He is haunted throughout the novel by the memory of his relationship with his ex-girlfriend Ann, which he terminated abruptly by raping her on discovery of her infidelity. Steve is proud and stubborn, drinks to excess, and is prone to violent outbursts. He is described as tall and wiry, with a hawkish nose, and long black hair he rarely washes. He works in a record shop in his home town called the Whirling Disc. Steve was raised in Missing Mile, North Carolina. Several characters introduced in the novel make appearances in Brite's second novel, Drawing Blood, though it is not a direct sequel. The novel is an extended version of the short story 'The Seed of Lost Souls'. It is the only novel-length adventure of Brite's 'Steve and Ghost' characters, popularized in numerous short stories. Stephen King's The Shining re-created the haunted house novel in the '70s with a stunning vision Brite combines these elements in a totally new way to reimagine this genre for the '90s with a brilliant new power.Lost Souls is a 1992 horror novel by American writer Poppy Z. For the house itself carries its own dark force, which threatens to envelop Trevor in the past and destroy him. In the house, which Trevor calls Birdland, they must confront much more than bad memories.

Then he befriends Zachary Bosch, a computer hacker from New Orleans running from the law. But if it does, Trevor thinks, at least I won't have anyone to kill. He fears that what happened to his father will happen to him. He has been running from the truth for years, and finally realizes he must face his demons. Twenty years later Trevor Mc Gee, also a cartoonist, returns to Missing Mile to the house in which his family once lived.

Only his five-year-old son, Trevor, is left alive. Soon after he and his family settle into a decrepit farmhouse, Robert kills his wife, his younger son, and then himself. But Robert is unable to escape the drinking and the violence that have become as natural to him as breathing. Acclaimed cartoonist of the underground comic book Birdland, he has moved his family from Texas to New Orleans and finally to Missing Mile, North Carolina. Robert Mc Gee is a man living under a dark cloud. With her spellbinding prose and a fresh, haunting new approach, Brite has reinvented horror for the 1990s. Brite proved herself to be “a major new voice in horror fiction” and earned the praise of writers like Harlan Ellison and Dan Simmons. With her debut novel, Lost Souls, last year, Poppy Z.

Drawing Blood by Poppy Z. Brite