HWA Presents an Anthology

Warning: This Anthology Contains Works of Fiction that are Gruesome, Disturbing, Horrifying, and Drop-Dead Hilarious! 

The Horror Writers Association Presents Blood Lite… a collection of entertaining tales that puts the fun back into dark fiction, with ironic twists and tongue-in-cheek wit to temper the jagged edge. 

Charlaine Harris reveals the dark side of going green, when a quartet of die-hard environmentalists host a fund-raiser with a gory twist in “An Evening with Al Gore”… In an all-new Dresden Files story from Jim Butcher, when it comes to tracking deadly paranormal doings, there’s no such thing as a “Day Off” for the Chicago P.D.’s wizard detective, Harry Dresden… Sherrilyn Kenyon turns a cubicle-dwelling MBA with no life into a demon-fighting seraph with one hell of an afterlife in “Where Angels Fear to Tread”… Celebrity necromancer Jaime Vegas is headlining a sold-out séance tour, but behind the scenes, a disgruntled ghost has a bone to pick in Kelley Armstrong’s “The Ungrateful Dead.”

Title: Blood Lite
Editor: Kevin J. Anderson
Start & Finished: 6/9/10- 8/31/10
Published: October 21, 2008
Publisher: Pocket Books- Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Pages: 468
Genre: Horror

Blood Lite is a collection of stories written by members of the Horror Writers Association featuring tales from award-winning, bestselling authors and even a few that are mostly unknown and only publish in the short story medium. This anthology contains stories about zombies, vampires, demons and angels, even a descendent of Dr. Frankenstein, not to mention homage’s to author’s works such as Ray Bradbury and H.P. Lovecraft too. This book is edited together by Kevin J. Anderson, who is also a founding member of the Horror Writers Association, but he does not contribute to the collection.

With every anthology you get some good, some bad, and some that are just okay and in Blood Lite you get a diverse collection of all of these things. Out of the 21 stories I only liked ten of them but there were six that were really good and they were by Kelley Armstrong, Lucien Soulban, Charlaine Harris, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Sharyn McCrumb, and Jim Butcher. I plan on picking up books by these author’s that I haven’t read very soon. Blood Lite II: Overbite comes out September 28, 2010.


Title: The Ungrateful Dead
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Pages: 30

Jaime Vegas first appeared in Canadian author Kelley Armstrong’s Industrial Magic, the fourth book in her Women of the Otherworld series but didn’t get her own story until No Humans Involved which was book seven. The first story in the anthology is called The Ungrateful Dead and for once, Jaime is not being kidnapped but instead she’s being heckled by a rich, spoiled brat of a ghost who seems to think she “serves the dead,” all while on her séance tour too!

She’s not my favorite necromancer (that’s still Anita Blake even if the novels aren’t quite the same now), but Jaime is still one of Armstrong’s best characters from the Women of the Otherworld series. Her partner in crime in this story in Savannah who is the ward of Paige from Dime Store Magic and Industrial Magic but Savannah was probably my favorite character out of the entire piece. This was an extremely funny story whose ending I bemoaned because I still wanted to know what happened next.

First Sentence: I see dead people. Unfortunately, they also see me.

Links: Complete story


Title: Mr. Bear
Author: Joe R. Lansdale
Pages: 31

Joe R. Lansdale's contribution to this anthology was a story about Smokey the Bear, though he never comes right out and says that’s who it is. Mr. Bear is about a famous anthropomorphic bear that is described as being shirtless, “in dungarees and work boots, carrying a hat.” The main character is a man named Jim who this bear sits down next to on a plane and proceeds to brag about all the tail (though that isn’t quite the word he used) he gets and in general be disgusting. Then their plane gets stranded at their layover and then the “fun” begins. Mr. Bear and Jim have a night on the town, get in some trouble, and then make their way to Yellowstone Park. Oh, and Mr. Bear is slightly insane (“two to three berries short of a pie” he says) so poor Jim doesn’t have much choice in what happens after he gets off that plane.

This was truly a disturbing short story that I didn’t enjoy at all. Smokey the Bear is a classic iconic American figure (supposedly the author does this often in his stories, once with Elvis and JFK) and Mr. Bear is just… disturbing. Think what it would be like if you mixed Howard Stern with a real bear and I think I’m insulting Howard Stern here. I won’t say that Mr. Lansdale’s story is badly written, I just didn’t like the subject. In fact, I’ll never be able to think of Smokey the Bear again without thinking of this story so though I really, really disliked it, Mr. Bear is certainly memorable.

First Sentence: Jim watched as the plane filled up.


Title: Hell in a Handbasket
Author: Lucien Soulban
Pages: 27

A baby is left at the mouth of Hell in Lucien Soulban’s story Hell in a Handbasket and the only question is who is going to get to eat her?  This takes place in what is supposed to be Dante’s Hell among many other cultures and religions and includes several demons from history such as Mastema, Gressil, Harpy, Furfur, Vassago (he appeared in Dean Koontz’s book Hideaway), Mammon, and even ones from other cultures too (Heaven makes an appearance as well). Only Vassago knows what the child is and how to deal with her which the demons that want her for supper soon figure out themselves.

An author and video game writer, Lucian Soulban (whose full name means Light-Bringer Moses Thanks Holy Crosses, literally) wrote what is probably one of the best, if not the best story in this anthology. I loved Hell in a Handbasket with all its characters but especially Vasaggo and Eve. What an incredibly inventive and funny story! Here are two of my favorite parts: “Right,” Gaap said, ribbing his fellow demon with his elbow. “Following orders. I think there’s a few Nazis in the Seventh and Eighth Circles still singing that tune.” and ‘Hell was like a trailer-trash family reunion on Jerry Springer. If demons weren’t fornicating with each other like country siblings, they were feuding and squabbling… sometimes in the middle of intercourse.’ Though Hell in a Handbasket isn't quite as raunchy as that sounds, it does have its moments. I will definitely be looking this author up soon.

First Sentence: The basket sat at the foot of the Inferno’s red-hot, iron-wrought gates, below the steaming plate that read ABANDON ALL HOPE, YE WHO ENTER HERE!


Title: The Eldritch Pastiche from Beyond the Shadow of Horror
Author: Christopher Welch
Pages: 18

Addicted to writing what amounts to bad horror fanfiction of the Cthulu mythos, Chris seeks help in Christopher Welch's The Eldritch Pastiche from Beyond the Shadow of Horror but someone doesn’t want him to. The author says that his addition to Blood Lite “is more autobiographical than he likes to admit.”

‘I cannot think that way anymore. The night sky was simply the night sky, not some infinite brooding sentience with a conspiratorial agenda to reveal indescribable terrors to a timid dreamer. I will not believe in monsters.’ I can admit to getting so lost in a fictional world and fictional characters that I had trouble afterwards thinking of anything else but I have never had it as bad as the main character in this short story. Lovecraft is an author I’ve never managed to read so I didn’t have the slightest clue who the characters were that are discussed so all of that was Greek to me, but I did like the idea of the story.

First Sentence: I went through the motions, the ritualistic motions I had done hundreds of times.


Title: Elvis Presley and the Bloodsucker Blues
Author: Matt Vene
Pages: 32

Elvis as a vampire… well it’s certainly been done before but Matt Vene takes a slightly different approach than the norm with his story Elvis Presley and the Bloodsucker Blues. In it, Elvis becomes a vampire which is why he stopped making movies and started Viva Las Vegas as well as how he got fat, (instead of biting people he started having blood transfusions) and eventually, setting the record straight on how he died. Everyone but the press knows about it too: ‘Some of the fellas in the Memphis Mafia took to teasin’ me about getting’ myself turned into a damned vampire, thought it was a real hoot to call me “Velvis, the Vampire Elvis.” That might seem like a funny reaction to you, but David and Jerry and Red and Lamar and the rest of the boys- they were used to crazy shit happenin’ all the time. Vampirism was just one more once-in-a-lifetime thing to add to their big old list of once-in-a-lifetime things that happened while hangin’ out with yours truly.’

A vampire Elvis who just happens to be a vampire hunter is certainly a unique idea and the way Mr. Vene plays with the myths of Elvis and brings a lot of real life things to the story is what made it so interesting. I’ve always liked early Elvis, who doesn’t? However, I’ve never seen any of his movies or know all that much about him so I think this particular story would appeal to more Elvis fans than me. I actually did like the story but it wasn’t one of the very best in this anthology. Matt Vene was a writer for the film White Noise 2 and is currently at work on the screenplay for the adaptation of Stephen King's Bag of Bones.

And so the federal agent badge from the president… the weight gain from the blood transfusions… the superhuman improvement of my karate skills… even the addition of “…in a flash” to “Takin’ Care of Business…” (which became my code for “blast those vampires with sunlight, baby!”) It all makes a bit more sense now, don’t it?

First Sentence: Well, ain’t this just a kicker?


Title: No Problem
Author: Don D’Ammassa
Pages: 22

In Don D’Ammassa’s short story No Problem, a scientist studying biochemistry at Brown University discovers some old family journals and learns that he’s the great-great-great grandson of Viktor Frankenstein. After reading some of Frankenstein’s accounts, Herbert Franken throws out his research and begins his studies anew. He says, “Please don’t get the impression that I had suddenly turned into some kind of mad scientist. I had no intention of digging up dead bodies at midnight, erecting a lightening rod on my roof, or stealing brains from Brown University.” However, when he accidentally kills his nosy next door neighbor is when it starts to get hairy.

The story of Dr. Frankenstein and his monster are almost as well known as Dracula and have been represented in fiction and film for years yet this author takes a softer approach to the reinterpretation of the story. Herbert isn’t a mad scientist but he is a scientist (the kind that experiments on animals), yet he reminded me of that guy that was in a CSI episode who didn’t mean to kill anyone and somehow wound up with all these dead bodies around him. I neither liked nor disliked this particular story, probably because it was over too fast for me to even figure out how I felt about the main character. The idea of the story interests me though as I could easily see this as an episode of Supernatural or something.

First Sentence: I swear I had good intentions.


Title: Old School
Author: Mark Onspaugh
Pages: 4

The seventh story in Blood Lite is called Old School and comes from fiction and film writer Mark Onspaugh. It’s only a little over 3 pages long but in it a group of teenagers get together to try to raise a corpse, mostly to impress the Goth girl one of them has a crush on. Of course their plans go awry…

Well done Mr. Onspaugh! You did in a very few pages what others in this anthology couldn’t in more than 20 and that’s write a small piece of a story and yet make it seem longer than it is. Zombies are one of the two horror monsters I can’t have anything to do with but I didn’t mind Old School. I’m not quite sure I understand the last sentence but overall this was an okay story done in the “old school” way of 80’s teen horror flicks.

First Sentence: “And arise!”


Title: The Sound of Blunder
Author: J.A. Konrath & F. Paul Wilson
Pages: 39

The only story to be written by two authors and the longest story in the anthology, The Sound of Blunder by J.A. Konrath & F. Paul Wilson features two small time crooks Mick and Willie. After (Mick the Mick’s partner in crime’s Nana bakes a pound cake using a key of cocaine that they were holding for a mobster, they need to figure out a way to come up with some money quick because after all, “no junkie is going to snort baked goods.” So they hit upon the idea of robbing the Pennsylvania Museum of Natural History and Baseball Cards where they hope to steal an artifact but end up getting sent through time. This story was inspired by Ray Bradbury’s The Sound of Thunder.

What I would like to know is which author did what in this story. The beginning was fine with the introduction of Mick the leader and Willie his ADHD and seemingly hypochondriac friend even if some of the humor seemed a little flat but once the supernatural element of The Sound of Blunder kicked in it was all down hill from there. It did remind me of something; a Simpson’s episode I believe, that was also based on the Ray Bradbury book (I think it may be mentioned vaguely in this story actually). This wasn’t a bad homage to Mr. Bradbury’s book and I did like it more than some of the others in this book but it doesn’t really stand out in this collection either. Konrath writes a series featuring Lt. Jack Daniels and Wilson is an award-winning author.

First 2 Sentences: “We’re dead! We’re freakin’ dead!”


Title: An Evening with Al Gore
Author: Charlaine Harris
Pages: 29

At first it may seem as if Charlaine Harris’ ecological short story An Evening with Al Gore may not be suitable for this collection and though it has an extremely slow start, the end (last four pages) are… something else. Ms. Harris said it, "was so much fun because it was completely different from anything I’d written before, I worked with the idea for a while before I got it all ironed out. And, I’d just watched Al Gore’s movie [An Inconvenient Truth], of course he’s absolutely right. He’s been proven right, he was right before anyone believed it, he’s right now that everyone believes it and they’re not doing anything about it. I just thought, what if people really acted on Al Gore’s suggestions? This is the supernatural reaction to Al Gore saying we should green up…"

The main reason I bought this book was for Ms. Harris’ contribution but I must confess I thought it was about either Sookie (like most of her short stories) or one of her other characters. Toddy and Mark were staid, laidback people which made the twist and the end even more of a surprise. I did like the end of this story a lot, though I’m not as environmentally aware as I would like to be. I couldn’t see the author turning this into a series but I really wouldn’t mind characters like them (even though not these in particular) if she decided to do something else. She usually has at least two series running simultaneously and she just ended her Harper Connelly books.

First Sentence: Toddy Makepeace had seen Al Gore speak the previous spring, and a year later she hadn’t quite gotten over it.

Title: Dear Prudence
Author: Steven Savile
Pages: 11

Steven Savile’s main character Miller is writing his lovely wife a quick note to let her know he’s going out and then proceeds to fantasize about what he’d really love to say to her in the story Dear Prudence. Each letter more disturbing than the previous though there is no real supernatural element involved in this one. Dear Prudence is the first one in this book that doesn’t have some kind of supernatural or paranormal event or creature in it.

‘Fed into a wood chipper. How much Pru would a wood chipper chip if a wood chipper could chip Pru? That’s today’s million-dollar question.’ Can you tell that the main character in this story really, really dislikes his wife? The author says that “he doesn’t fantasize about killing his wife. Honestly.” Yeah, if I were Ms. Savile I would start sleeping with one eye open… This was certainly a different turn in the anthology because none of the previous stories were about the evil humans can do, or in this case, fantasize about doing all by their selves without supernatural influence.

First Sentence: Miller held the pen poised over the scrap of paper, thinking about what he would write.


Title: A Good Psycho is Hard to Find
Author: Will Ludwigsen
Pages: 11

Chet and his girlfriend Misty find life dull in A Good Psycho is Hard to Find by Will Ludwigsen. After fighting off a psychopath with a chainsaw at a camp where they were counselors, the two seek to recapture that rush. However, ‘Bungee jumping and race-car school didn’t capture the same feeling. The risk was too arbitrary, accidental. [He] needed the personal touch of another human being going out of his or her way to kill [him], not the capricious hand of fate.” Just how are they going to get that feeling back?

A short story writer of mainly horror, Mr. Ludwigsen fits in fine in this anthology. This story follows on the heels of another that has nothing to do with the supernatural and more about the evil of human nature. A Good Psycho is Hard to Find actually wasn’t a bad story and I thought it was well-written too. The ending was a little gruesome but the story does make me curious if other real life survivors have had a similar reaction to violence that these two did.

First Sentence: At least with the Chainsaw Guy, you always knew where you stood.


Title: High Kicks and Misdemeanors
Author: Janet Berliner
Pages: 23

Legs Cleaveland is the main character in Janet Berliner’s High Kicks and Misdemeanors and he is a Las Vegas “self-styled talent scout with a penchant for long-legged chorines.” However after a couple of dead bodies show up near him and he needs some advice one what to do, he heads to his great-uncle Willie Downtown, the scariest loan shark in the city. He’s a great believer in his spirit guide, which happens to be an ostrich and there are some people using his and other ostriches to further their own political agenda.

What an extremely odd little story. I can honestly say I’ve never read anything quite like it before. Well, I don’t make a practice of reading about ostriches in general anyway because they kind of creep me out. I can’t say I really liked this one because it was so far-fetched that it was over my head however, I still have to give props for originality. However, I really want to know the how and why of Willie’s story and while Legs seemed like a bit of a sleaze he was the only sane part of this story so I’d like to know what happened to him as well. The author has written another story with Legs as a character called Amazing Grace: A 'Legs' Cleveland Musical Production.

First Sentence: Most things that happen in Vegas stay in Vegas because no one outside the city would believe them.


Title: PR Problems
Author: Eric James Stone
Pages: 10

Mr. Ahsani the ghoul (which transforms into a hyena and is not undead in the slightest but does eat carrion) is sick of vampires and werewolves getting all the good press while he’s stuck at a custodian job in PR Problems by Eric James Stone. He soon discovers the serial killer that the press nicknamed the “Grove City Ghoul” actually is living in his building, what is he going to do?

PR Problems was one of the very best short stories in the Blood Lite collection. The main character of Mr. Ahsani constantly surprised me. He’s a ghoul but he’s not a killer, he’s genuinely relieved when one of his neighbors arrives home because it means she didn’t get snatched by the killer, and he tries to rescue someone when he probably could have gotten away first. Altogether not a bad guy… if you look past the eating dead flesh part.

First Sentence: What annoys me the most about vampires and werewolves is their good PR.


Title: Where Angels Fear to Tread
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon
Pages: 18

Where Angels Fear to Tread is the first of Sherrilyn Kenyon's Hellchasers which is a group featured in her Dream-Hunter novels (starting with Bad Moon Rising) and who are important to Nick (from the book Fear the Darkness). Working a dead-end job where he constantly gets screamed at by callers, Zeke is in for a bit of a shock once he inherits some things from his estranged granduncle. One of those things is a medallion with something special about it. See how Zeke got his powers!

Sherrilyn Kenyon is a fairly well-known name and yet I’ve never managed to read anything by her before so I did not have the slightest clue what to expect going in this story but if the rest of her books are anything like this, I’m definitely picking them up. I did feel like I was being plunked down in the middle of a bigger plot but I really did like this particular addition to the anthology. There’s a lot of great humor with somewhat modern reference in the book and that was my favorite part. This is an introduction of an already established character from what I can gather but I still enjoyed this story a lot.

First Sentence: “From humble beginnings come great things.”


Title: A Very Special Girl
Author: Mike Resnick
Pages: 21

The “all-time leading award winner for short fiction,” including five Hugo awards, author Mike Resnick writes about his character Harry the Book in his story A Very Special Girl. Harry has appeared in other stories by this author including A Very Formal Affair and The Blimp and the Sixpence but in this one, Harry’s employee Dead End Dugan falls in love and gives Harry’s three grand away. So of course he sets out to retrieve it.

A very awkwardly written story, that I felt like I was missing something vital. The author just drops us into this world where zombies and creatures like Anna exist and doesn’t explain anything, we’re just along for the ride. I did feel like I might have liked this story if I understood what was going on, what exactly is Harry, where exactly are they, and why it seemed like some of the dialogue was badly translated or something.

First Sentence: I am reading the Daily Racing Form in my temporary office, which is the third booth at Joey Chicago’s 3-Star Tavern, and coming to the conclusion that six trillion to one on Flyaway in the fifth at Saratoga is a bit of an underlay, as there is no way this horse gets within twenty lengths of the winner on a fast track, a slow track, or a muddy track, I have my doubts that even a rain of toads moves him up more than two lengths.


Title: Love Seat Solitaire
Author: D.L. Snell
Pages: 21

A bunch of bachelor guys are sitting around playing Street Fighter when the apartment’s poltergeist starts to act up in Love Seat Solitaire by D. L. Snell. At first it just little things but then soon as one of the characters puts it, “Casper’s gone Michael Myers on us.” Better do what he wants or else!

Mr. Snell’s story had some funny parts and an extremely odd ending but for the most part I thought Love Seat Solitaire was extremely crude. I’m guessing that Sam, Dave, and Jess are college kids since Sam owns his own apartment but they act more like high school students. I could easily see this as one of those slapstick comedy horror movies or something (which I really don‘t like).

First Sentence: “Dude,“ Jess said, pushing up his glasses, “the kitchen table’s floating again.”


Title: I Know Who You Ate Last Summer
Author: Nancy Holder
Pages: 17

Rock star cannibals are next in Nancy Holder’s story I Know Who You Ate Last Summer. Angelo and Dwight have been friends since they were kids and it was Angelo with his trust fund that got them to Hollywood and set up to be musicians. However, it was Dwight that helped them both discover the love of human flesh. Now someone is sending text messages saying they know who they ate last summer and their lives are never going to be the same.

This was another odd story that I didn’t particularly care for. No one was likeable in the least bit and Dwight was just seriously creepy… well, they both were actually. I have heard of this author before but I’ve never tried anything by her. She definitely made her main character seem crazy if that was what she was trying to go for. I’m still not quite sure where Ms. Holder was going with this story and it just kind of ends abruptly too.

First Sentence: “That should be ‘whom,’” Carla M. said, “and that’s part of the problem.”

Title: Bitches of the Night
Author: Nancy Kirkpatrick
Pages: 27

Nancy Kirkpatrick explores how Dracula (in this case a vampire named Istvan) would have felt if all his brides were modern women in Bitches of the Night. Poor Istvan is sick and tired of being henpecked by his brides when all he wants to do is relax, drink a little O Negative and watch re-runs on TV.

While some may find the idea of a henpecked, impotent vampire humorous I just thought it was depressing. The story wasn’t horrible and I liked the way the author described things but I just felt bad for Istvan. I also wasn’t impressed with the idea of all women vampires becoming air-headed harpies either. I can't find much about this author except a collection of her vampire stories where she is called "Canada's Queen of the Undead."

First 2 Sentences: “Dis night, you vill take two each, a male and a female. And dis time, no AB negative!”


Title: The Bell… FROM HELL!!!
Author: Jeff Strand
Pages: 11

In Jeff Strand’s story a guy named Howie buys The Bell… FROM HELL!!! However, none of his coworkers believe him so they constantly tease him about it. Finally fed up with their teasing, Howie decides to ring the bell the required six hundred and sixty-six times to prove once and for all that he has a bell to summon Satan.

Possibly the only story out of this anthology that doesn’t fit, Jeff Strand’s story can be taken two ways: either Howie really does have a bell that summons Satan or that he’s just nuts. I think this one was supposed to be cute but it came off as just strained to me. I do wish the ending had been a little different though! Supposedly there is a sequel to this story coming out in Blood Lite II.

First Sentence: I own a bell forged by Satan himself.


Title: Dead Hand
Author: Sharyn McCrumb
Pages: 23

The award-winning author of the book St. Dale (which is the story of ordinary people going on a pilgrimage in honor of Dale Earnhardt and finding a miracle), Sharyn McCrumb says, “Writing about NASCAR was a wonderful experience for me. After spending my adolescence writing term papers and avoiding proms, I am now jumping hills at one hundred mph with a race car driver on Virginia back roads, and it is glorious.” Perhaps it was the acclaim she had gotten from writing about NASCAR (it got her invited to the White House and in touch with several Fortune 500 winners) that inspired her to write another NASCAR story called Dead Hand. This time about a little failing team of drivers who do things the old way still and are losing badly until their Cherokee chief mechanic works up a bit of magic to bring back the ghost of driver known as The Champ who had died in a plane crash.

NASCAR and racing have always bored me to tears when my dad was watching (it’s his favorite “sport” and the only one he watches) or when my husband’s uncle would take us to see the guys he sponsors but reading and watching movies about racing is a whole different thing. I love those! Dead Hand was easily one of the best stories in this anthology though I wish it were a little longer and didn’t have such a sad ending. Rattler and the Champ were great though and I hope the author writes about their back stories one day.

First Sentence: I don’t hold with talking to dead people.

Title: Day Off
Author: Jim Butcher
Pages: 33

Harry Dresden, “Chicago’s only professional wizard, shamus of the supernatural, gumshoe of the ghostly, and wiseguy of the weird is looking forward to his Day Off in Jim Butcher’s short story however, someone up there is bound and determined that he doesn’t get to rest. First, some wizard-wannabes start harassing him, then his assistant proceeds to accidentally blow up his lab, and finally two of his friends that occasionally shift into wolves have a problem and need his help as well. Will Harry ever get to go one his date? Jim Butcher is a well-known, award-winning author of the Dresden Files series of which Day Off takes place.

While I’ve always liked Harry Dresden and his author Jim Butcher, I’ve never managed to read one of the actual books in the series. I have however, read a lot of short stories that feature the wizard and I’ve loved every one of them. Even if I always feel like I’m missing certain things that reading the books would answer for me, I always enjoy the stories anyway. That’s including Day Off! It was funny, interesting, and it has definitely made me want to go out and pick up the actual series.

First Sentence: The thief was examining another trapped doorway when I heard something-- the tromp of approaching feet.


Source: My personal collection, paperback

Related Reviews

Kelley Armstrong

Women of the Otherworld Series
1. Bitten (2001)
2. Stolen (2002)
3. Dime Store Magic (2003)
4. Industrial Magic (2004)
5. Haunted (2005)
6. Broken (2006)
7. No Humans Involved (2007)
8. Personal Demon (2008)
9. Living with the Dead (2008)
10. Frost Bitten (2009)
11. Waking the Witch (2010)
12. Spellbound (2011)

Darkest Powers Series

1. The Summoning (2008)
2. The Awakening (2009)
3. The Reckoning (2010)

Nadia Stafford Series
1. Exit Strategy (2007)
2. Made to Be Broken (2009)

Anthologies
Dates from Hell (2006)
My Big Fat Honeymoon (2007)
Many Bloody Returns (2007)

J.A. Konrath

Wolfsbane and Mistletoe anthology- S.A. by J.A. Konrath

Jim Butcher

Many Bloody Returns anthology

My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon anthology

Charlaine Harris

Sookie Stackhouse
1. Dead Until Dark (2001)
2. Living Dead in Dallas (2002)
3. Club Dead (2003)
4. Dead to the World (2004)
5. Dead as a Doornail (2005)
6. Definitely Dead (2006)
7. All Together Dead (2007)
8. From Dead to Worse (2008)
9. Dead and Gone (2009)
10. Dead in the Family (2010)
11. Dead Reckoning (2011)

Aurora Teagarden Series:

1. Real Murders (1989)

2. A Bone to Pick (1992)

3. Three Bedrooms, One Corpse (1994)

4. The Julius House (1995)

5. Dead Over Heels (1996)

6. A Fool and His Honey (1999)

7. Last Scene Alive (2002)

8. Poppy Done to Death (2003)

Harper Connelly Series
1. Grave Sight (2005)

2. Grave Surprise (2006)

3. An Ice Cold Grave (2007)

4. Grave Secret (2009)

Anthologies

Many Bloody Returns (2007)

Wolfsbane and Mistletoe (2008)

The Race is On for the Grail

"You can search and search on a quest, and in the end you may never get there at all," Barney warned Simon and Jane. The three Drew children, on holiday in Cornwall, had found a crumbling parchment map and embarked on a hunt for ancient treasure linked with King Arthur. The treasure, which lay "over sea, under stone," was more precious than life itself, for, if found by the right people, it would help keep at bay the ancient forces of evil that were once again powerful in the world.

The children soon find themselves beset by deadly dangers that involve the local vicar as well as a curiously menacing man and his sister, who arrive in the little harbor on a gleaming white yacht. The imperiled children turn for help to their Great-Uncle Merry, a renowned scholar, who draws on his vast knowledge of ancient lore to protect them. And when the treasure is almost theirs, Barney, Simon, and Jane find themselves trapped by the rising tide between cliff and sea.

With its powerful, mystical theme, Over Sea, Under Stone begins Susan Cooper's award-winning sequence, The Dark is Rising.

Title: Over Sea, Under Stone
Author: Susan Cooper
Series: The Dark is Rising Sequence, Book 1
Start & Finished: 8/23/10- 8/26/10
Published: May 1965
Publisher: Jonathan Cape
Pages: 252 (hardcover)
Genre: YA- Adventure

The only book in the Dark is Rising Sequence that Susan Cooper wrote before she left England (written for a publishing company competition) to live in the United States, Over Sea, Under Stone is the first book in a five part award-winning series but it’s more of a prequel and the fantasy elements that are much more prevalent in the later books are only hinted at here. This entire series is clearly a struggle between good and evil with Arthurian lore and other British mythology thrown in. The author said she had intended for this book to be an adventure tale “but magic kept creeping in.”

Ms. Cooper said, “Once I was writing fantasy, I don't think I really thought about it. I just felt I'd come home. You don't say to yourself, I am writing fantasy. You don't even say to yourself, I am writing for kids. You just tell the story.” In this book the Drew children- Simon, Barney, and Jane- find an extremely old map in the attic of the house their Great-Uncle Merry (Gumerry) is renting in Trewissick which is in Cornwall, England. The map is supposed to lead to a grail from King Arthur’s era and is said to have answers about who the Pendragon was and will be again. Trewissick is actually a fictional place based on a village in southern Cornwall called Mevagissey. There are several bad people after the map and the treasure and they are just the latest in a long line of people who have been looking for it then the bad guys learn of the existence of the map and the race is on! Surprisingly, the quest wasn’t all that long but I thought the clues were clever.

The plot is awesome but I had problems with the main characters at first. I’m sure I would have liked them immediately if I had read this when I was younger though. They’re normal children but with their imaginations and silly sibling squabbles, they were a little boring but once I got in the proper mindset and got to know them is when I really started enjoying the story. The boys seemed better written than Jane did at times though. Susan Cooper has said that she wishes she had spent more time developing their characters in this book, even calling them “corny kid’s book characters” but supposedly they all become more developed throughout the course of the series. That the Drew children’s ages are never mentioned is something I did notice in this book. Though they seem young and Simon is the eldest by eleven months from Jane, which makes Barnabas (Barney) the youngest. None of them seem over the age of 12 though. The time period isn’t specifically stated either but if I had to guess I would say 1920’s to maybe the 1930’s though it could honestly be earlier than that but not by too much since there are cars.

What I found frustrating that we don’t really know the enemy’s motive (and goodness! Just about everyone seems bad) but the author has Simon explain in a way: “Well”-- Simon wrinkled his forehead, trying to remember what Great-Uncle Merry had said on the first day-- “it’s the grail they want, isn’t it? Because it stands for something, somehow. And that’s why Gumerry wants to find it as well. It’s like two armies fighting in history. You’re never quite sure what they’re actually fighting about, but only that one wants to beat the other.” The author said, “The struggle between the Light and the Dark in my books has more to do with the fact that when I was four World War II broke out. England was very nearly invaded by Germany, and that threat, reinforced by the experience of having people drop bombs on your head, led to a very strong sense of Us and Them. Of course Us is always the good, and Them is always the bad.”

When I started reading this I had no idea of what to expect because I hadn’t read this when I was younger nor did I see the film adaptation of the second book that came out recently. I remember the previews looked interesting though. I was pleasantly surprised with Over Sea, Under Stone and while it did at times bring to mind the feel of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and the kids strongly reminded me of Disney’s adaptation of Bedknobs and Broomsticks, it was incredibly unique. This story does start off incredibly slow but I really liked the ending. However, I do see why some people skip this book in the series and go on to the sequel, including Hollywood with their 2007 release The Dark is Rising: The Seeker.

Favorite Quotes

Although he was not her real uncle, but only a friend of her father, he had been close to the family for so many years that it never occurred to them to wonder where he had come from in the first place.

Nobody knew very much about Great-Uncle Merry, and nobody ever quite dared to ask. He did not look in the least like his name. He was tall, and straight, with a lot of very thick, wild, white hair. In his grim brown face the nose curved fiercely, like a bent bow, and the eyes were deep-set and dark.

How old he was, nobody knew. “Old as the hills,” Father said, and they felt, deep down, that this was probably right. There was something about Great-Uncle Merry that was like the hills, or the sea, or the sky; something ancient, but without age or end.

Ever since he had learned to read, Barney’s greatest heroes had been King Arthur and his knights. In his dreams he fought imaginary battles as a member of the Round Table, rescuing fair ladies and slaying false knights. He had been longing to come to the West Country; it gave him a strange feeling that he would in some way be coming home.

“You can search and search, on a quest, and in the end you may never get there at all.”

“Oh honestly, Jane,” Simon said. “You can’t find a treasure map and just say, ‘Oh, how nice,’ and put it back again. And that’s what they’d make us do.” “Oh well,” Jane said doubtfully, “I suppose you’re right. We can always put it back afterwards.”

“You remember the fairy stories you were told when you were very small-- ‘once upon a time…’ Why do you think they always began like that?” “Because they weren’t true.” Simon said promptly. Jane said, caught up in the unreality of the high remote place, “Because perhaps they were true once, but nobody could remember when.” Great-Uncle Merry turned his head and smiled at her. “That’s right. Once upon a time… a long time ago… things that happened once, perhaps, but have been talked about for so long that nobody really knows. And underneath all the bits that people have added, the magic swords and lamps, they’re all about one thing-- the good hero fighting the giant, or the witch, or the wicked uncle. Good against bad. Good against evil.”

“This is your quest,” he said. “You must find the way every time yourselves. I am the guardian, no more. I can take no part and give you no help, beyond guarding you all the way.”

Straight as an arrow the long white road of the moon’s reflection stretched towards them across the surface of the sea, like a path from the past and a path to the future; at its edges it danced and glimmered as the waves rose beneath the wind.

Dark Is Rising
1. Over Sea, Under Stone (1965)
2. The Dark Is Rising (1973)
3. Greenwitch (1974)
4. The Grey King (1975)
5. Silver on the Tree (1977)

First Paragraph: "Where is he?"
Barney hopped from one foot to the other as he clambered down from the train, peering in vain through the white-faced crowds flooding eagerly to the St. Austell ticket barrier. "Oh, I can't see him. Is he there?"

Links
The Lost Land- Official
Book Wikipedia
Author Wikipedia
Series Wikipedia
The Dark is Rising Wiki

Interviews
With Raymond H. Thompson- 1989

Source: Library loan, paperback

Related Reviews
Arthurian
The Sword in the Stone (1963)

Picture Explanations

All are locations in the book

A Struggle of Good vs. Evil

In his most profoundly felt-- and terrifying-- novel yet, Dean Koontz compels us to explore the meaning of death, the nature of sociopathic evil, and the transcendent power of love. Hideaway has the breathless pace, suspense, lyrical prose, deeply drawn characters, and surprises that readers have come to expect in a Koontz novel -- yet it is entirely fresh, breaking new ground for the author and taking the reader into the beating heart of darkness.

Although accident victim Hatch Harrison dies en route to the hospital, a brilliant physician miraculously resuscitates him.  Given this second chance, Hatch and his wife, Lindsey approach each day with a new appreciation for the beauty of life -- until a series of mysterious and frightening events brings them face to face with the unknown.  Although Hatch was given no glimpse of an Afterlife during the period when his heart was stopped, he has reason to fear that he has brought a terrible Presence back with him from the land of the dead.

When people who have wronged the Harrisons begin to die violently, Hatch comes to doubt his own innocence -- and must confront the possibility that this life is just a prelude to another, darker place.  He and Lindsey are forced to fight not only for their own survival but for that of Regina, the delightful and exceptional disabled child who has given meaning and purpose to their lives. With growing desperation, Lindsey and Hatch seek the truth along a twisted trail that leads eventually to an abandoned amusement park -- and a confrontation with purest evil.

Emotionally affecting and powerfully suspenseful, Hideaway may be Dean Koontz's finest work to date.

Title: Hideaway

Author: Dean R. Koontz

Start & Finished: 8/13/10- 8/17/10

Published: February 6, 1992

Publisher: Berkley (Penguin)

Pages: 400 (paperback)

Genre: Horror

“Expect no miracles. The dead stay dead, and the living only wait to join them,” may have been Lindsey Harrison’s motto at first but after an accident in which her husband Hatch dies for 80 minutes and is brought back to life, she starts singing a different tune. However, she and Hatch soon learn that you can’t come back from death without some consequences in Dean R. Koontz’s Bram Stoker award nominee Hideaway. About this book Koontz says, “evil can be traced to three sources: human behavior; the transmittal of sociopathic behavior through damaged genes, which is the most terrifying because it is the most arbitrary and relentless; and possible to Evil as a supernatural force… Nothing in the book prevents the reader from embracing either the totally supernatural or the more logical interpretation of events… The way you interpret it at first pass may tell you something about your own subconscious attitudes.”

Mr. Koontz said that the idea for Hideaway came to him about year after he had “read about the latest developments in resuscitation medicine.” It was an article about a child who had been technically dead for 66 minutes and came back without brain damage (it’s briefly mentioned in Hideaway actually, which made me wonder what happened to those people who were resuscitated before Hatch and if they had similar experiences as he did). Koontz said that if he “hadn’t read that piece, the idea [for this book] would never have occurred to [him].” The author did do his research and it really shows in the book, though I couldn’t pronounce half of the stuff they talked about.

The killer in the book Vassago was incredibly creepy and obviously demented and the Harrisons were good people but it was little Regina the crippled orphan who made the book. I found her very amusing and she stole all the scenes she was in, plus I also liked the lightness she brought to the story. On his website, Mr. Koontz said, “Although she isn’t the female lead, a young disabled girl named Regina is the heart of Hideaway both in terms of plot and thematic structure. She is a symbol of innocence, of purity. The antagonist, Vassago, is actually Evil personified, and like most evil with a small e and like all Evil with a capital E, he is motivated more powerfully by the desire to destroy innocence and pollute purity than he is by anything else. In a structural sense, therefore, Regina is the sun, while all the other characters are planets revolving around her. Without Regina–ten years old, disabled, charming, acerbic, funny, indomitable–the story doesn’t just collapse: it evaporates.” Because Koontz liked Regina so much and didn’t want to write a sequel to Hideaway, “a version of her later surfaced as Leilani in One Door Away from Heaven. They share the same physical disabilities and the same level of intelligence, but they really are not otherwise alike. Regina is absolute innocence, quick on the uptake but fundamentally naive."

 

It’s interesting to see a serial killer’s thoughts on, and love of, death directly after a doctor had just explained his hatred for it. Especially later on when we see how these two characters relate to one another, which I won’t spoil for you but it’s one of the main themes throughout the book. Another thing I thought was interesting is the similarity between these two characters: Doctor Nyeborn has his collection of religious art and Vassago has his macabre sculpture collection of his victims. Hideaway was made into a movie in 1995 which stars Jeff Goldblum and Alicia Silverstone that I have not, and will not see. Dean Koontz was not happy with the film after the first screenplay he had approved had been thrown out and even offered to repay all of the money the studio had given him to have his name removed from as much of the film as he could (they only minimized the use of his name in promotion). He did write several letters to Tri-Star including one in which he said the “script has a viewpoint that is the antithesis of everything my work stands for and is offensive when it is not simply boring.” He now keeps creative control over all film adaptations of his books.

 

Hideaway has an interesting premise, good characters, and yet still something was off about it. I’ve read a few Dean Koontz books but nothing has ever really stuck with me, matter of fact the first one I read I absolutely loathed. I think my problem with Koontz’s books is that his bad guys have equaled, if not more “screen time” as the protagonists. You really get to get into their heads and it’s a really scary place to go. By direct contrast, all the other main characters are extremely nice, pleasant people and I think it’s too extreme of a contradiction. There’s no doubt that Dean Koontz writes good characters but there was something about Hideaway that I didn’t particularly enjoy and I really struggled to finish it.

Favorite Quotes

The death of a five-year-old son had incalculable emotional weight. It pressed on the mind, quickly deflating every moment of buoyancy, crushing each new blossom of joy. Jimmy had been dead for more than four and a half years, nearly as long as he had lived, yet his death weighed as heavily on them now as on the day they had lost him, like some colossal moon looming in a low orbit overhead.

In response the glare of the car headlights, the trucker looked through his side window. Across the rapidly closing gap of night and snow, Lindsey saw nothing of the man’s face but a pallid oval and twin cherry holes where the eyes should have been, a ghostly countenance, as if some malign spirit was at the wheel of that vehicle. Or Death himself.

It was a battle. Death was the adversary: clever, mighty, and relentless. To Jonas, death was not just a pathological state, not merely the inevitable fate of all living things, but actually an entity that walked the world, perhaps not always the robed figure of myth with its skeletal face hidden in the shadows of a cowl, but a very real presence nonetheless, Death with a capital D.

Vassago had arranged each piece in his macabre collection with more than casual contemplation. They were not simply ten corpses dumped unceremoniously on the concrete. He not only respected death but loved it with an ardor akin to Beethoven’s passion for music or Rembrandt’s fervent devotion to art. Death, after all, was the gift that Satan had brought to the inhabitants of the Garden, a gift disguised as something prettier; he was the Giver of Death, and his was the kingdom of death everlasting. Any flesh that death had touched was to be regarded with all the reverence that a devout Catholic might reserve for the Eucharist. Just as their god was said to live within that thin wafer of unleavened bread, so the face of Vassago’s unforgiving god could be seen everywhere in the patterns of decay and dissolution.

“I apologize for having been so rough with you, sir, but you really didn’t give me much of a choice.” Nothing in the voice indicated that the kid was being snide or mocking. He was just a boy who had been raised to address his elders with consideration and respect, a habit he could not cast off even under circumstances such as these. The detective was gripped by a primitive, superstitious feeling that he was in the presence of an entity that could imitate humanity but had nothing whatsoever in common with the human species.

“Sometimes,” he said, “I see through this guy’s eyes when I’m sleeping, and now sometimes I can even feel him out there when I’m awake, and it’s like the psychic crap in movies, yeah. But I also feel this… this bond with him that I really can’t explain or describe to you, no matter how much you prod me about it.”

First Paragraph: An entire world hummed and bustled beyond the dark ramparts of the mountains, yet to Lindsey Harrison the night seemed empty, as hollow as the vacant chambers of a cold, dead heart. Shivering, she slumped deeper in the passenger seat of the Honda.

Find Dean Koontz Online

Official Site

Facebook

Links:

From the Author-Hideaway

Dean Koontz Fan Club

Book Wikipedia

Author Wikipedia

A Cover Contemplation

Source: Borrowed from my mother-in-law, paperback.

Note: Kathrine Ramsland’s biography on Dean Koontz was a big help with writing this review.

Related Review

The Good Guy by Dean Koontz (2007)

Picture Explanations

Defibrillator Machine: Hatch is dead of 80 minutes before he’s brought back

Abandoned Amusement Park: Vissago lives in an abandoned amusement park

Religious Art: Doctor Nyeborn collects these and when he gets the complete collection, donates them.

Nuns: Regina is adopted from a Catholic orphanage

Canvas: Lindsey is an artist

Something to Dream About

A spectacular achievement in the art of animation, Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty has awakened-- the dazzling beauty of this timeless animated masterpiece is now fully restored. Created in the Disney tradition of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Cinderella, the unforgettable story is a breathtaking tapestry of charming romance, majestic spectacle and electrifying adventure.

Once upon a dream, the lovely Princess Aurora is gifted with grace and beauty-- but she provokes the jealousy of the wicked fairy Maleficent. A delightful trio of kindhearted Good Fairies do their best to protect their beloved Princess-- but even their magic is no match for the terrifying Mistress of All Evil, and Aurora falls into an enchanted slumber. The heroic Prince Phillip must brave many dangers-- and finally battle a ferocious fire-breathing dragon-- if he is to wake Princess Aurora from her eternal sleep!

With a magical Academy Award- nominated score adapted from the immortal music of Tchaikovsky, Sleeping Beauty is a cherished classic for every family and one that they will enjoy again and again.

Title: Sleeping Beauty
Release: January 29, 1959
Genre: Animated- Family
MPAA Rating: G
Based On: La Belle au bois dormant by Charles Perrault
Writer: Erdman Penner, Joe Rinaldi, Winston Hibler, Bill Peet, Ted Sears, Ralph Wright, & Milt Banta
Director: Clyde Geronimi
Music By: George Bruns, Tom Adair, Sammy Fain, & Jack Lawrence
Produced By: Walt Disney
Distributed By: Buena Vista Distribution
Run Time: 75 minutes
Official Site

According to Walt Disney on one of his Wonderful World of Color episodes, Sleeping Beauty “took six years [not including story development], and six million dollars to make.” It was the last hand-inked Disney animated feature film, the first of the animated films to stop having Walt Disney’s personal touch because of all the other projects he was involved in (Disneyland, the TV show, and his live-action movies), and it’s the most beautiful, decorative, sophisticated, and intricately Disney movie ever made and though the most expensive, it was still wildly successful at the box office, yet it still didn’t make back as much as went into it.

This is such a beautiful film, more like a medieval painting, tapestry (which is the inspiration actually), or book artwork that’s fantastically rendered for the first in technorama 70 which is really, really wide- screened. The animators of the film made sketches based on medieval tapestries to get the look of the film and it was because of this that everything in Sleeping Beauty is in focus from every leaf to lines in clothing from characters in the background. The Disney studio had never done a film like this before, especially after the invention of the multi-plane camera, which lets the backgrounds fade out of focus while still giving the illusion of depth. This sharp focus is what I loved about this particular film as a child; the forest scenes in particular captured my imagination. To be honest, the backgrounds outstage the characters and the story.

Two of the best of Disney’s animators who are also part of the famed 9 Old Men, Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas animated the comic relief in this film, the three Good Fairies which happen to be my favorite characters in the film. It isn’t all that surprising considering they are my favorite Disney animators! It was Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather that are the heart of this picture and the reason I enjoyed it as a child. Well, them and Prince Phillip (voiced by Bill Shirley) and his horse Samson- he’s the only Prince in Disney history I ever truly liked! Maleficent on the other hand, used to terrify me and I think she’s the very best Disney villainess followed closely behind by Lady Tremain the Wicked Stepmother from Cinderella. Funnily enough, they’re both voiced by the same woman, Eleanor Audrey which I didn’t find out until I was much older. She originally turned this role down because she was fighting tuberculosis at the time but thankfully, she went ahead with it because no one else could have given Maleficent the presence and cold menace that is that character without making it seem too much.

Quite a few elements found in Sleeping Beauty were previously used in Snow White and Cinderella but somehow despite similarities, this manages to be a completely unique picture with its one-of-a-kind characters. Aurora/ Briar Rose has always been my favorite princess from Walt Disney’s era (During my childhood was when the great Disney princesses came out though: Belle, Ariel, Jasmine, etc).because she’s gorgeous, charming, sophisticated, thanks to her animator Marc Davis (who also did Maleficent) and has a beautiful voice thanks to opera singer Mary Costa. However, I’ve always felt like the rest of the movie just moves around her even if she’s what the entire movie is about. Matter of fact, I believe she’s on-screen less than any other character! When asked what kind of personal connection she had to the film, Mary Costa (Aurora/ Briar Rose) said, "For me, Sleeping Beauty is like a beautiful glass time capsule where the joyest part of my youth has been kept preserved and eternally sealed. I’ve always felt that it was just a blessing. It was such an honor for me to do that," Ms. Costa, we're the ones who are blessed. No one could have done her voice better.

Tchaikovsky’s music and George Bruns interpretation of it helped tell Disney’s version of the charming fairytale, (filmed in “Technorama 70” for its theatrical release) but more than any other film, Sleeping Beauty looks and sounds like it could be part of Fantasia because the music is hauntingly beautiful. The soundtrack was even nominated for an Oscar and a Grammy! However, the actual animation is so finely detailed that no other Disney film can match it. This is in part thanks to the vision of Eyvind Earle an animator at the studio who was put in charge of the look of the entire film- everything from the backgrounds (which he painted a good bit of himself) to the style. He even had some input on the characters which didn’t go over too well with the animators. When it’s all said and done though, Sleeping Beauty is wonderful because of his and many other people’s contributions. It was the end of an era and it went out with a bang.

Favorite Quotes

Merryweather: I'd like to turn her into a fat ol' hop toad.
Fauna: Now, dear, that isn't a very nice thing to say…
Flora: Besides, we can't. You know our magic doesn't work that way.
Fauna: It can only do good, dear. To bring joy and happiness.
Merryweather: Well, that would make me happy.

Merryweather: It looks awful.
Flora: That's because it's on you, dear.

Prince Phillip: But when will I see you again?
Briar Rose: Oh never, never!
Prince Phillip: Never?
Briar Rose: Well, maybe someday.
Prince Phillip: When? Tomorrow?
Briar Rose: Oh no, this evening!
Prince Phillip: Where?
Briar Rose: At the cottage... in the glen.

Featured Songs
Hail to the Princess Aurora
One Gift
I Wonder
Once Upon a Dream
The Skumps Song
Sleeping Beauty

Find Sleeping Beauty Online
Official Site
Imdb.com
Wikipedia

Links:
Covering the Mouse- cover songs
Fairy Tale Sleeping Beauty Wikipedia
Notes for Sleeping Beauty Ballet

Interviews
Mary Costa, the voice of Sleeping Beauty
Burny Mattinson, an assistant animator under Marc Davis
Mary Costa with Ultimate Disney

Trailer:


1997 Making of Sleeping Beauty pt1:


Briar Rose/Aurora Model:


Mary Costa Interview:


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Bill Shirley- Prince Phillip
My Fair Lady (1964)- Freddy Eynsford Hill (singing voice)
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