OF EXTREME HORRO AT IT'S FINEST. SO SO GLAD IT WAS RE-RELEASED IN PAPAERBACK(1 AND 2) IN THE SAME PAPERBACK. WOW!!CAN'T WAIT TO GET STARTED ON 400 DAYS OF OPRESSION.ALSO SIDESHOW PRESS STILL HAS THE HC OF THE WJW BOOK SON-OF-A BITCH FOR SALE ON THEIR SITE.WITH SUCH A LIMITED PRINT RUN I CANNOT BELIVE MORE PEOPLE WOULDN'T WANT THIS RARECOLLECTORS ITEM. PERPLEXING. MAYBE I'LL JUST GO AND BUY ALL THE REMAINING COPIES THAT THEYSTILL HAVE AVAILABLE.(AT SUCH AN UNBELIEVABLE LOW PRICE)NOT SURE IF MONICA'S 'ONLY HAPPENS IN THE DARKNESS 'LIMITED EDITION HC, FROM 'SINSITER GRIN PRESS' HAS SOLD-OUT YET EITHER .WITH A PRINT RUN OF 100, WHAT A BARGAIN PRICE.(SAME WITH WJW PREY DRIVE HC (PRINT RUN OF 100) ALSO MONICA'S REISSUE OF SUFFER THE FLESH COMES WITH A BONUS STORY YAHOOOOOOOOOO.

I don't know where to begin. This started out as a typical sex/ gore fest, but wound up going in directions i didn't see coming. Most of the characters in this story are unsympathetic, so i never got behind any of them. The plot is well thought out, as are the characters, just very unlikable. Read this, but only if you have a strong stomach, and aren't adverse to blasphemy. I doubt i ever re-read this, as i think it'll stay with me for quite a while.

Wrath James White and Monica J. O'Rourke, Poisoning Eros (Deadite Press, 2003)For ten years, Poisoning Eros was one of the most infamous—and hard to get hold of—books in underground horror. I came across a lot of people who claimed to have read one of the witheringly limited editions in which it was released, first in 2003, then again in 2011, and all of them sang the book's praises, but I never so much as smelled one until Deadite Press finally put out a reasonably-priced trade edition in 2013, presumably to mark the book's tenth anniversary. With all that build-up, I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I will say this: any tale that starts off with barnyard porn and then gets more offensive is pretty much a guaranteed winner, for my money.Plot: Gloria is a washed-up porn star whose chose her drug addiction over her family. When the drugs started interfering with her career, she rode the downward spiral as long as she could, to the point where, when we open, we're presented with the scene mentioned in the opening paragraph. (It is not the only one of its type in the first half of the book, so be warned. Or be titillated. I won't judge.) Suffice to say that, through a number of agencies both internal and external, Gloria comes to a bad end and finds herself in Hell, which is, well, about what you would expect. Gloria, however, had a very rough life, and the torments of Hell are just another tribulation to be endured—and it turns out that her old skills may come in handy even in the afterlife. All the old stories, after all, tell us that demons are exceptionally fond of negotiation...There's a part of me that wants to dismiss Poisoning Eros for what is, at its black little heart, a pretty standard morality play with a lot of added shock value. That said, there are two very strong related points in its favor. The first is that, once you've gotten past the opening scene and you start seeing where the pieces in this puzzle fit, it becomes obvious that neither White nor O'Rourke was in this to do shock for shock's sake. There's a reason for all of the depraved, degenerate, disgusting stuff that goes on, even if (as with the opening scene) that reason is not immediately apparent; the fact that nothing in this book is gratuitous, especially given that it does in fact live up to its reputation, is pretty huge. And then there's the closing scene, about which I can say absolutely nothing without giving the entire game away. But if you're going to go with a traditional Judeo-Christian value set for your framework, you've gotta do something pretty explosive to get my attention. That last scene...does.On the other hand, that last scene is ridiculously short. They could have easily played it for an entire third chapter and I would have fallen right in line. It would have fit (at least I think it would have fit) with the book we got; it would certainly have been consistent with both Gloria's character and White and O'Rourke's finely-honed senses of the ironic. But there I go again bitching about things I didn't get that would have made a book better rather than criticizing the book I have in front of me. But let's face it—all the horrors to be found here are of absence, on the meta level. I am unsure whether White and O'Rourke succeeded in telling the tale they wanted to tell; no one will know that but them. But they succeeded in telling a tale, and telling a very good one. While this is a very personal thing and YMMV (and probably will), I found it one of those books that Stephen King calls “go for the gross-out”, rather than having the sort of profoundly disturbing atmosphere of something like Charlee Jacob's Haunter, but that makes it not one iota less worth reading. Pick it up, now that you easily can, and strap yourself in—turbulence is expected on this flight. *** ½

Poising Eros is a collaboration of two titans from the splatterpunk community, Monica O’Rourke and Wrath James White. The story follows a female lead character that literally travels to Hades to feed her deviant addictions. The relentless depictions of tortured souls combined with a foundation of thought provoking morals make this a violent one two punch to the gut sending the reader on a voyage to an unforgettable surreal abyss. O’Rourke and White, a match made in hell...two talents readers benefit from.

I received this book in return for my honest review. Poisoning Eros was not what I expected and its descriptions of Hell and the efforts the narrator wen through to wind up there are over the top. Toward the end I was hoping for the book to end though, as the descriptions and concepts got kind of tiring to me. If you are a Wrath James White fan, I recommend this book, if you are not, maybe start with another one of his books.

This was an intense and dark read that touched a wide gamut of societal mores, religious ideas, philosophies, perversity and horror. noting is sacred in this book except perhaps the desire to upheave the entire status quo. Even with all this it was still a page turner.

Ever wondered what hell is like? Could you ever survive hell? We all have these thoughts at some time and well Monica and wrath white have there joint answer.take a trip with a dead end aid infested porn star and the outrageous steps to get her next fix.how does she end up hell? Following vlad who says his going to help her but with twist. This is not for the faint hearted as we're talking wrath white and Monica here! In there eyes hell is voilent/gore sex addicted demons waiting for sinners arrival but expect the odd twist thrown in for good measure.the one question you should ask yourself in this book is who is Satan? You'll be pleasantly surpised

Poisining Eros war mein erster kompletter Roman von White und Rourke. Von White kannte ich bisher nur ein paar Kurzgeschichten, deswegen wusste ich bereits, was mich erwarten könnte. Dachte ich jedenfalls. Ich lese ja viel und schaue viel Horror, aber etwas wie PE habe ich noch nicht erlebt. Es geht direkt derb los, wenn die Heldin der Geschichte Gloria, Tierpornos dreht, um Geld für Drogen zu kaufen. Früher hätte ich so etwas direkt in die Ecke geworfen, aber es muss wohl der tatsächlich gute und flüssige Schreibstil gewesen sein, so wie die Tatsache, dass es nur ein Buch und kein Film ist, dass ich die Szenen ohne weiteres gelesen habe. Nach Tieren geht es mit Dämonen weiter, was ich recht einfallsreich fand.Man merkt, bis Gloria in der Hölle landet, dauert es etwas und wer denkt, es wäre bis dahin schon schlimm gewesen, hat noch gar nichts gesehen. Das Autorenduo splattert was das Zeug hält. Eine kranke Idee jagt die nächste und obwohl mich so etwas schnell langweilt, schafft PE es dank seiner interessanten Handlung über eine Frau, welche sprichwörtlich durch die Hölle geht, um dann zum Gegenschlag anzusetzen, es zu unterhalten.Wie gesagt, der Schreibstil ist flüssig und ich kann mir vorstellen, dass White und Rourke sich etwas abgewechselt haben, denn hier und da merkt man doch kleine Unterschiede in den Kapiteln.Der Rezensionstitel bezieht sich darauf, dass ich nicht weiß, wem man dieses Werk empfehlen sollte. Es ist ultrabrutal, pervers und vollkommen krank, aber gut geschrieben und spannend. Ich persönlich habe es jedenfalls schnell durchgelesen, um zu erfahren, wie es endet. Lesen sollten es aber nur Fans des absoluten Extremhorrors. Wer nur King und Koontz im Regal hat, schaut sich besser nach was anderem um. Freunde von Edward Lee sind schon eher an der richtigen Adresse.Poisining Eros ist verdammt harter Tobak und zugleich ein richtig gutes Buch. Eine wirklich wilde Mischung, die für viele abstoßend sein mag und ich gebe zu, dass auch ich auf die eine oder andere Szene hätte verzichten können, aber ich bin froh es gelesen zu haben.Großes Lob an Deadite Press, die inzwischen mein liebster US-Buchverlag geworden sind. Ich bin gespannt, was da noch kommen wird.

Read this book as I had heard of it several times and I love Wrath's work. I'm glad both parts come together as it feels like it's one story and it's all needed. It has a feel of Ed Lee's Infernal series at parts but definitely has it's own direction. Like all of their work it's pretty brutal and graphic. I read this a wile ago and it has really stuck with me. I think I may go back and read again soon.

What is Hell? You are about to take a tour and I am not sure you will like what you see. No little red horned devils here with pitch forks.See the sick and twisted line in the gravel, well this pair of authors don't just step over that line they run way past that line and set their own line. A great read.

IF YOU CALL YOURSELF A FAN OF SPLATTERPUNK HORROR EXTREME FICTION. THIS IS RIGHT NEAR THE ABSOLUTE TOP. IF NOT AT THE TOP.MONICA J O'ROURKE IS SUCH AN EXCELLENT HORRO WRITER EDITOR. I WANNA BE HER NUMBER ONE FAN FOREVER.WRATH IS, WELL WRATH. I ALWAYS READ HIS STORIES COLD. AND I AM ALWAYS REWARDED WITH AN EXCELLENT READ.YEAH HE'S THAT DAMN GOOD.DON'T BELIVE ME ASK 'ED LEE'.