Poppy Z. Brite Books in Order
Poppy Z. Brite has written 29 books, published between 1988 and 2017. The first book is Seed of Lost Souls (1988) and the newest is Portrait of a Phantom (2017). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 29
- Published
- 1988–2017
- Pages on record
- 3,486 in 16 of 29 books
- Reading time
- 58–87 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 3,486 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 16 of 29 titles with a page count on record.
Poppy Z. Brite is the former name of William Joseph Martin, an American author born on 25 May 1967 who rose to prominence in gothic horror in the early 1990s through novels and short story collections. Lost Souls (1992), Drawing Blood (1993) and Exquisite Corpse (1996) are the best-known novels. Later work turned to dark comedy, much of it set among New Orleans restaurants, and many characters are openly gay or bisexual. The catalogue lists 29 books from Seed of Lost Souls (1988) to Portrait of a Phantom (2017), including His Mouth Will Taste of Wormwood and Other Stories (1995). Rickey and G-Man is the series on record, and subjects include cooks and New Orleans.
How many Poppy Z. Brite books are there?
Poppy Z. Brite has 29 books, released between 1988 and 2017. 5 of them belong to the Rickey and G-Man series.
Poppy Z. Brite Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 29 Poppy Z. Brite books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.
- 11988–1/4
- 21991–1/4
- 319921901/4
- 419923551/4
- 519934031/4
- 6His Mouth Will Taste of Wormwood and Other StoriesPoppy Z. Brite Short Story #21995 · 87 pages · confirmed 1/41995871/4
- 719962401/4
- 819972531/4
- 9Are You Loathsome Tonight?/Self-Made ManPoppy Z. Brite Short Story #31998 · 185 pages · confirmed 1/419981851/4
- 1019982131/4
- 111998–1/4
- 122000–1/4
- 1320011851/4
- 1420031851/4
- 1520031731/4
- 162003–1/4
- 172004–1/4
- 182004–1/4
- 1920041981/4
- 2020052831/4
- 2120062881/4
- 2220071321/4
- 2320071161/4
- 242016–1/4
- 252016–1/4
- 262016–1/4
- 272016–1/4
- 282016–1/4
- 292017–1/4
Poppy Z. Brite books grouped by series
Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.
Poppy Z. Brite Standalone Novels
8 books8 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Poppy Z. Brite Short Story
8 books8 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Rickey and G-Man in order
5 books- 1. The Value of X
- 2. Liquor
- 3. Prime
- 4. Soul Kitchen
- 5. D*u*c*k
Poppy Z. Brite Short Stories/Novellas
4 books4 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Poppy Z. Brite Non-Fiction
2 books2 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Crow in order
2 booksDo you have to read Poppy Z. Brite books in order?
You only need to read Poppy Z. Brite books in order within the Rickey and G-Man series, which holds 5 of the 29 Poppy Z. Brite books listed here. The numbered table above gives every book in publication order.
Where to start with Poppy Z. Brite
Start with Seed of Lost Souls (1988), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Poppy Z. Brite book?
Portrait of a Phantom (2017) is the newest Poppy Z. Brite book released so far.
Is there a new Poppy Z. Brite book coming?
No next Poppy Z. Brite book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Awards Poppy Z. Brite has won
Wikidata records 1 award and 14 nominations for Poppy Z. Brite. The most recent 12 are listed here. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.
- Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire for Best Foreign-Language Short Story1998Wonfor Calcutta, Lord of Nerves
- Locus Award for Best Collection2000Shortlistedfor Are You Loathsome Tonight?
- Locus Award for Best Collection1999Shortlistedfor Are You Loathsome Tonight?
- Locus Award for Best Anthology1998Shortlistedfor Love in Vein II
- Bram Stoker Award for Novel1996Shortlistedfor Exquisite Corpse
- World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology1995Shortlistedfor Love in Vein
- Locus Award for Best Anthology1995Shortlistedfor Love in Vein
- Locus Award for Best Horror Novel1994Shortlistedfor Drawing Blood
- World Fantasy Award for Best Novel1994Shortlistedfor Drawing Blood
- Locus Award for Best Collection1994Shortlistedfor Wormwood
- Locus Award for Best First Novel1993Shortlistedfor Lost Souls
- Locus Award for Best Horror Novel1993Shortlistedfor Lost Souls
Poppy Z. Brite at a glance
- No recent titles
- The newest Poppy Z. Brite title on record dates from 2017, 9 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
- Release pace
- Poppy Z. Brite books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 3,486 pages across the 16 of 29 books with a recorded length, a median of 194 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Poppy Z. Brite books, 12 of 29, were published in the 2000s.
What the Poppy Z. Brite books are about
14 of the 29 Poppy Z. Brite books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: horror is tagged on 5 of 14. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Horror 5 of 14 books
- Cooks 3 of 14 books
- Fantasy 2 of 14 books
- LGBT 2 of 14 books
- New Orleans (La.) 2 of 14 books
- Restaurants 2 of 14 books