The Drain

Eden Book Society #1993

by Caitlin T. Vale

Poppy's got a boy problem. She stole some money from her arsehole ex and now he's after her, and he's not the forgiving type.

When she runs into a sexy, mysterious woman known only as Cherie things get more complicated. Cherie says she can help Poppy out, but for a price. Cherie's looking for some people, and she needs a companion.

The trip takes them across the country and into Europe. But Cherie isn't like anyone else. She's hungry. She can only travel at night. And the trail of blood she leaves behind her is only growing...

The Eden Book Society was a publishing house that produced horror novelettes for a private list of subscribers. It was established in 1919 by the Eden family, handed down through the generations issuing short horror novels to a confidential list of subscribers. Eden books were always written under pseudonyms and were rumoured to have been written by some of the greatest horror authors of their day, many of whom had strong ties to the mysterious Eden family. Dead Ink is reissuing eight novels from Eden's 1993 archive encompassing psychological torments, vampiric intrigue, visitors from beyond the grave and much more.

Are you brave enough to join the Eden Book Society?

Genres: Horror, Historical

96 pages, Paperback

First published July 2, 2026

Reviews

[Blair · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a really good time with this. There’s something very authentically 90s-vampire-story about its atmosphere and lack of gloss. Poppy is stuck in a turbulent relationship, picking up bits of sex work to scratch a living (‘I wasn’t ever really a prostitute. It was just a situational thing.’) When she meets a mysterious woman, Cherie, who claims to be a vampire, she’s instantly smitten, and assumes the vampire thing is just a goth affectation, a fetish. But in the course of accompanying Cherie on a trip to a tumbledown mansion in France, she begins to wonder if there’s more to it. I particularly liked the stop-start, hesitant rhythm of Poppy’s narration, which makes it feel like she’s sitting opposite you, trying to remember and explain everything that happened.

(Part of the Eden Book Society 1993 collection)

[Olivia Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some really interesting themes in the book but unfortunately I found the characters to be so underdeveloped. I understand there’s limited time with a short story but it’s clear that 70ish pages wasn’t nearly enough.

I feel like the ending could have been significantly more impactful if we actually had meaningful interactions between Robin and Poppy.

I didn’t understand the attraction to Cherie other than she’s hot? She’s sexy and mysterious? As a reader she doesn’t really have that magnetic of a personality for me.

Interesting twist but unfortunately it fell flat for me.

[Sassy Sarah Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars

The Eden Book Society is this fun concept where 8 books are published under pseudonyms and are supposedly from their unpublished 90s novella collection. I love the concept and think it is just so much fun. I loved unboxing my preorders and getting some Eden Book Society merch. I read through all of the synopses, and this one sounded most up my alley. It is most definitely by Allison Rumfitt.

This novella is quick and bit-sized. It follows a woman who fell in love with a woman who claimed to be a vampire, and her struggle to reacclimate back into society after her lover is gone. It explores lesbianism, drug addiction, prostitution, and poverty. There is an excellent throughline of trauma that is woven throughout and used in the big reveal that I loved. This was my first time reading Rumfitt, and it won't be my last. This is 100% a Sarah book. It checks all of my boxes: horror novella, lesbians, vampires, Gothic setting, underbelly of society, and trauma. It reminded me of reading a Poppy Z. Brite story from the 90s (which I love, Wormwood, and highly recommend that collection if you vibed with this). I can't wait to read more of the Eden Book Society and report back my thoughts. Grady Hendrix aka Frank Sloane is up next!

[Tass · Rating 2 out of 5]

underdeveloped characters & overall felt very rushed. lesbian vampires is fun but not new & interesting enough on its own. showed some promise at the end

[Sai · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ending was a gag tho

[k.eela · Rating 2.75 out of 5]

all the talk of genitalia was stressing me out ! the ending closed things off nicely tho

[Ends of the Word · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Drain is one of a set of eight horror novelettes just published by Dead Ink Books, purportedly reprints of the 1993 run of subscriber-only books issued by the mysterious Eden Book Society.

Each of the books in the series, commissioned from eight leading contemporary horror writers, is published under a pseudonym supported by a fictional biography. In the case of The Drain, the fictional author is a certain "Caitlin T. Vale", who purportedly has often been "compared to literary colleagues in America such as Poppy Z. Brite and Melanie Tem". Vale, we are told, "found a readership who eagerly lapped up her brand of violent queer fiction, which often sat on the very edge of erotica."

This certainly sums up this particular novella. Its protagonist, Poppy, a drug-taking hooker, evades an abusive partner and teams up with Cherie, an alleged vampire who leads Poppy on a murderous, bloody spree from England to France. We meet Poppy while she's undergoing rehab. The marks on her body are taken by her mentors as evidence of her drug use. Poppy is happy to play along, knowing that the truth – that they are the marks of the blood-sucking Undead – will not be easily believed...

The Drain is a sapphic vampire tale that reads like Carmilla on steroids. I'm not really a fan of the sex-and-gore genre, and this necessarily impacted my enjoyment of The Drain. That said, there were aspects of the book that I appreciated, particularly its ambivalence. Is Cherie really a vampire, or is it all make-believe, as suggested towards the novelette's conclusion? And, for that matter, does Cherie even exist, or is Poppy projecting her own fantasies onto reality?

3.5*

https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/20...

[Daniel Cork · Rating 4 out of 5]

Allison Rumfitt is one of my favourite British horror authors, she's a writer who manages to balance grotesque sexual horror with political commentary that comes together beautifully with a lot to say. I've been looking forward to reading her Eden Book Society segment, so let's see what I think of it!

Poppy has a serious boy problem, she's not a hooker per-say but she does sleep with men to try and live life as much as she can. She's in rehab, but not for the reasons people think of. She used to be lovers with a vampire, a woman who changed her life.

Allison Rumfitt under a pseudonym has written a fast-paced and grim vampire novella where the spin is a victim in rehab recovering from the disturbing events she was forced into. I enjoyed this story, but honestly not as much as I was hoping for, it's a good novella overall, but compared to Allison's other work it's nowhere near as exciting and grim as I was hoping for.

Overall: A really good read, but I was expecting more from it. 8/10

[Will · Rating 4.25 out of 5]

I picked this up to read for my Halloween reads throughout October, and I’m really glad I’ve done so. I backed the Kickstarter campaign for these books and if they are all of a similar standard, then I’ll be very happy.

The writing in this flowed extremely well, and kept me wanting to read more. I won’t give anything away from the plot as it’s only a short novella anyway, but it’s a slightly different take on a genre we’re all familiar with.

Some genuinely eerie parts and I’m glad I picked this for my Halloween reading!

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent little horror novelette. I liked the concept and the ending was good without destroying the mystery.

It was somewhat repetitive about the prostitution and the drugs and how shit the protagonist's childhood was, to the point where I started honestly skipping those paragraphs because I got it like, 20 pages ago. I don't think a work of this length can really afford to be repetitive like that.

[seren✨ starrybooker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightfully violent little novella, part of dead ink press’s Eden Society horror collection where horror writers publish fake ‘lost’ books under pseudonyms. I particularly loved the turn the story took at the end, which took this from a good three to a solid four stars for me.

[Edie Bridgeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

…So trippy…Sapphic and violent, but in a good way?…I will be back, feels like a book you read in the dark and then it feels like a lucid dream…

[Eskay · Rating 3 out of 5]

felt like it needed more pages but wow, that ending slapped.

[Callie · Rating 4 out of 5]

hell yeah
3.75

[Poppy · Rating 2.5 out of 5]

It was fun I guess

[Fred · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

Short lil lesbian vampire horror banger

[y · Rating 2.5 out of 5]

fun ideas, lacking in execution