Author Archive
Welcome to the June 2024 issue of my newsletter, “News from the Crypt,” and please visit Carter’s Crypt, devoted to my horror, fantasy, and paranormal romance work, especially focusing on vampires and shapeshifting beasties. If you have a particular fondness for vampires, check out the chronology of my series in the link labeled “Vanishing Breed Vampire Universe.”
Also, check out the multi-author Alien Romances Blog
To subscribe to this monthly newsletter, please e-mail me at MLCVamp@aol.com, and I will add you to the list.
For other web links of possible interest, please scroll to the end.
N. N. Light’s Book Heaven included my steamy paranormal romance novella “Calling Back Love” in their May “Salute the Military” Bookish Event:
N. N. Light: Calling Back Love
My late-Victorian Christmas story A GHOST IN THE GREEN BESTIARY, part of the “Christmas in a Castle” series from the Wild Rose Press, now has a release date: September 23, 2024. Spending the Christmas season at her aunt and uncle’s country manor for the first time since her father’s death, Lucy both yearns for and dreads reuniting with Walter, to whom she’d almost become engaged. In her present financial straits, Lucy feels she’s no longer a proper match for a wealthy gentleman’s heir. How can she let Walter down gently without destroying the friendship she still treasures?
On the night before Christmas Eve, Walter tells a tale of a long-ago daughter of the household who eloped with her forbidden lover, a simple farmer. After his violent death in the mansion’s topiary garden, his spirit supposedly lingered. When Lucy’s little brother claims to glimpse the ghost among the animal-shaped bushes, she joins Walter in investigating the apparition—forcing them to face their shared past and the challenges of the future.
This month’s excerpt comes from a quasi-Lovecraftian paranormal romance novel, SEALING THE DARK PORTAL, set in late spring and early summer. Almost nothing Rina remembers about her life is true. Rather than the ordinary librarian she believes herself to be, she’s actually a sorceress who fled from another world to ours when creatures from an alien dimension devastated her home and killed her family. Now they’ve pursued her to our world, summoned by a sorcerer who plans to open a portal and invite monstrous entities from the void between dimensions to overrun this planet.
In the selection below, Rina has just returned from grocery shopping, and a persistent stray cat that has recently been hanging around defends her from a bizarre attack.
In this issue, instead of an interview, we have an overview of the Baron Blasko vampire mystery series by A. E. Howe, written by Adriana Pena, a contributor to my former fanzine THE VAMPIRE’S CRYPT. (Scroll to the end of the newsletter for links to information about the zine and where to download issues.)
Here’s Adriana’s self-introduction:
I am a retired computer programmer and part time local pundit — writing about politics and society, as well as philosophical musings. My life experience and extensive reading have made me the writer that I am today. I was – and still am – a Dark Shadows fan, and, of course, a fan writer. I have written a 51-volume continuation of Dark Shadows (The Collinsport Chronicles) under the name of Maryland Rose. Also wrote several stories where I crossed Kindred the Embraced with Highlander. Which means that I have written quite a bit about vampires – as well as reading a lot about them. I found this series by browsing on the Internet and it sounded interesting. It certainly is. So please, read it and enjoy.
*****
Review by Adriana Pena:
The Baron Blasko mysteries
The Baron Dragomir Blasko has been flying under the radar since 2018. Though the trope of “vampire detective” is well known, Blasko has not been recognized by those who like vampire stories. They are missing a real treat.
The author, A. E. Howe, is known as the writer of mysteries that take place in Florida, with a good sense of place and with three dimensional characters that readers care about. The Baron Blasko mysteries are his foray into vampire fiction, and they too have a good sense of place and three dimensional characters we care about, including Blasko himself.
The story begins with what seems a retelling of “Dracula” with a modern sophisticated character going to the wilds of Transylvania, and meeting superstitious peasants, with a story about a monster that ravaged their villages about a hundred years ago. This protagonist, Josephine Nicolson – is aware of this, because she has read about the monster’s depredations from her grandfather’s writings – but she thinks that the peasants might have magnified some disease or wild animal – a sensible enough explanation. She is not impressed by what she thinks are superstitions.
Circumstances lead her to find refuge in a dilapidated fortress, and it is here that the vampire, Baron Blasko, attacks her.
And then it all changes…
Somehow Blasko and Josephine have become bonded. They cannot hurt each other (except with words) and cannot be separated. So Josephine has to choose, either stay with Blasko in his dilapidated castle or to take him back to her town in Alabama. Guess what she chooses?
Blasko for all of his anger is quite reasonable. He accepts her conditions – which includes not attacking the townspeople but instead drink the bottled blood that she will get for him. So, off they go to Alabama. Josephine swears her maid to secrecy about what they are bringing back from their travels. Blasko is then introduced as the “cousin from Romania”
And now the real story can start.
Blasko in his new home develops a passion for reading detective stories, and then wants to put in practice what he learns. Obligingly their small town provides him with unsolved murders to investigate.
Each book is a murder mystery, solved by Blasko and Josephine, and the writer keeps you guessing to the end. The first one is a regular mystery, but the subsequent ones involve supernatural happenings: Lovecraftian monsters and a werewolf.
Fantastic elements aside, the books show a realistic view of a Depression era town in Alabama (though the author softens the racial attitudes quite a bit, to keep readers from hating several characters). The characters run true to life and so does the setting – The author even takes a dig at American exceptionalism: At one point Josephine says something like “in the US we do not have serfs” only to have Blasko muse about the conditions of black workers – – “they might as well be serfs”.
The author has some original takes on vampirism – Blasko does not turn into a bat, he just keeps a bat as a pet after he rescues it and nurses it back to health. He reflects in mirrors, but he avoids them, because when he looks at them, he sees a rotting corpse (no one else does see that). He needs to be in contact with his earth, and also with gold.
He can live on bottled blood, but it is not enough, so that every now and then he has to attack someone. He is careful when he does that, making sure not to touch the carotid, and leaving his victims alive (he also chooses someone who “deserves” it, and he can leave a hypnotic compulsion to leave their wicked ways). He is the alibi for a murder suspect, but of course he cannot tell the authorities that the suspect was being attacked for his blood and in no shape to commit any crime afterwards.
He needs a henchman, so he chooses the town drunk and uses his hypnotic powers to force sobriety on him – with the man eventually getting a job and a place to stay. He then gives him several tasks.
He is certainly arrogant and ruthless -– because he comes from the Balkans, a place where, as Churchill said, produces more history than they can locally consume. War was a constant in his growing up, and ruthlessness was what kept you alive. He comments that in the world they were living in, when he was turned into a vampire, it could be said that he was given a great gift that allowed him to protect those he cared for. He even remembers when his home was overrun and, being a child then, he had to hide to avoid being slaughtered.
He could not help being arrogant. He was a voivode, a military leader and magistrate, and he always had people to command, and due to his condition, no equals to deal with. He has a sense of duty towards his people and seeks to be fair. He can be compassionate without being maudlin. And he has withdrawn into himself and deals with very few people that he protects in exchange for allowing themselves to be bled.
We may think that he is quite depressed at this stage, and maybe this is why he jumps at Josephine’s invitation.
His relationship with Josephine changes through the books (the covers show this progression – from barely concealed hostility to mutual irritation, to collaboration, to love). She is in many ways his counterpart. Her fortune has remained intact through the Depression. As the major stockholder of the bank, (a bank where everybody has outstanding loans), she is as much an aristocrat in her domain as Blasko was in his, and like him, she shoulders the responsibility of those in need of assistance. She begins to appreciate what Blasko does, and how in the end his influence in the town is a good one, and yet she remains wary of him. It is only in the third book that she has a revelation that changes the way she looks at him, and from then on she thinks of him as Dragomir instead of the baron.
Blasko is less of a vampire than a person afflicted with a condition, and while he handles himself well, he is not comfortable with what he is. He feels shame when he attacks somebody and remembers with embarrassment how early on in his career when confronted with a murder victim, instead of reacting empathetically as he should, his hunger led him to lap on the spilled blood. He has created another vampire, and the experience did not end well, so he is quite unwilling to repeat it (maybe that other vampire will show up).
The other characters are well drawn. The town drunk turned henchman could be a stock character, but we get to know him, and recognize him as another war victim, haunted by the things he witnessed in the butchery that was World War I. Similarly, the black maid of Josephine – sworn to secrecy about Blasko’s secrets — comes first as the stereotypical Scripture quoting poorly educated woman who keeps muttering about that the Baron would kill them all as they sleep. But we get to know what strains a black woman has to endure in the Depression era South, and when she has to be grateful to Blasko she warms up to him saying that she mistook his strange ways for Devil’s ways and is quite willing to discuss relationships with Josephine on an equal’s basis. Then there is Carter, Josephine’s cousin, the scholar from Miskatonic University, who first tries to kill Blasko, and then has to ask him for help when he beings to grow tentacles (Blasko tells him that he deserves pain but not being turned into a squid).
At the end of the fourth book, Dragomir and Josephine are in love, but Dragomir is aware of the pain that awaits them in the future, and that the only way to avoid it is to transform Josephine, and that he is unwilling to do. He wonders if the Necronomicon has any answers for him. And we have to wait for the fifth book to see if there are any answers.
The writers is now thinking of the fifth book, and we should encourage him to write it.
The books are
The Baron Blasko mysteries
FANGS
KNIVES
CLAWS
TENTACLES
By A. E. Howe
*****
Some Books I’ve Read Lately:
RING SHOUT, by P. Djeli Clark. This short (slightly over 180 pages), fast-moving novel takes place in an alternate 1922 America where the classic silent film BIRTH OF A NATION (1915) had a greater impact than in our reality. As a result of its racist glorification of the “Lost Cause,” the revived Ku Klux Klan attracted a wider membership and became even more of a threat than in our timeline. Moreover, the forces of evil play a more direct role in the dark side of this world’s history. Some Klansmen get possessed by (or converted into) demons conjured by a literal wizard in a ceremony held shortly after the original release of the movie. The Black protagonist, Maryse, and her fellow demon-hunters call ordinary, human KKK members “Klans” and their demonic allies “Ku Kluxes.” In the opening scene, Maryse, a sharpshooter named Sadie, and a female Great War veteran nicknamed Chef (who had posed as a man to join the army) slaughter a band of Ku Kluxes. After this introduction to the heroines and their demonic adversaries, Maryse’s recollections fill in the setting’s warped history for the reader. She narrates in present tense, a device that doesn’t bug me as much as usual because her Black dialect softens the effect. Although a bit heavy on violent action for my taste, the novel also has plenty of atmosphere and character development. Maryse and her comrades visit a “juke joint” owned by her lover. They consult a Gullah woman with occult gifts. A science-minded friend of theirs dissects body parts of dead Ku Kluxes. In dream encounters that are more than ordinary dreams, Maryse receives cryptic messages from three women who may be the Fates or Black mythic analogues of them. A white man powerful in both the political and magical sense tries to seduce Maryse to the dark side for revenge on those who murdered her family in her childhood. She repeatedly revisits that horror in visions of herself as a terrified girl hiding from the assailants. The villain plots to use a revival screening of BIRTH OF A NATION to open a portal between Earth and a hell dimension. A provisional victory for the heroes doesn’t preclude tragic losses. The “shout” in the title refers to group chants whose origins go back to slavery times and beyond. Tales of “Bruh Rabbit” provide additional depth to Maryses’s cultural background. I especially like the device of having the story punctuated by brief excerpts from interviews with aging Gullah people conducted by one of the book’s secondary characters, a white female researcher.
THE WONDER STATE, by Sara Flannery Murphy. This novel invites comparison to Stephen King’s IT. Of course, fiction about adult characters reuniting with childhood friends in their home town isn’t uncommon. THE WONDER STATE, however, also shares with IT the trope of the one person who never left urgently summoning everyone else to return. Her message consists of only the words, “You promised.” But Murphy’s book isn’t horror, although the story includes dark elements. It’s mainly portal fantasy, except that the sought-after portal remains elusive through most of the novel. Instead of a small town in Maine, THE WONDER STATE takes place in the small town of Eternal Springs, Arkansas, in the Ozark region. I’ve never come across a premise like this one before: An eccentric architect, Theodora Trader, designed and built a group of houses with magical qualities, each one different. Brandi (the character who stayed), Jay (female, her best friend), and their companions searched for Theodora’s houses – at Brandi’s urging – and eventually found all except the final goal, the portal to another world. For instance, in the Truth House nobody can tell a lie. A promise made in one of the other houses can’t be broken. Yet another slows time for people as long as they stay in it, days or weeks inside corresponding to only hours in the outside world. Brandi, living in near-poverty with the boyfriend of her absent mother as a surrogate stepfather, after discovering the existence of the enchanted houses draws Jay and a select group of misfit friends into her quest. Disaster ensues, as one would expect, and in young adulthood all except Brandi go their separate ways. She struggles with addiction and apparently straightens out but then disappears soon after sending her appeal to Jay and the others. Realistically, although they answer the call, they don’t want to be there; all have their own lives and plan to stay only a few days. Naturally, the town’s mystery entangles them again. Like King’s IT, this novel alternates scenes from the present and the past, each chapter with a date heading. Past scenes are told in past tense and current events in present tense, a technique tolerable for me because it helps the reader keep track of which time period we’re in. One aspect of the plot baffles me – Jay’s motivation for yearning to pass through the alleged interdimensional portal. It’s understandable that Brandi, who has led such a difficult life, would feel that way; she may plausibly think any world must be better than this one. Jay, though, has no reason to be desperate enough to plunge into an unknown realm, without any assurance she could even get back. For all she knows, the portal house might open into a hell dimension rather than somewhere like Narnia. Nevertheless, the magic is fascinating, the character relationships convincingly complex, secrets and betrayals emotionally fraught, and Jay’s bond with Brandi warm and deep.
I’M AFRAID YOU’VE GOT DRAGONS, by Peter S. Beagle. At first glance, the whimsical tone of the title of this latest novel by the author of THE LAST UNICORN seems to be reflected in the book’s plot. What if dragons weren’t huge, majestic, terrifying beasts, but household pests the size of small lizards (at least as far as the characters know at the beginning)? The protagonist, Robert (a name he’s chosen for himself in preference to his long, Latinate, rather pretentious actual given name) doesn’t hunt dragons with armor and sword; he cleans them out of walls by the dozens or hundreds like mice or cockroaches. Of course, what he and his friends know at the start isn’t the whole truth, and things soon get much more complicated. The LOCUS review compares the early scenes to THE PRINCESS BRIDE, in my opinion applicable only to Princess Cerise’s hordes of suitors who throng her father’s Great Hall in classic fairy-tale style. She politely listens to each, none of whom appeals to her. That farcical situation changes when Prince Reginald wanders into the kingdom more or less by accident, not even seeking a bride. Cerise falls in love with him at first sight, while he goes along with the courtship in a spirit of amiable cooperation more than grand passion. As for Robert, after the humorous opening scene as he wakes up amid his pet dragons (whose existence he keeps secret from everybody outside his family, to maintain his reputation as successor to his late father’s dragon-exterminating business) we soon learn the depth of his distaste for his vocation. While gathering up the reptilian “pests” for delivery to the dragon market, he can hardly keep from crying. When Cerise insists her parents’ shabby castle needs to be made presentable for Prince Reginald, the only task there’s time for is clearing out the dragon infestation. After Reginald hears rumors of larger dragons a manageable distance into the wilderness, he decides to slay one in order to impress his royal father, a warrior celebrated for battle prowess in his younger days who’s now outspokenly disappointed in his son and heir. Reginald turns for guidance to Robert, the closest thing to a dragon-slayer he knows. Robert agrees to cooperate in exchange for a secret deal with Reginald’s impeccably correct, fiercely intelligent manservant to help him (Robert) become a valet for a prince or nobleman, a career he thinks he’ll enjoy far more than his inherited one. The three of them set out in search of a suitable dragon, accompanied by Cerise, who refuses to stay behind. The expedition becomes more than a knightly adventure when they discover a devastated village. Robert suspects a “King” dragon, a species thought to be extinct if not entirely mythical. Worse, the marauding dragon seems to be under the control of a wizard. The past exploits of Reginald’s father come back to haunt the party, while Robert learns secrets about himself. A bond grows between him and Cerise, and he reevaluates his ambition to become a valet. Destruction, loss, and death loom. Characters change, grow, and gain self-knowledge. Like THE LAST UNICORN, this novel segues seamlessly from bright to dark and finally to hope, with a strong conclusion that foreshadows happiness.
For my recommendations of “must read” classic and modern vampire fiction, explore the Realm of the Vampires:
Realm of the Vampires
*****
Excerpt from SEALING THE DARK PORTAL:
Just as Rina slammed the trunk shut, the ground shuddered. She braced herself on the car and let out a yelp. Her stomach quivered. For a second she imagined she was back in the nightmare.
No. She was still in her front yard on a sunny afternoon in Maryland. She stalked to the front stoop and sagged against the wall next to the door. The earth vibrated again. Halfway between the house and the street, a cloud of smoke appeared. The smell of acetone emanated from it.
Swallowing a lump of fear, she set down the grocery bag and fumbled in her purse for the house key, which she jammed into the lock. The cloud, wispy and pale gray at first, thickened, compacted, and darkened. It swirled like a miniature tornado. The funnel shape sprouted pseudopods, four, then six, then seven or eight, absorbing and extruding them at random. A swelling at the top resembled a head only when tusks and crimson eyes materialized on it.
Why doesn’t anybody else notice this? She scrabbled at the doorknob. Her fingers kept slipping. The thing undulated toward her, limbs stretching and retracting, multiple eyes flashing and vanishing. In daylight the creature looked nothing like a dog. Either she was losing her mind, or a monster was attacking her.
The cat sprang on it with his claws extended. As he leaped, his body melted, stretched, and re-formed. It expanded to the size of a pony, while the fur turned sleek instead of fluffy and the claws and fangs enlarged along with the rest of the animal. The plume of his tail lengthened, smoothed out, and lashed like a whip.
Rina stood paralyzed, forgetting the need to escape. A cougar. The cat turned into a cougar. If she wasn’t going crazy, this must be a new nightmare.
Yowling, the tawny mountain lion raked the smoke monster with his claws. The beast’s leg shredded but instantly re-knitted itself. The creature’s talons and jaws ripped at the giant cat, who twisted and dodged fast enough to suffer only glancing scratches instead of lethal wounds. He bit and scratched, tearing holes in the thing’s protean body, but he couldn’t seem to inflict permanent damage. Spitting and hissing, he lunged and retreated over and over. Even in her confusion, Rina could tell he got weaker with every clash.
The smoke monster contracted into a cyclone again. One limb struck out and slammed into the cougar’s flank. The blow knocked him onto the lawn. He lay there stunned.
The cone of darkness whirled toward Rina. Pressure built in her ears. Her head throbbed. Without thinking, overwhelmed by panic, she raised both hands to ward off the thing. “Get away from me!”
Bolts of electricity shot from her fingers. Involuntary sounds welled up in her throat and spewed from her mouth: “Hevatanu, halako, anasoba!” The thing crackled and shriveled. She thrust her hands toward it again, and again sparks radiated from them. The creature emitted a shriek that made her ears ring and vanished.
Panting, Rina leaned on the wall. What just happened? And why aren’t the neighbors running out here? She stared at her shaking hands and flexed her fingers.
A keening meow diverted her attention. Instead of the cougar, the cat lay on the ground in his normal shape. She forced her legs to carry her over to him. His eyes met hers for a second, then closed. She picked up the limp form and staggered inside.
-end of excerpt-
*****
The long-time distributor of THE VAMPIRE’S CRYPT has closed its website. If you would like to read any issue of this fanzine, which contains fiction, interviews, and a detailed book review column, visit the Dropbox page below. Find information about the contents of each issue on this page of my website:
All issues are now posted on Dropbox, where you should be able to download them at this link:
All Vampire’s Crypt Issues on Dropbox
A complete list of my available works, arranged roughly by genre, with purchase links:
For anyone who would like to read previous issues of this newsletter, they’re posted on my website here (starting from January 2018):
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Here’s the list of my Kindle books on Amazon. (The final page, however, includes some Ellora’s Cave anthologies in which I don’t have stories):
Carter Kindle Books
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Amazon
The Fiction Database displays a comprehensive list of my books (although with a handful of fairy tales by a different Margaret Carter near the end):
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Goodreads
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My Publishers:
Writers Exchange E-Publishing: Writers Exchange
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You can contact me at: MLCVamp@aol.com
“Beast” wishes until next time—
Margaret L. Carter
Welcome to the May 2024 issue of my newsletter, “News from the Crypt,” and please visit Carter’s Crypt, devoted to my horror, fantasy, and paranormal romance work, especially focusing on vampires and shapeshifting beasties. If you have a particular fondness for vampires, check out the chronology of my series in the link labeled “Vanishing Breed Vampire Universe.”
Also, check out the multi-author Alien Romances Blog
To subscribe to this monthly newsletter, please e-mail me at MLCVamp@aol.com, and I will add you to the list.
For other web links of possible interest, please scroll to the end.
In April, my vampire romance CRIMSON DREAMS was featured in the Paranormal Romance Event at N. N. Light’s Book Heaven:
The summer when Heather was eighteen, her dream beast’s nightly visits warded off loneliness and swept her away in flights of ecstasy. Now, returning to the mountains to sell her dead parents’ vacation cabin, she finds her “beast” again. But he turns out to be more than a dream. She meets Devin in the flesh, apparently not a day older.
An excerpt appears below. At this point in the story, Heather knows Devin really exists and is a vampire, a member of a naturally evolved humanoid species. You can find the publisher’s page here:
Please enjoy this interview with YA and women’s fiction author Ally Hayes.
*****
Interview with Ally Hayes:
Thanks so much for allowing me to discuss my latest novella, Spring Market Surprise.
What inspired you to begin writing?
I have always been an avid reader and the desire to write started when I was young and grew out of jealousy and awe that a real live person created worlds I loved.
What genres do you work in?
Mostly women’s fiction, but also young adult.
Do you outline, “wing it,” or something in between?
Not only do I outline—in longhand—I write the first draft in an old-school spiral notebook. My first edits are me trying to decipher my handwriting as I type it.
What have been the major influences on your work (favorite authors or whatever)?
Truly, everything and everyone but my contemporary favorite at the moment is Kristan Higgins. She writes relatable stories and characters that feel authentic. I strive to for those qualities.
Please tell us about your Poppy Lane series and how you developed the setting. Do characters recur from book to book? Do the stories need to be read in any particular order?
The Poppy Lane series started with A Snowball’s Chance, which is part of The Wild Rose Press’ Christmas Cookie series. I loved the characters immediately and knew I would revisit them somehow. When WRP announced a spring series, Jelly Beans and Spring Things, I knew I found my chance to continue the stories and wrote two. Promposal on Poppy Lane picks up a year after Snowball and features a young adult romance. Spring Market Surprise focuses on another Poppy Lane resident and begins on a pivotal day in Promposal. Each story stands alone, but I think reading them in order makes the experience more fun.
What is your latest or next-forthcoming book?
Spring Market Surprise just released on March 25th.
What are you working on now?
My last few books have been novellas, so now I am working on a full-length story about friends that opens at a 30th high school reunion. It seems to be taking me a long time to finish as I got used to novella length, but I’m having fun.
What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
Write what you want, not what anyone—especially on social media, says is popular. If you’re not writing what you want, you won’t enjoy it. If you don’t enjoy writing it, no one will enjoy reading it.
What is the URL of your website? What about other internet presence?
I’m active on Facebook and X.
Facebook Author Page
@PartlyHazy
*****
Some Books I’ve Read Lately:
FANGS, by A. E. Howe. The first book in the Baron Blasko mystery series. I read this 2018 novel on the recommendation of a fellow hardcore vampire fan. First, I must acknowledge that the premise isn’t quite like anything in the genre I’ve read before. In the 1930s, protagonist Josephine travels to Romania to fulfill her father’s dying request by scattering her grandfather’s ashes in the cemetery of the village from which he emigrated. When she reaches her destination – near the Arges River, a location associated with the real-life Vlad Dracula – she meets distant relatives but discovers that the village itself has been abandoned. Nobody will tell her exactly why, much less go near the place. Finally, one local man agrees to guide her, along with a Romanian military officer who has been escorting her through the countryside. After the scattering of the ashes, they come upon an apparently deserted manor or castle. A man who seems to be a guard charges at them and gets into a fight with the officer, whereupon they kill each other. Deserted by her local guide, Josephine seeks shelter for the night in the castle. The lord of the manor, Baron Blasko, jumps to the conclusion that she’s a vampire-hunter bent on destroying him. When he attacks her, she tries to defend herself by biting his wrist and accidentally consumes some of his blood. The unintentional two-way blood exchange creates an unbreakable bond between them. They can’t hurt each other, nor can they stand being separated. (She isn’t destined to become a vampire, which requires a more complicated procedure.) Of course unwilling to stay in Romania, she takes the Baron home with her to Alabama, coffin and native earth included. Here I had to suspend disbelief a bit, considering how readily he accepts this plan. Back home, Josephine allows him to take up residence in her basement, which he remodels into a comfortable apartment, paid for by some of the coinage he brings with him. He drinks bottled blood she obtains for him and makes a pet of a bat that lives in the basement rafters. (That’s another detail I wondered about: How does he deal with all the guano?) Blasko is what I think of as a “movie vampire,” one that sleeps through the daylight hours and can’t endure the sun. He also has the typical vampiric gift of mesmerism but not the ability to transform into bat, wolf, or mist. While he accepts the restriction of consuming “dead” blood, its inadequacy as nourishment eventually becomes a problem. The feasibility of drinking animal blood, oddly, is never discussed. The mystery begins with a murder in the house across the street. Partly to forestall accusations against himself, as a foreigner in a small town, and partly from boredom, Blasko – a fan of Sherlock Holmes – decides to solve the crime. Josephine has no choice but to help and try to keep him out of trouble. The story unfolds with suspense seasoned by touches of humor, particularly the Baron’s attempt to learn to drive. The book vividly immerses us in the era of the Depression, Prohibition, racial caste divisions in the American South, and the rising threat of Hitler (only briefly touched upon, since he hasn’t become Germany’s supreme leader yet). The typical mystery cast of suspects and detectives, official and unofficial, comes entertainingly to life. I found the solution and the climactic showdown convincing. I never felt the bond between Josephine and Blasko as strongly as we’re apparently meant to, though, even toward the end after their attachment has become more than merely obligatory. However, I enjoyed the book enough that I’ll try at least the next volume in the series.
THE DARK LORD’S DAUGHTER, by Patricia C. Wrede. Any fan of Wrede’s DEALING WITH DRAGONS and its sequels would expect a new fantasy novel by her to be excellent fun, and this book doesn’t disappoint. While fourteen-year-old Kayla, her widowed (adoptive) mother, and Del, her ten-year-old brother, are visiting the State Fair, a man in a costume out of a fantasy film accosts them. When he introduces himself as Waylan, second commander of the Dark Hordes of Zaradwin, they assume he’s an actor employed by the fair. The next moment, though, he greets Kayla as daughter of the Dark Lord who died ten years earlier, and she and her family find themselves instantaneously transported to a strange world. Wrede deftly sets up the characters and their mundane background in a few vividly drawn pages before introducing Waylan and his pronouncement of Kayla’s alleged destiny. They waste little or no time in doubting the reality of the alien environment, as some authors’ characters in a similar situation might do. Nor do they spend much if any effort pondering, as the reader might, why they hear the local language as English – magic, I guess. To begin with, naturally, they’re preoccupied with how they can get home. Kayla’s mother, in particular, remains narrowly focused on that goal for most of the book, a mindset similar (as Kayla recalls) to her relentlessly single-minded determination during her husband’s final illness. Del can’t help being excited about visiting a world reminiscent of his favorite movies and video games, where he might turn out to have magic of his own. I started the novel expecting a rather lighthearted romp through a fantasy realm, and the story does include frequent humorous moments arising from the culture clash between twenty-first-century American characters and a preindustrial kingdom pervaded by enchantment. I especially like the feature that objects from the mundane world nonexistent in this one transform into their local counterparts. Kayla’s tablet becomes a monkey-like familiar with a British accent; her mother’s pink cell phone becomes a small, pink-furred, magical creature called a Messenger Mouse. Kayla meets a teenage would-be Dark Lord handicapped by his birth into a Light family and the unintimidating name “Archie.” From mildly suspicious rivals, they develop into allies and eventually friends. (He might settle for becoming one of her evil minions, but he keeps trying on more Dark-sounding names just in case.) Yet as the presumptive Dark Lady Kayla copes with high-stakes issues, some literally life-or-death, she prepares for the vitally important investiture ceremony that will decide her fate as well as that of her family and the people she gradually comes to care for. Meanwhile, she helps to get the run-down, dirty fortress into shape under her mother’s tireless direction, sneaks out at night to explore the castle and the nearby village, discovers secrets and hidden rooms, and studies to master her inherited magic. Appalled to realize the locals actually expect her to crush opposition and consolidate her power by exiling, torturing, or executing people on the slightest pretext, she struggles to maintain her Dark Lady status while remaining a morally sound twenty-first-century teenager on the inside. When it becomes clear even to her mother that they’ll be stuck in this world for months at the least, their predicament becomes seriously dire. Delightful, thrilling, un-put-downable. I do wonder whether a sequel might be forthcoming, given the loose ends that remain (such as whether they ever return to Earth and, if so, how they’ll explain their lengthy disappearance).
THE SPARROW, by Mary Doria Russell. Less recently published than I’d thought (1996), this first-contact novel nevertheless presciently foreshadows twenty-first-century technology and current events (as the author’s twentieth-anniversary afterword mentions). It remains convincing as near-future science fiction, aside from the detail of asteroid mining in 2015. It reads like a response to James Blish’s classic “Jesuits in space” story, A CASE OF CONSCIENCE (1958), yet as far as I can tell from Russell’s recorded statements, she not only hadn’t read Blish’s book but hadn’t even heard of it when she conceived hers. Capsule summary of the plot: In the twenty-teens, the SETI project detects radio signals from the Alpha Centauri system, musical broadcasts clearly of intelligent origin. Under the sponsorship of the Jesuit order, a ship constructed from a hollowed-out asteroid sets off at a high fraction of light speed to discover the source. The trip takes seventeen years one way, although reports beamed back to Earth at the speed of light arrive in a bit over four years. Thanks to relativistic time dilation, the crew of the ship experiences only six months on the journey. I admire Russell’s skill at avoiding the need for any form of hyperdrive, keeping the voyage within the possibilities of known science. In 2060, Jesuit priest Emilio Sandoz returns alone in the ship, programmed by the follow-up expedition to navigate home autonomously. The sole survivor of the original mission, he’s physically, mentally, and spiritually broken. A report from the astronauts who discovered him on the planet Rakhat accuses him of prostitution and child-murder. These events unfold in achronic order, skipping between the present (2060) and the past. Chapters have place and date headings to keep the audience anchored. In the scenes of the earlier time period, the mission doesn’t leave Earth until about halfway through the book, so some readers may chafe at the slow buildup. Engrossed in the characters and the plight of Father Sandoz, I felt the narrative structure didn’t drag but, rather, generated suspense. Along with Sandoz as the protagonist, the mission comprises an ensemble cast of fully realized characters, all good people with individual quirks, flaws, and talents. As far as SF content is concerned, the sciences foregrounded are biology, anthropology, and above all linguistics, Sandoz’s specialty. How did fundamental misunderstandings make the first contact with a planet inhabited by two sapient species devolve from an optimistic beginning into catastrophe? Why are Sandoz’s hands horribly mutilated? How did his companions die? What were the traumatic experiences he refuses to talk about? Did he really commit the crimes of which he’s accused? We don’t learn the full answers to these questions until almost the end. When he recovers enough to confront a formal hearing and the report of the second expedition, he says the assertions are “true but all wrong.” Russell creates the most convincing and harrowing fictional depiction of PTSD I’ve ever read. The story arc fundamentally consists of a classic tragic plot — good intentions and vaulting ambition that produce a catastrophic outcome resulting in the protagonist’s downfall, with large-scale repercussions for two worlds. Father Sandoz’s dilemma is left unanswered: Was the mission truly the will of God, as he originally supposed? If not, it was an act of foolish arrogance. If so, then God is responsible for both the beauty and the suffering; therefore, God is “vicious.”
THE CHILDREN OF GOD, by Mary Doria Russell. Sequel to THE SPARROW. Since it’s almost impossible to discuss this novel without spoilers for the first one, I won’t reveal many specifics about the plot. In brief, a planned new expedition to Rakhat in search of commercially valuable products leads the Pope and the Jesuit Father General to believe that Father Sandoz needs to return to the planet, not only to discover the full truth about what has happened in the decades (planetary time) since he left, but also for the good of his own soul. Not surprisingly, he vehemently refuses. He has resigned from the order, rejected his priestly vocation, and metaphorically washed his hands of the whole matter. He does, however, grudgingly agree to train prospective members of the crew in the culture and languages of Rakhat, in hopes that they can avoid the disastrous errors committed by the first mission. One of the book’s most heartbreaking moments occurs when Father Sandoz, having found love and a measure of peace, is forcibly taken aboard the starship and returned to Rakhat. (This isn’t a spoiler; it’s in the cover blurb.) Meanwhile, a revolution of the low-tech, village-dwelling vegetarian species against the urban, dominant, far less numerous carnivorous species is tearing apart the planet’s society. It becomes clear to the reader and soon to the Earth visitors that this catastrophe was unintentionally caused by the first expedition. The addition of a survivor from that mission who was presumed dead thickens the plot, producing a complex, emotionally fraught story. We learn much more about the culture of the dominant Rakhat species, with extended sequences from multiple viewpoints. We discover that two of those characters presented as irredeemable villains in THE SPARROW have much more nuanced personalities and motives. Like THE SPARROW, CHILDREN OF GOD is narrated out of chronological order, with multiple timelines instead of only two. Russell’s interview at the end of this edition remarks that many readers prefer the second novel over the first, which is her favorite of the two. I agree with Russell on this point, though it’s a close call. CHILDREN OF GOD has, if not exactly a happy ending, a concluding scene of reconciliation, peace, and even serenity. I prefer THE SPARROW, however, for its tighter focus on Father Sandoz and the smaller cast of supporting characters. Anyway, I recommend reading both rather than leaving him trapped in the existential despair of the first novel. Although it would be heretical to do evil in order that good may come of it, nevertheless in the long view the sequel postulates that good can be wrested from the worst of circumstances.
For my recommendations of “must read” classic and modern vampire fiction, explore the Realm of the Vampires:
Realm of the Vampires
*****
Excerpt from CRIMSON DREAMS:
Blushing, Heather picked up her spoon. “I thought you didn’t eat food.”
“I can consume liquids,” he said, “though most of them don’t do me any good. Things like gelatin and ice cream are liquids, in a sense–that helps when I get stuck with a dinner invitation I can’t turn down. And I do get nourishment from milk.” He had poured himself a glass, which he sipped while watching Heather eat.
“What we just did,” she said, irritably sensing his amusement at the way she groped for words. “We did that when I was eighteen, when I thought I was dreaming?”
“Not like that, dear one. It’s incredibly different when you’re fully aware of me.” He reached across the table to squeeze her hand. “So much better–I had no idea.”
“But it couldn’t all have been real. Some of it had to be just dreams, fantasies. Zorro and Lancelot and all that.”
“I drew upon whatever scenes would please and excite you the most,” he said. “Manipulative–that’s what you’re thinking, isn’t it? Well, yes, but I also aimed to enhance your pleasure.”
“You did that, all right.” Good grief, why can’t I quit blushing? “I remember flying. In fact, I dreamed that again recently. Now, that can’t have been real–unless you’re holding out on me. You can’t turn into a bat, can you?”
“Certainly not. Where do you think the extra mass would go?”
What little she knew of nuclear physics made Heather cringe at the thought.
“However,” Devin went on, “we can fly, in a sense. Levitate, actually–even though our bones are a bit lighter than yours, true flight is impossible for a human-size creature. And we do transform into a winged entity. The wings are needed for gliding and steering.”
“A giant bat?” Heather rubbed her eyes. “That’s even weirder.”
“Our scholars believe it’s an ancestral form imprinted on the DNA, a shape we discarded as we evolved to mimic your species in every outward respect. One of our psychic gifts involves resuming that shape. The older we grow, the better we can do it, and the longer we can maintain it.”
She swallowed a cold lump of ice cream, chasing it with a gulp of juice. “Show me. I’m tired of blundering around in a fog about what’s real and what’s not.”
He finished his milk and gazed thoughtfully at her. “What the observer sees depends a great deal on what he or she expects to see. We can project illusions of whatever monstrous shape we want to assume. But yes, I can show you–without clouding your mind.”
Her eyes challenged him. “No illusions.”
“No. You’ll see only what physically exists.”
End of Excerpt
*****
The long-time distributor of THE VAMPIRE’S CRYPT has closed its website. If you would like to read any issue of this fanzine, which contains fiction, interviews, and a detailed book review column, visit the Dropbox page below. Find information about the contents of each issue on this page of my website:
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“Beast” wishes until next time—
Margaret L. Carter
Welcome to the April 2024 issue of my newsletter, “News from the Crypt,” and please visit Carter’s Crypt, devoted to my horror, fantasy, and paranormal romance work, especially focusing on vampires and shapeshifting beasties. If you have a particular fondness for vampires, check out the chronology of my series in the link labeled “Vanishing Breed Vampire Universe.”
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A joyful welcome to the northern hemisphere spring!
Below is an excerpt from my “Jelly Beans and Spring Things” story from last year, “Bunny Hunt.” At the neighborhood Easter egg hunt, Melanie’s nephew’s dog, Kiki, runs away to chase a rabbit, and Melanie hurries to catch her. You can find “Bunny Hunt” here:
This month’s interview features another “Jelly Beans and Spring Things” writer, multi-genre author (and trained belly dancer) Sonya Rhen.
*****
Interview with Sonya Rhen:
What inspired you to begin writing?
I’ve always loved stories since I was little and my parents would read to me. I think I wrote my first story when I was around six about two lion cubs. I’ve written short stories and poems ever since. It wasn’t until I discovered NaNoWriMo in 2008 that I actual wrote my first novel, and I’ve been writing more seriously since then. I find that writing really feeds my creative spirit and allows me to process events and situations in a positive way.
What genres do you work in?
I mostly write humor, but I’m fairly eclectic. My writing tends to be all over the place. I write a humorous SciFi Series about a seismic rock band, the Shredded Orphans, who travel in space. I also write poetry, romance and whatever strikes my fancy. I have an unpublished paranormal mystery series I’m writing with a friend.
Do you outline, “wing it,” or something in between?
I’m mostly a “pantser” and wing it while I’m writing, but sometimes I outline or at least have a rough idea where I’m going with the story.
What have been the major influences on your work (favorite authors or whatever)?
I read a lot of different genres, but my favorite authors are Agatha Christie, Alexander McCall Smith, Terry Pratchett, P.G. Wodehouse, Penny Reid, Julia Quinn, T. Kingfisher and Jessie Mihalik. I think these authors all have a pretty good sense of humor as well as telling a good story. For my science fiction influences, I have to say those are primarily television shows. I grew up watching Star Trek and the original Battlestar Galactica with my dad. I also really like Far Scape, Red Dwarf and Firefly.
What sparked your Jelly Beans and Spring Things book, “Waiting for Spring”?
“Waiting For Spring” was written out of my love for belly dancing, my local belly dance community and my love for Kirkland. While there is no actual Kirkland Crocus parade, there is an annual 4th of July parade. When my kids were little, we walked the parade route in the Kid’s Parade that happened just before the main parade. Though I didn’t put it in my story, I did have a motorized kiddie car run over my foot!
Do you practice belly dancing yourself? If so, what can you tell us about that experience, e.g., how long did it take to learn?
I practiced belly dance regularly for about fifteen years. I loved it, but sadly our troupe and classes came to an end during the Covid shutdown. My teacher, Athena, used to dance with the famous Greek belly dancer in Zaphara’s Middle Eastern Dancers and also danced at several local restaurants. It took a few years, but we finally convinced her to start her own troupe and The Habibi Nile Dancers was born. We danced quite a bit in the Seattle area at events, restaurants and haflas. Though, we never danced in any parades.
My parade belly dancing experience was with the renowned Egyptian-Cabaret belly dancer, Delilah (who was in the movie “The China Syndrome” as a Belly Gram dancer.) I danced with her group in two of the Fremont Solstice Parades. (The first time doing the parade I had only been taking lessons for about six months.) It was tiring, but so much fun!
As far as how long it took to learn belly dancing, I’m still learning! The last workshop I took was a Saidi cane dance from the Egyptian musician and dancer Karim Nagi. (You can watch his TEDx Talk on YouTube.) The basics of belly dancing are pretty easy and you can be belly dancing in a matter of months, but there are so many advanced techniques and also a wide variety of dances, that you can always be learning!
Please tell us about the making of the holiday anthology you edited.
The holiday anthology I edited called “Holiday Sampler” was a labor of love. I had this idea of making an anthology for the writer’s group I was in at the time. It was a way of helping us all promote each other’s writing. A lot of people helped contribute to the book of short stories, and I’m really pleased with how it turned out.
Tell us a bit about your “Shredded Orphans” science fiction series.
My first book in the Shredded Orphans series is “Space Tripping With the Shredded Orphans.” The inspiration for the book came partly from a dream I had and a short-lived TV show called “Space Rangers.” By the time I got around to writing it, I think it was influenced a lot by the show “Firefly.” Someone from my critique group referred to my novel as “Firefly,” but with a band. The band consists of Lix, the guitarist and lead singer; Chitto, the sitonitar player; Mac, the drummer; Ophelia, the backup singer and trapeze artist; and Justice, the roadie and pilot. It’s an intergalactic road trip with a seismic rock band!
What is your latest or next-forthcoming book?
I have book three in the Shredded Orphans series nearly complete, so that might be the next book I have coming out. I had put it on hold to deal with family things and haven’t gotten back to it yet. In the meantime, I’ve been working on short stories, but have yet to have any of them published (other than “Waiting For Spring”.)
What are you working on now?
Right now I’m working on finishing a handful of short stories as well as a paranormal mystery series that I’m writing with a friend. Writing is really difficult and when personal things come up and things go wrong with the house, it really puts a damper on writing. So when I can write, it’s just to try and finish up writing projects I’ve already started.
What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
My advice for aspiring authors is that writing is hard. If you think writing is a good get rich quick scheme, then you’d be better off getting a different job. But if you have a compulsion to write and you love playing with words, then go for it. Also, if there’s something you really want to write as a legacy, like your memoir or family history, then now is a great time for writing. There are so many resources out there for you in terms of writing tools like software, computers, tablets, dictation software and affordable self-publishing options, so you can be holding a physical copy of your book without having to buy 10,000 or so copies. If you are seriously thinking about becoming an author, then I recommend two things. First, try NaNoWriMo. It has great resources and is a great way to get a lot of words down in a short amount of time. Then you can see if this is really something that you want to be doing. Second, join writers’ groups, either in your area or online. Making writer friends is a great way to get support and advice. And then, just keep writing!
What is the URL of your website? What about other internet presence?
You can find me at the following places online:
Author Website
Facebook
Twitter @SonyaRhen
Instagram
Threads sonyarhen
TikTok @sonyarhen
*****
Some Books I’ve Read Lately:
LEGENDS & LATTES [sic], by Travis Baldree. In addition to the cute title, I was intrigued by the numerous favorable references to this novel I’d come across. After reading its blurb, I couldn’t resist buying it. Good decision, especially for a longtime Dungeons and Dragons player. The opening scene reads like the climax of a D&D campaign. Veteran orc freelance fighter Viv slays a monster called a Scalvert and takes a stone with rumored magical powers from its head. The rest of the book, however, doesn’t follow the D&D action-adventure pattern. Labeled “A novel of high fantasy and low stakes,” that’s exactly what it is. Nobody is trying to save the world or even a threatened homeland. The personal stakes are high for the protagonist, though, as they should be. A retired orc warrior who loves coffee and books, starting a new life as proprietor of a coffee shop in a city where nobody outside the gnome community has ever heard of that beverage? Irresistible. Foreswearing violence and hanging up her sword (literally, on the wall), Viv dips into the fortune she won as a mercenary and dungeon-delver to buy an abandoned livery stable. She buries the Scalvert Stone under the floor, hoping it will bring good fortune as its legend claims. In the course of remodeling the premises and opening the shop (like a tavern, she explains, but with “bean water” instead of alcohol), she gains employees and other helpers who soon become allies, friends, and eventually partners. Most notably, Viv grows close to Tandri, a succubus with a flare for art. Just as Viv refuses the stereotypical role of a barbaric orc, Tandri resists the one-dimensional image of seductive demons imposed on her species. Aside from harassment by a gang running a protection racket, after a rocky start Viv’s enterprise prospers. Coffee, pastries, a strange product called “chocolate,” and the music of a timid bard prove to be big hits with the customers. Viv even manages to handle the gang without resorting to the violence she has renounced. Unfortunately, one of her old adventuring comrades covets the Scalvert Stone and has no scruples about how to get it. I found the dark moment when all seems lost, and its aftermath, truly moving. The characters are totally engaging, and the quirky interactions among different fantasy-world species are fun to read. The awkwardly tentative relationship between Viv and Tandri is touching, as the reader waits eagerly for them to admit their feelings to themselves and each other. As a bonus at the end, the book includes a prequel story, revealing Viv’s first encounter with coffee (unconnected to the prequel novel, BOOKSHOPS & BONEDUST).
BOOKSHOPS & BONEDUST. As in LEGENDS & LATTES, the characters in this prequel don’t face a world-destroying threat, although the stakes are a little higher than those in L&L. In B&B, Viv, still an active mercenary fighter at this point, battles the minions of an evil necromancer, whose menace lurks in the background throughout the novel. Nevertheless, the tagline of L&L does fit this story, too, which might be described as another “cozy” fantasy. After getting severely wounded in the opening scene due to her impulsively aggressive fighting style, Viv stays in a tiny seaside town to recover while the mercenary company moves on without her. They’ll theoretically swing by to pick her up after she heals, but doubts on that point trouble her. Frustrated by her limitations on training effectively while convalescing and bored with inactivity, she wanders into a dilapidated bookstore deserted except for its rattkin proprietor and a pet owl-canine creature named Potroast. (Despite the plural in the title, it seems to be the only bookstore in town. To paraphrase a line from BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, they don’t have a lot of town.) After the shop owner talks Viv into accepting a novel on a bet, she not only turns into a compulsive reader but gradually becomes determined to spruce up the shabby establishment and enliven its almost nonexistent cash flow. In this eclectic community of species such as dwarfs, gnomes, and elves, including at least one other orc, Viv hesitantly makes friends, although reluctant to grant them that label. After all, she’ll be moving on soon, an understanding that influences but doesn’t prevent a romantic fling. She also clashes with a suspicious elvish constable, finds an ominous magical tome, and develops an alliance with a skeletal golem who doesn’t really want to return to its necromantic creator. The bookstore gets rejuvenated, bonds are formed, and the looming evil is confronted. Travis Baldree’s delightful narrative voice manages with apparent ease the daunting task of making an orc fighter a sympathetic character. The events of this book foreshadow Viv’s activities and growth in LEGENDS & LATTES without, however, undercutting her warrior persona in the present. The epilogue skips ahead to a scene taking place soon after LEGENDS & LATTES but doesn’t contain any significant spoilers. These two books could be read in either order, although I would recommend the publication sequence (LEGENDS & LATTES first).
ROSES IN AMBER, by C. E. Murphy. “Beauty and the Beast” is my favorite fairy tale, and of all the adaptations I’ve read or viewed, this is one of the most unusual. The basic plot and characters of the traditional tale form the framework, but with fascinating variations. Although we’ve seen other proactive Beauty figures, e.g,, in both of Robin McKinley’s novelizations and in the Disney animated film, Murphy’s Amber beats them all. The youngest of three sisters, unlike Beauty in the familiar story she also has three younger half-brothers by a stepmother, far from cruel, who has been a loving mother to the girls. After the family loses their home and possessions to a fire in the opening scene, their previously wealthy father learns of the loss of his ships. Faced with unpayable debts, they leave town by night to retire to their distant hunting lodge (which the children have never seen before), accompanied by only one faithful servant. The battered but plucky characters and their sad plight kept my interest fully engaged until the encounter with the Beast finally occurs, over one-third through the book. Unlike Beauty in any other version I’ve read or viewed, Amber travels back to the city with her father to reclaim their single salvaged merchant vessel and settle their debts. Therefore, she’s with him during the first night at the Beast’s palace, and she herself plucks the fateful rose. The story takes place in an alternate world, similar but not identical to our Renaissance or early modern Europe. Instead of practicing Christianity, the inhabitants revere the sun, moon, and stars. Everyone acknowledges the existence of faeries, witches, and magic, although few people expect to witness them in daily life. Same-sex marriage is accepted as routine. Class distinctions, however, hold sway just as in our history. Most readers, knowing from the cover blurb that they’re reading a “Beauty and the Beast” adaptation, will guess the Beast’s true identity long before he’s even introduced in person. That fact doesn’t function as the big secret reserved for a climactic revelation; the Beast tells Amber about his origin and curse midway through the novel, as soon as they develop a friendly relationship. Magic, though, prevents him from speaking of the details of the curse or possible ways to break it. Devastating revelations about the royal family’s tragedy, the Faerie War, Amber’s parents’ long-buried secrets, and the girls’ own latent magic culminate in a fight for the lives of Amber’s sisters as well as the Beast. The breaking of his curse plays out to a shocking, unexpected, but satisfying conclusion.
For my recommendations of “must read” classic and modern vampire fiction, explore the Realm of the Vampires:
Realm of the Vampires
*****
Excerpt from “Bunny Hunt”:
She raced along the narrow trail. Judging from the volume of the barking, the dog hadn’t gotten far yet. Melanie sprinted toward the noise, hoping to sight the runaway around the next curve in the path. What if she chased the rabbit into the underbrush?
No need to worry about that problem until she caught up with the animals. Rounding a bend, she forced herself to a burst of speed. She didn’t see her quarry, but the yapping grew still louder. After the second loop in the trail, she almost tripped over Kiki’s leash and skidded to a stop.
Not far off the path under the trees, the dog stood with her front paws pinning the rabbit to the ground. She kept barking but didn’t move otherwise, as if she had no idea what to do with her thrashing, kicking prey. The wild animal appeared to weigh at least ten pounds, barely smaller than the dog herself.
Panting and sweating from the run, Melanie lifted her ponytail off the damp nape of her neck while she seized a loop of the leash with her other hand. If one of those kicks connected, Scott’s pet could get seriously hurt. “Kiki, drop it!”
The pup didn’t even glance at her. That must have been a command she either hadn’t learned yet or chose to ignore. Melanie gave the leash a firm jerk. Startled, Kiki tumbled off the flailing rabbit and struggled to land on all fours.
The rabbit sprang upright. Melanie retreated a couple of steps, hauling the dog with her. To her surprise, the rabbit turned its head and gazed up as if assessing her. Kiki, already recovering her balance, strained at the leash.
“Well, what are you waiting for, bunny? Get out of here.”
I’m talking to a wild rabbit. Unless maybe it’s an escaped pet? That possibility would account for how little fear of humans it showed.
Staring straight at her, it reared up on its haunches. Its amber eyes gazed at her with an expression of unnerving attention.
What’s it thinking about me? Melanie shook her head. Whoa! Now I’m giving it credit for human intelligence.
A bright shimmer dazzled her vision. When it faded, the animal was standing on its hind legs—and growing. It expanded to person-height. Kiki emitted an alarmed yip and huddled against Melanie’s leg. Melanie simply froze, her mouth gaping open.
When the glow faded, a human-size bunny stood before her. It—no, she—displayed the same cinnamon-brown fur and long ears. Her face had the general shape of a woman’s, but with whiskers, amber eyes, a button nose, and rabbity incisors. Her leg joints bent at an angle suitable for hopping. Most striking, two vertical rows of nipples, four and four, adorned the front of her body, and her belly bulged with an obvious pregnancy.
-end of excerpt-
*****
The long-time distributor of THE VAMPIRE’S CRYPT has closed its website. If you would like to read any issue of this fanzine, which contains fiction, interviews, and a detailed book review column, visit the Dropbox page below. Find information about the contents of each issue on this page of my website:
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All Vampire’s Crypt Issues on Dropbox
A complete list of my available works, arranged roughly by genre, with purchase links:
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Carter Kindle Books
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You can contact me at: MLCVamp@aol.com
“Beast” wishes until next time—
Margaret L. Carter