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.

Review: Romancing The Vampire by David J. Skal

I hate giving myself over to hyperbole, but if I rated items from 1 to 5, Romancing The Vampire would get a solid 15. It retails for $49.95, but if you can afford it or if you see it discounted, snatch it up. This book belongs on the shelf of everyone who reads this blog regularly.

If you are unfamiliar with Whitman's "vault" concept, they are books filled with removable replicas and mementoes. The text was written by David J. Skal, and he rarely disappoints. Skal brings dry wit, historical accuracy, and a genuine love for the subject to this book - and it shows. The text manages to be as comprehensive as possible while being accessible to the neophyte. Skal supplements the text with postcards, maps, art pieces, posters, press releases, and more. Much of the visual material was contributed by Rosemary Ellen Guiley, who also wrote the afterword. This really is a beautifully-designed book.

Romancing The Vampire is as up-to-date as possible, and includes subjects as recent as True Blood and Twilight. But the bulk of the book features more classic material - if Christopher Lee on the cover doesn't tip you off, nothing will.

I'll wrap it up because this already sounds more like a press release than my opinion, but I simply cannot find fault with the majority of this book. True, some things were omitted, but you cannot cover everything. And yeah - I paid for a copy. Romancing The Vampire gets my highest possible recommendation, it reminded me why I love vampires in the first place.

Review: Gifts of Blood by Susan C. Petrey

A couple of weeks ago I wrote an entry ("Two Varkela Stories") about the fiction of a talented author who died way before her time. I read two of her stories about the Varkela - her variant on vampires - and was impressed enough to track down her collection of short fiction.

Petrey left behind a very slim body of work that was collected by her friends and colleagues after her death. The book is titled Gifts of Blood, and I encourage anyone who is a fan of "ethical vampires" to seek out a copy. Gifts of Blood contains nine stories - all but two of them involve the Varkela.

The stories I blogged about previously, "The Healer's Touch" and "Leechcraft," turned out to be my favorites in the book, and were the most mature of the Varkela tales. Those two stories featured Vaylance, a young but wise "leechman" who sought to expand his knowledge of healing by interacting with the "civilized" world; the remaining five tales focused on Spareen, his wilder and more impulsive sibling. All of the tales demonstrated Petrey's imagination and gift for storytelling. I am certain that I will revisit these stories again in the future.

The two non-Varkela stories show Petrey trying her hand at science fiction and contemporary fantasy, with interesting results. "The Neisserian Invasion" involves an attempt at deliberately infecting an invading alien race with venereal disease. The story is hilarious, but Petrey tells the story completely straight-faced; Petrey let the outlandishness of the material itself speak for itself. The final story in the book is "Spidersong," a musical fantasy that I feel could be the basis for a fantastic stop-motion short in the vein of Henry Selick or Tim Burton. It is a whimsical story about a spider who takes up residence in a lute, but darkness creeps in at the edges.

Wonderful tales.

VampChix... and Derek

One of my favorite vampire blogs, VampChix, has posted my short piece on vampire pop culture from the 1970's. Check it out - Vamp Pop Culture: Blame It On The '70's.

Thanks, Michele!

Biteline: Disney and "The Maker's Song"

Earlier this week, Disney watcher Jim Hill Media reported that the Disney company had purchased several domain names that involved a vampire rock musician named Dante. Hill speculated that Disney may be mounting an adaptation of Adrian Phoenix's acclaimed series "The Maker's Song." Whether this would be a TV series, movie, or whatever is not known. If Hill is correct and Disney springs for this property, it would be great news all around - not the least of which Adrian is a cool person.

One thing that nauseates me to no end is that many websites are now commenting that this might be Disney's attempt at jumping on the Twilight bandwagon. If Disney is planning on adapting Adrian's novels, that could not be further from the truth. "The Maker's Song" is a very dark, very adult series; even the covers don't really represent the books very well. The lead female protagonist is an FBI agent, and the main vampire is a rock musician - my description of the series is "Agent Scully teams up with The Vampire Lestat." Entertainment Weekly gave the first novel, A Rush of Wings, a B+ - not too shabby.

If handled correctly, an adaptation of "The Maker's Song" could be a huge payoff for Da House of Mouse. Let's hope that Hill's speculation proves to be correct, as this would be great news for several reasons. I'd personally love to see another vampire media franchise that is different in character to the others that are currently out there.