Video: The Vampire Princess

Just a quick note to let you all know that the Smithsonian's YouTube channel features a fascinating documentary about a noblewoman who was accused of vampirism. The program runs 53 minutes, and is well worth watching for those of you who are interested in the history of the undead.

The official description for the program reads: "While Dracula is the name most people associate with vampires, a graveyard in the Czech Republic has revealed that it may have been a princess, not a count, who was the inspiration for that dark tale."

The documentary can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqTOTIrfMrM .

Review: Dhampir by Barb and J.C. Hendee

Dhampir is the first book in the Hendee's Noble Dead series, and it rocks the hizouse. It reminds me of a pile-up between Ravenloft, John Steakley's Vampire$, and the Peter Jackson film The Frighteners. If you don't like more "traditional" fantasy settings, don't let that stop you from reading it. I don't read much traditional fantasy myself, but that did not get in the way of my enjoyment of this novel. The focus is still very much on the characters; you are not going to have to memorize maps or a glossary before reading this one.

The protagonists of Dhampir are Magiere and Leesil, two nomadic hustlers who travel the countryside bilking villagers of their money. Magiere pretends to be a vampire hunter, and for a fee, she will "rid" a community of its vampire - played by Leesil. But Magiere is tired of the con, and wants to settle down as a simple innkeeper. The problem is, her reputation as a "vampire hunter" follows her around, and unbeknownst to her or Leesil, the town they settle in has a small coven of very real vampires. Naturally, they assume that this "innkeeper" thing is a disguise, and that Magiere has come to town to kill them. It turns out that Magiere is really a dhampir - half human, half vampire - and she has an innate talent for killing the undead. But is killing vampires her destiny... or is she being manipulated? What happens next can best be described as "mayhem."

All of the characters in Dhampir are well-drawn. The Hendees do not soft-pedal what Magiere and Leesil are doing to the poor villagers at the beginning of the book. The characters have backstories that explain why they have the outlook that they do, but the book in no way excuses their behavior. When Magiere and Leesil decide to take a stand and do the right thing, the story becomes as much about redemption as it is about killing things. And while the vampires are the villains of the piece, the Hendees make them sympathetic and believable. Rashed, the vampire leader, may be a ruthless killer but he genuinely cares about his charges. Another vampire, Teesha, is given a tragic backstory.

Dhampir kicks off the Noble Dead series with a bang. I look forward to reading subsequent volumes.

Review + Contest: Vampire Taxonomy by Meredith Woerner

Ever since the publication of Max Brooks' The Zombie Survival Guide, the humor section has been invaded by a number of books speculating on how to best deal with supernatural beings. It shouldn't surprise anyone that vampires would get in on the humorous handbook action, and Vampire Taxonomy is the latest book that seeks to entertain readers.

Vampire Taxonomy was written by Meredith Woerner, one of the writers at io9.com - one of the best SF/Fantasy newsblogs I have run across, fwiw. While this book is mainly meant as a bit of a lark, Woerner's knowledge of the subject shines through. It is also fairly up-to-date, and Woerner acknowledges that there is more to current vampire pop culture than Buffy, True Blood, and Twilight.

Most of the book is made up of a mock field guide, with the undead broken into various categories that will be familiar to anyone who keeps up with vampire pop culture. By doing this, Woerner zeroes in on the genre's cliches, and makes some pretty funny observations about them. But rather than come off as belittling to vampire fans, Woerner seems to like a good deal of this stuff herself. The result is a book that pokes fun at the subject without contemptuously sneering at the fans.

Longtime vampire fans probably won't learn anything new here, but Vampire Taxonomy is a quick, lighthearted read. With its many examples from literature, film, and television, the book is also a pretty neat little primer for people just getting into the subject.

Vampire Taxonomy is now on sale, but you have a chance to win a copy through this blog. Perigree/Penguin USA has donated two copies of Vampire Taxonomy to be given away. It's a fun addition to your vampire library, or a great gift for a neophyte vampire fan who has come in on the latest wave. To take a suggestion from Patricia Altner (who is also giving away copies), leave a comment below. Please specify your e-mail address so I can contact you should you win. Also, this contest is open to US residents only. The contest will end on November 16, 2009, with winners announced November 17.

The Dead Grey Eye: My 20th Year Anniversary as a Vampire Fan

How time flies... November 2009 marks what I consider my 20th year anniversary as a vampire fan.

I have always been interested in monsters, including vampires, but it was November 1989 when I began to specialize in the undead. I remember 1989 as the year when I noticed vampire pop culture broadening beyond the horror genre. The reason why? That month's issue of Psychology Today, which ran a cover story on the subject. The piece was titled "A Hunger For The Marvelous," and it was written by Katherine Ramsland. Ramsland focuses mainly on criminology and forensics these days, but she is also well-known for her writings on vampires and the works of Anne Rice.

"A Hunger For The Marvelous" really opened my eyes to what was going on with vampires at the time. Sure, I had read books that dealt with vampire folklore or classic movies, but this article was the first piece of (then) contemporary non-fiction writing that I ever read on the topic. It showed me that vampires were, pardon the pun, alive and well in modern society, in a way that no other monsters were at the time. Interestingly, it was also the first time I saw an article spotlighting, as it is worded on the cover, "the sudden, curious allure of vampires." As we have seen, every few years since 1989 the topic is "suddenly" discovered to be popular. But from my experience, Psychology Today was the first mainstream publication to run such an article.

To this day, I can't really put my finger on why the image of the vampire clicked with me and then stuck around. I think a major reason is that few monsters at the time were being treated in the same way as vampires were. There were novels about werewolves and mummies and other classic horror archetypes, but by and large those books treated the monsters as "the other." By the end of the 1980's, you could find more and more books that dealt with what it was like to be a vampire; being an outsider, I have always tended to sympathize with the monsters. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and vampire novels were the only books that I was aware of at the time that dealt with the monster's perspective.

So there you have it - 20 years, and with no end in sight.

Have a Mondotastic Halloween!

For me, Halloween is just the season where I can buy my year-round supplies. The actual day is always anticlimactic. But be safe, play safe, peace.

Video: College Humor presents Vampire Reunion

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Review: House of Night: Marked by P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast

I finally gave in and read House of Night: Marked, and I have a very mixed opinion about it. The House of Night is, of course, one of the top-selling YA vampire series right now. The sixth book, Hunted, came out today. The Casts have a very clear writing style and an interesting take on vampires (in this series, spelled "vampyres"). Unfortunately, I had some issues with the viewpoint character, as I'll mention in a moment.

In the House of Night series, vampyres are a known presence in the world, and the House of Night exists as a finishing school for them. Vampyres are created by a genetic mutation that surfaces during the latent vampire's teenage years. Some of these teenagers mature into full-fledged vampyres, whereas with others, the change doesn't take and they die. The series has plenty of built-in drama and suspense - who will successfully make the change? Who won't? Will becoming a vampyre be worth it? Taking into account the target audience, which I admittedly am not a part of, the set-up is pretty neat, and has plenty of cool ideas that I assume are fleshed out over the course of the next several books.

The main problem that I had was with the viewpoint character, Zoey Redbird. I knew that I was in for a rough read as early as page 5. Zoey has just learned that she is going to become a vampyre, and she worries about the possibility of becoming like a goth. The reason she doesn't want to be like a goth? Because in the world of the House of Night series, goths are "kids who didn't like to bathe much." I know that this is a YA fantasy novel, but as far as misconceptions about the goth scene go, I don't know where that one comes from. It makes me wonder if the Casts have ever seen a photo of a goth, much less met one.

I also found it a bit funny that Zoey frequently mentions a friend's rural accent in a mocking way. With friends like these, you know? The end result was that I wound up rooting for the villains. No question they would also look down on goths, "Okies," and other kids not a part of "the in-crowd," but at least they are more honest about it.

On the upside, Zoey loves cats.

As a final note, P.C. Cast lauds Chelsea Quinn Yarbro in the introduction to the anthology Immortal: Love Stories With Bite. What can I say? I have to give points for that.