Shadow Kiss
By Richelle Mead
Year published: 2008
Pages: 443
Edition: Paperback
Times read: First time
Brought in: June 2009
Date read: 17th December 2009

Third in the Vampire Academy series, this book continues the saga of the Dhampir and Moroi against the Strigoi. Difference with this book is that Lissa now realises that she specialises in Spirit, just like Adrian, and together they attempt to discover what they can about this unknown element. Meanwhile, Rose attempts to deal with the chance she is going crazy, and the grief she feels over the death of her close friend Mason, who died saving her in the previous book.

The focus of this book is again around the romance between Dimitri and Rose, the struggle she feels keeping Lissa sane and out of her head, and her continuing insanity. The climax of the book surprisingly isn’t when Dimitri and Rose finally have it out and give in to their feelings, but the battle that follows immediately after. And the cliffhanging ending… it makes you want to scream even if you could see it coming a mile away.

So it took me another day to read this book, and like the previous two, I could not put it down. Especially when it got near the end of the book and everything began to happen, which in my opinion, was my favourite part of the book. Such action and passion and confusion, it was everything you could hope for plus a nice cliffhanger of an ending to keep you pretty interested. Another excellent edition in the series.

Final words:
Shadow Kiss rating:  10/10 again. I cannot fault this series, it is such a pleasure to read and I rarely find myself getting bored halfway through, like I have in other series of a similar nature.
Would I re-read it? Well yeah, I would be stupid not to. Each book in the series just keeps getting better and better!
Who would I recommend it to? Same as usual, young adult females, people interested in vampire fiction.

As always, Enjoy!
-Shay

Frostbite
By Richelle Mead
Year Published: 2008
Pages: 327
Edition: Paperback
Times read: First time
Brought in: June 2008
Date Read: December 16th (My birthday! ^_^)

The second book in the Vampire Academy series, Frostbite starts off with a nice little recap introduction, and then launches into the story pretty much from when we left off in the last book. The same characters are present, adding in Christian as Lissa’s boyfriend, and introducing the new character of Adrian (whom I happen to like quite a lot). The story begins with Rose and Dimitri driving out to some city for a test that Rose had to take. Upon arrival, they discover that the family they were visiting have been massacred, by the Strigoi. Chillingly, there appears to be humans helping these creatures. Scared by this, the Moroi and Dhampir at the academy, and their families, all jet off to some mountain getaway for the Christmas period, where they are all together and apparently safe.

The kids become restless and enraged by the fact that the older guardians and Moroi royalty appear to be doing nothing about these Strigoi attacks, so 3 of them set off to go find them. Rose, feeling guilty as she was the one that gave them the intel as to where they suspected the Strigoi were, heads off with Christian to go rescue the other three and bring them back to the lodge that everyone is at, before the older people realise they had gone. Instead, they all get captured and tortured by the Strigoi. Rose finally proves her worth as a guardian, but at an awful price.

I LOVED this book. It picked up when the last one left off, brings more drama to the Dimitri/Rose forbidden love saga, and has enough action in it to keep me rather entertained. I also loved that the bad guys got their asses kicked in the end, because let’s face it, everyone loves a happy ending. The only frustrating thing in this book is the fact that Dimitri and Rose still don’t get together by the end of it. They finally both admit their love to each other, but leave it at that… leaving me rather annoyed and rushing to my bookcase to dig out the third book in the series to read. As with the first book, this took me a day to read and I could not put it down once I had started.

Final ratings:
Frostbite rating: 10/10 again. The fact I could not put it down, teamed with the continued reminiscing once I had finished it, lead to me rating it up there with some of my favourite books.
Would I re-read it?: Well yeah, of course I would. Probably would re-read it straight after re-reading the first book again, because this is the type of series where if you read one book, you gotta keep reading the rest. Prefably in order.
Who would I recommend it to? Same as last time, it’s a YA book about vampires. Aimed pretty much at the teenage female population, though I recon any vampire enthusiast might get a kick out of this view on the genre.

Vampire Academy
By Richelle Mead
Year Published: 2007
Pages: 332
Edition: Paperback
Times Read: first time
Brought in: April 2009 in Borders, Melbourne
Date read: December 15th 2009

So I’ve had this book laying around my room for the last 8 months or so, staring at me and begging to be read. A YA fiction about vampires, something I always enjoyed, yet I really couldn’t seem to be bothered even trying to read it. At some point a few months ago, I brought the other three books in the series… without having read this one first. They too sat on my bookshelf and gathered dust as I ignored them and read other things… but I finally got around to reading them.

I am SO glad I did. I am even more glad that I had the other books in the series laying around, because I read all four of them in four days. They were literally that good that I could not put them down- something my mum even commented on, and that’s rare because I always have a book in my hand.

So on to the book. It’s a typical YA book. There’s a kick-ass female protagonist, Rose (or Rosemarie, or Roza), her best friend Princess Lissa (or Vasilisa), and then the hot but totally unatainable guy, Dimitri (sigh). Oh, and they are vampires. This series deal with the Dhampirs (vampire and human offspring), the Moroi (aka the good guys, who have magical powers in one of the four elements: earth, air, fire or water), and the Strigoi (the bad dudes who kill people). The story revolves around the Moroi kids (like Lissa) going to school to learn about their powers and whatever, and the Dhampir (like Rose) who train at the school to become Guardians for the Moroi to protect them from the big bad Strigoi cause they’re too lazy to do it themselves. Even if they do have magical powers.

The book is pretty straightforward, but there is quite a bit of ass-kicking in it, which I quite enjoyed, and the characters are well developed. The blossoming romance between Rose and Dimitri was what drew me in, and I could not read the book fast enough! It took me just over a day to read the entire thing, and within about an hour of finishing it I was already onto the next one.

So final ratings:
Rating: 10/10 defintely.
Would I re-read it?: Well I almost started re-reading it when I was writing up this review! It started to suck me back in again. So yes, I would most defintely re-read it, and probably will have to restrain myself from doing that right now.
Who would I recommend it to? well since it’s YA fiction, teenagers would fit the bill, as well as anyone who enjoys vampire books. Probably not a guy’s book, even if there is a fair bit of action in it. I’m actually gonna recommend this book to my friend Jess next time I see her, because I know she would enjoy it as much as I did. =)

amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Vampire-Academy-Book/dp/159514174X
Author’s website:  http://www.richellemead.com/books/vampireacademy.htm

 Enjoy! I know I sure did.
-Shay

Living Dead In Dallas
By Charlaine Harris
Year Published:  2002
Pages: 291
Edition: Paperback
Times read: 2
Brought in: November 2007 (on a trip to Brisbane)
Date Read: December 7 2009

Ok so I am a huge fan of Charlaine Harris, ever since I discovered her books on a trip to the USA a few years back. I had brought two of her books on a whim (having ran out of things to read on my two-month long holiday there) and had loved them instantly.

So for those who are not aware, the series I am talking about here is the one that spawned True Blood, the tv show about vampires and whatnot and that is pretty excellent as well. They just finished airing the second season of True Blood in Australia, which I had been watching, and had declared necessary to re-read the book the season was based on because I was pretty damn sure there was a lot of things missed from the book and a lot of things in the show that wasn’t mention in the book (and yes, there was).

The basic story of this book is this: Sookie, mind reading bar waitress from the South has been summoned by Eric, viking vampire hottie, to do his bidding in Dallas. Well, she’s given a job to do requiring her mind reading powers, and so she takes her boyfriend Bill, who is also a vampire, to guard her from the big bad nasties in Dallas. When they get there, Sookie is whisked off to the vampire laire to find out what happened to a vampire who has been kidnapped (in the tv show, the missing vampire is Godric. in the book, it is Farrell, and Godric is the one who kidnapped him. I’m thinking they skipped a few pages or chapters of the book when they were making the tv show). Eventually Sookie realises that the Fellowship of the Sun is responsible- they are the bad-ass church dudes who declare that vampires should be destroyed. basically, they are a bunch of douches who need to learn to not stick their noses in business they have no involvement with. Sookie infiltrates the church to find Farrell and Godric, and ends up being betrayed and held hostage. She is rescued, of course, and ends up home safely but with no time to rest, because the pressing issue of who killed Lafayette must be solved! oh yeah, Lafayette isn’t killed in the tv series, yet he is in the book. interesting… They find the killers eventually and the killers get whats coming to them, and the book wraps up nicely with no cliffhangers, no continuing story, nothing. basically, if the series was to end after this book, it could have done quite easily as everything you ask is answered basically.

So all in all, I loved the book, but having watched the tv show and then re-read the book, i’m noticing all the differences and it kinda ruins it all for me. The Maenad is much nicer in the book (i personally hated her in the series), but i love that Lafayette is still alive in the series (as opposed to being killed off within the first few pages of this book). Because the series and the book are so different, it’s hard to compare them as they both have their good points and their bad points.

My final ratings are:

• Living Dead In Dallas (aka the book): 9.5/10.
• Season 2 of True Blood: 10/10 (even if it is so goddamn different to the book)
•  Would i re-read it? Definitely. I have re-read it! think this may be my third time or so.
• Who would i recommend it to?: Well true blood fans, as this is a nice accompanyment to the show so you get a real feel for how it all came to be. Mainly i would recommend it to the 20+ female group, as i feel its a tad too… well mature for teenagers (though i read it as a teenager, i still feel that it would be better suited to people a bit more mature.) Oh, and if you’re gonna read this book, don’t read the “TV series tie in edition!” because lets face it, the classic version is the best.

Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B002P4Y2DK/ref=nosim/xangacom

Enjoy!

-Shay

Vampires get your fangs ready! I’ve got a story in the latest issue of Hungur Magazine, No. #9.  Fall 2009.  Edited by Terrie Leigh Relf, and published by Sam’s Dot.  If you think the Obama Administration or any administration is safe from a vampire threat, think again! It’s an issue you won’t want to miss.  Because this issue… The Vampires are running the show.

HUNGUR MAGAZINE

Late Fall 2009 – Issue #9

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

http://www.samsdotpublishing.com/HungurGL.htm

ORDER DIRECT FROM SAM’S DOT & THE GENRE MALL:

http://www.genremall.com/zinesr.htm#hungur

Bloodletting works by: Tyree Campbell, Lawrence Dagstine, Scot Coon, William Marden, Lawrence Barker, Dev Jarrett, John H. Stevens, Donald Jacob Uitvlugt, Jared W. Vickery, J. Jay Waller, Lawrence Buentello, Allan Wise, Marge Simon, Brian Rosenberger, G.O. Clark, Debby Feo, Terrie Leigh Relf, Tom Galusha, Justin Bohardt, and illustrations also by Marge Simon.

Other New Entries: “Magazines”

It’s that time of year again. Actually it’s that year. Well really it’s that decade. Okay, okay it’s that century. Bram Stoker published Dracula a little over a century ago and it changed the face of fantasy and horror for all time to come (so far). Now Stoker didn’t really create vampires per se. Blood sucking, soul stealing creatures have existed in various cultures for many centuries. Rusalkas (Russian), lamias (Greek), succubi and incubi, dhampirs (Balkan) and sirens are just an example of creatures that take something permanent from you, often through seduction. They might devour the person or parts of them. Even the Rom (Gypsies) had vampiric beliefs, which also could include inanimate objects.

So vampires are not new. Using blood to rejuvenate in some way also has been around for a long time, whether it was drinking it or bathing in it. The notorious serial killer Countess Elizabeth of Bathory killed so many young women that, like Vlad the Impaler, a myth began that she bathed in the blood of virgins to retain her youth. She was pretty much placed under house arrest for the rest of her days (nobility did have some privileges).

In the world of writing there have been many many vampire novels, and even more numerous short stories. Goethe and Lord Byron were just a few to tell tales and poems about vampiric lovers returning from the grave. The  19th century saw quite a fascination with vampire tales and Stoker’s book was just one of many.

Books of note in this century include John Matheson’s I Am Legend and John Shirley’s Dracula in Love. A man discovers he is Dracula’s son and it is a somewhat trippy, hallucinogenic tale that is at times extremely gruesome and not really romantic, given the title. I’ve read some vampire books, but not all and one included a nearly annihilistic version of vampire hunters. There are too many tales to list but the Barnabas Collins TV series was of early note in vampire fiction, as well as the movie The Hunger.  Anne Rice probably began the more modern trend of eroticizing vampire fiction with strong gothic undertones in Interview With a Vampire, The Vampire Lestat and subsequent novels.

There have been many spinoffs and tales, which have included a subgenre of occult detective books, where a vampire is the detective. The Dresden Files, by Harry Butcher, the Anita Blake series by Laurel K. Hamilton, Charlaine Harris’s books, and the Angel TV series are just a few in that aspect where often the vampire tries to retain his/her humanity, or the detective’s partner or lover is a vampire.

So when Twilight came along it was just another vampire movie and book. I haven’t read the book so I cant judge on the treatment of the vampire in that tale before Hollywood got hold of it. But from the movie these vampires have no problem with walking around in daylight though they avoid direct sun, because it seems that they sparkle. Perhaps for this young adult novel it is a metaphor for being an angel or a higher power and I wasn’t quite clear if all vampires sparkle or just the good ones who eschew drinking of humans. But the tale, a human falls in love with the noble vampire who won’t make her/him immortal, is nothing new. It’s just got the dreamy guys and a new batch of people to feed it to.

Everyone who writes a vampire tale may throw a twist into it. Some vampires are affected by crosses, or any religious icon that has true belief behind it, by garlic, by sunlight, by none of these. Their powers may only be longevity, or fast healing, speed, strength, flying, shapechanging. Vampires vary, yet overall the seductive aspect that lures humans is that the vampire is immortal but you must take a life or drink blood to attain this aspect.

The media, like the tweenies that Twilight is aimed at, is all over Twilight like Dracula on Mina. As if it hasn’t happened before, they say, what is with all this hype, or “we see a trend in Twilight and movies like it.” The vampire tale is a subgenre of horror or fantasy or speculative fiction, depending on how you want to categorize it.  The trend is not new, but like many fads, it fluctuates. A fad runs about a two-year lifespan so this too will die down, yet like a vampire, the tales of such immortals do seem to endure the test of time.

Notice the fangy V.

As a writer, I too have not been immune from writing a few vampire tales. “Hold Back the Night” was about a servant of Kali whose human lover is burned by a possessive husband. “Lover’s Triangle” is a tale about a Gypsy woman in a slightly different future who is lured by her vampire lover’s touch. And “An Ember Amongst the Fallen” is about a vampire’s fall into deparavity or discovering something about his own humanity. The latter is due out in Evolve in March 2010, through Hades Publications and the anthology looks at worlds where vampires are known of by humans.

Will I write more vampire fiction? Possibly. I have a couple of other unpublished stories. I didn’t set out to write any but it just happens and the juxtaposition of immortality at a terrible price is always an interesting premise for tales. I haven’t yet written a werewolf tale but have written a mermaid story, “The Fishwife.” Maybe at some point I’ll work my way through many mythic creatures.

http://www.edgewebsite.com/future.php

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon

I decided to sign up for Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon at the last minute. So far I’ve finished Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris, which I was about 150 pages into before the Readathon started. It’s around 300 pages so I’ve only read 150 so far, but since it kicked off at 11pm here in Australia I think that’s pretty good progress!

Dead as a Doornail, the fifth instalment in the Sookie Stackhouse series, was light, addictive reading – perfect for the Readathon. It’s pretty hard to say much about it without spoiling the first four books so if you haven’t read them yet skip the next two paragraphs. When a sniper sets his sights on Bon Temps’ shifter community Sookie’s friends are at risk; Jason, Sam and Calvin are all potential targets. And with the community suspecting a newly-turned, angry shifter is the culprit Jason becomes both target and suspect number one. Eric just can’t stand not remembering what happened when he was staying at Sookie’s house in book four and pesters Sookie about it every

Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris

chance he gets. She’s not comfortable with him knowing they had a relationship then and so she’s bent on deflecting him.

I love Sookie and Eric’s blossoming feelings for each other; it’s becoming the most interesting thing about the series. Bill was barely in this one, that’s a plus because he’s very dull and I just don’t see the appeal. Alcide no longer appeals either, I’ve liked him in the past but he’s pretty annoying in Dead as a Doornail. Harris painting Calvin as a love interest is just plain weird after book four saw Sookie describe the Hotshot community as a bunch of inbred hicks and Calvin make her that really creepy offer to become his woman in exchange for protection if she was ever in trouble. So I’m cheering for Eric alone now, don’t let me down Eric! The conclusion of the sniper threat seemed a bit half-baked to me, the culprit was a bit of a random. I think Harris could have set that storyline up a bit better.

Now I’m 30 pages into Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks. It’s good so far. I’m hoping to get it finished before I go out for lunch with a friend today, I was thinking about doing the Readathon on another day because of this plan but I have something on pretty much every day this week so I figured I should just do it now.

A Private Home, near Ballinpooka

5as00as 7as1as9as 00as33as 0as3as 9as33as08as3as, 5as00as 7as1as55as 0as3as3as08as 9as33as08as3as, 5as00as 03as1as55as 9as33as08as3as 44as01as5as2as11as09as05as. [33as0as6as…] Objectively, I had guessed that it could go either way but I realised that in fact I had expected to sleep heavily as soon as I returned home. It was just the combination of circumstances that I subconsciously associated with a surge of energy followed by a leaden, irresistible desire to sleep for hours, days. Hours of suppressed excitement, the sort of tension that is always associated for me with having to dissemble, then the tedium of waiting, the horror of realising that one has to live through each second, each multiple of seconds until the appointed hour, then the event itself, over in seconds. Soundlessly, which surprised me. I have never done this before so I did not realise I expected anything in particular. Maybe it was less expectation and more anxiety – what if she makes a noise? What if she runs away? What if there is some unforeseen possibility that, once the first movement is made, will suddenly loom from nowhere and take over, refuse to be managed? How would I cope with that feeling of terror at realising that I forgot the vital safety-belt and it is too late now, with the rollercoaster plummeting, to try and clip it shut? What if it is only partially successful, so it cannot be concealed and will instead have to be explained? But none of these things happened. I walked away over the hard, trackless ground, bided my time until everything was finally still, then made my way home, unseen, by the canal-bank. The rush of endorphins that got me through the act itself, and the bracing cold of the walk home would, I thought, dissipate the moment the door shut behind me, and I would be limp as a rag. But no. I stowed my acquisition in the cellar and was still wide awake, making notes and laying out what I needed. I slept very little that night, but all of today I was just as normal, just as I usually am, hardly even felt tired. I will go to the Gairm Beg – I do not want to, because these things are pointless and make me laugh, but my absence would be noticed. Reed Goldsmith and those ridiculous birds. He cultivates that sullen, silent look, I am sure. No one could naturally look so much of a stereotype of a Thanatos – it is like a detective claiming to be born with a deerstalker as a birthmark. These people are ridiculous, at least as ridiculous as the Outlanders whom they so despise. They are as superstitious, as misled, as incapable of analysis, as incapable of seeing nature as it really is, as any Outlander. But I am, for the next blessedly few months, one of them and as with any other hunter, my survival depends on being unobserved and fast. So I will just have time to finish what I need to do, and I will go to the Gairm.

Evening, Friday 13^th, Casey’s Lane, Cluancorr                    

Clover Sackville, in unconscious imitation of Cole upon Immo Harper’s doorstep, marched slowly in one spot to keep his feet warm while he waited for Gannet Maguire to make her way through the little crowd in attendance.  It was twenty minutes to the hour when Bay, twelve hours previously, had died and the Gairm Beg had to start promptly. There was a good turn-out, about two hundred people, all told. There would be more at the Gairm itself, and more again at the pyre. Being still rather a self-conscious man, even in his late sixties, Clover did not enjoy ceremonies of which he was master. But as a senior wizard, the Elder of the Cerulean Druids and one of only three Chaldean Scribes in Ballinpooka, he had little choice in the matter and he had to lead the Gairm. While he waited for people to arrive and the ceremony to start, he found it difficult to keep his mind on the seriousness of his role, on the unfathomable mysteries in which he took part, and that made him feel a bit of a fraud. He was too easily distracted by trivia. His ears were cold; his hair, which always had to be long, had to be tied back in a complicated fashion for a Gairm, instead of hanging protectively around the back of his neck. The plinth had already been set up, in a small clearing among the apple trees, near to where Bay’s body had been found, and balanced on top of it was a large basin. This was the first outing for this particular blessed basin, as its predecessor had been broken when the faithful were clearing up the Yew Plain after the Beltane Leap earlier in previous year. Clover thought the new purchase was ugly; charcoal-coloured reconstituted stone with a clumsy design of rather lumpen ivy twining up the column. He preferred the old one, which had been marble and what he thought was a pretty shade of pale tangerine with little threads of gold in it. This eyesore looked like solidified suds with a most unlikely Pan perched uncomfortably on the rim but it came from the catalogue that came free with the Bacchante Monthly, a favourite with Conger Lawless who, as a current Lord of the Forest, was responsible for purchasing all items dedicated for use in his section. Through the bare branches of the fruit trees and the contorted hands of the elms, Clover could make out a paling of the evening sky that made him itch to climb the rath for a better view. The far horizon was showing a rising disc of pale violet, still dotted with stars, that told Clover they would have a temporal eclipse in a week or ten days, when the warping of the universal dark matter around Muinbeo allowed the events of the Outland to be watched, magnified, as though on a vast cinema screen, for an hour or two. Clover, hitching his gown up on his shoulders as Gannet Maguire panted towards him, was grateful that this vestment was voluminous enough to cover several layers of clothes beneath, as the night air had an unforgiving touch of ice. Gannet, who was short and red-haired and stout, was not flattered by wearing the Gairm robe. The yards of crimson wool better suited Clover’s darker skin, and hung more elegantly over his neat frame. Even the bright white streak in his otherwise black hair looked imposing. Gannet flung her arms around Clover and sobbed. Clover wished that he had his wife’s skills; actually, he just wished Winter was there. Such ability as he did have to offer comfort had been learned entirely from Winter, in the years after their marriage had been arranged and transacted. Even his subsequent training in how to deal with expressions of grief and mourning had never acclimatized him to the depth of grief that could overwhelm participants and he felt singularly ineffectual as he patted Gannet on her shoulders and encouraged her to try to gain comfort from the ceremony. To his relief, he saw Reed Goldsmith approach with the two Thanatos birds, and Gannet, remembering that the ceremony had to begin exactly on time, began to pull herself together.

            That Reed was large and black-haired and of grave and saturnine aspect made it seem fitting, to some people, that he inherit the role of Thanatos, and he had the sort of presence, and gravitas, that was reassuring. He wore the long charcoal robe suitable to the Gairm and a few minutes before the appointed hour, he began to move forward through the crowd which parted easily at the baleful glare of the two great ravens perched on his arms. Clover stood back and Conger and his son Logos slowly pushed forward the wooden gurney on which Bay’s body lay. She had been decently covered by an embroidered cerecloth, but this Clover now folded carefully down, revealing her livid face, navy eyes still staring skywards. No one was permitted to close the eyes of a murdered corpse until the killer had been found, and this thought, as well as the sight of Bay’s dead face, focussed Clover’s mind firmly on the ceremony and the importance of it to the gathered people. The crowd was so silent that Reed’s feet sounded loud on the earth and grass as he strode forward. The ravens fluttered away from him, one flying to Bay’s head, the other landing near her knees. They had barely landed, before they both began to shriek in unison, and flew away from the body, spiralling many feet up into the black night before separating and returning to Reed, perching on his shoulders, one facing back and one facing forward. They cawed again, their bodies thrusting forwards with the effort. The crowd sighed and shifted, and several people, including Gannet, began to cry quietly. Clover pulled the cerecloth over Bay’s face, and Reed said,

            “It is unnatural death.”

Fly Maguire, tears glittering down his face, began to beat the muffled drum. Winter and the RWC began their chant and on the other side, Conger and the Druids began their matching melody. The ritual, as most traditional music in Muinbeo, was chanted and heavily percussive, and Fly’s drum was joined by a phalanx of others, the bodhran beaters in front and the heavier drums behind, the bass voices buzzing and rumbling from near the young alders and blackthorns that fringed the sacrificial clearing. The participants were both making an appeal to the divinities and chasing away the threats of the unknown and the unknowable. Reed backed away from the body and held his arms up so that the ravens flew up into the branches of an elm tree and he could take the bodhran that was handed to him. Gannet and Clover approached the body, and stood, one at the head and one at the foot, east and west, facing each other with arms stretched before them.

            “Demeter, she waits to be numbered with the dead. Cipactli, she stands between two doors. Ma’at, she pleads your word.”

Once the ceremony had begun Clover began to relax, his voice sounded less tight and strained. As he had hoped, Gannet seemed calmer from the moment the chant began, and as he finished his line, she opened her eyes, waiting for the moment to speak.

Muon, tauon, lepton, baryon, hyperon, hadron, meson, beta, sigma, omega chanted the witches.

Curium, beryllium, calcium, magnesium, carbon, mercury, sodium, gold, sang the Druids.

            “She leaves the tenement of clay,” Gannet said, “She seeks the cave of Aeolis, she seeks the shelter of Agni, she seeks the refuge of Tefnut.”

Bora, buran, chinook, foehn, haboob, mistral, sirocco, khamsin, williwaws, sukhovey chanted the witches.

Boötes, Lyra, Cassiopeia, Draco, Ursa Minor, Orion, Cygnus, Leo, sang the Druids.

            “Death is the end to woes,” Gannet and Clover said together, “And the end to joys. Reveal to her death’s beginning – of no omission, of cognition, of univocity.”

Clover and Gannet swung their arms down, and looked at each other. The ravens cawed in a bored manner, and Fly beat the last tattoo on the drum. When there was silence again, Conger and Logos, who were death watchers, came forward to take Bay’s body to the ossuary, and the Gairm crowd began to break up. Gannet went to find Fly, and Winter came to join Clover and gave him a hug. She was relieved to see that Reed’s two children, Velvet  Corbuse and her brother Night, were in attendence and were emerging from the crowd to link arms with their father.

            At the same time that Gannet and Clover began their incantation, Cole and Bateman were writing hasty notes in the office of Atom-Bell Masterson, beside the police station on Temple Road in Ballinpooka. Atom was sitting behind her desk looking up rather anxiously at Cole who had given his chair to the Quastor and as a result was giving the impression of filling the small office entirely. Atom Masterson had a more anxious and diffident air than Bateman expected of someone who cut up bodies for a living. She had short, fluffy brown hair, and widely-spaced small blue eyes. Her fair skin was sprinkled with freckles, and she had a ready, very pretty, smile. Bateman, sitting by the window, had answered the phone when Barley Johnson slipped away from the Gairm to report to Cole what had happened. As Swan fumbled the receiver back into the cradle, Pentacle Robinson, the Quastor, said briskly,

            “I never really feel the need to have my opinion by a brace of ravens.”

Cole smiled, wondering if Robinson would say the same so confidently if he had the eye of the raven upon him. Robinson was tall and elegant, with long hands and feet, and large dark brown eyes with lashes that Cole, when he was feeling irritable, thought were really unnecessarily long. Cole knew some of his junior colleagues made jokes about how Robinson and Cole were each other’s negative, Cole being as glowingly pale as vampire usually were while Robinson was as dark as people of North African descent usually were.

            “Well, anyway,” Masterson said, fiddling a little with where the end of her moustache used to be when she had been a he, “The point is that the cause of death is very clear. Bay McGuire was stabbed, possibly the attacker intended to stab her in the heart, but in fact the weapon pierced her lung. The weapon was sharp and pointed, increasing in size along its length, as the entry and exit wounds were clean, but the former was much larger than the latter.”

            “What kind of weapon?”

Masterson pinched her lip. She was always thrown by a direct question, despite having more letters after her name than Robinson had in his (including his middle name, Perlucidus), and hated being asked to state how things had been done until she had had ample time to rule out all the conceivable possibilities. Robinson, as Quastor for Ballinpooka, was Cole’s boss and liked quick, definite answers to things and though he tried, he could not quell the wish that Masterson would just spit it out. Most of her fellow officials found her impossibly hesitant until you got her into a courtroom, but you could rely more, Bateman said, on the pauses in Masterson’s sentences than you could on most people’s vows on their mother’s grave.

            “Difficult to say. Much longer than a stiletto or other conventional knives, as the puncture was right through the body, but the same kind of shape, thicker at the end than at the beginning. Seems to have been slightly serrated, as the pneumothorax – the puncture wound is ragged.”

            “A sword? One of those, what do you call them, people who do fencing use them?”

            “Fencing swords, perhaps?” Cole said, and Robinson gave him a dirty look and then laughed good-naturedly.

            “No,” said Masterson, “I don’t think so. Those blades are smooth, and narrower than this wound. It would be that kind of length.”

            “Perhaps the length will help us,” Bateman said hopefully, “Something long enough to go right through a body is not going to be slipped into a pocket. There was no sign of the murder weapon left behind so perhaps someone would have noticed it.”

            “Maybe,” said Cole, “But there would not have been many people around at that hour. Well, not sober ones, anyway. Is there anything else about the death?”

Masterson jumped a little and began her sentence hesitantly, looking at her hands, which were large and long-fingered and looked almost too elegant to be attached to her otherwise mundane body. Cole did not look at Robinson who was displaying impatience; he understood Masterson’s dislike of stating anything other than what she knew for certain to be true.

            “Well, with stabbing through the lung like that, the victim can live quite a long time, comparatively. What actually kills them is asphyxiation. Bay in my opinion lived for some time after the stabbing. Her organs – the heart, lungs particularly, show signs of extreme effort, and it may have been this stress that caused her rib to break and make a second puncture in her lung. Her hands and knees, and her elbows, all show signs that she dragged herself some distance – cuts, bruises, the gravel in the wounds probably a match with the surface she crawled upon, dirt and grass under the fingernails of the hand that had lost its glove.”

Cole stared at the desk and tried not to think of Bay crawling in the dark, knowing she was dying.  In some ways, Cole could barely conceive of death, he had no sense of natural demise. Vampires were not literally immortal but they had had their origin in an atto-world, where every second of their life lasted years, a decade of a human life and all vampires, even those living in the human world, were in every fibre of their being still part of that world. In the same way as all humans seemed to him to be immeasurably young, even those who were now too old to walk or to talk, their lives seemed short as a gadfly’s. They fluttered into existence and before they had time to draw a breath they were looking into the abyss with nothing to show for it but whatever few handfuls they had manage to grasp of the wisdom of the worlds. For such a brief and flickering light to be snuffed out precociously was, he felt, a tragedy, that should itself be mourned.

            “She is unlikely to have been able to make much noise,” Masterson said, “No calling or anything. She eventually suffocated.”

Cole heard Bateman blow out a little breath.

            “You know that the body was moved,” he said, and Masterson nodded.

“I guessed as much,” she said, “There was a poor match between the ground she was found on and the soil and debris we found on her body. Where was she actually killed? Somewhere out in the open?”

            “On Casey’s Lane – you know, through Cluancorr. What I wanted to know was, was she dead when she was moved? Would she have lived if she had been left alone?”

Masterson shook her head doubtfully.

            “Very unlikely. There are additional cuts on her face, shoulders, upper arms, and thighs, these all look consistent with her being carried through an area with flexible obstacles – there are marks but nothing deep or very damaging, consistent with narrow passage through trees and bushes. She has some deeper cuts on her face, shoulders and hands, probably made when she was being put down, the person carrying her probably lost their grip, and she slipped heavily. But that all seem at first look to have been post-mortem damage. The rigor was already setting in, the way her limbs were lying suggested someone ceased crawling, not someone who had fallen where you found the body.”

Cole nodded, looking grim.

            “At the moment I can’t tell you anything more about the weapon. Though there is one slightly odd thing. It is difficult to know what to deduce, since we know the body was moved.”

Cole nodded.

            “Well, she has bruising near the wound that is a little hard to explain,” Masterson said, crossing her thin legs the other way, “I can’t say at the moment whether the bruises were inflicted before or after death – before, I think. Whoever hit her did so hard enough to fracture two of her ribs  one of these was later broken, causing a second puncture of her lung. The bruises are very deep and very close to the wound. It looks a little as though her attacker hit her, and then immediately stabbed her in the same place.”

Robinson stared at each of the corners of the room in turn, trying to envision how that might have happened.

            “But you said that there were no signs of a struggle. No defence wounds, nothing like that?” Bateman said, “How on earth would someone hit her and then stab – especially with something long. He- well, or she I suppose – would have to hit her, then draw back far enough to get a long weapon into place. And Bay didn’t react? Didn’t even run?”

            “Hit hard enough, she might have been winded, doubled over,” Robinson pointed out, “What was she hit with? Fist?”
            “No. Well, strictly speaking I suppose it’s possible, all I can tell is that it was an irregular shape, but it is far too big to be a usual fist.”

            “Might it have knocked her down? And then she was stabbed?”

Masterson shook her head doubtfully and stood up, taking Bateman’s arm.

            “If I punch you here,” she faked a scary punch to Bateman’s left breast that made the detective shoot her hands out to catch the pathologist’s fist, “One of two things would happen. Either double over – double over will you? – in which case even if you fall to the ground – thanks – I stab you in the back. Same thing happens with the other scenario where I punch you, and it swings you around, I’m still looking at your back.”        

Bateman stood out of harm’s way, and said,

            “So it would only work if she had been knocked to the ground on her back, in which case she would be unlikely to just lie there and be stabbed. She would have rolled away, there would be defence wounds, something. You didn’t mention a head trauma so I am assuming she was conscious.”

Bateman drew a breath, hesitated and said,

            “There’s something else, chief. Johnson just told me – SOCO reported it an hour or so ago and there’s already rumours starting. SOCO found evidence of paw prints near the body. The ground was hard, so there’s not much, but the grass was crushed and the dogs reacted to a scent.”

            “So what are they thinking? Erubian hound? Werewolf?”

Bateman hesitated again, and then said,

            “Clagguth.”

Cole sank in his seat and rolled his eyes.

            “Oh, Atropos,” he sighed, “That’s all we need.”

He turned to Masterson.

            “Masterson, is there any way an animal might have done this?”

Books Read in September '09

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
Not a lot happens in this book so I don’t have a lot to say about it. I enjoyed it though, it’s very French, contains a lot of accessible philosophy and is mainly about friendship and the power of literature, film, music and art to bring people happiness.

Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
Review: here.

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris
Club Dead by Charlaine Harris
The first three books in the Sookie Stackhouse series. I’m hooked now and eagerly awaiting the arrival of the next few I ordered from Book Depository, but I still think the TV show True Blood is better. Each book represents one series of the show, but the show has taken a lot of liberties with the series by creating lots of new sub-plots. Hmmm I don’t have much else to say about the books I’m afraid, except that they’re very light reading, but so full of sex, violence and drama that they’re not dull. Perfect for me at the moment since my uni workload has gotten so heavy.

Anna Karnivora by W. Bill Czolgosz is now available at the following on-line retailers:

Paperback:

Amazon.com
Amazon.ca
Amazon.co.uk
Barnes and Noble
Other On-line Retailers

eBook:

The story:

Bill is treading the delicate path between sobriety and drunkenness, between responsibility and recklessness, and, for once in his life, the future is looking bright. If he can keep his job and get his bills paid, he just might be able to afford a new truck.

This is life in a small town. Drug-use is rampant, businesses are closing their doors, and every day feels a little emptier than the one that preceded it.

When the lusty, enigmatic Nadezhta Zahorchak enters Bill’s little life, everything goes right down the toilet. Bill begins having nightmares about Planet Mars. His friends begin to die. His favorite watering hole becomes a blood-soaked crime scene. And leggy, lipsticked vampires creep into the daylight to tear his world apart.

Will Bill pump gas for the rest of his life, or will he become a respected novelist?

Will he keep Nadezhta, or will he lose her to the darkness?

Will he make it to August with his throat (and his mind) intact?

Anna Karnivora is a tragedy-laced, bloody dramedy that will have you laughing all the way to the gallows.

Also by W. Bill Czolgosz: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Zombie Jim and Zombifrieze

The last Coscom Entertainment release: Revolt of the Dead

For our full list of books, please see: www.coscomentertainment.com

Hold Still by Nina LaCour (available October 20)*
After her best friend’s suicide, Caitlin is devastated.  She struggles with school, where her photography teacher – whom she thought would be her greatest supporter – is ignoring her.  Then she finds Ingrid’s diary, filled with heartbreak and desire, and Caitlin is both pleased and terrified to be entrusted with her last thoughts.  As she works to rebuild her life and find new friends, you will be moved irrevocably by Caitlin’s vulnerability and her strength.  Unlike so many “issues books” we’ve seen in recent years, Hold Still transcends the genre to make something beautiful out of the grim.

Liar by Justine Larbalestier (available now!)
Micah is a freak and a compulsive liar – that much you can trust. When her boyfriend dies under suspicious circumstances, she starts to lose it. Suddenly there is more focus on her at school than ever – Nobody knew Micah was dating popular basketball player, Zach.  His real girlfriend, Sarah, has a lot of questions, and so do the police.  Home life isn’t any better, which isn’t a surprise, since that’s where Micah learned the trade of lying so well.  Not to mention she is cursed by a “family gene” that she can’t control. But what is it about this gene that makes Micah so different? Or is it just something else she made up? This book is 100% riveting, and it’s a thrill you won’t soon forget.

Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr

Legacy by Thomas E. Sniegoski (available October 13)*
Imagine finding out that the man that you thought was a dead-beat dad – a man who has never been a part of your life and whose identity you don’t even know – is a billionaire.  And – wait for it- the legendary superhero The Raptor.  When Lucas is pulled from his small-town life to become The Raptor’s protégé, he has no idea what he’s getting into – especially when he starts to suspect that The Raptor is not the man – or hero – he used to be.  This fast-paced, action-packed novel is perfect for fans of classic superhero comics and older readers who enjoyed Sniegoski’s Owlboy series.

Girl in the Arena by Lise Haines (available October 13)*
After his son died in Vietnam, one man started a back yard glatiator league to honor his memory.  With safety gear and rubber-tipped swords, he never imagined that 30 years later glatiators – who now fight to the death in nationally televised events – would be celebrated celebrities, followed by the paparazzi.  Lynie G. is the daughter of seven gladiators – her mother Allison likes her to say this, though, really, Tommy G., her current (step)father is the only one who has been a family man.  In fact, Allison would love if Lyn would attend the local college for gladiator’s wives – but Lyn is uninterested in “glad” culture altogether.  That is, until the day Tommy’s opponent Uber gets ahold of Lynie’s dowry bracelet, forcing her, by the gladiator bylaws, to marry him.  But Lyn has other plans.  She wants to fight for her honor.  This gripping novel that follows an alternate U.S. history and highlights some of the more gruesome aspects of culture – both ancient and modern – is both beautiful and terrifying.  With all the Greco-Roman influenced middle grades on the market, Girl in the Arena is a refreshing new take on the topic for teens.

Pretty Dead by  Francesca Lia Block (available now!)
First and foremost, this is NOT another vampire novel.  This is a love story, through a century of fashion, music, architecture, friendships and losses.  This is a story of grieving, after the suicide of a young girl – the story of the vampire girl and the human boy who have survived her.  This is a story of fear – fear of the unknown, of death, and of the people we cannot ever leave.  Francesca Lia Block is as elegant and beautiful as ever in writing her take on the current vampire trend.  And, you know what?  It is ethereal and disorienting and nothing like anything else in the genre.  Pick it up.  Read it.  Fall in love.

*release dates are subject to change and BookPeople may not always receive the book on the day of release, depending on shipments.  You can always call to check whether or not the book you want is in, or stop by BookKids in person and ask!

Everyone is always telling readers and authors to support their local bookshops. ‘They’re run by people who are truly passionate about the written word!’, they cry. ‘The large chains are evil, corporate monsters who only care about screwing profit from writers and publishers’. Well, I’ve tried to support my independents, I really have, but apart from a few notable exceptions, I seem to be hitting a brick wall.

Eager to get my book into more brick and mortar shops, I pitched up at a local independent this week, my bag full of pristine copies of Dunraven Road. Now, I don’t expect every bookshop to kneel before me and beg to stock my novel. Besides the fact that would be both disturbing and inappropriate, I am fully aware that I’m an unknown, first time author trying to distinguish myself in a world crammed to the rafters with unknown authors. Give me a cheery thanks, but no thanks, and I’ll be on my way. Simple. But what happened at this particular shop has left me reeling.

After asking what my book was about, the owner took the copy I offered her (practically between forefinger and thumb), before announcing, “It contains the words ‘bitch’ and ‘fucking’”. (After flipping through some more pages) “We don’t stock this sort of thing”.

At this point, I would have been happy to leave. Ignoring the belittling fact that she called my work “this sort of thing”, I can appreciate that Dunraven Road isn’t for everyone. There’s gore. There’s sex. Swear words are sprinkled about with wild abandon. My uncle told me he needed a stroll in his garden after reading some particularly distressing passages (which I took as solid proof that I’d accomplished what I’d set out to do!) I was therefore not offended by the shop owner’s rejection. That was, until she continued…

“What genre is it?”

“Well, it’s categorised as dark fantasy.”

“Hmmm (still peering at my book and riffling through the pages), we don’t stock dark fantasy. I would only stock what I’m comfortable with and I can’t even watch horror films. My customers like the fact that any book in here can be read by anyone of any age.”

“So you don’t stock vampire fiction?” I asked, rather incredulously.

“Oh no, no, nothing like that,” she retorted with the sort of superior smile I assume she reserves for customers asking to order The Big Book of Breasts or Blowjobs For Dummies (okay, I made those up )

She then launched into a lengthy spiel about the sort of book they do stock – mysteries (“They have to be well written. Style is important to me because I was an English teacher for thirty years”) and children’s books that can also be enjoyed by adults (i.e. Sir Harry of sodding Potter). While she was talking, I was still finding it hard to reign in my shock over her disregard for vampire fiction. She obviously didn’t know about the current Twilight madness gripping the entire planet, or the fact that two major US TV shows have debuted this year, both based on bestselling vampire fiction (L.J. Smith’s The Vampire Diaries and Charlaine Harris’s The Southern Vampire Mysteries). But she knew about Harry Potter. Sheesh, nothing gets past her! I wonder what she would make of these novels seeing as the Twilight series and The Vampire Diaries are both written for young adults. There may be no ‘fucking’ or ‘bitch’ involved, but the frankly disturbing birth of Bella’s child in Breaking Dawn would probably give her nightmares for weeks – yet these books were written by a mormon and are hailed as a shining literary example of how to hang onto your virtue. Would the shop owner have told Stephanie Meyer they “don’t stock this sort of thing”?!

Just as I was about to ask for my book back, turn on my heel and run like the wind, the shop owner noticed the £11.99 retail price. Cue another lengthy spiel about how people don’t like paying that sort of money for a book. All this while looking as if I’d just hopped up on her counter and dumped a load next to the till. That sort of multi-tasking is a genuine talent.

Seeing as she was shocked to hear that I’d found the address of her shop on the internet, I should have told her: If you’re worried about staying competitive against the major bookshop chains, I’d be less concerned about price and more concerned about not having a web presence (let alone an online ordering system), or not keeping up to date with current trends in fiction. If you don’t stock “this sort of thing”, I suppose that also vetoes Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Clive Barker, Anne Rice… I could go on and on… All extremely successful, bestselling authors. How is this shop making money?!

Just as I was losing the will to live – the shop owner pulled one more gem out of her sleeve: “Would you consider writing something more suitable for the shop?”

What?!

Yes, certainly. I’ll go home right now and whip up 100, 000 words of nice, fluffy mystery story starring annoying middleclass children with ridiculous names, convince someone to publish it, wait for it to be printed; and run it up to your shop just as fast as I can.

Idiot.

It’s Trailer Tuesday again…not crazy about this one, what do you think?

The Van Alen Legacy, the fourth book in the New York Times best-selling series Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz
Not so crazy about this particular trailer. I find it very busy, the overall idea is really cool but it was a LOT to look at a little too quickly!

Prominent in literature since the eighteenth century, it appears the vampire is more popular now than ever. Following the phenomenal success of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga, you would be hard placed not to find vampire-related wares, whether it be merchandise, fashion, books or films.

My interest in this genre began with the 1987 film, The Lost Boys. While the main reason for originally watching this film may have more to do with the fact that Corey Haim starred in one of the lead roles, it certainly sparked my interest in vampires and the horror/supernatural genre in general. It was after watching this film that I began to read the novels of Stephen King, and the young adult series, Point Fiction.

But the real beginnings were entirely more sinister. The literary vampire first appeared in German poetry during the eighteenth century. One of the earliest works was Heinrich August Ossenfelder’s German poem The Vampire (1748) which is a story of unrequited love; a man threatens to pay a nightly visit to a maiden and drink her blood after she rejects his love. It was another fifty years before the Vampire appeared in English literature in Robert Southey’s poem, Thalaba the Destroyer (1797).

The nineteenth century saw the introduction of the modern vampire. Inspired by the life of mad, bad and dangerous Lord Byron, The Vampyre, written by Polidori in 1819, was influential in night stalkers becoming a standard character in fiction. Fuelled by the antics and excesses of Healthcliff’s behavior in Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, the housekeeper suspects he is a vampire in the final chapter.

“‘Is he a ghoul or a vampire?’ I mused. I had read of such hideous incarnate demons.”

The most well known, and perhaps the novel that cemented vampires in fiction and inspired most of today’s works, was the iconic Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897). The romance (all-be-it it undeveloped) in Dracula has formed the basis of the popular vampire we know today. Developing over the twentieth century the vampire morphed into new sub-genres including crime, fantasy, science-fiction and the ever popular paranormal romance genre.

Back to my vampire introduction, The Lost Boys was part of a filmmaking trend during the 80s to try and make vampire stories more appealing to youth audiences of that time. I enjoyed it because it was funny, I got the pants scared off me by Kiefer Sutherland, and the scene where they were eating Chinese food grossed me out. Looking back now it all seems rather 80’s and naff (especially the fashion), but it is still a guilty pleasure to watch. Oh, and I loved the music too.

In 1997 Joss Whedon gave us the TV series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003). The series still has an immense cult following to this day. Set primarily at Sunnydale High school (using the metaphor that high school is hell) Buffy was not only funny; it was witty, extremely clever and most importantly not afraid to have a laugh at itself. Buffy had such an impact on popular culture that it not only attracted scholarly attention but also created its own vernacular or “buffyspeak”. I loved the fact that Buffy was a blonde and “saved the world… a lot” which laughs in the face of all those blonde jokes I faced growing up.

My favorite episode was Hush in which “the gentlemen” steal the town’s voices rendering them unable to speak. During the episode no dialogue is spoken whatsoever for a full twenty-five minutes. In the episode, The Body, in which Buffy’s mother dies, there is no musical score. The theme song, a wind chime and a quiet festive melody during a flashback are the only sources of music in the entire episode. This proved that Whedon’s skill transcends the written or spoken word. We love Buffy.

In 2005 Stephenie Meyer released Twilight. I initially resisted reading the book because I thought it would be the same old paranormal romance novel that litters our shelves. After a friend insisted for the tenth time that I read it and promised not to pester me again if I did, I gave in… and I loved it. My friend then gave me a copy of New Moon for Christmas that year and I read the 563 pages in three days. I went out the next day and bought Eclipse and read that in two days. I then ordered the yet to be published Breaking Dawn and counted down the days to its release. On 2 August 2008, I rushed home from work to buy the book and I devoured it, in true vampire style.

The popularity of the vampire may well be at its highest at the moment. Stephenie Meyer’s young adult fantasy saga Twilight (2005) began with a cult following but soon turned into a phenomenon following the release of the film adaptation of the first novel, making the vampire highly appealing to a teenage audience. The film adaptation of the second book of the saga, New Moon is due to be released this November and you may not see me at work that day!

Chris works in the Library head office and has been vamping it up since she was ten.

Not to be confused with the upcoming Fall 2009 issue, which should be out around Halloween to early November.   That’s Issue #5.2.  I’ve learned I’ll be making my 4th appearance next year in Issue #6.2 — Autumn 2010.  A long way off, but stay tuned to this spot.  Tales of the Talisman.  Edited by David Lee Summers, the magazine has been around for a number of years, features ten to twelve authors per issue, and is published quarterly.  Annual subscriptions also available.

www.talesofthetalisman.com

Previous Issues which may still be available.

Featuring stories by Lawrence R. Dagstine 

Tales of the Talisman, Issue #3.1 (2007)

Tales of the Talisman, Issue #4.1 (2008)

And click the link below to see what’s due in 2009:

http://lawrencedagstine.com/2009/08/10/tales-of-the-talisman-late-fall-2009-coming-soon/

Other New Entries: “Magazines”

Alucarda (1978)

The origin of Alucarda

Juan Lopez Moctezuma’s horror film Alucarda is mentioned with only moderate frequency as a horror classic, and even then only in the most dedicated circles of horror cinephiles. There are some films that explore the subject of demonic possession far more convincingly (i.e. the Exorcist) so only those horror fans who can appreciate how a film’s style is engineered to unnerve its audience will find Alucarda enjoyable. Some less enthusiastic audiences will find Alucarda both gratuitous and even annoying. It’s style and atmosphere is unique and clearly the focus of the film. It is like Dario Argento’s Suspiria meets Alejandro Jodorowsky El Topo or the Holy Mountain. Jodorowsky was involved in the production of Alucarda so that influence is no surprise.

Several shots that lead toward the esbat scene.

Tina Romero as Alucarda

The film follows a young girl named Justine as she arrives at a convent after the death of her parents. She befriends the mysterious Alucarda who may very well be the spawn of the devil. Basically, what soon follows is a series of horrific events that resemble demonic possession, vampirism, devil worship, and witchcraft.

Susana Kamini as Justine

Alucarda is a very low-budget and modest production. Nevertheless, it is creepy throughout. The sound effects in this film are consistently eerie and sometimes create the horror all by itself. The soundtrack is done with a cheap and unique sounding synthesizer which serves to be both creepy and helps distinguish the style of the film even further. Visually the film is even more bizarre and exceptional. The convent itself looks like a cavern more than an actual building and it is budding with religious imagery that is framed in such a way that we wonder if this is a convent or a witch coven. The nuns in the convent do resemble nuns, but also do not look particularly dissimilar to undead Egyptian mummies either. The girls bump into a random traveling gypsy and also a creepy deformed shepherd who unravels the underlying lesbianism between the two girls and then of course leads them into a naked séance or esbat. There are also some vile moments when the undead emerge screaming, one gets brutally beheaded and another, a girl soaked in blood, violently claws a nun’s throat. The film also has some outstanding sequences with fire. You actually have to wonder how some people survived stunts on this set when it was completely consumed in flames.

One of many gory scenes in the film

Kamini creepy, naked, and bloody

However, don’t let most hardcore horror fans fool you; Alucarda is not a shocking exploitation film. At least it isn’t quite as shocking as some people might lead you to believe. There is a lot full frontal female nudity but it’s not nearly as much as I expected and it’s never too graphic or directly sexual. One scene combines the nudity with violence and that can be shocking. The nude girl rises from a coffin filled with blood and she is covered from head to toe in it. The film is very violent as well but again it’s not anything that pushes the limits and the violence doesn’t come at you with as much consistency as you might imagine. Alucarda can also get somewhat annoying at times with all of the screaming from the girls. My wife hated the film for that. I’ve heard it regarded as the film with the most nudity, violence, and screaming ever, or something like that. As a combination of those three things it may very well exceed all other films but overall it does not push enough boundaries to be counted as a significant exploitation film. It is still a great pure horror movie that stands on its own.

My rating is 4 out of 5 stars.

Cover of version with hardcore inserts

Female Vampire (1973)

Fair warning, this review is definitely not safe for work.  Jess Franco is a filmmaker of great notoriety.  His films are all exploitative and include subjects such as women in prison (99 Women and Sadomania) and lesbian vampires (Vampyros Lesbos, She Killed in Ecstasy, and this movie).  His films are, at least in my humble opinion,  garbage.  This particular film has many different titles but is primarily known as Female Vampire, at least in as far as what I’ve heard about it.  It also goes by The Bare-Breasted Countess, The Dark Countess, Erotikill, and The Swallowers, among others.  Many versions of the film exist and the differences primarily revolve around the extent of the adult content, with violence ranging from tame to brutal (and really stupid looking) and nudity ranging from moderate to hardcore.  The version I’ve seen called Female Vampire lacks the violence but includes extensive nudity that falls just short of hardcore.

Shot from an extended softcore masturbation sequence with a pillow

The movie is really just a camera fixated on Lina Romay’s naked body.  Lina eventually became Franco’s wife so in some ways it might be interesting in that respect.  Obviously, he’s attracted to her and who wouldn’t be attracted to a mute fair-skinned naked vampire chick with jet-black hair bathing in blood, right?  She was a good looking woman actually, but from what I understand she still does work like this and she’s got to be in her late 50s or even her 60s, so not to sound judgmental but I can’t imagine time has been that good to her.

Irina Von Karstein (Lina Romay)

The film follows Irina Van Karstein (Romay), a mostly naked vampire who needs to feed on her various sexual partners’ genitals for sustenance.  There’s the plot.  Sorry my summary paragraph was so darn short.

One of many shameless and gratuitous shots exposing between Romay's legs

Let’s face it, there are endless audiences for horror films of all kinds and skin always gets the attention of audiences as well, so combining the two makes sense in order to get your project attention.  However, this does not mean I would defend this film in any possible way imagineable.  This film’s sole intentions do not lie in its telling of a story, or even in attempting to create some unique images, it lies simply within its most lazy and shameless catering to the lowest form of filmgoer, that is the ones searching for naked girls in a horror movie.

Von Karstein bathing in blood

Female Vampire is not a porn, nor is it really a horror movie.  Nothing about it feels in any way cohesive at all.  It’s a purposeless waste of time, an exercise in Jess Franco’s twisted view on the world of filmmaking.  I do not understand his films, not because they are too smart for me but because they in no way wish to be understood as more than just trash.  In more ways than not, that is just not alright with me.  However, I find Franco’s existence to be fascinating at the very least, much like I do Ed Wood, Jean Rollin, and more recently Uwe Boll.  Why do some people make movies?  What fuels them?  Could it really at times just be their most primal drives?  The answers do not really matter, nor do the very things that would compel me to ask the questions.

My rating is 1 out of 5 stars.

Heather Brewer and I

OMG, OMG, OMG! This past week our library hosted an author event with Heather Brewer, author of the Chronicles of Vladimir Tod, and it was an absolute fabulous experience. Click on the picture to the left to see all of the event pictures!

At least 200 people got to meet and hang with her. She was so unbelievably nice and down to earth. You can see the passion she has about her work. She really truly understands what bullying does to kids and when she talks about not being one of the popular kids she has this rawness about her that lets you know that it isn’t a show. She took her time with so many of our kids and teens, making a point to make their meeting her a unique and personal experience. I HIGHLY recommend her to any library looking to host an author program for teens and tweens. Her “Minions” mean the world to her. That being said, I had the opportunity to ask her some questions both in her presentation and when I went out to dinner with her (verrr verrr cool.)

Stacie Davis: Our Youth Services Librarian has a theory about the book covers. She feels that each cover is meant to show a little more detail of Vlad than the one before…should we expect the final cover to give him even more detail than the cover of book four coming out in February.

Heather Brewer: Very observant! Yes, each cover reveals more and more of Vlad just as the books reveal more of his story. As you get a clearer picture of who Vlad’s character is, you also get a clearer picture of what he looks like.

Stacie Davis: Who did the artwork for the book covers?

Heather Brewer: Christian Fuenfhause did the covers, he came up with the smiley face after looking at how I sign my autograph. The reason the first two look a little different is that first two are drawn but the rest are based on photographs of a model named Lawrence Prince.

Stacie Davis: Many musicians distinctly remember the first time they were recognized in public or the first time they heard their song playing on the radio. Do you have a moment like that?

Heather Brewer: I do remember! I was in a bookstore and a man kept staring at me. I thought maybe it was the purple hair but he finally came over and said “I had to come over and ask, are you that author who writes the vampire books with the cool covers?” That was the moment I was like “I have arrived!”

Stacie Davis: On your Amazon author profile you look much different. There is no pink and black hair and no goth look. Did these books give you an opportunity to let that side of you out, or is it something that changed once you started writing the books?

Heather Brewer: This was actually me before I ever started writing. When I began my career as an author I was really worried about being judged on my appearance, and thought I should look a certain way, so I let my natural hair color grow out, I tried to look more conservative. Luckily I realized that my fans didn’t care what I looked like so I went back to what I like.

Stacie Davis: Who are your favorite and least favorite non-main characters?

Heather Brewer: One character I don’t like is Eddie Poe, but I really like Sprat!

Stacie Davis: What is the color of the smiley on book 5?

Heather Brewer: The color of the smiley on book 5 will be ????? (sorry guys, can’t tell you this until it’s official on her blog but TOTALLY told us!)

Stacie Davis: What book are you reading right now?

Heather Brewer: Crazy Beautiful by Lauren Baratz-Logsted which is just amazing!

What questions would YOU have asked Heather? (Stuff not already asked on her website or FAQ’s)

Let the Right One In (2008)

Eli

Let the Right One In, or Låt den rätte komma in, is a film directed by Tomas Alfredson (Four Shades of Brown). The story is based on a novel of the same name by John Ajvide Lindqvist, who also penned the screenplay. It is about an unpleasant and tender, but relatable twelve year old boy named Oskar. It deals with his many problems; from his careless and divorced parents who neglect him, to his classmates who mentally and physically abuse him. Oskar has angry tendencies but you can hardly blame the poor guy. As the film unfolds Oskar finds some light in the dark cold nights of Stockholm. He forges a profound bond with a lonely and disheveled girl around the same age as he is. Her name is Eli and she is a vampire.

Oskar

This is not your normal horror movie fare, nor is it in any way reminiscent of mainstream vampire fiction that I can think of. It is after all, first and foremost, a romance story and because of that the moments of horror were only in the back of my mind, and they work far more convincingly than I expected. Continuity is also rare in horror films and the consistency of the characters and the performances of the actors who played them only worked to enhance the film overall.

An aspect of Let the Right One In that seemed exceptional to me can only be explained by mentioning a scene. As retributive as it may sound, some of Oskar’s bullies get their due in brutal yet satisfying fashion. The scene is incredibly violent and is done underwater, but within the context of Oskar and Eli as characters, and at that point in their relationship, the scene works to be equally as beautiful as it is horrifying. In the end I pity Oskar, but at the same time I’m not sure he has known any relationship better than one with Eli, and he probably never will. There is a bittersweet feeling throughout. I can’t think of any film that brings a sense of romance to such extreme horror but this one pulls it off quite nicely and with little direct effort.

Climactic scene from the movie

There has been talk about an Americanized remake of this movie but it will actually be another interpretation of the novel so I expect something dramatically different. Let the Right One In left an impression on me that no horror film has since perhaps The Exorcist and it is probably, along with Hertzog’s Nosferatu: Phantom Der Nacht, the most compelling portrayal of the vampire myth that I’ve ever seen in film. This is an amazing movie and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

My rating is 5 out of 5 stars.

Title: The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod: Tenth Grade Bleeds

Author: Heather Brewer

Grade Level: 5th Grade and Up

Accelerated Reader Points: N/A

Series Order:

1. Eighth Grade Bites
2. Ninth Grade Slays
3. Tenth Grade Bleeds
4. Eleventh Grade Burns – Releases Feb 9, 2010
5. Twelfth Grade Kills

Click on Cover for Details

Librarian’s Review:

It’s been a while since I read the first two books in the series so it took me a little while to really get into this one but once I did…it flew by! Vlad is starting Tenth Grade and his life is changing: he is having urges to feed on humans, he feels like he is losing his best friend, his Uncle is leaving him alone when he needs him most, he’s having horrible nightmares, and there is someone after him AGAIN!

Although the writing can be too simple at times, Vlad’s story is maturing, becoming darker, and becoming more complex. Sometimes there is is maturity about him and sometimes he seems like a kid. Maybe this is the point, maybe in tenth grade you are confused and sometimes you act like an adult and sometimes you pout like a kid. The last quarter of the book is really intense and there is so much too tell but then I would give away too much….so I won’t!

I will say how I love how Vlad is starting to branch out in his friendships…he makes friends with the Goth kids who think that Vlad is Goth. They say, “You are so Goth you don’t even KNOW you’re GOTH!” It’s pretty funny. I can’t wait to see what happens next and how his friendship with Henry evolves.

To be fair this may only be true of teen fiction, but it seems like vampires these days are impervious to well…everything.  Would the Corey’s have stood a chance against Keifer Sutherland’s band of lost boys if they had been Cullens?  What the hell happened to vampires who exploded on a sunny day like a decent creature of the night should!?  -I’m- more allergic to garlic than these young, modern vampires are!  Argh!

I’ll confess, I really liked the whole “sparkle in the sun” thing in Twilight and I could buy that as a sort of evolutionary advantage left over from the primordial times.  (like how fish are attracted to shiny lures) But now, more and more it’s seeming like -the standard- that vampires are unfazed by their traditional weaknesses.  The only weaknesses these new vampires seem to have are those of the heart and psyche.  To apply the old Superman argument, what fun is it when your hero is impervious to bullets? These new vampires seem to be blest with all the perks (immortality, lightning reflexes, beauty, grace, magic yadda yadda) but little of the baggage.  Just think of how much more interesting it would be to see the human protagonists deal with the full weight and consequence of becoming a classic vampire.  Bloodlust and heightened sensuality is only the tip of the iceberg.  Really think about what it would be like to -never- see the sunlight again.  What would that do to you?  What if you were a christian and could no longer pray on a rosary or on holy ground while these changes were happening to you?  There is a lot more serious and psychological ground that -could- be covered in vampire fiction that isn’t  (particularly in YA fiction).

/End of Line

~ L.