Seize The Night: New Tales Of Vampiric Terror edited by Christopher Golden, part 2
We Are All Monsters Here
A woman engages in a quiet sort of horror as she fights to survive in a post-apoc world caused by vampires. This was commendable, sad, nostalgic and the grimmest.
May The End Be Good
During the Norman Conquest, a disquieting mood covers the ruined land. A cautiously polite monk feels a sense of peril about his life circumstances. This was okay.
A tale of 2 weird families and unfettered horribleness. This was less than it could have been.
A woman’s quest for a job led her into a dark situation. And then she realised her situation was even darker than she thought. This was a good gritty urban tale.
Shadow And Thirst
A man’s father seemingly turns into a vicious madman after a visit to a mysterious tower that has suddenly shown up. This started out good, creepy and Lovecratian raising terrible questions. But the injection of humour and a massive exposition dump detracted from it. Still I enjoyed this and its unhurried pace and its unascertained baddie.
“Had his father ever verified that what he’d been told was a well was, in fact, a well?”
“Well, that’s reassuring.”
A frothing-at-the-mouth cryptid hunter wades into a volatile and dangerous situation. Insinuations are made. When you commit aggressive trespass into a monster’s territory, you will regret it. Okay.
“Respectable people don’t believe it, of course.”
People act wrongly with the greatest vigour. Weirdness doesn’t register on an emotional level. This was not raw, startling, lethal or brutal.
The Yellow Death
A resourceful woman survives, belatedly she realises why. This was okay.
The Last Supper
A vampire walks the earth alone after a plague has wiped out humanity. Okay.
“Carter had seen enough post apocalyptic movies and read enough dystopian fiction that visions of leather-clad punk rock marauders filled her head.”
Horror in the Philippines. Dull.
What Kept You So Long?
A Swedish trucker is a vampire. Dull.
An excellent and horrifying tale of human sacrifice.
Schoolgirl Chums by Peter Glidewell
A tale of a new girl at a boarding school and an evil teacher. This was okay and made into a BBC drama.
St Ursula’s In Danger by Peter Glidewell
A ghost torments the school! Or does it. This was good and was also made into a BBC drama. I never read book 3 ‘Miss Prosser’s Passion’.