Posted in excerpt, Fantasy, Horror, vampire on October 13, 2023

 

 

Synopsis

 

“You will bloom in Versailles like an exotic flower. The vampyres of the palace love anything out of the ordinary. But beware: the Court of Shadows has its codes, its deadly traps, and the slightest faux pas pay with the price of blood…”

In the year of grace 1715, Louis XIV transformed from the Sun King into the King of Shadows when he embraced immortality and became the world’s first vampire. For the last three centuries, he has been ruling the kingdom from the decadent Court of Shadows in Versailles, demanding the blood of his subjects to sate his nobles’ thirst and maintain their loyalty.

In the heart of rural France, commoner Jeanne Froidelac witnesses the king’s soldiers murder her family and learns of her parents’ role in a brewing rebellion involving the forbidden secrets of alchemy. To seek her revenge, Jeanne disguises herself as an aristocrat and enrolls in a prestigious school for aspiring courtiers. She soon finds herself at the doors of the palace of Versailles.

But Jeanne, of course, is no aristocrat. She dreams not of court but of blood. The blood of a king.

 

A major international success, the VAMPYRIA series has been widely translated and is available in 9 languages (French, Spanish, Italian, Czech, German, Russian, Dutch, Finnish, and now English).

 

 

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Excerpt

 

Chapter 4 – Departure

 

I’m paralyzed with fear.

My body feels like it’s sewn to the black leather lining the inside of the ebony carriage, its vibrations reverberating right through to the hollows of my bones.

On the bench opposite mine, the vampyre sits, immobile. His chiseled face is turned toward the nocturnal landscape passing by the window. The dark night obscures his fixed gaze. There’s not the slightest breath to make his nostrils quiver. It’s hard to believe that one hour ago I held his arm to go down the hill until the carriage met up with us. We didn’t cross paths with anyone. As with the villagers, the baron’s staff stayed cloistered in the outbuildings, in keeping with curfew. Perhaps they sensed that a lord of the night was prowling about the castle . . .

Just as in the baronette’s bedchamber, I have the impression of being in front of a statue. The only thing that’s moving is his magnificent red hair, which gently vibrates in rhythm with the carriage.

On occasion, I saw my father prepare the dead bodies of villagers for burial. Supposedly, after one’s demise, the nails and hair continue to grow. In the case of vampyres, that’s certainly true, as Dr. Boniface explained in his sermons celebrating the magical beauty of the lords of the night. Whereas mortal noblemen, along with many noblewomen, adorn themselves with wigs and hairpieces in order to appear more impressive, the immortals don’t need such artifice. Having gorged on the blood of all those on whom they feed, their hair is supernaturally dazzling and vibrant.

I grind my teeth to stifle a groan.

I’m face to face with an undead brimming with life. It’s the paradox of vampyres, a notion that was always an abstraction for me until now. But tonight it’s become horribly concrete. A living death is just that: a total petrification, after which comes the ability of supernatural speed; a coldness that seems to emanate from the passenger and latches on to me in spite of the blanket he threw over my shoulders; and most of all, this awful silence that no intake of breath disrupts. The two dragoons aboard the rear of the vehicle don’t say a word. I can hear only the creaking of the axle, the trotting of the horses, and the brief snap of the coachman’s tongue encouraging them at the front of the carriage.

And so I’m swept off into the unknown night, traveling farther than my steps ever took me, my body chilled and my mind numb, too shocked to mourn all those I’ve lost.

“Would you like to eat, mam’zelle?”

Slowly, I open my eyes.

A flood of dazzling light washes over me. I promptly close my eyelids.

I have to blink several times in order to banish blinding tears. As my eyes clear, I take in the padded interior of the carriage, its black leather glistening in the sunlight. Across from the bench where I dozed off, the space is empty.

As if the vampyre simply faded come morning.

As if everything had been a bad dream.

“Mam’zelle, are you hungry?” the dragoon asks again as he opens the carriage door to speak to me.

He holds out a wicker basket filled with warm bread and lard.

My muscles, which all night were paralyzed by the presence of the vampyre, recover a little of their suppleness. My mind regains its pluck.

An idea forms: I must escape.

As soon as possible and by any means.

Although the dragoon speaks to me courteously, no doubt under strict orders, his lips do not smile, and his eyes watch me attentively. A gun is slung over his shoulder, and a sword hangs from his belt. It’s a brutal reminder of the sword that decapitated Valère. The vision of Maman’s slit throat stops my breathing.

Swallowing my pain, I pretend to grab the basket when I’m really trying to assess my chances of fleeing. I pop my head outside the door and notice the rear of the carriage: two large iron trunks are strapped under a black leather canopy, where the two other dragoons must have traveled during the night. At present, they’re eating on the grass, taking big, hurried mouthfuls before we set off again.

As for the carriage’s fifth passenger . . .

“The vamp . . . the viscount,” I whisper, only just correcting myself.

“Is he gone?”

A flicker of fear crosses the dragoon’s eyes.

“The viscount is here,” he answers lugubriously.

I absorb his words and tone, but I don’t see the viscount anywhere in the carriage. I open my mouth to question him further, but the mere mention of his employer has sent him into a feverish state.

“Well, I’ll let you eat, in case you’re hungry,” he says, tossing the basket onto the bench. “We have to leave soon if we want to reach Versailles the day after tomorrow.”

“Wait!” I yell, completely disoriented.

Versailles, the day after tomorrow? I thought it took a week to go from the Auvergne to the Île-de-France, the region around Paris.

The door shuts with a loud bang on my protests, and then the lock turns with a click.

So much for my window to escape.

As the carriage sets off again, I lower my eyes to the floor.

There’s an iron ring in the center that I hadn’t noticed until now.

The handle of a trapdoor.

In horror, I realize that the creature is most definitely here—protected from the sun’s rays as he rests in the obscurity of the luggage hold beneath my feet, closer to me than ever before.

 

 

About the Author

 

Victor Dixen is the author of many bestselling French novels, including four series for young adults: THE STRANGE CASE OF JACK SPARK, ANIMALE, PHOBOS and VAMPYRIA; and he is a two-time winner of the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire, the most prestigious science-fiction and fantasy award in France. Born to a French mother and Danish father, Victor grew up in the city of Versailles. As an adult, he has lived in Denver, Dublin, Singapore, and New York City. He now divides his time between Paris and Washington, DC with his family and his two inquisitive cats.

 

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About the Translator

 

Françoise Bui spent twenty years as an executive editor at Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, where her list of edited books included numerous novels in translation. Of these, four received the Mildred L. Batchelder Award (for most outstanding children’s book initially published in a foreign language), and two were Honor titles. Originally from France, Bui lives in New York City.

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Posted in excerpt, Fantasy, Horror, paranormal, Review, Urban, vampire on June 23, 2022

 

 

 

 

Synopsis

 

It is the duty of the Vanguard to protect the world from unseen demonic forces.

But what if the organization falls to corruption? Their reformation is up to Cato, a disgraced former member who discovers many of the elite using their powerful positions and martial skills for ill-gotten gains rather than fulfilling their true purpose: aiding mankind in a secret war against their eternal foe.

Aldous is a Vanguard who fell from grace after being stricken with vampirism by a mysterious figure known as the White Lady. His increasingly vile appetites are tolerated because his knowledge as an alchemist is vital in the Vanguard’s battle against the demons. When those desires lead to the abduction of the woman Cato loves, Cato wages a one-man war against Aldous and his werewolf henchman.

 

 

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Praise

 

“While This World of Love and Strife will reach horror audiences, it also should be included in fantasy and thriller library collections as a strong example of the strengths that can emerge from a story that embraces different genres with powerful characters and scenarios that are unpredictable and engrossing.- D. Donovan, Midwest Book Review

“The thrills build and build and never let up. The characters feel like real people. Even the vampires and werewolf! Best of all was the protagonist. He starts as kind of an eccentric and a bit of a jerk, but by the end I couldn’t get enough of him. I highly recommend this book for people who don’t mind horror with a heaping dose of action.”- John Martin, Amazon

 

Guest Review by Nora

 

This book really intrigued me and kept me guessing! ‘This World of Love and Strife,’ by Shawn Mackey is a one-of-a-kind novel that takes all of the best elements of horror and combines them with a thriller.

The fictional world of Lumina City is such a powerful and vivid atmosphere that, as I was reading, I kept forgetting that it wasn’t a real place—despite the fact that it’s full of demons, vampires and werewolves, of course.

What a world that Mackey has created, and what an interesting plot to set these characters into! The story centers around Cato, a former member of an organization responsible for expelling demons. The organization is called the Vangaurd, and they have members in high political positions all over the world. The Vangaurd’s job is to stop demons from getting into people’s head and controlling their thoughts.

Cato left the organization after a civil war split them apart, and went into hiding, but he still has a bounty on his head from the Vangaurd. Which makes things difficult, because Cato has just received a vision from a disembodied voice that convinced him that humanity is in grave danger.

Further complicating things is the fact that the woman that Cato loves has recently been captured by a vampire. The vampire is another former Vanguard member named Aldous whom Cato has a personal vendetta against.

This book is a wild ride and one that has to be read to be believed. Mackey’s writing is superb and his grasp of plotting is everything a reader could want in a horror novel.

The different character perspectives kept the story fresh and provided a lot of insight into the story that might have otherwise been lost with something so ambitious. This is an incredible five star book in what might seem like an unassuming package. Don’t miss this one!

 

 

Excerpt

 

Maggie went inside, suppressing the urge to run up the stairs, her limbs jittering in anxiety. She stopped at the top floor, bracing for something terrible. Nancy was dead, and if her intuition proved true, Cato wouldn’t survive the night. She continued down the hall, dreading each step. At Cato’s door, she was about to knock, then reached for the knob instead. It was locked.

“Cato,” she said quietly, rapping her knuckles against the door. “It’s me, Maggie. Can you open up?”

After waiting a few minutes, she called his cell phone to see if he was actually home. From the other side of the door, she heard it vibrate against the hardwood floor.

“Hello?” he answered, so low she could only hear him over the phone.

“Open the door, Cato. I’m outside.”

Within a minute, he unlocked the door. Maggie waited for him to open up. A few seconds later, she heard a loud thump, prompting her to barrel inside the room. Cato lay in a heap, pale and trembling. She closed the door, locking it behind her, and then ran to his side.

“What happened?” she asked, feeling his forehead. It was cold.

“I saw it,” he mumbled. She grabbed him by the face and got in close.

“Open your eyes. Look at me!”

“Maggie?” he said, blinking heavily. He shot upward with a gag. She helped him to the toilet, where he continued to wretch, but didn’t vomit.

“Tell me what happened. What did you see? Was it Nancy?”

“Everyone,” he said. When he didn’t elaborate, she shook him.

“Come on, damn it!”

“You have no idea how dire things are. We’re all fucked.”

“Cato,” she screamed, shaking him harder. She slapped him lightly across the cheek. “Snap out of it.”

“How can I begin to explain it to you? You wouldn’t even believe me.”

“Say it in your own words. I’ll figure the rest out.”

“You were a nurse, right?” he asked with a grunt, leaning against the bathroom wall. She noticed a gash on his forehead.

“Almost. A nurse’s aide,” she said, looking through his medicine cabinet. It was filled with empty bottles of unlabeled pills. She tossed them one by one into the garbage, searching for disinfectant.

“You understand how prevalent bacteria are.”

“You certainly don’t. I found bandages. Got rubbing alcohol?”

“Not anymore.”

“Then this will have to do,” she said, sticking a bandage on his wounded head after a light wash with soap and water. It wasn’t very deep. “What about bacteria?”

“Evil seeps into this world as pervasively as bacteria. Like diseases, it takes on forms—”

“What are you babbling about?”

“I thought you wanted to listen?” he snapped. She lapsed into silence, and he continued: “As nurse, you’ve got plenty of protocols to adhere in order to prevent bacterial infections. The same goes for evil, only the procedures are much more difficult. It takes more than surgical gloves and disinfectant to stop Nergal. Plentiful food won’t save you from Pazuzu and frugality isn’t enough to fend off Mammon. These demons, billions of them, maybe trillions, are more pervasive than bacteria. Their influence can’t be understated. They squash human will to such a degree, I doubt we’re any more than golems for these creatures. I can’t even trust my own thoughts.”

“These creatures,” Maggie said, feigning calm. She was aghast by the nonsense he spewed, but the concern for him trumped it enough to humor him. “You call them creatures. Can you see them?”

“They manifest all over the world. I’ve killed some before. So has Reggie, unless he lied.”

“Reggie never told me about this.”

“He hasn’t seen what I’ve seen.”

“Explain.”

“I saw Hell,” he said, then after a long pause: “Human souls cling to the bottom like dead insects, and the ones with the courage to escape are battered down by a legion of demons. It’s going on right now and will continue for all eternity. I’ll never know a moment of peace ever again.”

“It sounds horrible. Do you remember what happened before this?”

“No.”

“I saw an ambulance and police cars at Nancy’s apartment. Do you know anything about it?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“The only thing I’m sure of is what I saw, and what I’m going to do from here on. There’s a spiritual sickness that needs curing. I won’t let my soul stay bound. I’m going to destroy Hell.”

“That’s a—” she started, but didn’t know how to finish. Cato closed his eyes and rested his head against the wall. “Cato, are you okay?”

“No.”

“What can I do for you?”

“Save yourself. Don’t trust me to do it for you.”

“How?”

“To start, stop viewing things through the eyes of the world. Someone told me that a long time ago, and I didn’t listen. I’ll never do that again.”

“Who?” she asked. He covered his face with his hands and let out a groan. There was a sad tinge to it. Maggie considered probing further, but it was best not to agitate him. Nothing good ever came from questioning Cato’s past. She crawled forward and caressed his head. “Let’s go to sleep.”

“That’s a good idea,” Cato said, standing. He nearly stumbled into Maggie. She helped support him to his bed, tucking the blanket in and pulling it over him, then laying by his side.

“Will you tell me about Nancy in the morning?” she asked. He nestled his head on her shoulder and muttered something incoherent. Rather than ask him to clarify, Maggie closed her eyes. She was exhausted, and rather than linger in this maddening night, closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep.

 

 

About the Author

 

Living in New Jersey for all his life, Shawn Mackey has been writing since childhood. Though his favorite genre is horror, he has a deep appreciation for fantasy influenced by mythology and science fiction that questions the modern world and its future.

 

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Giveaway

 

This giveaway is for 1 print or ebook copy.

Print is open to the U.S. only. eBook is open worldwide.

This giveaway ends on July 23, 2022 midnight, pacific time.

Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.

 

 

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Posted in Horror, Movie, nonfiction, Spotlight, vampire on March 25, 2019

 

STRANGE BLOOD: 70 ESSAYS ON OFFBEAT AND UNDERRATED VAMPIRE MOVIES

EDITED BY VANESSA MORGAN

Publisher: Moonlight Creek Publishing

Genre: horror, vampires, movies, non-fiction
Cover design: Gilles Vranckx

Release date: April 2019

Synopsis

This is an overview of the most offbeat and underrated vampire movies spanning nine decades and 23 countries.

Strange Blood encompasses well-known hits as well as obscurities that differ from your standard fang fare by turning genre conventions on their head. Here, vampires come in the form of cars, pets, aliens, mechanical objects, gorillas, or floating heads. And when they do look like a demonic monster or an aristocratic Count or Countess, they break the mold in terms of imagery, style, or setting.

Leading horror writers, filmmakers, actors, distributors, academics, and programmers present their favorite vampire films through in-depth essays, providing background information, analysis, and trivia regarding the various films. Some of these stories are hilarious, some are terrifying, some are touching, and some are just plain weird. Not all of these movies line up with the critical consensus, yet they have one thing in common: they are unlike anything you’ve ever seen in the world of vampires.

Just when you thought that the children of the night had become a tired trope, it turns out they have quite a diverse inventory after all.

 

About the Author

Vanessa Morgan is the author of several fiction and non-fiction books in the horror genre. Three of her stories (The Strangers Outside, Next to Her and A Good Man), have become movies. When she’s not working on her latest book, you can find her reading, watching horror movies, digging through flea markets, or photographing felines for her blog Traveling Cats.

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Posted in Fantasy, Spotlight, vampire on February 27, 2015

Velicious Cover

 

Synopsis

Justice Morel always had her life perfectly planned. Her goals were to graduate from the University with exceptional grades and get into the best law school Canada has to offer.

Then one day, Justice tried to kill herself. Well, not her technically. It may have been Justice Morel’s body, but those actions weren’t intentional and the suicidal thoughts were not hers. Or, so she keeps telling her therapist and family.

Justice is afraid she’s losing her mind and just wants to forget everything. But when her best friend is murdered, another one is being mind-screwed by a Vampyre, and her ex is back in town, looking as scrumptious as ever and very suspicious, maybe she isn’t all that crazy!

Just when she thinks that life couldn’t throw her anymore curve balls, Justice figures out that she is Vampyre Doll and there’s a vampyre who seems very familiar to her, but she can’t figure out from where.

Justice is suffocating and drowning in a dark world she’s been tossed into, forced to survive. It’s a world she never wanted to know about and would love to ignore, like it doesn’t exist. But, with every passing day, she’s pulled deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole, wishing for everything to go back to the way it was.

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Excerpt

“Press your lips against mine,” Dante commands and with a quick movement, he wrapped the necklace around his wrist with the searing still persisting and, of course, shortening the chain around my neck, which inevitably drew me closer into him. He informed, “Every moment you do not kiss me, the poison seeps into my flesh, into my bloodstream, and will kill me.”

Was he serious? Dante could not be seriously poisoning himself because I was not going to kiss him. Shaking my head nervously, I was annoyed at what he was doing. “This isn’t fair, Dante. Back off.”

”I don’t like playing fair woman,” And he winced momentarily, with the pain I could hear and smell. We were too close, I can’t be this close to him.

“What is wrong with you?” I breathed.

“Some say many things.”

“Da—”

“—Kiss me.” He leaned in closer.

“Please,” I pleaded in a whisper, shaken.

“Justice, kiss me,” and those beseeching words, connected our eager lips.

The kiss started slow and soft, and my skin caught on fire. That kiss was just what I wanted to avoid. But when Dante grimaced, it reminded me of his burning flesh and I disconnected our lips.

About the Author

Awesome mother of two beautiful baby girls and wife to the luckiest man on the planet. I love anything to do with the paranormal world. Author, reader, blogger. Inspirational quotes, meditating and photography I appreciate. Sailormoon, movie-holic and hopeless Romantic. Lactose intolerant but I loves cheese pizza. Shopaholic and I’m an Aries.

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Posted in Fantasy, fiction, Spotlight, vampire on November 2, 2014

eternal vigilance

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Synopsis

After a century-long Sleep, Tynan Llywelyn has awoken to find the world he once knew utterly obliterated by a brutal war of epic proportions. In a new apocalyptic society bitterly divided by magic and technology, the Tyst Empire has found that a hundred years of global domination is not enough to sate their thirst for power. They have discovered the secret of the vampire race and have designed a plan to seize their own sinister form of immortality with the help of an ancient vampiric god.

The Phuree, a rebel uprising that has been engaged in a bloody war with the Tyst since the beginning of the new regime, have obtained the knowledge of Lord Cardone’s plans and have allied themselves with the remaining Immortal clan. The powerful Phuree oracle, Nahalo, has had a vision that in Tynan alone lies the power to defeat the vampiric god and the dictatorship. Cast in violence and conspiracy into the midst of a global war between magic and technology, mortals and vampires, in a new world he is still struggling to define, Tynan must make the harrowing decision to save the world he so bitterly detests or stand and watch as humanity is destroyed by a primordial evil beyond all imagining.

Eternal Vigilance sweeps the audience away with the darkly poetic, ancient voice of Tynan Llewelyn into a gritty and violent future where humans and vampires are forced to work hand-in-hand to save the world from annihilation, where technology has evolved far beyond the control of its creators and the barriers that separate the mortal realm from the world of the gods has begun to crumble. This ground breaking trilogy will ensnare your heart and soul, leaving you breathless and quietly pondering our universal fate, once the sun has gone down…

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About the Author

Internationally renowned author Gabrielle Faust is best known for her vampire series ETERNAL VIGILANCE. Her previous work has also included three collections of poetry, BEFORE ICARUS AFTER ACHILLES, CROSSROADS and THE BEGINNING OF NIGHTS, the novella REGRET, the celebrated dark fantasy adventure novel REVENGE, and the vampire novel THE LINEAGE. She was also the chief editor and a contributor of the vampire anthology HIGH STAKES. Her work has appeared in the sites SciFi Wire, Fatally Yours, Examiner, Doorways Magazine and Fear Zone, as well as various anthologies and magazines.

Faust was the Guest of Honor at the Queen of the Damned Vampire Ball in 2008. From 2009 to 2011 she was a Special Guest of the Endless Night Festival in New Orleans and was crowned “New Orleans Vampire Royalty” by the Vampire Lestat Fan Club at the Tru Blood & Gold vampire ball in 2010 alongside Charlaine Harris. Faust was the primary graphic designer for the 2011 World Horror Convention and was the co-crew chief for the International Housing Program for the SXSW Music Festival from 1994 to 2010. In 2011 Faust was awarded the Texas Social Media Award by the Austin American Statesman. She is currently a Staff Writer for Gothic Beauty Magazine. More information about Gabrielle Faust and her work can be found on her website.

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Posted in paranormal, vampire on November 9, 2008

Cerridwen Press c/o Ellora’s Cave Publishing Inc.
9781419956836, $7.99, May 2007
Teacher turned vampire solves the mystery
3 out of 5 stars

“Underdead” is the first book by author Liz Jasper. She is a former middle school science teacher so the career of the main character is something she knows.

The novel starts off with Jo Gartner, a science teacher, out with her co-workers when they notice a handsome man looking their way. Co-worker Becky encourages her to go up to him and start a conversation. Jo doesn’t have that sort of courage but ends up chatting with him thanks to some help by Becky. They end up on the patio outside the restaurant/club talking about books. The next thing she knows is that Will is biting her neck and this causes her to panic. Jo is able to get away from him and make her way home but not before passing out in what she thinks is a cab. It turns out the cabbie is an undercover police officer and Will is a vampire that has just claimed Jo as one of his own, or at least partially.

It takes awhile for Jo to realize what has happened and she doesn’t take it well, after all who wants to become a vampire? She has to deal with different food cravings and a bad reaction to the sun. On top of that, co-workers are dying around her and she becomes the center of discussion among the parents because of rumors are circulating from leprosy to pregnancy. And then they think she is the one that is killing her co-workers.

Jo solves the mystery with the help of Gavin the undercover police officer but not without a few run-ins with Will and one of his minions, Natasha.

Overall I thought the book was ok. This was one of my first paranormal books and it didn’t seem to start off well and was just confusing. It seemed to be full of clichés about vampires (silver bullets, wooden stakes, an aversion to sunlight) and I was hoping for a bit more. Perhaps some background before the main character is bitten by the vampire would have been good to give us a better feel for Jo and who she is and what she does. The book did improve closer to the end but I don’t know if I will want to read her next book, “Underdead in Denial”.

This book would probably appeal to those that like the paranormal genre and even young adults.

Reviewed by Leslie Storey for RebeccasReads (6/08)

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