Brothel

Brothel horror poetry collection cover art
by Stephanie Wytovich
  • $14.95 Paperback
    ISBN: 978-1-935738-83-1

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Brothel is the Recipient of a Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection, 2016

Wytovich plays madam in a collection of erotic horror that challenges the philosophical connection between death and orgasm. There’s a striptease that happens in Brothel that is neither fact nor fiction, fantasy nor memory. It is a dance of eroticism, of death and decay. The human body becomes a service station for pain, for pleasure, for the lonely, the confused. Sexuality is hung on the door, and the act of love is far from anything that’s decent. Her women spread their legs to violence then smoke a cigarette and get on all fours. They use their bodies as weapons and learn to find themselves in the climax of the boundaries they cross in order to define their humanity…or lack thereof.

Wytovich shows us that the definition of the feminine is not associated with the word victim. Her characters resurrect themselves over and over again, fighting stereotypes, killing expectations. She shows us that sex isn’t about love; it’s about control. And when the control is disproportionate to the fantasy, she shows us the true meaning of femme fatale.

 

What Are They Saying About Brothel

“When it comes to razor sharp wit, unapologetic violence, and steamy, sensuous, sometimes breathtaking eroticism, Stephanie M. Wytovich is matchless.”—Shane Douglas Keene, This is Horror UK

“Stephanie M. Wytovich takes you to a place of sex, power and pain. She fills your head with powerful images of love and wanting. Brothel is a place where some are lost in the world of sex, a place they only meant to visit. A place they are enticed by the pleasure and never looked back, where self-worth is lost and payment is expected. I found a good number of poems really spoke to me, some leaving me speechless.”—The Scary Reviews

“…Wytovich methodically deconstructs the image of the sad, broken prostitute that mainstream popular culture loves to perpetuate and replaces it with women who are as strong and smart as any heroine in contemporary fiction. Yes, some of these women are haunted by past decisions or propelled to do their work because they, like all of us, need a paycheck, but they’re also not victims of their circumstances: they are in control, they set the rules, they make others bleed, and they use their bodies as weapons to get what they want. By doing this, Wytovich has taken the victimization of women out of the equation and replaced it with a plethora of elements that range from violence to sex, sometimes simultaneously.”—Gabino Iglesias, HorrorTalk

Brothel comes to you like a lover in the dark; the movements initially hesitant, but with growing confidence and passion as it pulls you in deeper. Before you know it, the poetry—Wytovich’s words and rhythms—are in your head, your heart, and your gut, moving all three in a way that you haven’t felt since your first time, lo, those many years ago. Don’t. Miss. This.”—Paul Michael Anderson, Editor of Jamais Vu and author of Bones are Made to Be Broken

“Stephanie M. Wytovich’s new poetry collection is a triumph of prismatic storytelling. The poems in Brothel have multiple shades and angles, and each one’s a window into a secret world I longed to explore—in spite of the bloodstains, and sometimes because of them. It was an animated read for me. As the characters twisted themselves in and out of deadly pleasure, I shivered in delight and shuddered in sad fascination. I feared these girls, but I also wanted to fight, fuck, and be these girls. This is a beautiful collection, and it’s safe to assume I’ll be a frequent visitor to Stephanie’s Brothel for years to come.”—Jessica McHugh, author of The Green Kangaroos

“Wielding words with lyrical precision, Stephanie Wytovich has crafted a dangerous, dark, and oh-so-very-beautiful journey in Brothel. Filled with the raw heat and obsessive passions of love, this collection immerses the reader in the delicious miasma of humanity; at once depraved and holy, Brothel is poetry as weapon, as caress, as submission. Absolutely glorious.”—Peter Adam Salomon, Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of All Those Broken Angels

“I didn’t quite know what I was in for when I slipped into Stephanie M. Wytovich’s Brothel. Now here I stand on the sidewalk outside, shielding my eyes against the harsh light of day. My hair is a mess, my mascara smudged, and I’m inexplicably missing a shoe. After Brothel I’ll never be clean again. …or feel as satisfied as I am now.”—Kristin Dearborn, author of Stolen Away and Woman in White