[Interview] Nancy Kilpatrick, editor of EVOLVE

After the eight parts of the EVOLVE anthology nicely stacked in my archives, I'm now taking on the master mind behind the anthology, Nancy Kilpatrick.

BIO: Award-winning author Nancy Kilpatrick has published eighteen novels, over one hundred and ninety short stories, five collections of stories, and has edited nine other anthologies. Much of her body of work involves vampires. Nancy writes dark fantasy, horror, mysteries and erotic horror, under her own name, her nom de plume Amarantha Knight, and her newest pen name Desirée Knight (Amarantha’s younger sister!) Besides writing novels and short stories, and editing anthologies, she has scripted four issues of VampErotic comics. As well, she’s penned radio scripts, a stage-play, and the non-fiction book The Goth Bible: A Compendium for the Darkly Inclined (St. Martin’s Press — October 2004).

Nancy won the Arthur Ellis Award for best mystery story, is a three times Bram Stoker finalist and a five times finalist for the Aurora Award.

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Harry Markov: Hello, Miss Kilpatrick and thank you for the opportunity to do this interview. It’s a pleasure to have you on Temple Library Reviews. Your anthology EVOLVE collects stories, which show the next step in the evolution for vampires. One more time for our readers, what was the inspiration behind this theme?

Nancy Kilpatrick: It’s a pleasure to be here, Harry.. Thanks for having me.

I’ve been a huge fan of vampire literature and mythology for most of my life, and a collector of books, magazines, movie posters, and general vampirobilia. I know quite a bit about the undead and have also written quite a bit on the motif.

Last year, I edited an anthology with David Morrell called Tesseracts Thirteen, horror and dark fantasy stories, and because of the way that anthology headed and also because David and I had to both agree to include a story, no vampire fiction appeared in that book. Tesseracts Thirteen was an open anthology and we had close to 200 submissions. There were seven vampire stories I thought were exceptional and which showed the vampire that we are going to be seeing in the very near future. I felt it was a shame to let these stories go, although I had no doubt that they would all find a home eventually. David wasn’t free to edit another anthology so I approached the publisher (Edge SF&F) and asked if I could edit an all-vampire anthology that included these stories and a bunch more. I wanted to call it Evolve. The publisher had only done one horror/dark fantasy book before, the anthology David and I co-edited, but he jumped right in with both feet for Evolve.

Over the years, I’ve always been asking myself ‘What next?” when it comes to vampires. A lot of my writing is slightly ahead of the curve because of that ongoing question. I’d had in the back of my mind for quite a while to edit another vampire anthology (I edited Love Bites, an erotic vampire anthology in 1995), and when everything fell into place for Evolve it seemed like the right subject, the right angle on that subject, and perfect timing.

HM: Linked to the same question, why is there a need to show evolution? Vampires have usurped the throne as the most popular creature in pop culture and don’t seem to let it go.

NK: I think it’s innate to us human beings to always want to know what happens next. Vampires have indeed jumped to most-popular-supernatural and I think that position is secure for a while, at least until the end of the Twilight movie series and True Blood TV program.

For me, because I’ve studied vampires from the first stories in English and French, and the mythologies that go back to the Epic of Gilgamesh, I have seen the evolution of the vampire over many centuries. The creature has evolved along with the humans that have envisioned it. Just as everyone is wanting to know what will happen in the future, what about 2012, and beyond?, I think the vampire also has a future and some people will be fascinated to learn more about it.

HM: Nowadays, we can’t talk about vampires without mentioning Meyer. I’ve read accusations that vampires have been officially defanged by Meyer. Same accusations claim that vamps have gone too mainstream to be considered horrifying.

NK: I see the Twilight version of the undead as just one type of vampire. This isn’t the entire picture. Twilight is not the history of the undead, and it won’t be the future. Edward Cullen has been called The Good Boyfriend, the one who is kind, understanding, and focuses on the safety and care of the girlfriend (Bella), and who possesses superior self-control. This, of course, appeals to girls and young women. What female wouldn’t want such a lover? He is the fantasy, the ideal, the dream boyfriend. For older women, Cullen is a rekindling of a girlish fantasy. This is romance fiction at its best and that’s the reader/viewer that has been snagged. Don’t forget, the publisher Harlequin is an empire with an enormous chunk of the print market--I’ve heard it said 80% worldwide. That’s a lot of romance and a lot of women are interested in romance. The romantic hero today just happens to be a vampire.

But vampires are bigger than this. They have been around a LONG time and have appeared in various forms, in many different countries and cultures, in fact almost every country and culture. Mostly, they have been super dangerous to human beings. That is the core of the undead: they are predators, we are the prey. That won’t change regardless of how they manifest currently. Anyone who wants to see the dangerous vampire should just hang on--that creature will be back in a new and more deadly way.

HM: But shouldn’t vampires remain a horror icon. The vampire started its career as a monster and it would seem logical to stay true to its roots by scaring and not flirting with its victim.

NK: Maybe in a perfect world that would be so. But if you think of various incarnations of vampires, some have been humorous—Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (the movie has Lugosi playing Dracula); The Fearless Vampire Killers; Warhol’s Dracula—to name a few. You could say that vampires (and other supernaturals) shouldn’t be humorous, it goes against the monster being scary. But they have been humorous. There are always variations on a theme, that’s part of any icon.

HM: You hinted that the vampire has not lost its edge, even despite the sex symbol status and crossover to romance. Can you name a few authors from the 00s, who write a mean and scary vampire?

NK: I think anyone who reads Evolve will fund some pretty frightening vampire stories. Check out Gemma Files’ story for starters.

HM: With so many bold writers changing the mythos, surrounding vampires, are you concerned about them losing their identity. I am referring to vampires being psychic, walk during day light, be a rare gene and suffer no harm from holy symbols.

NK: The mythos has changed with every writer since vampires have seen print.. The vampire we tend to think of as the archetypal vampire is really a Hollywood invention. Don’t forget, Bram Stoker’s Dracula walked in daylight in London. There have been many vampires who have not been harmed by holy symbols. The idea of the vampire being psychic is an old one too, and they have pretty well always had mesmerizing abilities, even if it’s only to scare their victim into a paralyzed state. Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend, written in 1954, presents a world where much of the population has died from a pandemic and only one human being survives-- all other survivors have been infected by a virus and are now vampires. Fritz Leiber’s short story “The Girl With the Hungry Eyes” is a classic, written in 1949, and the vampire has the ability to create an obsession in a photographer.

I think it’s the job of writers to bend and shape and expand on mythos. We always need to push the envelope and create something new. As long as an author sets up the fictional tropes and sticks to the mythological elements he/she has created and makes them believable to the reader, the writer can change the vampire to conform to this new reality and it will work. After all, what’s the point of writing Dracula over and over?

Now, having said that, there are purists out there who are hell-bent on preserving Dracula as the be-all and end-all of vampires. But if you view the vampire as an archetypal energy, which I do, then you have to accept that the energy shifts and alters, changing with the times while still maintaining its essence, the core of what it is to be a vampire. If the vampire can’t be part of the time frame in which it is written, it has no relevance.

HM: Speaking of the psychic, what do you think of the energy vampire? These are a lot less connected with the actual vampire per se, but they share a name.

NK: If you think of vampire as predator, that predatory quality can take any form. Whatever keeps the undead alive, so to speak, is what they want human beings for. That could be blood, it could be sex, it could be energy, it could be souls. I wrote a story called “Leesville, LA” which was published in Freak Show (ed. F. Paul Wilson) that featured a vampire that stole dreams from people. And people can relate to vampires that drain our energy because we’ve all met people like that and we secretly call them vampires.

HM: Speaking of all the conceptions connected with vampires, which is your favorite? The stake through the heart? The garlic? Or maybe the no reflection?

NK: I’m not sure I have a favorite. A lot depends on how these ideas are presented in fiction and film. If the means of dispatch makes sense and is cleverly put forth in the story, then it should work for me. What doesn’t work for me is something silly and illogical, out of left-field, tossed in by a sloppy writer who can’t be bothered to make all the parts fit seamlessly in the plot.

HM: With all this empowerment and ever-growing sexappeal, can you say that people are projecting a wish fulfillment fantasy with the vampire as an ultimate human: eternal, alluring and undefeatable?

NK: Absolutely. That’s the time-frame we live in. Everyone wants to live forever, and eternal youth means botoxing your way through life, I guess, for those who indulge. Everyone wants sex appeal, so alluring is up on the want list. We all know that sex gets you a lot in this world. Undefeatable? Well, you don’t need to go far to find people who want to be all powerful, to vanquish those who would harm them. There are lots of ego-maniacs walking the streets, in case you hadn’t noticed!

There is definitely wish fulfillment in the vampire fantasy. It looks pretty appealing to be a vampire. All the benefits and just this one itty bitty drawback--you have to kill people for their blood. Of course, the modern retelling has virtually eliminated that negative so that vampires can live on animal blood, they can live on synthetic blood, they can take some blood without killing and they can even fast for ferociously long periods of time. What a win-win state of being? But this is where we have to ask the question: if the vampire is not a threat to human beings, is he/she a vampire? Personally, I think that even Edward Cullen, under the right circumstances, would kill Bella. And anyone who has read the last book in the series and/or knows what’s coming in the final films knows what he’s capable of.

HM: And wouldn’t the book be a bit more satisfying, if Edward did kill and eat Bella? A small reminder that while the vampire has learned to kiss, he always bites.

NK: It would be satisfying for some. But the readers of the Twilight books are looking for something else, aren’t they, something more than the vicious vampire? I think what we have to realize is that now, in the 21st century, the vampire has altered. Nothing lasts forever and this version of the vampire won’t go on forever, but it’s here now. And there’s a more adult approach is in the TV series True Blood, based on Charlaine Harris’ books, where you get eroticism AND blood drinking, so there’s a further evolution.

HM: Focusing on the sexappeal, vampires have progressed from nightmares to the perfected to-die-for lovers. Why was the vampire chosen as a sex symbol? It’s a corpse, after all. You are an expert on vampires in popular culture. Have you pondered on this?

NK: The vampire hasn’t looked like a corpse for almost 200 years, in fiction anyway. In the first stories in English: “The Vampyre” by John Polidore; Varney the Vampire by Thomas Preskett Prest; Dracula by Bram Stoker; Carmilla by Sheridan LeFanu, none of these vampires look like a cadaver. They don’t smell bad or reek of the grave. They are, in fact, aristocrats, cultured, moving around in society, which really is what makes them more dangerous than the mythological vampires that preceded them, who did crawl from the grave, dirt still clinging, reeking of putrefaction. The 4 vampires mentioned above are flirty. They are seductive creatures, which is how they charm victims into their realm. Said the spider to the fly! What we see today is not so different. Of course, we no longer have counts and countesses galloping around the countryside in horse-drawn carriages. Now we have special families or groupings that are often wealthy because, after all, if one lives more than one lifetime, finances are generally sorted out.

HM: The fascination with vampires has crossed into our own world with live, actual vampires, emulating the fictitious life style. Have you ever met one of these individuals?

NK: I’ve met people who dress as vampires, people who wear vampire contacts and have their eye teeth filed to points. I’ve met people who are blood fetishists who drink blood (a little). And lots of people who make the Goth/vampiric crossover in terms of clothing. All this is pretty common and has been for the last 15 years or so in most major cities. Have I ever met a real vampire, as in the live-forever, back-from-the-dead vampire? No.

HM: Also, do you believe this to be taking fiction a tad too seriously?

NK: Fiction is, first and foremost, storytelling. People live in stories. Stories capture readers and allow them to live in their imagination for a while. There’s so much about the vampire that is intriguing and it’s understandable that with the popularity of books like Interview with the Vampire, cultural imaginations were charged up, especially among teenagers and young people. And that has lasted 40 years! Youth is the time of trying things on for size, like lifestyles. It’s learning how to relate outside the familiar world of family, school, religion and community, relating to the larger world. It’s the time when the idea that there IS a larger world becomes apparent. White Wolf created Vampire: The Masquerade, a role-playing game, where the gamers could go and act out a vampire persona and interact with others acting out roles. Kind of like ad-lib theater but within the strictures of the imaginary world. I co-wrote a novel in that world, As One Dead. I see this role-playing as fun. And I see people acting and dressing like vampires as fun. Just like people who go to Formula One races dressed like the race-car drivers, or drive their own Honda fast through the streets, pretending they are competing at the Indy 500. They are pretending to be racers because that’s fun, and I think there are a lot of people right now, especially youth, wanting to be part of what looks to be an exciting and amazing world, the world of the vampire.

Are there people who take it too far? Of course. There always are. Just like the race-car enthusiast who breaks the speed limit and hits a pedestrian. There’s always a fine line and one hopes most people know the difference between fantasy and reality. But not everyone does, sadly. And that makes them a danger, often but not only always, to themselves.

HM: While you were editing your anthology did you hesitate as to which stories to keep and whether to substitute them with others? I imagine this being a normal occurrence in the making of an anthology.

NK: Evolve was an invitational anthology, so not really (an open anthology like Tesseracts Thirteen is different). I had the original seven stories and I then approached specific writers whose work I knew and asked them for stories. Partly I did this because we wanted to do a world launch at the 2010 World Horror Convention in England, and to get the book to the printer required a speedy compilation.

Word spreads and I did have a couple of stories sent to me by people I didn’t know. If the stories had worked, they would have been in the book, but sadly, they didn’t. As it turned out, because I gave the writers strict parameters as to what I wanted, and also gave them a quickie history lesson on the vampire up to what we are seeing now, the contributors were able to see where I was coming from and want I wanted and, amazingly, they came through and met my vision.

HM: As far as anthologies go, I always imagined that the editor has a certain inner rhythm, which he/she follows to arrange the stories within the pages. Did you have an exact pattern behind the order? Can you perhaps mention a few of the tricks you use to order all the stories?

NK: It’s interesting that you mention an inner rhythm. In a sense, that’s exactly how I order stories. There are, of course, more conscious factors to take into consideration, for instance, I don’t want a bunch of long stories together, or a bunch of short stories together. As an editor, I want to have a flow so that more serious stories are broken up with lighter pieces, otherwise the tone gets set too strongly and the reader can’t make the leap to a light piece. Generally I order an anthology so that it can be read from front to back. Readers don’t always read that way. Sometimes they pick out shorter or longer stories to read because of the time they have available. Sometimes they will immediately select stories from authors whose work they know. But many people do read from start to finish and that has to have a rhythm to it, a movement, so that by the end there’s a feeling that these stories do make a whole. I think a lot of the ordering is unknown until much later in the process, at least for me. As I reread stories I’ve chosen, I begin to get a feel for what the anthology is really about and I try to lay out the stories in a way that speaks to that larger idea. I generally have a good idea of which story should lead and which should end, and these are set for many different reasons but mainly because they are strong stories that set the tone or conclude the tone. The process involves a lot of thought but, at the end, it seems magical to me in that somehow, all of these stories are ordered in a way that works for me and, I hope, for readers.

HM: What is the importance of the first story in an anthology and what is the role of the last one? What did you want to convey with your choices?

NK: The first story should set the tone for what follows and tell readers, okay, you can expect stories that are generally like this one. If there is a major name in an anthology and their story fits that criteria, that story will usually go first for name recognition among readers. Most people seem to go into a store, open a book, look at the first story and read a bit, so it has to grab people enough that they will buy the book. The last story also has prominence in that it sets up a feeling that the reader will take away with him or her, that allows the reader to feel the whole was worthwhile because it led to this type of conclusion which, in fact, rounds off everything they’ve read.

HM: A last parting question. What would you do, if you meet a live vampire face to face?

NK: That depends. If they had that look in the eye that I was potential food, I’d run. If there was some sentience there and some desire for communication, I’d take advantage of this unique opportunity and learn what I could about what it’s like to be undead.

HM: Thank you for the time.

NK: It’s been my pleasure, Harry. Thank you!

[Anthology Review] Evolve: Summary Review

Title: Evolve
Editor: Nancy Kilpatrick
Pages: 256
Genre: Horror / Dark Fiction
Publisher: EDGE

Vampires have Evolved and They are Here!

Kelley Armstrong, Tanya Huff and twenty-two other Canadian dark fantasy and horror writers re-imagine the future of vampires in this new collection of all-original short fiction. One of the most unusual and original vampire anthologies ever compiled.

Contents organized by serialized reviews:

Introduction by Nancy Kilpatrick

[Part 1]
Let the Night In by Sandra Kasturi
Learning Curve by Kelley Armstrong [D]
Chrysalis by Ronald Hore [B+]
Mother of Miscreants by Jennifer Greylyn [B]

[Part 2]
Resonance by Mary E. Choo [B bordering on C]
The New Forty by Rebecca Bradley [A]
Red Blues by Michael Skeet [B]

[Part 3]
The Drinker by Victoria Fisher [A]
Sleepless in Calgary by Kevin Cockle [C]
Come to Me by Heather Clitheroe [B]

[Part 4]
An Ember Amongst the Fallen by Colleen Anderson [A]
Mamma’s Boy by Sandra Wickham [A]
The Morning After by Claude Bolduc [D]

[Part 5]
All You Can Eat, All the Time by Claude Lalumière [A]
Alia’s Angel by Rhea Rose [B]
When I’m Armouring My Belly by Gemma Files [A]

[Part 6]
A Murder of Vampires by Bev Vincent [B]
The Greatest Trick by Steve Vernon [A]

[Part 7]
Soulfinger by Rio Youers [A]
Bend to Beautiful by Bradley Somer [C]
Evolving by Natasha Beaulieu [F]

[Part 8]
How Magnificent is the Universal Donor by Jerome Stueart [A+]
The Sun Also Shines On the Wicked by Kevin Nunn [C]
Quid Pro Quo by Tanya Huff [B]

OVERALL GRADE: [B]

NOTE: Yes, the grading system seems rather childish, but keeping in mind 23 stories at the same time in order to write down an accurate review of how much I enjoyed the anthology more or less scewers the result. Assigning individual stories grades allows me to better estimate how highly I think of the anthology as a whole, without having the strongly pleasent or unpleasent experiences of certain stories influence my opinion. It's about fairness in the end as far something as subjective as reviewing allows it.

VERDICT: As a whole, EVOLVE delivers what it promised. Editor Nancy Kilpatrick has managed to cater to all tastes. From action to introspective monologues, from laugher to tears, from violence to love EVOLVE covers all grounds with some of the most memorable interpretations of the vampire lore and mythology that I have ever read. Yes, there are some weak links in the armor, but as a whole EVOLVE is one finely tuned mechanism, perfectly balanced between prose, plot, characters and concept. A must-read for vampire enthusiast and also recommended for those who have lost hope that the vampire could be entertaining in the future.

PS: Join me on Thursday for a special interview with Nancy Kilpatrick, queen of vampires and editor extraordinaire.

[Anthology Review] Evolve: Final Part 8

How Magnificent is the Universal Donor by Jerome Stuert [A]

After the disappointment that was Evolving, How Magnificent is the Universal Donor left me breathless by taking the vampire from the alleys, giving him scrubs and putting him in hospitals. In this Earth, humanity faces its biggest enemy, yet, the Beijing Blood Disease. The Battlefield is in our own veins and the first line of defense consists of the Red Coats, blood specialists, whose special techniques keep the disease in check worldwide.

This is the world of the World Health Organization, where each hospital is a link in an impressive armor. What has me excited is that it makes total sense for vampires to work as medical experts. I think their relative immortality eliminates times as a factor during slow and complicated research, while at the same time their intimate relationship with blood gives them the necessary drive. It is peculiar that it hasn’t been done before. But vampires are known as the children of darkness, so I am positive that you wouldn't have them as your doctor, which is what Jacob Moybridge learns.

How Magnificent is the Universal Donor reads like a medical thriller. Jacob's husband, Harlain, meets a sudden end, while on a regular check-up. His death is shadily explained. Medical records show Jacob has visited Harlain in the morgue – not the case at all – and then a quick cremation. As Jacob impersonates a doctor and sneaks around the restricted areas of the hospital, he sees morgue corpses rise from their slabs, dress and take up their shifts around the hospital. In the end, Jacob’s suspicions are confirmed. Harlain is alive, but he could very well be the universal donor with blood pure enough to permanently erase the Beijing Blood Disease.

How Magnificent is the Universal Donor operates on two level. For one, it is character driven, for it is Jacob’s love for Harlain that acts as a catalyst for the plot. Stuert has done wonders with his characters. Even though Harlain physically is present near the very end of the story, I felt as if he was present throughout the whole. Thanks to Jacob’s worry, love and memories. I fear whenever I start reading about homosexual relationships, because I keep expecting a message or a moral or something in that line. Not so well thought through and so well veiled in the story. Through the most part in this story Stuert manages to keep this more about two people, who are connected in a way that is rare and genuine, bypassing gender. What snapped me from it, however was when he spoke of minorities and pitted vampires against homosexuals. It was a rather pointless and out of place moment that had relation to the story and in my opinion should have cut out.

The second level deals with ethics in medicine. Is the life of many more important than just one? Who is to decide? Can the forced death of one for the sake of the many be justified? Can life be measured and quantified? Who calls the shots? And where are the lines that should not be crossed no matter the gain. The natural distrust of the healthcare system and the medical professionals, who run it, is reinforced with the vampires' amoral nature. Jerome Stuert deserves praise for he successfully handles the topic with subtlety. Yes, his opinion is there, but it’s sincere and has no ambition to preach.

How Magnificent is the Universal Donor does what few short stories manage. It remains strong on all fronts. Well developed characters, a clever and unorthodox world and enough suspense all result in a must-read page turner. It's a true gem that fulfills the anthology's theme and delivers a lot more.

The Sun Also Shines on the Wicked by Kevin Nunn [C]

The Sun Also Shines on the Wicked can be best described as one long dialog. It is a simple story that lacks action. Stefan and Kenneth are two vampires, who have known each other for centuries and they value their friendship. Stefan however desires to feel the sun, although that is suicide for their species, and this is the experiment that both conduct. Could a vampire experience sunlight in a safe environment?

This story is static, but compensates with meditation on the importance of the sun for the world, why it is lethal for vampires and its personal meaning to Stefan and Kenneth. The vampire here is romanticized, nostalgic and emotional. The wish to see the sun is not suicide, but a longing to reverse nature and experience humanity once again, which is impossible and remains as a mad man’s dream. According to Stefan a vampire could return back to human after the body saturates with filtered and reflected sunlight.

All together not dull, but also not engaging. The characters felt flat and their conversation boring. I also did not see a hint of evolution… Yes, there are hints that vampires hope circumvent their weakness as far as the sun goes, but it is not entirely convincing whether that is to move forward or to return to square one.

Quid pro Quo by Tanya Huff [B]

Evolve finishes in the same way it began: with the commercialized brand of vampire, which the current form of Urban Fantasy has popularized and trademarked. While Armstrong disappointed me with random and never-explained splashes of plot and character motivations, Huff boils down her story to a simple task. Newly-turned vampire Vicki – former law enforcer – has to save her former partner and sole person to know of her nature from a rich nutjob, who craves immortality. It is simple and to the point. It gives the reader a frame to work worth and sets expectations. She succeeds or she fails. No other alternatives.

Huff knows the tricks of the trade. Knows how to work the worn-out tropes that I’ve had enough of. She hooks right in with a sliver of dialog, which although not always effective serves well in this instance, and then cements my interest with a cat-and-mouse game and Vicki’s abduction.

The plot deals with familiar elements. Rich, ambitious businessman craves immortality, does his homework and targets Vicki. However, he has researched the vampire as the myth, the species by the book and not Vicki in particular, who is unlike most of her kind. Yes, this snowflake effect is present here as well, but it’s not nagging. The day’s saved and the message delivered. Vicki is not the run-of-the-mill vampire. She is human, has emotions and is far from the stereotypical fanger.

However, because I’ve seen this done over and over again, the novelty has worn off and become the norm. In this sense I can't say that this is a vampire on its path of evolution. It is a good story, action-packed and clever with its sarcasm at moments, but not what the anthology promises.

[Anthology Review] Evolve: Part 7

Soulfinger by Rio Youers [A]

The world has become a battlefield between mysticism and skepticism. With scientific progress, fact trumps belief, logic has become status quo and whatever phenomena don’t have explanations are scratched off as non-existent.

Youers plays with this battle between what seems real as governed by modern common sense and what may possibly be outside its reach. In Soulfinger, music critic Peter has been commissioned to write a piece on Blues performer Soulfinger, who is hailed by bar patrons as the greatest Blues performer in the world. A ballsy claim, considering Soulfinger’s never performed anywhere else other than The Stackhouse bar. Peter represents the modern man. Two feet firm on the ground, a university degree and career, he’s content with. He questions, analyzes and rationalizes, which is why he feels out-of-place in this bar, whose bartender claims to have lived close to two centuries. The Stackhouse is anachronistic, a small debris of a past long gone, sailing through the cracks of the technological present. For instance, there is no show program, no schedule. The segmentation of time, its swift consummation is absent. It has been replaced by a sense of timelessness as Peter prepares to meet Soulfinger. The uncertainty in when the star will come adds an otherworldly feel to the bar.

While waiting along with Peter, I was fed with partial answers to how people inside this bar have remained young and then gradual flashbacks into Soulfinger's past and his second birth. In these moments the story gains a Southern Gothic flavor. The text dripped with descriptions, which did not smother the story or the pace. The piece became alive, vibrant and atmospheric. The vampire morphs into this new creature. The gloss and sexuality as attributes thankfully have been weeded out, so that the vampire can breathe as a dark figure from the lore, suited for campfires scares.

He shines, the Hoodoo Man, and Abram always thinks he should leave incandescent puddles behind him when he walks… Thin as birch, slender shoulders, long fingers. Red flames dance in the window of his face.

Soulfinger presented an alternative vampire. Youers answered the theme of the anthology with in a cheeky manner, showing that vampires can still haunt, still make people mourn. Vampires don’t need to evolve; people need to be reminded that vampires are dark and tragic. Youers has written a visual masterpiece, in which the present dilates in the past as myths and lore come out to play in the dark.

Bend to Beautiful by Bradley Somer [C]

I’ll be short since Bend to Beautiful is more flash rather than short fiction. It’s a vignette to me, but I have never been good at categorizing fiction. Point is that this piece does not say much. Nor does it make me think. I, as the reader, was a voyeur, who happened to witness a human court a vampire and the subsequent one night stand. A short episode, one of the countless the night brims with.

The issue I had was that neither character stood out to me. Both were strangers to me as they are to each other. Both were sad. Both were broken and unsatisfied with their lives. I wish I could understand the point to it all. Perhaps both discovered in peace in the displeasure they cause to one another? Who knows? I, for one, did not care enough to find out. The narrative was bland in the sense that it did nothing to keep me reading further. No sense of individuality to the words to grab my attention. Altogether, this is a lackluster effort with a vampire that I’ve seen in countless shows and parodies.

Evolving by Natasha Beaulieu [F]

So far EVOLVE consisted of some strong and some weak examples of fiction. I’m saying this, guided by my own tastes and judgment. But even the worst of the unappealing did not make me drop mid-sentence and abandon it unfinished.

Evolving made me skip it. It starts slowly, with clichés [club opening; the narrator's comments on how fake people are and how he seeks real vampires], but without a hook or a promise to keep me as a reader. The prose is flat and focused on informing rather than showing me:

He also has a problem with his eyes. When they are exposed to bright light, he tends to lose the ability to focus. To avoid this, he wears dark sunglasses during the day. At night, his vision is very sharp.

Three pages of this and I couldn’t will myself read.

[Anthology Review] Evolve: Part 6

A Murder of Vampires by Bev Vincent [B]

A Murder of Vampires reads like a classic crime story, perhaps even as an episode of Law and Order or Criminal Minds, but with vampires. The plot is simple enough to summarize in one sentence. Detective Vic Newman investigates a string of vampire murders. Classic elements are brought to the table such as the late night call to duty, questioning of quite uncooperative witnesses, help from a femme fatale [in this case a vampire vixen] and a gun fight as an ending scene. It's pretty straight-forward, but it never sounds cliched.

The reason for this is the vampire element. Vincent explores vampires from a social angle, the interactions between minority and majority through the different species, but having the roles switched. After a signed pact with the government vampires have become law-abiding citizens, who keep to themselves and restrain from killing humans. What's more interesting here is that the key divider, sunlight, is removed. Vampires are light sensitive, but won't combust. This doesn't leave much to distinguish both species apart from the diet [although the longevity is not discussed].

Vampires become more human, while humans become more demonic. This complete role reveral, the taming of the vampire is certainly an interesting evolution that fits the theme of the anthology. Areas with vampires are depopulated. Law enforcement does not patrol them and does not express empathy to crimes committed against vampires. It's a classic case of racial discrimination with a very unusual spin to it, subtly reminding us we still have this problem. The story also carries the message that not only the beast can be monstrous, but the victim as well.

The Greatest Trick by Steve Vernon [A]

Politics and vampires. Two terms that seem almost related. Politicians have a reputation to lie and vampires are renown for their skill in deceit. Politicians are called blood suckers and well, vampires do drink blood. Where is the harm in a vampire pursuing a career that is more or less tailored for the species. For him there is no harm, but humanity ought to be on the fence.

Such is the case here. Our nameless protagonist's a charming fellow with ambition and taste for state politics, as well as to be the first vampire in Congress. What the reader is treated with is a humorous take on a political election campaign. The light-hearted humor certainly appealed to me. The witty repartee between the vampire and his human campaign manager never spiraled out of control, nor did stall the plot. Instead it showed a realistic glimpse of human-vampire dynamics. General distrust is backed up with holy symbols as potential life lines. Smear campaigns turn sour. Persuading candidates to drop from the race is reduced to mind control and forced self-sabotage with hilarious, yet cruel, consequences.

The humor here is vital, as we see how the human world has altered in order to accommodate the new minority. This is best shown through the shift in pop culture and media:

Bram Stoker's Dracula hit the bestseller list and Stephen King announced he was working on a twelve-book sequel to Salem's Lot.

The greatest trick apart from swiftly stealing the world from humans by playing the rules of the game, is for you to discover, but trust me it's a game changer.

[Anthology Review] Evolve: Part 5

All you can eat, all the time by Claude Lalumiere [A]

First impressions often deceive and this story threatened to be another flop. The protagonist, simply named, Jenny opens the story with an elaborate description of her party attire, which then progresses into a depiction of a party night on the town. Jenny pointlessly overindulges in the use of the words ‘like’, ‘really’ and ‘totally’. Not a promising start, considering how unlikeable the character is. However, upon completion I can say that this shallow person only confirms Lalumiere’s skill with characterization and creating something memorable from elements that made me groan at the beginning.

Halfway through I was still uninspired by the story. Jenny is a party-girl. Her heartbeat is in sync with that of the city’s club life. One night she is assaulted by three men, who in turn get killed by none other than her mysterious and anti-social neighbor. Subsequently, Jenny does the most logical thing and establishes contact with this man and discovers his vampire nature. I assumed a romance was in its early stages, because the neighbor’s described as good looking and he grants his meals earth-shattering orgasms. The vampire’s full disclosure about how all the trivia and movie myths are fiction, didn’t help the story, which didn’t add anything new to the genre.

Then it all turned 180 degrees. The build-up towards a cliché resolution and conclusion lead to an extra-ordinary twist, which impressed me. For the sake of not giving any more spoilers I will keep my mouth shut about everything. The bottom line is that Lalumiere delivers what the theme demands and then some. Because I can’t give you the ending doesn’t mean that I can’t tease you. Lalumiere explores themes such as the loss of self and of memory tied to immortality, which adds realism to the concept of ancient immortals. He also has found a way to keep the vampire an accepted element in human society without arousing suspicion.

I bet you want to read it now.

Alia’s Angel by Phea Rose [B]

Alia’s Angel introduces a softer side to vampires. In the vein of Daybreakers, vampirism is a viral infection. STD, to be exact, which is curios, because it shows how much vampirism is associated with sexuality, the libido and here promiscuity is the cause of vampirism. As such, vampires are genetically enhanced humans, thus more relatable. The protagonist is a newly diseased and has yet to accustom herself to her hunger, which is why she denies it.

Starved she can manifest the ability to fly and usually finds herself crashed in an abandoned warehouse under the care of a street urchin named Alia. However on her latest visit, Alia is joined by a young boy, who has information on vampires as a species and about how to kill them. The boy poisons the vampire with harmful blood and although the story ends with hints as to what happens off-stage, the protagonist has changed the way only the proximity to death can force a change.

Alia’s Angel is not remarkable as it touches on known tropes such as vampirism as a disease, the vampire as a traffic figure [alone and misunderstood] as well as the inner transition from apathy to desire for life. But what I enjoyed and believe to have added something new to the same old was a small worldbuilding touch. What caught my eye was color symbology and its role in the world. Vampires wear only white, until their first kill. Before then, all other colors [especially red] irritates their skin. I interpret this as the color code for the sacrifice of human innocence [white] and acceptance of the new nature [red is associated with blood and is therefore the unofficial vampire color]. Only when the vampire accepts this, can he/she be anything else. Another way of looking at this is like murderous deflowering, in order to keep with the sexual aspect of vampirism. White can stand for purity and virginity [metaphorically] and red is the introduction to the carnal world.

The second element is part of the story. The roles of child and adult have been switched. The vampire is the naïve one, the innocent, the one who makes promises out of good will without knowing whether they could be kept. The small boy is the one who knows better, who has to eliminate the threat. While not heart-breaking, this is touching and makes the story stand out as far as themes go.
When I’m Armoring my Belly by Gemma Files [A]

This story was my first taste of Gemma Files and I utterly fell for her writing. Right from the title I knew that this would be something else, something entirely different. My intuition did not mislead me. When I’m Armoring my Belly opens with a tantalizing tidbit about how the protagonist has forgotten his name, which is then followed by a startling orgy, in which the narrator [later revealed as Benjamin] is subjugated to violence and depravity to bring pleasure to the vampires.

To them Benjamin is a fuck-toy, their food source and designated driver. This however does not bother him at all. In true sadistic-masochistic dependency, Benjamin demands the all sins be committed to his body, which acts as a canvas and the scars as a brutal art form, while the vampires desire to lose their animalistic qualities through each blow they inflict. This doesn’t sound like much, but this is because I am giving it without the prose, without the context and without the experience.

Files presents vampires as beasts. Yes, they’re intelligent enough to remain a secret to our society and cunning in their hunting, but during the climax of their cruelty and savagery they come off as predators, as less than human, not really superior. Benjamin is also a half-breed, cradling two worlds. The dhampir as a concept is not really new, so it doesn’t raise eyebrows, but under Files’ pen this creature conceived in pain and raised in hatred intrigues. First, with the brutality from his mother’s side and then with his further addiction to pain.

The highlight is the actual evolution, which is summed up in this little theory:

And it’s only after the half-breed dines on the predator that a new species altogether emerges.

[Anthology Review] Evolve: Part 4

An Ember Amongst the Fallen by Colleen Anderson [A]

An Ember Amongst the Fallen isn't trademark vampire story; it leans more on alternative Earth as genre. Anderson asks 'What if vampire were the dominant species?', 'What if the human species had not evolved and established their own civilization?'. The answer is this Planet of the Apes meets Daybreakers [at least concept-wise] to give an inside look into this new reversed culture.

The setting is a dinner party, with its ups and downs, personal drama and conflicts. I have to admit that a dinner party is convenient to explore a brand new society with the vampire as the head species. Through Buer's preparations as the host and the story's protagonist I learned how vampirii add flavor to their blood. How they eat, having never to hide. With the party's progression I was introduced to their form vegetarians in the face of Jeanine, an activist and supporter of humans.

Anderson touches on topics such as work, marriage, reproduction, relationships and even religion is hinted with the sentence 'God is known as the Great Deceiver'. Humans in turn are treated as cattle, though we do play the part. There's no sign humans to have developed speech or any cognitive ability to separate us from animals. As the vampirii's sole diet, the hominids are raised in farms and locked in cages. Hominids are to vampirii what cows are to us and that is a pretty morbid reversal of roles.

But I sidetrack. The actual story in-between all these succulent bits of worldbuilding is far from action-packed. It's a dinner party, where Buer hopes to rekindle an old flame, but finds that it's a dead end and in his desperation commits one of the worst taboos in the Book of the Fallen [yes, the Bible]. It's all rather atmospheric and well threaded, but to be honest I loved this for Anderson's skill to ornate a snippet of a moment with an infinite amount of trivia from an uncharted world.

Mama's Boy by Sandra Wickham [A]

I'm ecstatic about Wickam's story, because in the manner of several pages, she gives an interesting angle to the vampire mythology, sketches a likable leading female and in the vein of bloody supernatural horror adds mischievous cruelty. It's bloody, short and grizzly sweet.

The scene: A couple expecting their first born and the mother giving home birth. All is so far not so weird, but the dad reveals he's a vampire and as per custom the mother gets to be the child's first meal. The story is pretty straightforward and I'll leave you to see how it all culminates and why exactly the newborn is a mama's boy.

I had a few gripes with the story. I wanted it to be longer, even though that in its state it could not been anything longer than what it is. I wanted to have a few questions answered as well. Why do vamps breed the way they breed? Are they natural telepaths or do only a select few have that skill? What makes this mother so special in order for the natural law to alter in her favor? What about the father? Did he ever love his wife? I know that this is not the purpose of this short. It's a 10 minute fun thrill-ride with a twist and a darn good one at that.

The Morning After by Claude Bolduc [D]

The moment I read The Morning After I wasn't particularly smitten or intrigued at worst. The prose left me cold. It moved the plot, but didn't captivate. Perhaps it sounds better in its native French, as the language is regarded for its mellifluence.

A woman wakes up to find her eyes missing and tries to establish what has transpired the night before. She follows a pavement and then a wall until she encounters a rapist, whom she in turn murders and steals his eyeballs. She manages to find a main street, but it's too late as the morning has crept through and reduces her to ash.

At first reading The Morning After seems purposeless. A newborn vampire prowls the city, unaware of her nature only to not survive her first night. I still can't see anything that fits or contributes to the theme. This newborn vampire is ticks all the checkboxes as far as vampires go, because this is the vampire firmly lodged into our culture.

However, I tried to look into this a bit more and discovered two very interesting elements. For one, the vampire is deprived of the most important human sense: sight. I read this as a disconnection from the world and the need to rediscover the world through a new sense. I also see how this tied to being a newborn predator, since many mammals are born blind. Is it that the author sees vampires as more animalistic, I can't really tell. Second, the night and day symbolism, which gives the city a certain Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde persona that is not so new. But with the coming of the day the vampire is not safe in a hideout. On the contrary, it gets purged. Even so, I am not entirely impressed with this one.

[Review Anthology] Evolve: Part 3

The Drinker by Victoria Fischer: A

I seldom succumb to praising, when I’m not in love with the prose. Writing can’t be summed with drop-dead gorgeous prose, which I do worship. Writing goes beyond the technical. It’s the author piercing through the words, distilling the story’s elements into a message, a moral, an opinion or a feeling. Prose acts as a tool, but it’s not all there is to writing, which I keep see is proved time and time again, in the current case by The Drinker.

The Drinker is a story about the human condition, viewed through the eyes of a vampire as a metaphor [better yet a representative] for a certain class of people we know of, may despise, may associate with or maybe even aspire to. I’m talking about the leeches and the so-called energy vampires, who take and take without asking whether something belongs to them. But I want to answer the question of the anthology.

Is this story a step forward in the evolution of the vampire? Yes, on many levels. For starters, the feeding ritual is devout of the sexual intimacy. Vampires hunt from a distance. They drink and savor their victims without even breaking the skin. A method, which can be found in the Cassandra Palmer series by Karen Chance. Now that I rethink the mechanical side behind the feeding, I think that this reflects the 21st Century to get near somebody, open up or even allow physical contact. The vampires from the past were physical [honestly though, vampires in the urban fantasy and paranormal vein still are], because intimacy was the communal desire at the time. Now however being safe takes priority and in a world everybody could an assailant, it’s not hard to see that the vampire has changed his core characteristics.

What’s more interesting is that vampires digest what comes along with the blood, the victim’s soul and success. This is, again, not very far from our reality. We have ambulance chasers, con men, identity thieves, soulless upper-managers [who keep copyrighting your ideas as their own] and intellectual pirates. All of the above feed on someone’s success and life in one way or another.

Vampires here are more creatures of avarice [the more-more-more syndrome of today] than of sexuality. The narrator is an example of how power corrupts, how needs begets need and how when the hunger dominates the psyche, social responsibility erodes. It’s exactly what happens here. The narrator wants all the things he never had. His wish is granted. All he must do now is simply take it, which he does until an innocent dies, because he’s no longer in control. And in a surprised twist of fate the vampire searches to redeem himself. The cycle begins anew in reverse. This time the narrator gives and gives away, until he has nothing left. It’s not an end I would have predicted, but from a metaphorical note it suggests that humanity in general may reach a breaking point, in which it sets its morals straight. But who knows whether it would be too late to undo some wrongs.

Overall, a pleasant surprise.

Sleepless in Calgary by Kevin Cockle: C

Cockle has written a very interesting story, in the sense that I both found generally enjoyable moments and that I did not really enjoy reading most of the story. Plot-wise we have David, a neurotic workaholic, who somehow manages to exist in-between his perpetual panic attacks. He leads an uneasy life, which becomes a lot more complicated, when he sees Karl, a vampire with the trademark charisma, who wants to turn David. Eventually, David caves under the stalker’s pressure and follows Karl’s exact instructions on to become a vampire. The end is a bitter and cruel joke that destroys David’s life, but I will remain silent so that I do not ruin the story.

Is this in tune with the theme? Is it inventive? Yes, the vampire in Sleepless in Calgary is a semi-tangible phantom. He’s been watered down to a presence diluted in the ‘now’ and only visible to those individuals, who are disconnected and tired from life. I love it as an idea, but I did not get it and the story does little to help add flesh to the concept. As a result was puzzled throughout the whole story as to what Karl’s motifs were. It prevented me from predicting the outcome, but what good when I could not enjoy it.

I am also not sure whether I should have sympathized with David or with Karl. Yes, David is the narrator and even though his portrayal as a man with psychological issues is believable, I did not like him as a character. I actually felt glee when Karl tricked David into a trap, which I am not sure was the author’s intention. I don’t usually find myself rooting for the enemy and Karl is a hunter; cruel, sadistic and Machiavellian. There is nothing complex or morally excusing about him. He’s the monster from beneath the bed.

These two issues spoiled all the fun and Sleepless in Calgary was a tedious read.

Come to Me by Heather Clitheroe: B

Vampires are not subjected to copyrights by neither Europe nor the US, and Come to Me is a reminder of that. Bloodsucking monsters are a widely spread phenomenon in mythologies and folklore, although they feature under different names and appearances. Clitheroe explores the vampire through the Japanese folklore and re-imagine the vampire as a kitsune, Japan’s most recognizable and popular mythological figure.

Come to Me is a simple story. Jane is an American in Japan. Jane had dreams and ambitions to begin her life anew in this country, which she admired. However, her design and the reality have little in common and she finds her dreams dying inside. It’s at exactly this moment when she thinks for the first time: “I will go into the forest and never come out.” The thought has become viral and no matter what opposition Jane exerts, she leaves her town, her routine long forgotten and travels by train to the Aokigihara forest [which is not named in the story, but I know of its reputation]. Once there she is greeted by a kitsune, the one responsible for Jane’s arrival in her domain.

Jane’s possession and the mechanic execution of it impress, while within these pages Jane expands as a character. Jane is a woman with a dream gone sour and a lust to live forgotten, but will never admit defeat and return to her home. She’s vulnerable and relatable, because I believe that the majority of people fake something in their lives in order to push through their lives. Jane projects the manners and behavior expected in Japan and she keeps quiet about the sexual advances from her boss. The fatigue attached to this act comes off as genuine.

Clitheroe combines two elements from Japanese culture that I love. First, the setting is none other than the famous Aokigihara forest, which has become the go-to destination for suicides by hanging. The numbers of suicide hangings in that area are so steady that looting the dead has become a lucrative business. I recognized the forest, but fact is that Clitheroe only hinted at it. She missed out on the huge cultural impact the forest has, which I think would’ve added a new level to the atmosphere.

From the forest I would like to move to the kitsune, which according to Japanese legends is a fox spirit with positive connotations as wise, benevolent and mischievous. While there are a few malicious individuals and although Clitheroe has masterfully exploited their possession skills, the kitsune is not a bloodsucker. It’s an interesting angle and it could have worked, but the ending is anti-climatic, because it followed vampire fiction by the book.

Despite this I enjoyed it.

[Review Anthology] Evolve: Part 2

Foreword: Because I 'organized' my books so darn well, I can't seem to find my copy, so I’m not in the position to include quotes for this part of the review. I hope to have the book found until next week’s installment and even have examples inserted. Also, I want to warn that I may have featured some spoilers along the way.

Resonance by Mary E. Choo: B [bordering on C]

Once you take away the mystique from the vampire, the wars between covens or other races, the magic and the paranormal, the writer and reader are left with a peculiar minority, whose social integration relies on secrecy for the fear of discrimination.

Choo does exactly that. She bypasses the supernatural themes in favor for a more realistic depiction of vampires. Perhaps the author's intention was for the reader to see the vampire as a human; without the glamour, the perfection and the allure. Through Peg, a vampire from the Group, Choo dispels the romantic, gothic charm of existential tragedy, but inserts the modern suburban/thriller drama of today.

Peg is helpless and can do nothing but obey the Group, which sounds like every ominous, shady corporation represented in modern cinema. The Group exerts control over every vampire and this status quo won't be changing soon. I enjoyed the modernization of vampire society as Choo strays away from covens and councils [classic, but still popular depiction in today's literature]. Aristocracy is interchanged with the white collar elite, which acts as a ruling unit. She uses terms such as the 'group' and the 'board', which used as euphemisms, sound even more spine-chilling.

Back to the actual story, Peg is forced to relocate as she comes close to revealing her, and that of all the other vampires, nature. This is painful for Peg as she has found a home in this peaceful suburbia and a friend in a young musician. As Peg maneuvers through the factions, trying to foil the Groups intentions for her, a shift within the Group occurs. A revolution bides its time and at the story's end evolution has entered into its next phase. This fits the anthology's theme. Maybe vampires have not yet evolved, but are starting to adopt new concepts about their place in the world. Think of the Sookie Stackhouse books to imagine in what direction vampires will be heading for.

However, I found the prose diminish the effect of the concept. It was flat in the sense that it was not that special and did not make me turn the page. For me, the climax was even, without any emotional involvement on my side. I was intrigued to what may happen, but did not care whether the Group got what they wanted or whether Peg came out alive and victorious.

The New Forty by Rebecca Bradley: A

Rebecca Bradley piqued my interest, because I had to really think how this story stays true to the anthology's theme. The New Forty is a quirky story [if not without a small pinch of macabre] about age in times, when beauty at all costs is worshipped, told through the eyes of an unconventional vampire.

From the angle of vampire evolution, however, this short story embraces a new meaning and depth. The narrator is a vampire by mistake. A crone during the middle ages, the narrator was turned by accident, perhaps even as a perverse joke. The reader [I] learned all about her life story as it trickled in retrospective glimpses as additional commentary to an Oprah episode, where Oprah interviews a vampire. I could not help but think that this is a nod to Anne Rice’s ‘Interview with the Vampire’, since what happens in this story can be considered as an alternative continuation Rice’s novel, if reporter Daniel Malloy went public with the interview.

At first glance, I considered this an obvious story. The Secret Vampire, hidden from the public eye, transitioned into the Society Vampire, a known element in the world's cultural mechanism. Yet as the narrator's accounts continue, I became convinced that although the vampires’ interaction with the world has changed their nature remains the same. No change in character, whatsoever.

The actual metamorphosis lies within the world's perception of the narrator and vice versa. The vampires' heightened vanity and specific attitude towards age create a distilled mirror model of how our human society treats beauty. Namely, as an essential asset to ensure a full integration into the social mechanism. However, while vampires cling to youth and beauty for apparent reason [arthritis for eternity is not people picture immortality], humans have stretched the definition of beauty. Today people beyond their physical zenith can be considered desirable. This allows the once shunned narrator to benefit from what the world has to offer.

In a sense, this is a private evolution based on shifting morals and aesthetics of the time and day.

Red Blues by Michael Skeet B

Sometimes reading is understanding, sharing the writer's ideas, appreciating the inventive incentive [intentional rhyme] and applauding the maze-like plot lines. Other times, reading is dipping your finger into someone else's soul as sappy and obscene as it sounds. You don’t face a plot, but a feeling. When you are done reading you are left with no articulate explanation as to what you have read and whether it accomplishes anything. This of course is because there is not that much conflict involved, with which I think I am being brainwashed recently.

Such is the case here. The enigmatic feeling [if I can call it that] is intensified by the POV used for narration. I'm talking about the not too popular 2nd person. As a POV it is by rule of thumb awkward for the reader, since the author is tailoring the reader into the shoes of a character. It can sometimes work, but mostly it’s alien, especially when the story is speculative. For me it was uncomfortable, since I’m accustomed to being a voyeur and not an acting force. However, this is easily overlooked by Skeet's prose, which is much like opium. Intoxicating and slow winding in a most lyrical manner.

Through the lush prose, I was submerged into the world of jazz and a vampire musician, who seduces his meals with his music. I couldn't at that time help, but consider this an inversion of the sirens' myth. The man luring the woman to her imminent demise. It was subtle and perhaps it’s only me and my love of Greek mythology imagining things. I did pick up a few of questions along the way. Why did he choose this tiresome ritual? How has this vampire evolved, given the context of the anthology? These are left mostly untouched, unwanted, unimportant.

I read about a vampire courting his meal, while he theorizes about music and math [to my utter and absolute horror] and that was that. If I was more knowledgeable in jazz, I would have had a totally different experience, which would have most likely changed this review into high praise. But since I am not, the story felt as if I was peeking through curtains into a smoke-filled room and not understanding what exactly I was seeing.

[Review Anthology] Evolve: Part 1

Foreword: In September I have planned for only one book to be reviewed in several segments. For the weeks to come I will post every Thursday and Friday a review of three or four stories from the vampire anthology EVOLVE. The anthology consists of an all Canadian cast and its theme is to present the next step in the evolution of the vampire. I have divided the anthology in eight parts, one overall summary and at the end of the month I have prepared an interview with none other, but the editor, Nancy Kilpatrick herself. I have decided to grade each story to help me determine on average what I think of the anthology, so that I do not let the last stories taint my perception. Also at the end of each story I will ask the question whether vampires are portrayed as evolving or not. So, here we go. 

Let the Night in by Sandra Kasturi

Based on an excerpt from P.K. Page, Autumn

I admit it’s an interesting way to start an anthology with a poem. In addition to the foreword, a poem can really set the mood and tone for what’s to come. While the foreword prepares the mind, the poem prepares the soul. It adjusts the reader to the right wavelength. Though to be honest, I am not the greatest authority on poetry. I have a deaf ear as far as inner rhythm goes and “Let the Night in” read like a vignette, formatted as a poem. Sadly, I think it’s all due to my personal deficiency. 

Mechanical observations aside, we are treated to an image of the vampire as a social outcast, as the people, who do not belong in this world. The vampire, here, is neither a sex symbol, nor the monster, but the hermit, abiding a different nature. The poem is imbued with melancholy and longing towards a new destination. The vampire strives to discover an utopia, which is the awaited solution to the existential crisis. 

Learning Curve by Kelley Armstrong: D 

Kelley Armstrong is ranked as one of the best authors to follow, if you are looking for Urban Fantasy with a vampire aftertaste. I hadn’t had the opportunity to put this claim to the test, but I generally think that Armstrong represents everything that I don’t like in Urban Fantasy. This is a bit bold, because I’m basing an assumption on one short story, but even as an introduction I’m not thrilled. 

Learning Curve is the story of Zoe, a vampire, who has a special relationship with trouble aka it keeps trailing behind her. This time Zoe’s being stalked and she is semi-annoyed and semi-enjoying the experience. For two weeks she’s been playing with the stalker, who turns out to be a clumsy Buffy wanna-be. Buffy wanna-be and Zoe meet in an anticlimactic battle, after Zoe actually saves the girl’s life from a human assailant. The story ends with Zoe letting Buffy v. 02 live on and that’s that. Exciting, no. 

Fights mean releasing a part of me that I’m happier keeping leashed, muzzled. 

This is the stereotypical Urban Fantasy heroine. Always in internal conflict with her instincts that whisper murder in her ear. She’s bad news and she knows it. Also, she is a vampire, from the smart-mouthed variety. Kick-ass. Strong. But we’re told of this. Zoe tells us and we’re far from being shown. I, for a change, want to be shown the contradictions, not read internalized monologues. How much conscious brooding can a century old immortal be allowed to do? I think that there need to be quotas. 

Armstrong’s prose is flat and non-engaging. Sure, there are as many prose styles as there are authors and prose is subjective. My complaint’s that Armstrong does Urban Fantasy Writing 101. If you have read at least 20 or so Urban Fantasy novels, you will see some standardized expressions and a certain description model. Considering Armstrong’s position in the UF Hall of Fame, I think that she was one of the pioneers, so I may be holding a stupid grudge. 

However, Zoe Takano does not make much sense as a character. Neither does the actual short. Learning Curve presents questions that should have met an answer. We know Zoe is spunky and sarcastic, but why did she shape like that? We know she is being chased, but we have no clue as to why she tolerates this? After all, she knows the stalker is a human, which shouldn’t pose a challenge for a vampire. What’s more baffling: Why does Zoe save her stalker, who aspires to be a pro vampire slayer? Yes, vampires are complex creatures, because they live for centuries and their logic is more likely to differ from ours. So, why not get a glimpse of what goes on inside that head? 

Maybe Zoe wants to see, if a total clutz can slay her, after the necessary training. Maybe Zoe wants a pet. Maybe Zoe wants a lover… The motif is not revealed and without understanding, I couldn’t connect and identify with Zoe. The story remains too short and pointless and I have wasted my time with a story with no sense of purpose. 

Perhaps, Armstrong exhibits a better set of skills in the novel format, but the spunky, kick-ass, sarcastic heroine routine isn’t for me anymore. I’ve read too many similar stories, which have been written better at that as well.

Is this an example of how vampires have evolved? Yes, in the sense that Zoe is very different from Dracula’s brides. No, in the sense that vampires like Zoe are nothing new to our culture. After all, Urban Fantasy rose to power with exactly this vampire. 

Chrysalis by Ronald Hare: B+ 

Chrysalis introduces the reader to new-to-puberty Lucy. She is a girl with a dysfunctional family. Her mother Minnie is a mouse of a person [a nod to Disney] and her father only works the night shifts and is commanding person. The story follows Lucy through a routine day. The mandatory and uncomfortable family breakfast, then school. But along with the usual changes to pop around puberty, Lucy experiences some additional ones. 

Ronald Hare’s prose rolls effortlessly on the page. It tingles the reader’s senses and adds its own flavor as the story progresses. It’s not mind-blowing, but definitely above average. There is a finely controlled balance between description and action. The pace never suffers and I am left a happy reader all the way. 

At the beginning of the story, I didn’t like Lucy much. She seemed self-consumed in her own world, where her family’s constant moving dictated her emotions and thoughts. While this is justifiable, it didn’t hold my interest. Teenagers in general are hard to write, because what for someone seems plausible, for another is not a truth representation. Plus, I am from the readers that enjoy grown-up anti-hero characters rather than half-developed human beings. However, as the clues trickle as to what Lucy’s father really is [take a wild guess; you’re reading a vamp anthology] and Lucy’s own awakening to unusual talents begins, I was treated to a possibility for a new breed of vampires. Ones that have a special relationship with the sun. 

Lucy reminded me of King’s Carrie. Her initiation in power begins with puberty. Plus, there is an inserted shower scene with her menstruation kicking in. Also like Carrie, Lucy exploits her powers. The difference here is that Lucy’s controlled, strong-willed and calculating. Traits Carrie did not possess. 

Chrysalis ends as it should. Lucy has discovered her strength within and while I would have loved to see the confrontation scene between Lucy and her father, I gather it would have been anti-climatic. Lucy has been empowered and before her lie countless opportunities. Whatever she chose I would have followed. 

Is this an evolved vampire? Considering the fact that the dhampir Lucy turns in, I would wager that yes, the vampire has evolved. 

Mother of Miscreants by Jennifer Greylyn: B 

What I liked about this story is bringing Lilith in play as a protagonist. In mythology, Lilith has been depicted as a demon from Jewish tales, as a succubus, as a demonic figure belonging to the night. Very rarely is her origin as Adam’s first wife mentioned. At least from my cultural background, this story is not very popular. It is why it brings me joy to see her as the first wife, who didn’t think she fit in Eden.

Connected to this, there is also a legend, which tells how Lilith has fallen from Grace and has become the very first vampire. To anger God she has devoted herself to transforming all of his children into hers. Mother of Miscreants presents Lilith as an accomplished cult author, who has published her memoir, which mortals misunderstand as fiction. Her purpose is to right all the wrongs she had allowed as a mother, who neglects her children. 

The actual story takes place at a midnight signing, a simple conversation between mother and child. This conversation contains all the worldbuilding as in how Lilith was created, what the true nature of vampires is and [what I found most enjoyable] the insertion of Hollywood made myths and clichés along with a plausible explanation for their validity. I will remain silent on the details, because they make the story a satisfying read. 

Apart from the concepts, did I enjoy this story? Did I think it has a purpose? After all, this is a conversation. No action, but a lot of explanations that act as exposition. 

Well, Lilith comes off as an elder immortal would. There is a superiority, not unlike the type seen in aristocratic families, mixed with reserved motherly concern. Believable, yes. Though not relatable and therefore not entirely immersing.

Mother of Miscreants can be best described as a tiny fragment, randomly selected for closer observation. The conversation at the bookstore is neither Lilith’s first, nor will it be her last. What the reader can tell is that vampire society is in undergoing a transition, which is actually the theme of the anthology. In conclusion, yes, the vampire is evolving, by going back to its roots. Clever.