Hold onto your chains and coffins…
Posted by Ms Harker | Filed under Horror Reading, Horror TV
Neglectful Madame that I am, I rudely forgot to let you guys know that I will be cooling my heels for a week on holiday. Such is my paranoia and obsession with my blog, I could hear my readership dropping as fast a zombies head being blown off by Woody Harrleson. I will be back mid next week and will have tales of giant croc’s, sharks, snakes and spiders from the terror that is Far North Queensland! I also hope to provide you with some fang driven feedback on The Strain and my thoughts on True Blood Season 2, thus far.
So hold onto your chains and coffins fang-bangers I shall return.
Ms Harker
Tags: Horror
New Anita Blake novel should have been called ‘Vampires: CSI Las Vegas’!
Posted by Ms Harker | Filed under Horror Reading
In past posts I have confessed to my ‘hidden shame‘ of reading the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series by Laurell K Hamilton. I was also eagerly anticipating the release of the new addition to the series ‘Skin Trade‘, book seventeen to be precise. Let me be very clear from the outset, these novels are not high end literature, Hamilton is no Mary Shelley. However the books do serve a purpose. When you want a light read, that sits in your favoured genre, a read where you don’t have to think too much, sprinkled with a little raunch, soft porn if you will, ladies these are the books to head for. So with holidays approaching I started ‘Skin Trade’ in order to get myself in the mood… so to speak.
For those of you unfamiliar with the novels here is a quick breakdown of the main plot and characters. Anita Blake is a sassy lass born with the ability to raise the dead, a Necromancer. She also kills rogue vampires and helps out the local cops with preternatural crimes for a living. Now, vampires have been acknowledged as citizens with human rights as have lycanthropes in many states of the USA. Anita spends her time raising zombies for stricken spouses, abuse victims and those solving murders. Whilst also solving major crimes and slaying all types of ancient beasts and Master Vamp’s. Gradually throughout the novels her powers grow and she ends up having frequent sexual encounters with all types of supernatural beasties, the most significant to mention; the Master Vampire of her city Jean Claude.
‘Skin Trade’ takes us on yet another journey of crime busting where we find Anita getting pissy at the local constabulary for thinking she is a freak and a slut (this happens in most of the books) and she wins them over by being able to arm curl twice her body weight. Anita originally sets out to Las Vegas as a vampire serial killer has sent her a head in a box. The head of the local Marshall, or legal vampire hunter. She has encountered this serial killer before, however he escaped, so off she goes to Las Vegas in order to catch the fangs that got away!
Unlike most of the novels we don’t encounter Anita locked in undulated coitus with one of her ’sweeties’ within the first chapter, then the third then the sixth and so on. We instead are treated to repeated pissing contests with the local police and SWAT, witty repartee` between Anita and one of her fellow Marshall’s that has a thing for dissecting petite brunette women whilst they are alive then having sex with them; and crime scenes where they all look into the presenting corpse in minute detail, even poking around in wounds at points. It is not until chapter fifty seven are we treated to some raunch! This novel should really have a different title, Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter CSI Las Vegas!
I hear what you might be thinking readers, Ms Harker is a dirty girl and is throwing a tantrum as her book didn’t deliver the raunch. However my issues don’t end there. The writing in Skin Trade doesn’t have the flow that the others did, the plot is messy (pun intended), some of the dialogue is just plain trash and the relationships Hamilton has set up in the past SIXTEEN novels seem to have been left behind in Anita’s home town of St Louis, just as the dynamics were getting interesting.
Maybe I have out grown these novels, maybe Hamilton has a new editor or is trying to shake the image of being a writer of the raunch. I’m not sure, but if I wanted to read crime novels, forensic investigative fiction I would read Patricia Cornwell!
Ms Harker
Tags: Horror, Horror Novels, Vampire
‘Handling the Undead’ a unique gem within the Zombie genre.
Posted by Ms Harker | Filed under Horror Reading
I am feeling a little overwhelmed, I just finished reading John Ajvide Lindqvist’s novel ‘Handling the Undead.‘ He who brought forth ‘Let the Right One In‘, of which I have not been shy in citing as one of the best horror novels (and films) in recent times. Lindqvist has followed up with another haunting and evocative piece of literature.
Again the novel is set in Sweden, this time in 2002. There is an electrical phenomenon that occurs, people are unable to turn off electrical equipment, all operating at full power, and experience splitting headaches for approximately 24 hours. It then stops as suddenly as it began. Across hospitals, mortuaries and cemeteries the dead begin to rise…
What makes this novel stand out from your typical zombie chomp fest, is its focus on relationships and community. This story is taken from the perspective of those relatives who have a loved one who have risen or what the government calls the ‘reliving’. Lindqvist also utilises excerpts from the media and speeches from government officials, assisting the reader to become immersed in the impact of the ‘reliving’ on various levels of society.
Reading this novel is not a put your seat belt on brain nom-fest, quite the contrary. It is paced as such that you consistently feel a sense of unease; at times anger and frustration and other times profound sadness for those involved in the main plot lines with their ‘reliving’. However there is an element of spirituality and beauty that he also weaves into the story, which is contrasted by a particularly vile and ugly scene, leaving the reader to question human kinds ability to control its urges, and consequently highlights the importance of empathising with those who are ‘other’.
” They were dancing a moment ago.
Her chest filled. Grief, as deep as an abyss. The opposite of that wonderful awe she had felt for the dance of the dead. Grief for all humankind and its path upon the earth. And the same thought that had gripped her then returned now, in a different light.
This is how it is.” (p 331)
‘Handling the Undead’ is an important addition to horror literature, achieving what a good piece of horror should: mirroring our society at its extremes and forcing us to reflect on where we are today and how tomorrow could be. An exciting follow up from the author of ‘Let the Right One In’, eerie, thought provoking, stirring.
Ms Harker
Handling the Undead by John Ajvide Lindqvist
Tags: Horror, Horror Novels, Zombies
