David Wellington started writing stories about monsters such as vampires ever since he got hooked on vampire books as a kid. For him, the idea of a vampire that doesn’t send chills down your spine is hardly worth writing about. Vampires are monsters, and vampire books should be scary.
The book 32 Fangs is the final in his Vampire Tales series, and it is definitely in the scary vampire books camp. His protagonist Lara Caxton grew from a short story he wrote. The story was completed in an afternoon, but somehow the character just wouldn’t go away. He says that the novels grew from there, and that in many ways they wrote themselves. But when it comes to writing he says it is the monsters in the books, the vampires and their kin, that make the story interesting.
“I think that monsters are really interesting to write about because they have their own agendas and they’re not really bound by convention. So when you’re writing about real people you’re stuck with what does that person do for a living, how do they feel about their mother – all the old questions.”
Apparently those aren’t the kinds of questions his vampire in 32 Fangs is concerned with. The story centers on the intense stand-off between Justinia, who is the last vampire, and Lara Caxton. By now Lara has endangered everything that matters in her life-her badge, her friends and her freedom- just for the chance to take down Justinia and rid the world of vampires once and for all. But the ancient vampire who has been her foe throughout the series will not go down so easy.
It is a fight to the finish and it isn’t pretty. There will be casualties along the way, and in the end Lara will need to make some hard decisions about what she values. It is the final battle, and Lara will be called on to sacrifice even more than she ever has before if she wants to prevail. If you love the real chills down your back, hold no quarters kind of vampire books that Wellington has proven time and again he can deliver, then you won’t want to miss the finale in 32 Fangs.
Well the word out on the web is that if you are a fan of Buffy The Vampire Slayer or any of the other many amazing fantasy-based vampire stories projects Josh Wheden has been at the helm of the last bunch of years, Joss Whedon: The Complete Companion is the book to get. You have to admit, if like many of us here you love vampire stories or fantasy based television shows, he has been the man to deliver.
For a person who has pretty much dominated much of pop culture, and helped put the concept of high schools and vampires on the map, it is about time someone did a great book on the current state of his career. This book does that in spades.
It is a big hefty book, not some thin little almost-magazine and it is filled with tons of information on his work. Comparisons of scripts to finished films, interviews from many different years, in depth analysis of many of the projects he has worked on from Buffy and Angel to Firefly and Dollhouse and even the comics he worked on. This is a tremendous undertaking and frankly one I envy.
If you are any kind of fan of the man’s work, and it is hard not to be if you love fantasy or vampire stories at all, then this is a book well worth having. A celebration of the man’s talent and an appreciation of the depth to his work, it is great to see a book that sees more than just the cover gloss of his work. If you love to really get into the creative spark behind the stuff you read and watch, don’t miss out on grabbing a copy of Joss Whedon: The Complete Companion.
I just came across what has to be the best vampire series I have read in ages by accident and have to say I am blown away by it. It has it all: romance, steampunk, vampires, adventure and impossible odds for the hero to overcome. What is there not to love with Vampire Empire?
The basics of this steampunk vampire series The Greyfriar are that this is an alternate world where a vampire virus in the 1870s has all but wiped out humanity. Those that it spared are at the mercy of the new dominant species: vampires! To survive, the majority of the civilized world moves south, towards the Equator where the heat and light is too much for the vampires to overcome.
But the humans thrive here and rebuild an empire, one based on steam and steel. Years pass and now we are in our era, it is 2020. The empire has thrived and Princess Adele, heir to the throne, meets a mysterious stranger, The Greyfriar. He fights the vampires on their own turf, and he is triumphant. Soon they find themselves drawn – but it cannot be. The princess is promised to another in a loveless political marriage and The Greyfriar, he cannot even reveal who he is to her.
So begins the adventure in one of the best vampire series to come in a long while, and it continues in The Rift Walker in this amazing trilogy. The third book is due out in September, but I find myself anxious to read more. There are seldom books that catch my excitement the way these two have. If you love any kind of adventure in your paranormal reading, and particularly if you love a bit of steampunk in your fantasy, you will love this series.
It has the romantic heroism of the Three Musketeers and the last gasp struggle of Star Wars rolled into a fantasy adventure that will have you gripping the pages. Don’t miss out on this one – I have never had such a great time reading a new adventure as I did with this The Greyfriar and Vampire Empire. Now, if Clay and Susan could just write a bit faster!
When Farnsworth came out with The President’s Vampire I didn’t exactly think “oh, it’s Jack from 24 only he is a vampire”. That may be what author Christopher Farnsworth says he was thinking when he created the vampire books, but since actor Kiefer Southerland played one of my fave bad boy vampires in Lost Boys before he took on the role of Jack Bauer, he has already been there as far as I am concerned. But this little fact doesn’t stop me from looking forward to the third book in the vampire books series, Red, White and Blood.
This time around vampire secret agent Nathanial Cade is facing some big guns with The Boogieman, a supernatural being that possesses people, in fact people who are pivotal to the history of the world. He is a being who makes the world a little darker because the people he possesses are some of the most notorious killers in history.
Cade has faced him before, and often managed to kill the hosts, but he knows that he needs to destroy the being that he calls The Boogieman if he is to stop this destruction. To make matters worse, the creature has chosen to reappear in the middle of a presidential race. If you recall, Cade has sworn to protect the person of the President, whoever that happens to be, from all forms of threat and especially supernatural ones.
One of the events touched on in this book from the previous vampire books in the series is that Cade is haunted by the fact he could not prevent 9/11. It becomes a big part of this book and Farnsworth says that it is something that is woven throughout the ten part series as The Big Question. The answer is rolled up in the definition of Cade himself and the monsters he faces down. I for one am looking forward to seeing more of Cade and his unique take on presidential security in Red, White and Blood.
Did you know that every year Forbes Magazine, that publication darling of the Wall Street Set, puts together a list of the top 15 wealthiest fictional characters? It is true, and this year one of our vampires in fiction made it in the top ten. How that for the strangest of vampire facts yet?
We all know how it works for the regular list they do – the top 20 or top 50 wealthiest people that seems to always have Microsoft Prez Bill Gates on it. I would imagine that putting that list together is fairly straight-forward since we tend to know individual wealth for people like this.
Well here is some Twilight trivia for you. How do you calculate how wealthy someone like Carlisle Cullen is? I mean, this isn’t even a real person. They say that to even be considered, the character has to be known to be rich. We can see how that makes Clan leader Cullen an obvious choice. But calculating his wealth, even with the best facts for vampires in fiction, they don’t actually give us anything to work on for this. My money is on this being just someone at Forbes deciding to have some fun.
But Cullen did place third on the list with a worth listed at $36.3 billion based on the savings he started in 1670 and building it from there. At least someone at Forbes has their facts for vampires in fiction straight. Forbes says they based the net value on source material on the character that told them things like probable investments. They then valued that investment against real-world commodities and share price movements. And my knowledge of Twilight trivia says that Cullen has had lots of time to recover from any losses along the way.
So who placed first, you ask? Well, that would be Smaug, the dragon in Lord of the Rings. The movie prequel isn’t even out yet and the guy is worth $62 billion.
Now here is a twist for you. I was recently reading of a French film about vampires written by a woman that many in Europe call “the French Stephen King” that is not based on any of her books. In fact, she is the screenplay writer and the story is original to the film. But she is no stranger to anyone who follows vampire fiction here in the U.S. as her books have been translated and available here for several years.
The American Novella
Her novella The Strangers Outside will creep you out from the first paragraph. Just imagine – you are on vacation and returning home after a long satisfying day, when you see a group of strangers outside your rental home. They don’t approach, they just are there – and they won’t stop watching you as you enter your home. From there it just gets darker and darker. It’s no wonder that she has been compared to King, her ability to build atmosphere word upon word is amazing and more than a little disconcerting.
Vampire Film: A Good Man
The film she is working on has to do with vampires, of course. The “good man” in the title is Louis Carron. He is a quiet man, a vegetarian who feeds the homeless, cares for animals and seems to be just what he appears to be on the surface, a good man. But the local inspector doesn’t trust him and has his suspicions about him. Of course, what he doesn’t know but soon finds out is that Carron is a vampire.
But the story is told from Carron’s viewpoint, of a being who only wants to live his life, such as it is, and be left alone. When he is forced to flee the police, we follow him down into a journey that brings pain, a frightful confrontation with who he is and unfortunately a lot of destruction. It sounds like it will be a film to watch for, even if it does have sub-titles.
The Novel Drowned Sorrow
If her novel Drowned Sorrow is any indication of her ability to carry dark suspense and inner horror to new levels, then the movie will probably be one of those that take you to places you really wish were left alone. The novel follows a young mother whose son committed suicide and when her marriage subsequently falls apart, she takes her daughter with her to a small lakeside town to get a bit of down time and recover.
But the town has some strange dark secrets, such as when it rains the whole town turns into a bunch of crazy murderers. And then there is the lake. There is something lurking in it, something so dark, so awful that it isn’t even acknowledged by the town people. But she knows it is there, and so do the readers. A creepy eerie story with plenty of King atmosphere and an extra special sense of dread that transcends the everyday horror tale.
From what I have seen of her books, this is going to be a movie that blends horror, vampire and that ultra French concept of the detective chase that the French Connection captured so well. Ah – I love it when I find something like this to look forward to!
American Vampire Volume 1 by Scott Snyder, Stephen King and Rafael Albuquereque
Get ready to be blown away by some awesome top vampire tales and amazing art. American Vampire is not your run of the mill vampire tale, but then how could it be with Stephen King involved? We all know that King has had a love for the comic medium for years and every once in a while he wanders back to tell a tale or two he has an itch to share. This is one of those lucky times.
Even better he hooks up with one of the new hot writers, Scott Snyder who has written some awesome stuff out at DC on Batman lately. When you take two writers who have a decided taste for the dark and marry them up with an artist like Rafael, you can’t help but have a breathtaking story.
In this pair of tales that bridge in the middle but then go their separate ways, we see the exploration of what it means to be American, especially when you are a vampire. Scott’s story of Pearl, the earnest yet strong young woman in the 1920s who has dreams of being in the newly born film business has a style and polish that totally suits its setting. We see her struggle to accept her fate when she is attacked and left for dead in the desert outside of Los Angeles after a bizarre meeting with silent film stars who turn out to be vampires. But they are from the old country, Europe, and she is of the new one. So she finds out that American vampires are different, they are fiercer and they can stand the sun.
She finds out from an old soul himself, Skinner Sweet. Skinner finds Pearl in the desert and shows her how to be a true American vampire. His tale is told by King, and here the art turns darker with a gritty edge. Skinner is from an earlier time, a cowboy vampire with a dark twist inside. His tale has its own violence, and it comes from a far darker place.
The marriage of the two stories works well here, and the art is stunning. I couldn’t believe at first that the same artist did both stories, so successful was Rafael in shifting his style without losing a beat to make the stories flow freely. American Vampire is an unusual take on the vampire myth, and one well worth checking out. Plus, the book is proof once again that graphic novels just seem to tell a cinematic tale beyond anything a mere book can do. These top vampire tales are comic book storytelling at its finest.
ReVamped is a teen vampire book with a difference! Dawn is the daughter of the President of the Vampires, and a cool customer at that. She has been living a pretty sheltered life, although one where she has been prepared all her life for the mission she is about to take on. For Dad has sent her to the town of Angel Creek, to prepare the four vampires living in this small town for life as protectors of the people of Angel Creek. She is looking forward to the challenge but so much more happens when she arrives in town.
The four young vampires she comes to prepare need to be revamped, because they just are not prepared to act as they should. If that isn’t enough, there is Sebastian, who just may steal Dawn’s heart away. No, this mission to Angel Creek is not going the way it was supposed to, and there are plenty of reasons why. The only problem is, Dawn will need to resolve all of this and she isn’t sure she is up to the task.
This was an amazing story, not like many of the teen vampire books I see these days. Dawn is a wonderful character, and the four vamps she is there to help will amuse you to no end. This whole world that Ada has created really works, and you soon find yourself pulled into it and the problems Dawn is trying to resolve. There is adventure, there is romance and most of all there are characters you want to root for, and cry over. ReVamped is a heck of a first book and I for one am looking forward to the next installment of the Angel Creek series with gusto.
