Waiting On Wednesday: Besieged (The Outcast Chronicles) by Rowena Cory Daniells

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.



This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:



Besieged: The Outcast Chronicles by Rowena Cory Daniells



For nearly 300 years the mystics have lived alongside the true-men, who barely tolerate them, until...



King Charald is cursed with a half-blood mystic son. Sorne is raised to be a weapon against the mystics. Desperate to win his father’s respect, Sorne steals power to trigger visions. Unaware King Charald plans their downfall, the mystics are consumed by rivalry. Although physically stronger, the males’ gifts are weaker than the females. Imoshen, the only female mystic to be raised by males, wants to end the feud. But the males resent her power and, even within her own sisterhood Imoshen’s enemies believe she is addicted to the male gifts.



Sorne tries, but cannot win the respect of True-men. When he has a vision of half-bloods in danger he has to ask himself where his loyalty lies.



Convinced he can destroy the mystics, King Charald plans to lay siege to their island city. Will Imoshen win the trust of the mystic leaders and, if she does, will she believe the visions of a half-blood? (June 26, 2012)



While I haven't had a chance to dive into Daniells' first two series (King Rolen's Kin & Last T'En Trilogy), I'm anxious to give this one a read.

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May Monster Madness - Bloody Good Vampire Books

Vampires. They've been around for centuries, having first crept out of the crypt and into folklore and mythology as far back as the early 18th century. In those days, they were considered to be unclean remnants of those who had sinned in life or who had been possessed by evil spirits. They were often seen as bloated and bloody, easily identifiable as something to be feared and reviled. In some areas of Europe, the hysteria surrounding vampires was nearly as bad as that surrounding witches.



The spread of Christianity across Europe had a lot to do with cleaning up the mythology of the vampire, promoting the idea of a more human, sophisticated monster, while the rise of Gothic literature in the 19th century began exploring the vampire's more sympathetic and seductive qualities in works such as The Spectral Horseman, The Vampyre and Carmilla. The penny dreadfuls (cheaply sold pamplets or chapbooks) of the mid 19th century marked something of a return to the gory, gruesome nature of the vampire with characters like Varney the Vampire, but it was Bram Stoker's Dracula that so successfully pulled together the most sensational elements, offering us the first vampire to be both evil and seductive, the embodiment of supernatural sin, and a metaphor for the parasitic diseases of the time.



It wasn't until the latter half of the 20th century that the vampire began to change again, with the likes of Dark Shadows, Anne Rice, and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro putting a more human, romantic spin on the mythology. In many ways, they were just rolling back the clock to the pre-Stoker Gothic romances, but their interpretations wer the first to begin stripping away the evil from the vampire. It is largely due to the success of Barnabas Collins, Lestat, and Saint-Germain that vampires today are so humanized and romanticized as sympathetic (and often heroic) staples of urban fantasy, YA fiction, and romance.



Fortunately, there are still plenty of authors out there who remember what vampires used to be . . . who are more than willing to play with the darkest, most sinister aspects of the myth . . . and who aren't afraid to be creepy, spooky, gruesome, and disgusting. While this is no means an exhaustive list, these are the books that have earned a place of honour on my "supernatural, scary-as-shit" vampire shelf.



►I Am Legend by Richard Matheson: Do yourself a favour and forget the mutant/zombie themed movies. Go back the the source, read the original story, and discover for yourself just how terrifying it is to be the last man alive in a world filled with vampires.



►Salem's Lot by Stephen King: One of King's shortest and most effective novels, this is a complete throwback to the days of Dracula. King gives us vampires that are evil, ugly, supernatural, and altogether worthy of both our fear and our revulsion.



►Necroscope by Brian Lumley: Quite possibly the only series to ever make me pause, put down the book, and walk away to collect my senses, these books are absolutely glorious in their gruesome depravities. Lumley's vampires (Wamphyri) are monsters in every sense of the word - immortal, superhuman, telepathic, parastic monsters. Ignore the Lost Years books, but be sure to check out the Vampire World trilogy for an epic fantasy take on the origins of the Wamphyri.



►Draculas by Crouch, Kilborn, Strand, and Wilson: A wild, bat-shit crazy, over-the-top romp through what deliberately feels like a B-grade 80s gore-fest. The authors set out to reverse decades of "sparkly, bare-chested, sexually ambiguous, romantic nonsense" and make vampires scary again. They succeeded.

►Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons: An intriguing take on the evils of human history, putting forth the idea  of psychic vampires as the puppet masters behind our darkest villains. Lacks something in terms of the supernatural, but definitely succeeds in building a new vampire archetype.  

►They Thirst by Robert R. McCammon: If Swan Song was his answer to King's The Stand, then this is his answer to 
Salem's Lot. Another old-school "good versus evil" tale with an army of vampires beginning their quest for world domination in Los Angeles. Bloody, gory, and action-packed, this was a fun read with a range of heroes to face off against the vampire master.



►The Keep by F. Paul Wilson: This was one of the strangest, darkest, most exciting vampire novels I've ever read. When the protagonists are a group of Nazis trapped in the Transylvanian Alps, sent to investigate a haunted keep that's steeped in murder, you know the vampire element is going to be something special and unique.  

►The Stake by Richard Laymon: This is Laymon at his cruel, black-humored best, with a story about a mummified corpse and a writer's plans to remove the stake through its heart as the ultimate PR stunt for his upcoming book. This one is more about the belief in vampires than vampires themselves, especially when the deranged serial killer escapes his asylum and begins hunting down the those he believes to be vampires, but then there's the final twist . . .

►The Passage by Justin Cronin: A book that could almost be a prequel to I Am Legend, Cronin messes around with the mythology of the vampire, twisting it with that of the zombie, and setting is all in an plague-infested apocalyptic wasteland. The story wears thin after a while, and the ending is a bit more hopeful than I had expected, but still a scary read.

►The Strain by Guillermo del Toro & Chuck Hogan: While I haven't read this one yet, the series sounds like a perfect counterpart to The Passage, with a more contemporary look at the vampire that's as much political thriller as it is old-school horror.




►13 Bullets by David Wellington: This is another one that I've yet to read, but have heard very good things about. Gory and action-packed, it follows up the career of the FBI agent who stopped the last vampire rampage 20 years ago, with the mistress of vampires spreading her taint from the sanitarium where she lies imprisoned. The first in a series, the rest of the books are subtitled historical, vengeful, and gruesome.

That's just a start . . . I'm curious to hear what your favourite  "supernatural, scary-as-shit" vampire picks would be. Please leave a comment below!

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May Monster Madness Blog Hop

I know what you're thinking, Halloween is still six months away, but that's all the more reason to celebrate the fact that we're already halfway there! So, on that note, I hope you'll join me all week for the May Monster Madness Blog Hop, hosted by Annie Walls.



I have a few interesting pieces already lined up, including a look back at some of my favourite vampire novels (we're talking real, supernatural, scary-as-shit vampires . . . no sparkly romantics allowed), a few stories and photos of my favourite haunted locations (hearkening back to my days of running the Haunted Ontario website), a piece on my favourite horror-themed bands/albums (because there's nothing like a little head-splitting to go with your head-banging), and recap of my favourite horror authors (some always reliable for a scary read, others just one-shot wonders).



Join me all week long, and while you're at it, check out some of the other monstrously macabre blogs taking part:

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eBook Review: The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King

Stephen King begins The Wind Through the Keyhole with a nod to Robin Furth and the gang at Marvel Comics. It's a fitting dedication since, with the exception of a narrative framing piece, this really could have (perhaps even should have) been a story arc in the comic series.



That's not to say I disliked it, just that it really adds nothing of value or context to the overall Dark Tower saga. It's nice to revisit friends, and immeasurably comforting to fall back into the language of Mid-World (say thankee-sai), but it lacks the epic feel of the rest of the series. There's no advancement of the greater plot and, rather surprisingly, hardly anything in the way of meta-references or pop-culture trivia. It also suffers, of course, from being an after-the-fact addition to an already finished storyline - no matter how fantastic the Starkblast was, there was never any real sense of danger, since we know the characters all live through to the next book.



Having said that, it's still Stephen King, it's still The Dark Tower, and it's still an enjoyable read - regardless of how it's told.



Let's start with the framing narrative of Roland, Jake, Susannah, Eddie, and Oy. It's definitely nice to revisit the ka-tet in the days when it was whole and healthy, and comforting to spend some quality time alongside them. As for the Starkblast, it may have just been a convenient plot device to gather them together long enough for Roland to tell a story, but it's a force of nature worthy of Stephen King.



The first story-within-the-story is that of Roland as a youth, sent by his father to investigate the murderous rampage of a skin-man. It's an interesting enough tale, and does illuminate a little of Roland's mental state following the death of his mother, but it's also the aspect that most feels 'lifted' from the comics. The skin-man had definite potential as a King monster, but it never really gets its moment to shine. Yes, we get to see the carnage it's left behind (the scene with the children at the farmhouse is especially chilling), but it feels as if King wasn't that interested in the final confrontation. Again, much like the Starkblast, the skin-man is ultimately a plot device designed to give young Roland a chance to tell a story of his own.



It's this second story-within-a-story where the book really shines. Even though it has nothing to do with Roland or his ka-tet, it touches on several elements on the greater saga . . . and does, as the book's only real meta-reference, tie nicely to The Eyes of the Dragon. Part fairy tale and part epic quest adventure, Tim Southeart's tale could have carried the book on its own, with no need for the skin-man framing device. Here we get King's signature take on the family (and step-families) and the horrors of which human beings are capable. We also get an extended look into the more fantastic landscapes of Mid-World, it's mutated denizens, and the very real monsters living there (including faeries and dragons done as only King can do them). Tim's story also provides a new twist/tie to the Arthurian legends, finally weaving Merlin into the larger story in a scene that brings us back to the Starkblast, this time with a very real sense of danger to accompany it.



Overall, a solid book with one particularly great story contained within it . . . and one scene at the very end, between Roland and Susannah, that does add just a little to his character.

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Paperback Review: Carnal Surgery by Edward Lee

In keeping with the spirit (pun intended) of the Spring into Horror Read-a-Thon, I'm pleased to present what will likely be my last horrific review of the week (unless I get time for a review of Stephen King's The Wind Through the Keyhole). Today I'm offering up Carnal Surgery, a dark, twisted, over-the-top anthology of extreme horror short stories from the pen of Edward Lee.



Edward Lee is one of those rare authors who occupy a lot of space on my bookshelves (with the likes of The Minotauress, Incubi, The Haunter of the Threshold, Ghouls, and Succubi) but who has yet to make it into the 'read' pile. For that reason, I figured why not start with a sampling of his work and dive into the short stories of Carnal Surgery. After all, that's how I first became a Clive Barker fan, and it's a large part of what won me over to Stephen King so many years ago.



I won't go into detail on all the stories included here, but instead I thought I'd share some thoughts on my favourites:



The Seeker - A gory, graphic, disgusting tale that delivers exactly what I expected from Edward Lee. The casual way in which the depravities are handed out is entirely chilling, with the events in the bar (including the woman who deliberately throws up pizza and beer in the protagonists mouth) the most 'normal' atrocities we are doomed to encounter.



Please Let Me Out - Probably the most subtle and down-to-earth of all the tales, but also one of the most disturbing. Basically you have an insecure, older woman who likes to be in a position of power. Not only does she steal an employee's boyfriend, but she keeps him locked up as slave to her insatiable sexual appetites



Hands - This was one of my favourites, a classic tale of a reporter coerced into reporting on a serial killer who likes to take women's hands as a souvenir. If only he weren't so good at his job, and the police captain so clearly the perfect suspect, things might not have come to such a delicious twist at the end. A lot of atmosphere and suspense here, with a few genuine surprises at the end.



The Table - A very short story, with a great twist at the end . . . even if I did see it coming. Here you have a sadomasochistic young woman with a furniture fetish, a coroner's table with a gruesome history, and a bar pick-up who wants to play along. Most of it's talk, and the real horror comes beyond the final paragraph, but very effective.



The Piece of Paper - Quite possibly the strangest tale in the collection, an entirely pointless exercise in gruesome horror that is justified/redeemed by the twist-upon-a-twist at the end. This one made me laugh . . . and then feel guilty for doing so.



Make a Wish - Absolutely the best part of the collection, and a great way to end things. It's really three stories converging in a bar, with a bit of a morality play, a commentary on racial/social prejudice, and the nature of human greed. Again, Edward Lee is all about the twists, and here he layers them on top of one another until the glorious finale where all becomes clear.



A solid, if uneven collection, there was definitely enough here to make me want to give one of his novels a chance next. When the stories worked, they worked very well, and I wholly appreciate his willingness to go all the way, the follow the depravity to its logical end, and to just have fun with the material.

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TGIF - Feature & Follow Friday

Feature & Follow Friday is a blog hop that is designed to provide some much-appreciated exposure to the bloggers participating, and to expand their following. Hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read, each of whom feature a chosen blog for the week, it's an interesting way to get to know one another.

Question of the Week: Have you had a character that disappointed you? One that you fell in love with and then “broke up” with later on in either the series or a stand-alone book? Tell us about him or her.



I'd have to go with Richard Rahl, of Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth saga. For about three (maybe four) books, he was one of the strongest heroes in fantasy . . . and then he (or, more accurately, Goodkind) lost his innocence, lost his sense of purposed, turned all philosophical, and lost the qualities that made him the hero who originally won me over. By the time The Omen Machine rolled around, he was just plain boring.



Parajunkee also hosts a Social Hop for Facebook and Twitter, which I've taken part in the past two weeks. So, if you're one of those people who aren't on Blogger, or who just don't like Google Friend Connect, it's a great way to keep in touch and follow one another.

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TGIF is another blog hop designed to provide much-appreciated exposure to the bloggers participating, and to expand their following. Hosted by GReads, it's an interesting way to recap the week, pose a question, and find some exposure with a different audience.



Question of the Week: Reading Blues: We all get them from time to time. What helps you overcome those reading slumps when nothing seems to grab your attention?



Reading blues are why I always have 3 or 4 books on the go at a time. When the blues hit in one genre, and I just can't seem to settle into a read, I hop genres and read something completely different. When the blues hit hard, and nothing seems to hold my interest, I just lose myself in my writing.

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eBook Review: Poseidon’s Children by Michael West

In keeping with the spirit (pun intended) of the Spring into Horror Read-a-Thon, I'm pleased to present my second horrific review of the week, a fun read entitled Poseidon’s Children by Michael West.



I first discovered Michael via one of the Seventh Star Singles I won in a giveaway sponsored by Seventh Star Press. It was an amazing story, and once I had a chance to read my first Michael West novel, Cinema of Shadows, I was well and truly hooked.



Poseidon’s Children represents a bit of a change of pace for Michael, being the first volume of his urban fantasy series, The Legacy of the Gods. Lest you think he's moved entirely away from the realm of horror, however, just check out that cover with its homage to the likes of Evil Dead and Jaws. This is urban fantasy in terms of scope (it's bigger than anything he's done before, with a ton more characters) and plot (it's a lot more layered and intricate than his previous work), but individual scenes are still drenched in the kind of horror we've come to expect . .  especially in the opening scene:



Susan Rogers had been right to fear the water. There were monsters lurking just below its churning surface. Now, they pulled her down into the dark depths; things with black and orange stripes, things with claws, with fangs like sharpened steak knives, and, unfortunately for her, they were not inclined to swallow her whole.



That last paragraph, right there, sums up so much of the book - yes, there's the horror and the gore, but also the sense of something far more sinister, intelligent, and calculating behind it.



This is a story about lost civilizations, mythological pantheons, and honest-to-gosh sea monsters, with enough contemporary elements (scientists, billionaires, artists, authorities, and hit men) to effectively anchor things and keep it at least plausible. It takes a while before we understand how all the characters fit into the story, and some of them only creep into the story to be dragged off in a frenzy of blood a few pages later, but it all works. The multiple viewpoints give it a cinematic feel, and the way in which Michael builds the characters ensures we're never at a loss as to who is dominating the scene.



Even with all the additional demands of setting up a multi-volume urban fantasy series, Michael still keeps the pacing tight and the storytelling sharp. There are moments of comedy and romance to help temporarily alleviate the tension, and enough awe-inspiring moments of mythological monstrosity to keep even the most jaded reader engaged.



I hadn't expected to enjoy this one as much as I did, but I am definitely looking forward to the next chapter, especially after that cliffhanger ending, which introduces another layer of horror to the fantasy.

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