Draculas: Reviews
I received Draculas, by J.A. Konrath, F. Paul Wilson, Blake Crouch, and Jeff Strand, as a Pre-Release Review Copy from the authors.Description: Mortimor Moorecook is dying. But, he has a plan, a plan for immortality. Unfortunately, his plan to live involves everyone else dying, or at least joining him in his new "life."
Overall: 5 Stars Plot/Storyline: 5 Stars Whenever I review a book, my first question is, "What is the author trying to accomplish?" I have to put aside my expectations while reading to discover what the author wants to convey. In other words, I had to put aside all thoughts of Meyers' Twilight (which I haven't even read) or Rice's Interview With a Vampire (which I really enjoyed), and find out what kind of story these authors were trying to tell.
The answer I came up with was a cross between a teenager slasher movie and a Wes Craven production. At first, I thought they were trying to put forth a pretty serious "vampire" story. It read that way for quite awhile. However, upon reading more, I found a bit too much humor, albeit grotesque humor, to really even try to take the story seriously. Have you ever been in a horror movie where you are practically on the edge of your seat, ready to flee the theater, then a scene so ridiculous follows that it breaks that fear and causes everyone in the theater to laugh out loud? Yes, there is a scene like that in this movie. Actually, there are a couple of them. The worst example involves a clown, but that's all I'm saying. At first, I was irritated. Why did they put that in there? Then, I realized, they put it in there for the same reason the directors of those types of movies do it: To show that this is not really to be taken seriously. After that revelation, I also went easier on some of the discrepancies, such as some vampires getting cut up, knocked down, etc., who keep coming, yet, one that gets kicked between the legs and is stopped cold. Those types of little things don't bother me so much when I'm not supposed to be taking a book seriously anyway. The storyline flowed fast and furious. There was not a whole lot of buildup before people, lots of people, started dying. The blood flowed copiously throughout the entire book, along with some internal organs.
The ending was terrific. Of course, like any really good horror book, there was a set up for a sequel. However, there was no cliffhanger; this book was satisfying all by itself. Character Development: 5 Stars The characters were pretty deep for this type of novel. I was impressed with their individual backgrounds and motivations.
I would have liked a little more background on Mortimer Moorecook. I either wanted to empathize with him more, or hate him more, depending on his reasoning.
Writing Style: 5 Stars Had I not known beforehand that this book was written by four different people, I would never have known. That was a big surprise. I know that when I read The Talisman, by Stephen King and Peter Straub, I could easily pick out who wrote which sections as their writing styles were so different. Not that knowing that was a bad thing, but there was none of that at all in this book. The writing style had the same flow throughout the novel, with great continuity. The descriptions were vivid and disgusting (I mean that in a good way.). The dialogue wasn't realistic quite often, but it wasn't meant to be. It was humorous and straight out of a horror movie. RED ADEPT REVIEWS ***
I recently had the opportunity to read an advance edition of Draculas, the new horror book by J.A. Konrath (writing as Jack Kilborn), F. Paul Wilson, Blake Crouch, and Jeff Strand. I can definitely recommend the book, which will be available October 18th at Amazon.com for the kindle, as well as on other ebook devices.
Vile pun in the post title aside, I enjoyed this book a lot. It delivers exactly what the authors promised: in-your-face, gory, vampire horror. I am not a huge fan of gory horror, but I enjoy it when done well. And Draculas was done well. So what was good? For starters the initial concept. I won't spoil it, but the trigger for the appearance of the vampires was cool and unexpected.
The writing was also good. The authors clearly put in some effort with editing and it paid off. I suspect having four of them made editing a lot more effective. The book had the kind of prose that makes you want to skip sentences because it is so effectively creating tension that you don't want to wait to find out what's going to happen. Exactly right for this kind of horror thriller. The best thing about the book in my opinion is the characters. Quite a few compelling characters, with a good balance of cliche and uniqueness. In fact, the well-drawn characters and their motivations gave the book more of a thriller feel in many places than a straight horror feel. Along with the oodles of gore, I cared about the characters.
So was anything not done well? I give the book a really solid four stars, so everything was done pretty well. I suppose I would have enjoyed more history and context for the vampires themselves, but I think others will like the fact that the vampires are mostly just vicious and out of control. Just personal preference. Bottom line, if you like horror, or you like thrillers and don't mind gore along with it, you need to buy Draculas. At $2.99,it should be a no-brainer.
Edward G. Talbot's blog ***
Wow...that's all I have to say. Wow! This book was freaking amazing!!! An absolute smorgasbord of blood, guts and all out mayhem. What a change from the usual horror novel writing. Draculas was the effort of 4 horror novelists: My personal favorite J.A Konrath, along Jeff Strand, Blake Crouch and F. Paul Wilson. These 4 put together create a masterpiece of a vampire book. We aren't in Forks Washington anymore people, there are no sparkly vampires here. No! We are in the Blessed Crucifixion hospital, where it all begins. Mortimer Moorecook, a retired wall street tycoon, is dieing of cancer. He is a millionaire with money to spare, and he hears of a strange skull found in a Romanian farmers field. The skull has baffled researchers and the rumor is that it is a vampire skull. Mortimer is trying to beat death, and pays millions to have the skull shipped to him. He hires Shanna an anthropologist to look at the skull and tell him if it is in fact a vampire skull. The day comes that Mortimers investment comes to his home via Fed Ex. Shanna and him are looking at the skull and trying to figure out if it is a fake. Mortimer takes the skull and clamps it on his neck...and all freaking hell breaks loose. The book doesn't have all that much in depth to it. It's not going to give you some life long lesson to live by (besides stay the heck away from people with REALLY big sharp teeth), but it will churn your guts, and make you wince. The introduction states "If you are easily disturbed, have a weak stomach, or are prone to nightmares, stop reading right now. There are no sexy teen hearthrobs herein" You have been warned. Now come on, who wouldn't want to read a book with those words in the introduction?!?! I can't say enough about how super the gore factor is in this book. It's is all about the blood, brain matter, balloon animals made out of intestines (SWWEEET!!) and an 8 month old fetus chewing it's way out of it's mothers belly (I will say it again SWWEEET!!!). If you haven't been made all "froofy poofy" by nice vampires like Edward Cullen, and can handle a whole lot of blood and guts (or if you're like me and relish in it) then Draculas is the book for you to read. I can see it becoming a classic in vampire literature. Here's to you J.A Konrath, Blake Crouch, Jeff Strand and F. Paul Wilson!!! You have brought the scare factor back to the vampire! I have no idea what my next book will be...I think I'm going to sit and wallow in the greatness of Draculas.
CONFESSIONS OF A ZOMBIEMOM ***
Jack Kilborn (aka J.A. Konrath), F. Paul Wilson, Jeff Strand and Blake Crouch have together written an ebook of terror entitled Draculas (A Novel of Terror). The book will be available on http://www.amazon.com/DRACULAS-Novel-Terror-ebook/dp/B0042AMD2M from 19th of October 2010. I have read an advance copy and I'd like to tell you about it. Firstly, as a writer, I've been studying epublishing for some time. I've even experimented by publishing Infinite Variety, one of my own spooky little tales on Feedbooks and Smashwords for free. I still don't own a Kindle or Sony Reader and I think I may never own one. I'm an old fashioned girl when it comes to books. I want and need a real book in my hands. I love libraries and bookstores. I like to look at the stack of books waiting to be read. But epublishing is a valid and for some, very lucrative method of getting one's writing to readers, which is what it's all about. J.A. Konrath is possibly the most famous name in this brave new world and perhaps the most successful. His new experiment Draculas is an example of what can be done with epublishing. Vampires are eternally fascinating, as evidenced by their abiding popularity in fiction and film all the way from Polidori's Ruthven, to Stephanie Meyer's beautiful vegetarians. I've recently read and loved Justin Cronin's The Passage and The Strain and The Fall, the first and second books in a trilogy of vampire novels from Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan, novels which go a long way towards making vampires frightening monsters again (although somewhere in Cronin's novel, there is room for pathos under the horror). Draculas is a different animal. Without the space of a print novel, there isn't time for pathos or leisurely character development. There is however, time for blood, and a lot of it, liberally laced with humour. The book belts along at tremendous speed from the introduction of the crisis and its dramatic escalation until its explosive climax (with room for a sequel). It is a gore-filled roller coaster car and you better keep your hands inside the vehicle. It reads like a screenplay and I wouldn't be surprised if it was adapted for the screen, as it is all about the visual. Draculas is not the kind of horror that I normally choose, but if you like a ripping read (pardon the pun) then this one may be for you. It'll be selling for less than four dollars, so how can you go wrong, right? Draculas begins with an apology to Bram Stoker. I don't know what Stoker would have thought of this or any of the other twists on his tale (including my own Velvet) but I'll leave it to you to decide whether the tongue-in-cheek apology is warranted. After all, fiction cannot stagnate and there is room for everything the imagination can dream up. And if epublishing interests you, then this book is a good place to start your investigation.
THE CLEAN WHITE PAGE ***
Something different. Instead of something I designed a review of DRACULAS, written by Blake Crouch, Jack Kilborn, Jeff Strand, and F. Paul Wilson. Available from amazon.com October 19th. Following the success of Serial Uncut, Joe Konrath (aka Jack Kilborn) set out to take the concept of multiple authors working simultaneously on the same novel to the next level. Was Serial written 'just' by him and Blake Crouch, DRACULAS is a four-author-effort. Completing the team are Jeff Strand, and F. Paul Wilson both legends in their own right. Buy DRACULAS here. The result is a no holds barred high octane horror novel that - thankfully - is far removed from the sensitive metro-sexual vampires that make young girls swoon. No adolescent wet dreams here - this is full on mayhem and the stuff of disturbing and frightening nightmares. For the lovers of vampires it should be considered a welcome return to the origins of the genre. DRACULAS is fast paced, dark, claustrophobic, scary, occasionally laugh out loud funny but always extremely entertaining. In addition to the terrific DRACULAS the ebook offers a raft of extras. There are deleted scenes and alternate endings but most exciting, insightful and extremely entertaining is the exclusive behind-the-scenes 'Making of DRACULAS'. There are over a hundred pages of transcripts of the chain of emails between the authors, from conception to completion with warts and all. It reveals how 4 very talented but very different authors set aside their egos, and how they - almost effortlessly it seems - collaborate to create a seamless and very exciting novel.
DRACULAS is an absolute must read for anyone who enjoys a fast paced and excellent horror story. The chain of emails is a must read for anyone remotely interested in the art of writing and collaboration.
JEROENTENBERGE.COM ***
It all starts with the dying, eccentric millionaire, Mortimer Moorecook, purchasing an anatomically impossible archeological find dubbed the 'Dracula Skull'. While details of the connection between Vlad the Impaler and the 'Dracula Skull' surface mid-way through the novel, it is enough for the reader to realize the implications of this mutant monstrosity.
In a chain-reaction, this rural hospital explodes with packs of blood-sucking creatures whose sole drive is to drink BLOODBLOODBLOOD. Purely animalistic, these creatures easily turn on each other, as well as themselves, cannibalizing fingers and faces in order to placate their all-consuming hunger.
Graphic depictions of mutilations are frighteningly gory. Yet, several cleverly placed tongue-in-cheek moments break the strain, as with Benny the Clown happily creating balloon animals out of a dead woman's' intestines. In this fast-paced thriller, pairs of heroic characters emerge, taking you through the halls of chaos. From the towering lumberjack in butt-exposed hospital garb, to the gun-loving Deputy Sheriff, to the arrogant, self-serving Dr. Lanz turned sadistic monster, the novel generates an array of emotions from fear to laughter to anger to sadness. (I actually cried when one of the main characters dies in a heroic effort to protect the few survivors.) As death rages all around, you start to wonder if anyone will escape. You get much more than the novel upon purchase. The book is packed with interviews, the behind-the-scenes development of DRACULAS, and hints at potential sequels. It also includes sections that were removed from the final draft (and why). Brilliantly written and executed, I give "DRACULAS" two thumbs up. This is a book I could not put down – and highly recommend. THE UNRULY GUIDES
***
5-stars: A very bloody good time! Want to get in the mood for Halloween? Get this book! DRACULAS is a crazy, no-holds-barred, totally over-the-top good time! It's a horror novel that delivers grotesque terror after grotesque terror at an unrelenting pace, yet it's also got humor galore. It's definitely not for the squeamish, but horror fans will delight - the gore-fest never wanes and there is a wild dose of insanity mixed in for flavor. As one of the authors (Joe) sez in the bonus content: it's a "balls-to-the-wall monster book" - oh yeah, it is! This was co-written by four authors, and yet the voice is perfectly consistent the entire way through. Kudos! It's also got a great ending that leaves the door wide open for a sequel. I'd love to see where else they can take this story, there are tons of tantalizing possibilities that I hope the authors fully explore down the road. The bonus content was very interesting, entertaining & content-rich. I loved reading about the creative process and the (disturbed) minds behind this ;) They're a funny bunch! This gets me excited for future kindle releases that will continue to break the standard book mold. There are short stories, alternate endings, deleted scenes, excerpts from other novels, and a 'making-of' section. This book gives the reader a ton of bang for their buck! Sign me up for DRACULAS 2, WEREWOLVES & MUMMIES - can't wait!!
The Adventures of Rai Aren & Tavius E.
***
Violent, gory, campy, and most of all, fun! It's Draculas, the new e-book horror novel for Kindle coming to life October 19. A gang of four writers made this up between them, unleashing a type of vampire not much seen recently—more like a shark with legs than the brooding Lord Byron wannabe that most bloodsuckers have been since the birth of Bram Stoker's monster. A small hospital in a small town has the ill fortune to have Mr. Moorcook die in the ER and morph into the patient-zero draculas. (They call the vampires draculas here.) Immediately it is a fight to the death between the quick and the dead and all bets are off as to who (if anyone) will survive the night. Blake Crouch, Jack Kilborn, Jeff Strand and F. Paul Wilson are responsible for what one of their characters calls this 'homicidal monster infestation' of a thriller. My favorite line—"Once you become a pickle, you can't go back to being a cucumber."
If you enjoy the SyFy channel's made for TV monster and disaster movies, then Draculas is definitely the book for you. Fun, campy, gory and violent. Good job, guys. RIX CAFÉ TEXICAN ***
The Skinny: Draculas is a collaboration novel by authors Blake Crouch, J.A. Konrath (as Jack Kilborn), Jeff Strand and F. Paul Wilson. This is their take on vampires: there is no romance with the undead, no teeny boppers batting their eyes at the mysterious stranger. This is a dark, twisted and violent story. Draculas is an experimental novel being released exclusively on Kindle by the authors themselves. They wrote the novel in about five weeks and what a whopper of a novel it is.
The majority of the story takes place in a hospital after an outbreak of vampirism. Mortimer Moorecook is an old, wealthy dying man who purchases a strange skull from a farmer in Romania for a large sum of a money. The skull, he believes, belonged to the man that inspired tales of vampires. It's a hideous skull with razor sharp teeth and Mortimer infects himself after cutting his throat with them.
He is transported to the hospital where he transforms into a hideous fanged creature and quickly infects those around him.
The Good: his is an action packed read. Once all hell breaks loose at the hospital it never lets up. It is a great mix of horror, suspense, drama and comedy all rolled into one exciting novel. Reading it one would never think it was written by four authors: the writing styles have been exceptionally blended. I couldn't pick out where one writer stopped and another began. It shows the professionalism of those involved that they worked so hard to make it as unobtrusive for the reader as possible. The really interesting thing about Draculas is the supplemental material. The authors have put together a "Special Edition" ebook that includes deleted/alternate scenes, book excerpts from their other works, short stories, and the majority of their e-mail exchanges outlining the writing process of this novel. It's an interesting look into the writing process by four very talented writers.
The Bad: The character development is sparse at best. You are given an adequate amount to justify their motives, but in a novel like this you don't need a lot. It's a survival story, one where you care enough that you want the characters to survive. Only a few characters have fleshed out back stories. Some of the characters are also quite cliche. Not that it's a terrible thing, it just would have been nice for a little more originality when it came to these characters. But, considering they type of novel the authors set out to do, it works. The Verdict: For $2.99 this ebook is a steal. Violent, gory, funny, and balls to the wall action make this a must for any fan of horror, vampires, or any one of these authors. The writing is solid, and doesn't skip a beat. Plus, all the extras included give this book a uniqueness that has never before been seen.
GENREFINITY
***
I was fortunate enough to snag a preview copy of Draculas by Blake Crouch, Jack Kilborn (aka J.A. Konrath), F. Paul Wilson, and Jeff Strand.
In a time where vampires are portrayed as handsome, sexy, metrosexual...ad nauseam, comes a book where vampires are actually meant to be scary! To be honest, I received the advanced copy with hesitation. I wasn't sure what to expect (as an avid horror fan). Would it be a string of short stories, four separate novellas, or a spoof on Dracula? Pleasantly surprised by the first couple pages, it was none of the above. Crouch, Kilborn, Strand, and Wilson, did an amazing job bringing vampires to life in an all out suspense, horror, thriller, (yes, they were capable of making it all that and more).
What surprised me the most was their ability to create a seamless book without the reader knowing (other than the book's cover) that it was written by four superb authors. Not wanting to add spoilers (I am so tempted) before the book even comes out, I have to say that I fell in love with the characters. One in particular that I even cried when he died (not saying who, so it's still a surprise). Yes, a book called Draculas made me cry. The heroes were so GD believable I fell for the book hook, line, and sinker. But there were many laughs too. Gotta love a good balloon animal scene! For those not into blood, guts, and gore you won't regret taking a change on this book. Of all the books I read while on vacation this past week, this was the only one I stayed up all night to read. As a bonus, the authors include extras that include emails between the authors, deleted scenes, alternate ending, the works! As a writer, it was great to catch a glimpse of how other authors tick. A great added feature you don't often see with books. CANINES AND CRIME ***
I was super lucky to get a copy of the up and coming novel Draculas. It is a novel that four authors collaborated on and it's about a terminal old man who purchases the head of a Dracula. Everything goes down hill from there. Shanna, was hired by Mortimer to study the head that he purchased. Jenny was the hospice nurse who he hired to watch over him. After Ol' Morty does something unthinkable they both accompany him to the hospital. Once there all hell breaks loose. This book is like a cross between vampires and zombies. Each character was running for their lives. The more you get into the novel the more it seems to become hopeless for each character involved. You're thinking, there's no way their luck can be that bad, but guess again! What I really find amazing about this novel in particular is that each author had a set of characters. They each wrote their own parts separately but you'd never know from reading it. It's that seamless. I never once thought to myself, huh, this doesn't sound like the last part. It just flowed. Honestly, I cannot begin to explain the amount of gore. There's just so much. Not to mention the adrenaline ride you're put through. Will they make it? Will they not make it? In some books when there are more than 4 characters I normally get lost. Not in this case. Each character made such an impression with me that I had no trouble remembering who and what was happening to them. I think that is a testament to how well these authors write. I was nervous, excited, disgusted, and frustrated to no end during this one. It's one of my favorites. It ended in such a way that it had its own conclusion but it could also have a sequel if the authors ever wanted to get back together. In fact, I kind of insist they do. I want more. NIKKI'S WILD
***
It seems that with every passing day I become more and more jaded with the horror genre. What with once great authors publishing at best average books, great authors not getting the coverage and readership they deserve and the constant in fighting that appears to be rampant among some quarters of the small press. One of the first casualties was my love for the vampire novel. The once great vampire novel has been slowly but surely worn away to some sparkly whinny brat pining for some sad little emo bit of skirt. Draculas, marks the first ever collaboration between four of the genres true experts. J A Konrath author of the Jack Daniels series of crime novels, Jeff Strand author of such classics as Dweller and Mandibles, Blake Crouch author of Abandon, and Desert Places and finally F Paul Wilson author of the brilliant Repairman Jack Series, and Midnight Mass, one of my favourite vampire novels. So what happens when four genre heavyweights team up to write a proper vampire novel, is this going to be a rumble in the jungle or something more akin to a hobo fight? The story kicks of with Mortimer Moorecook a millionaire who has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He purchases a skull dug up from a field in Transylvania, purported to be that of a vampire. Once in his possession he proceeds to "bite" himself with the skull Which causes him to collapse and be rushed to the local hospital. Where all hell soon breaks loose. Within a shot space of time nearly everyone has been turned in to an animalistic rampaging vampire. Sometimes with collaborative novels you can feel the seams where the receptive author his stitched there part of the story into the narrative. This is not the case here, what follows is a seamless piece of fiction, that thunders along like a free wheeling juggernaut. The writing is tight, fast paced, full of action and horror, with a nice touch of humour running through it. One of my favourite characters Clay, the gun obsessed cop, could have, in lesser hands turned into a cliché ridden mess. However, the skill at which he has been written turns him into a sheer joy. yes he names his guns, yes he even modifies his guns and quotes lines from Dirty Harry movies, but this just adds to the fun of the character. Beware, this is a gore ridden novel, these vampires for the most part are unthinking animals, only concerned with ripping the last drop of blood from their victims bodies. Finally the vampire novel has found its bite again. In this day of digital, it is common practice to have added value, Draculas is brimming with it. The story only accounts for roughly half the page count, you also get bonus material by the bucket load a clickable table of contents - a round-robin interview with Strand, Wilson, Crouch, and Kilborn about writing DRACULAS - deleted scenes - two alternate endings - four excerpts from the authors' other works - the short story "Serial" by Crouch and Kilborn - the short story "Cub Scout Gore Feast" by Kilborn and Strand - the short story "A Sound of Blunder" by Kilborn and Wilson - author biographies - comprehensive clickable bibliographies - an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at the writing of DRACULAS, delivered through a collection of over seven hundred emails between the writers as they were brainstorming and writing the book. These extras are worth the meagre price of the book itself. If you want watered down vamps then go somewhere else. If you want in my opinion the best Vampire novel of the last ten years, then buy this and devour it in one sitting. Find the time turn the lights down low and prepare yourself for one hell of a read.
GINGER NUTS OF HORROR ***
I was so excited to be sent this book for review FROM THE AUTHORS! Four of my favorite authors actually allowed me to read an ARC of their book. What happens if I don't like the book? NOTHING because I LOVED the book! I love vampires. Real, nasty, blood sucking, no conscience vampires. Not the pretty boys but the fiends. Draculas is filled to the brim with fiends. No one is off limits to these vampires, not your grandmother, your mother or even your unborn baby. Yeah, call me a sicko but that's the kind of vampires I want to read about. These authors do not disappoint. Not one page lacks excitement and yes, I am almost ashamed to say a few laughs. It's in no way a comedy but there is dark, very dark humor in there and you can't help but smirk. Well I guess to be honest it would offend some people but then I don't recommend this to those people. The setting being a hospital was very good. Just think about all the amazing "goodies" to be found in a hospital to try to ward off these evil guys. And, no crucifix or holy water for these vampires, they are stronger than that so our characters must come up with more creative ideas to stop them. The characters, as always are very real, very people next door type. We all know these people and they could be us. I am going out of a limb but I am admitting that my favorite character was Benny the Clown. Yes, you heard me correctly, Benny the Clown. Poor Benny got hurt at a birthday party and was coming to the ER for help. (Not telling you anymore, read the book) Poor Benny got much more then he bargained for when he agreed to be a clown that day! You like balloon animals and scarf tricks? Read the book, Benny's got them! Draculas has a bit of everything, even some romance. I have to warn you and the authors do too, if you want Twilight walk by this book. If you want blood, guts, evil, action that will make you cringe, cry and yes, giggle pick up Draculas. I hope that there is a second book coming. Let's not forget the bonus material. I loved the email exchange between the authors. Make me feel like a fly on the wall listening to them brainstorm to create this book. And that's not all, there are short stories included, author interviews and more. All for the price of one ebook. Can't beat that. I can not thank the authors enough for allowing me to read and review Draculas . And when I saw my name in the acknowledgments I almost fell over! Thank you, thank you, thank you. Mr. Konrath will also be posting a link of everyone that has reviewed this book on his website! WOW Now please get to work on Draculas the Sequel?
READING, READING & LIFE ***
DRACULAS is a collaboration of four great horror writers Blake Crouch, Jack Kilborn, Jeff Strand, and F. Paul Wilson. Despite having four authors, this horror novel blends seamlessly from scene to scene, point of view to point of view. The pacing speeds along from the very first bite. DRACULAS is everything a vampire novel should be. Gore, horror, humor, and fantastic wit fill the pages. Benny the Clown gives Stephen King's Pennywise from IT a run for his money. The twist at the end leads to the possibilities for a sequel, which I can't wait to read! The novel had a very horror movie feel to it, and I would be first in line to see it, if it ever was made into a movie. If you're looking for good horror or something scary for Halloween, DRACULAS is the book for you.
SURROUNDED BY BOOKS REVIEWS ***
What do you get when four quick-witted, macabre-loving authors combine velociraptors, a rampant virus and Transylvania's most famous export? You get DRACULAS, a manically-paced thriller that's over before you realize it, leaving you gasping for air. Spitting in the face of books glamorizing seductive, beautiful vampires who sparkle in the sun, DRACULAS begins with wealthy Mortimer Moorecook's acquisition of an ancient skull unearthed from a field in Transylvania – apparently a human skull, except for the thirty-two shark-like teeth. To the horror of his assistants, the mortally-ill Moorecook squeezes the jaws around his own neck, causing the razor-like fangs to bite deeply into his own flesh. He's rushed to the hospital - but things go awry when he springs back to life on the gurney, fangs ripping his own mouth to shreds, leaving him consumed with blood rage, biting and clawing anyone in reach. Anyone bitten in turn becomes infected and within a half an hour morphs into a raptor-like, mindless beast with an insatiable appetite for blood. Soon, the hospital is swarming with bitey Draculas. There's so much to love about this book, be it the snippets of humor, which are funnier because they are so unexpected (Metallica elevator music?), or Dracula clowns – a la Stephen King's IT - making balloon animals out of intestines, or a frenetic pace befitting an episode of the hit series "24" … though without the bad acting. Bowing to the movies that most likely helped shape their own individual writing styles, the authors paid homage to TERMINATOR, TRON, DOGS OF WAR, MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, MAGNUM FORCE, ALIENS, BLADE II, not to mention the Dracula's uncanny resemblance to JURASSIC PARK's most lovable raptors. Though the authors' voices mixed with the smoothness of a mens' choir, you could almost taste the competition, with the four spurring each other to heights that might not have achieved individually, likely because each of the authors took stewardship of individual characters. As a writer and reader of humor books, I'm not a big fan of horror as a rule, but the unrelenting pace of this book left me little time to soak in the horror of certain sections. Before I could reflect on the gruesomeness of a Dracula consuming his own flesh, the authors would shove me down another precipice of heart-stopping action. It was much like riding a rock and roll rollercoaster in a tunnel filled with music and strobe lights, thrilling and scary as hell …then it's over before you know it. This book thoroughly entertained, and I ripped through it like a squirrel in a birdfeeder. And not to be missed are the bonus sections, with an alternate ending, short stories by each of the authors and hilarious back and forth repartee by the authors as they illuminate how they constructed the story from beginning to end. When you read this, do yourself a favor and give yourself time to read it in one sitting.
FANGPLACE
***
If you're looking for a leisurely voyage into a world where vampires fall in love with young women, you'd better turn right around and head back inside. Maybe you should lock the door... there are dangerous things out here. Things that run ravening through a rural hospital and tear your expectations to shreds, right before they latch on to your throat and start to drink the rich red nectar. Oh, yeah, it's like that. DRACULAS takes off running after just a step, and never lets up. The story takes place almost entirely within and around a hospital. Vampirisim turns out to be easily communicable, and it doesn't take long for someone to turn, so the problem escalates rapidly. The authors have chosen a fast-acting plague to create a fast action novel, and the characters are quickly sketched but memorable. Even the bad guys are given the chance to develop some interesting twists and turns. There's plenty of graphic violence, and some horrific puns, and some choice movie references by the film buffs trapped in the hospital. If you like movie references, this will, in fact, make your day. The writing is well-honed; you barely feel the needle when it slides under your skin, until the punchline finds a nerve. I found it hard to believe that four different authors worked on this, since their styles meshed so well. It did feel at times as if there was some one-upsmanship going on, as I would find some gruesome scene where I thought "Wow, that's just nasty!" and then I'd find something even nastier in the next scene. The closest analogy I can give you is the recent film Machete, where there was some amazing action scenes that I just didn't expect, but thoroughly enjoyed. Let's be clear: There are disturbing images in this novel that will haunt you for some time to come. The clown, oh my god, the clown... I didn't know I could laugh while grimacing in horror. If you like action, and horror, and a fast-paced novel with some twisted scenes you've never before encountered, this is the place for you.
20th LEVEL MARKETING ***
Anyone who likes their terror served up with a healthy dose of wry humor will enjoy Draculas – a tasty concoction cooked up by four well-known masters of horror faire. Joe Konrath (aka Jack Kilborn), Blake Crouch, Jeff Strand and F.Paul Wilson decided to team up to produce this tale in time for Halloween. Mortimer Moorecook is rich, but money can't buy immortality- especially when he's been diagnosed with terminal cancer. So he purchases an ancient Romanian "Dracula" skull in the hope that a self-inflicted wound from the ex-vampire will somehow convey new life. Instead, the moment he lands in the emergency room of Blessed Crucifixion Hospital, he begins to morph into a real vampire. As he bites each victim in his lust for blood, he spreads his "infection", so that soon the hospital is overrun with these creatures. And no one is immune- not Benny the Clown, the medical director of the ER, pregnant women or even "innocent" children.
The technique of telling the story from many different characters' points of view allowed the collaborators to produce a relatively seamless novel. Having read at least one of each of the authors' previous works, it was not easy to tell who wrote which scenes. Only in the interview accompanying the e-version was ownership of specific characters revealed. For example, F. Paul Wilson admitted to Clay Theel, the "gun-nut cop" who spends his free time at gun shows and who is thrilled to be able to "demo" the new pieces he's acquired on the blood-thirsty monsters. His favorite, "Alice", the nickel-plated Taurus Raging Bull .454 Casull revolver could take down a cape buffalo. He's sure it can blow away a "Dracula". Joe developed the not-so-funny Benny the Clown; Blake came up with Oasis. The writing team is introducing Dracula in Kindle format. This gets the book out to readers faster than the usual 18 month lead time for print. And just in time for Halloween. SAMMY GREENE'S BLOG ***
I finished Draculas a week ago and I'm still a bit ambivalent about it. I liked it – don't get me wrong, but I didn't love it. So my lament is where do I put it on a scale of five stars? For me it's 3.5 stars – right smack between I liked it and I liked it a lot.
Several factors weighed in on this, one of which surprised me since I'm usually the queen of gore. I'm not squeamish by any stretch of the imagination, and this didn't make me queasy but the sheer abundance of gore shocked me to the point I might not have kept reading if I hadn't signed up to review the book. But if I did that – I would have missed out.
Yes, the gore in the beginning got to me and turned me off, but eventually the characters, specifically Jenny and Randall – won me over. These two characters were the reason I kept reading, I cheered for them, felt anxiety for their fate, even cried for them. To me, they were the strongest of the book's cast.
Another factor that played into the score was the fact that I just couldn't picture what these monsters looked like. Of course, there were several descriptions of what happened, how they turned, but I just couldn't picture it no matter how I tried and I'm usually so good at visualization. The good thing about this – I didn't have any nightmares related to reading Draculas but I'm sure others did.
The last factor for my scoring was the ending. I'm not going to spoil it here, but I was a bit taken back. You could even say a couple things pissed me off. But not the fact they left it open-ended and allowed for the possibility of a sequel and a million and one questions fluttering around my brain for days. This book certainly isn't the usual vampire story – it brought me back to the days of Salem's Lot, where these creatures were the embodiment of evil and I liked that far better than the brooding vampires in the Twilight series that ended in what I call an anti-climax of nothingness.
This definitely didn't fall into the anti-climax of nothingness category and for those who dig a scary, blood-ridden ride, pick this sucker up – you won't be disappointed. AUTHOR J.E. TAYLOR'S BLOG ***
Take one soulless, dying millionaire who wants to be immortal, a recently discovered skull that might have belonged to Dracula himself, an infestation of vampirism in a secluded hospital, a gallery of memorable characters, a team of writers who are masters of their craft, and you get Draculas, one hell of a ride! The plot, which is pure Kilborn/Konrath, is a one-trick pony, but the writing sure isn't. Konrath, Crouch, Strand and Wilson pull out all the stops here, delivering a book that only takes a couple of pages to get going and never looks back. This book has so much momentum that the reader never gets a chance to catch his/her breath. Jumping from one character's point-of-view to another, with no chapter stops, the novel's pace never lags. But, for me, what sets this novel apart, what makes it brilliant, is its sheer ebullience. Although it's nasty, ultra-violent, and, at times, stomach-churning and brutal, it is also very, very funny, in a super-twisted kind of way. This is a book that has an undead clown making balloon animals out of a victim's intestines, where vampire babies dangle by the umbilical cord from their mothers' open bellies, where heroes and children die; but it is also a book that makes time for characters to get untimely erections, exchange their favorite movie quotes, and which features a character that has an unhealthy relationship with his chainsaw and another who calls his gun Alice. So, yes, it's a funny book. It's also a brutal book, with a relentless pace, and enough action, gore and grue to satisfy the most blood-thirsty reader. This is a no-holds-barred, go for the jugular (excuse the lame pun) kind of book, that does for vampires what Romero did for zombies: Make them scary again. These "draculas" aren't funny (well, most of the time they aren't), aren't handsome, and they sure don't want your love. They simply want to eat you alive with a mouth full of shark fangs. They are absolutely terrifying; creatures out of a black nightmare. Also, Draculas is, without a doubt, one of the best, if not the best, action-horror novel I've ever read. The action sequences are brilliantly written, well-detailed, and nail-biting, which, considering the amount of talent involved, isn't surprising. What is surprising, however, is how tonally consistent this novel is. None of the four writers' voices gets to overpower the narrative, instead, this novel comes off as one well-oiled terror machine. But Konrath's penchant for locking his characters up with monsters and seeing what happens, definitely shines through. And the ending is pure Konrath: cynical and leaves you wanting more. Hardcore horror, pitch-black humor, some of the best action/suspense sequences I've ever come across in a novel, vampires that scared the hell out of me, a cast of characters to die for, and one hell of an ending, make Draculas a modern classic. It is also the only novel I know of that features a character wielding an Amazon Kindle as a talisman. Unmissable.
STORYTELLER
***
No broody, sparkly vamps are present (although one has a suspiciously red nose) in the new novel Draculas by Blake Crouch, Jack Kilborn, Jeff Strand, and F. Paul Wilson. The plural form of the noun 'dracula' has particular meaning in the novel, as there are LOTS. They don't read minds, tell the future, or look good in American Apparel. These are vamps one wants to avoid--desperately. Unless your DNA hearkens back to mists of antiquity when rulers were a leetle more brutal. The book brims with blood, guts, and an array of characters who fight for their lives, and the lives of the innocent. Non-stop action, fangs and balloon animals abound with a liberal dose of black humor. The book is also brimming with extras like short stories, deleted and alternate scenes, and novel excerpts by the authors' other works. To read the first 50 pages, go here. The read the whole thing, head to Amazon on October 19th. And just because the book comes out in time for Halloween, don't dress up like a clown, 'kay?
BELLA STREET'S BLOG ***
Hey folks. I've mentioned Joe Konrath before and I don't want you to get the wrong idea. I don't idolize the dude. I don't have some sort of man crush on him. He's just a really good writer and his thoughts and ideas about ebooks are really cool. Konrath's latest work Draculas is set to be released for the Amazon Kindle on October 19. I had the privilege of reading an advance copy of the novel in exchange for reviewing it and blogging about it. Draculas was actually written by Konrath and three of his writer buddies, F. Paul Wilson, Jeff Strand, and Blake Crouch. If you aren't into blood and guts this novel isn't for you. However if you can tolerate it these guys really pushed the limit. The 3 writers open with the following warning:
"If you're easily disturbed, have a weak stomach, or are prone to nightmares, stop reading right now. There are no sexy teen heartthrobs herein. "You have been warned."
I would also add my own warning: Don't eat the KFC Double Down Chicken Sandwich while reading it. It won't sit well and may try making it's way out in the most violent manner. I'm not going to give much a review here. If you want to read my review go to: http://www.amazon.com/DRACULAS-Chapters-Upcoming-Release-ebook/dp/B0042ANZBU/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1287246392&sr=1-1 Read the other reviews then buy the book. It's only $2.99 and it's a very fun, quick read. I'd also ask that if you aren't familiar with Konrath and his buddies take a look at their respective Amazon.com pages. I've really enjoyed Konrath's work and look forward to reading more of his sick and twisted stories in the future.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and if you buy the book thanks for supporting Joe and his friends. They all are really great writers and Joe in particular puts in a great deal of effort "paying it forward".
STUFF MIKE WRITES ***
In the beginning, Joe wrote these words (among others)
"…And it's going to freak you out. If you're easily disturbed, have a weak stomach, or are prone to nightmares, stop reading right now. There are no sexy teen heartthrobs herein. You have been warned…." I do have a weak stomach, I am prone to nightmares, and I don't enjoy fainting. But I also have a strong contrarian streak, so when Joe Konrath warns me that I'm probably not going to want to look at his collaborative effort with Jeff Stand, Blake Crouch, and F. Paul Wilson, curiosity will impel me to look.
But, I started cautiously at the back. Worth the entire $2.99 by themselves are the bonus stories, one of which begins with the awesome line, " The hardest thing about killing a hitchhiker is finding one to pick up."
"DRACULAS"is worth its weight in gold for the bonus material alone.
Curiosity, killed cats, and other red herrings aside there's another reason to devour every bit of this exceptionally well-written, highly entertaining and disturbing book. Joe Konrath hangs ten on the crest of the most powerful waves and this book could be the way authors write faster, add extra value and thrive. Here's how. Four first rate spec fic and occasionally hilarious authors put their heads together to horrific effect. Each chose their own hero/victim/evil-doer from a cast of characters, and each dashed off a parallel novella of approximately 20,000 words, then they sliced and diced and cobbled each author's bits together into the literary equivalent of a Frankenstein's monster. Only, it's Freddy on steroids. It gives a whole new dimension to sucking face, and not a nice one.
The dedication --"For Bram Stoker, with deepest apologies"-- is a perfect foretaste of what to expect from "DRACULAS". Irreverence. Dark humor that is so wry, it's twisted. Offensive stuff, and indeed there is a scene involving bowels and a clown who likes to make rather different balloon animals…. Lots of "wet work", and they maybe ought to have offered apologies of some depth to Clint Eastwood, too!
The prologue (not that they call it that) contains the mother of all hooks. Erroneously, I imagined the conversation those 4 bad boys of grim might have had, before I looked at Joe's generous back matter, and learned how it really was. "Let's dig up a head." "Let's make it really old…" "And evil. It must be evil." "Let's attach something nasty to it. What?" "A curse." "Wicked teeth." "Maybe we make those teeth like… like Sleeping Beauty's spindle." "Dracula's deadly prick…" "We need sex…"
"You can't have sex with a severed head…" "Oh, yes you can!" "Look, we'll call the person who gets hold of the head More Cock." "And we'll give him an incurable disease."
The foregoing is my imagination. This conversation did not happen… but the gentle reader should remember that Joe Konrath aka Jack Kilborn once wrote a Christmas story about an amnesiac werewolf who discovered that his midnight snacking habit was abnormal after he noticed buttons and coins in his poop. Yes, there is poop humor in "DRACULAS" in the bonus matter. There's "crazy poop bags" and "werewolf poop", so if scattered references to poop offends you, beware. Moreover, there are 30 occurrences of "crap", and as for the "F-bomb"… it is dropped 114 times (-36 not in story). Oh, the joys of a search function in an e-book! I recommend using it. There's "blood" on virtually every page: 382 mentions. Their "Draculas" have the compassion of hornets, the dentition of sharks, the voracious appetites of shrews and no respect for garlic whatsoever. If you can contemplate a rabid, blood thirsty Edward Scissorteeth in a maternity or pediatric ward, using a severed artery as a drinking straw, or lashing out among the blind… go for it, but with your eyes open. Do not necessarily trust the reviews, and do not pay $2.99 merely to find out what's in "DRACULAS". There's more than enough in the free sample chapters to give you an accurate idea what to expect.
Know before you buy that you're going to be ambushed by some of the grossest, sickest, most disturbed, politically incorrect and indiscriminate bloodlusty slash fest that four insensitive guys can think up.
Disclaimer. This is an author review. 4-stars is as low as I go. Five Stars!
SPACE SNARK
***
Re: This is an interesting book. Brainstormed by J.A. Konrath (writing under his Horror alter-ego, Jack Kilborn) and written tag team style by four generally well-respected horror and thriller authors, Draculas is a down and dirty re-imagining of the vampire legend. Ditching fancy cloaks and sparkling skin, these guys are nasty. They reproduce and hunger for flesh like fast moving zombies and if they escape the hospital where the initial outbreak occurs, God help the world. And all that stands between them and the world at large is a down on her luck hospice nurse, a lumberjack with a chainsaw sharper than he is and a gun-crazy deputy.
Outstanding: Draculas is a ridiculously fun book to read. The writers styles mesh well, to the point that I had a hard time breaking down who did what, and the story is pure Video Nasty. In my book, that's a Very Good Thing. The "Draculas" as they are dubbed, are vicious, ugly creepy and cool as hell. I dig their take on the creatures, which is both original and old-school. The main characters are pretty stereotypical, but in this type of story, that's a strength. I don't want my big lumbering brute of a man to read Kierkegaard and moan about his feelings. I want him to break out a monster's teeth with the blade of a chainsaw while his ass flaps around in a hospital gown. (The ass part is purely optional, mind you.) Unacceptable: There wasn't much I didn't like about this book. It's not for everyone - there's a lot of gore and violence, almost constant peril in fact, and some of it is ridiculously over the top. It's also a little short, only taking up about 2/3 of the file's 389 pages, but the remainder is filled with some great DVD-style extras. I also had a problem with the advance copy of it on my nook. It had unusually slow page turns, sometimes as much as 5-7 seconds between each.
Summary: Go back and read the first couple of lines about what was "Unacceptable" in this book. If that sounds more like a recommendation than a problem, then you should immediately GO HERE and order Draculas. It's crazy and filled with death in the best possible way. It is a little short, but the extras at the end, around 100 pages of interviews, previews of other books and short stories push the $2.99 price tag from being a good deal to being a steal.
5/5
RODENTS OF UNUSUAL SIZE ***
My thoughts on DRACULAS....
This ain't no TWILIGHT, shiny sparkly vampire book...ruh-ruh....DRACULAS is butt-ugly fromthe get-go. And I mean that in the best way possible. Four authors who have scared the bejeezus out of me in the past with their books have collaborated to write this scarey-ass ode to the uber-Daddy of the vampires, Dracula. (they do apologize in the acknowledgements) Dracula's skull (fangs and all) has been discovered by a farmer in Transylvania. Mortimer Moorecook purchases the skull for an unnamed price...all hell breaks loose from there. Mortimer is dying and decides he want to not go into that dark night...he takes matters into his own hands and uses the skulls fangs to bite himself in the neck. It isn't pretty. The story is told through different points of view. Each moving on through the story is seen as it is happening to that person. The reader gets to know each character, good and bad, incompetent and reluctant hero. I had some laugh out loud moments, especially with Randall, the quarter shy of a dollar dim lumberjack. Like this line, "His chainsaw-the-monster redemption would be a lot better if his ass wasn't hanging out." I sort of had images Bruce Campbell's character, Ash J Williams, of Evil Dead eminence when I read Randall's scenes. Even through the scary parts (and it's all scary), there is laughter and tears...yeah I cried. These are four splendid authors who can do this to a reader. PS...and now I really hate clowns... PPS/PSS..whatever...did you know that nondairy coffee creamer was flammable? READ THE BOOK! This e-book will be released on 19 October. You can pre-order here. I jumped at the chance to review this. You should jump at the chance to read it. A big scary bowl of diamonds rating here.....
VIXEN'S DAILY READS ***
I am not so sure these four authors should be commended so much as they should be committed. This was one sick, crazy vampire tale. Draculas takes the well-worn vampire myth and turns it on its head--then defiles it in ways I dare not repeat. If you read Guillermo Del Toro's and Chuck Hogan's The Strain and somehow walked away from it feeling that the action wasn't intense enough and it didn't push enough boundaries, then this book is for you. Take an eccentric old millionaire on his death bed and give him a priceless artifact obtained on the black market--an excavated skull that looks to be from a hideous beast that's not quite human. Then have that old bag of bones intentionally stab himself with the skull's fangs contracting what turns out to be a vampire curse/virus. Pretty wild stuff, yes, but that's just the tippy-top of the iceberg. The real fun gets underway when he's transported to the hospital and transforms--and goes outhouse crazy on everyone in sight. Now you're cooking with gas. If you need a movie to compare this too, think Planet Terror meets Dawn of the Dead ... but with feral, insatiable bloodsuckers with fangs so massive they protrude through ravaged skin. Needless to say they do not sparkle. To encapsulate the story in a word, try "relentless". Anything resembling a slow point in the story is abandoned, as the novel is surprisingly brief (it clocks in around 170 pages) and has several points of view throughout--heroes and villains. The characters aren't fleshed out to any great degree, and a couple feel like they have appeared in many a horror story, but most felt more genuine than I initially suspected. Oddly enough, it was the over-the-top characters like the movie buff gunsmith that won me over as the story progressed. With four authors crafting this tale, it's enough to make you think of the old adage: too many cooks spoil the broth. Fortunately for this tale, there was a consensus among the four as to what the tone and pace of the story should be. As a matter of fact, part of the included bonus material with this book has some shared e-mails between the four that give a glimpse into how the initial outline for the story came about, and how each author brought their own gifts to bear. If you have an aversion to gore, Draculas is not for you at all. It's a high-octane bloodbath with more depth than it has any right to contain. I liked it and almost feel the need to apologize for liking it. A guilty pleasure, perhaps?
WAG THE FOX RABID READS ***
This ain't your teenage vampire romance...
I hate what has been done to the Vampire myth. I read Twilight, I didn't hate the writing(or love it for that matter), I just quietly mourned another stake in the heart of this particular slice of the horror genre. Vampires have become Fabio-esque love leads for the emo generation. So I was hoping when I heard about Dracula's , that it was would be a return to the classic vampire; the evil, seductive, bastard that needs to be staked through the heart. So is this your traditional bloodsucker?
No not really. It's been a while since I read the original Dracula, but the similarity ends pretty much in Transylvania. Which isn't a bad thing. The story is an adrenaline fueled thriller fest with the only slow part (by comparison to the rest of the story) being the introduction. An oddly deformed humanoid skull is found in a farmer field near the town of Brasov, (it's in Transylvania) its mouth brimming with shark like teeth and two large hollow canines. It's largely dismissed as a hoax. A powerful recluse dying of cancer buys the skull for a undisclosed amount of money, on the pretense of studying it. In reality he is a member of an ancient order who knows the true story behind the skull. The skull carries a virus, a contagion spread though the blood. The recluse chooses to infect himself by puncturing his own neck with the skull's canines. He is transported to Blessed Crucifixion, a small country hospital in a town whose name really isn't important to the story. The virus spreads through his system transforming him into a bloodlusting beast with increased strength and senses - oh and a face splitting skull full of sharklike teeth. One of these Dracula's in the confined halls of a hospital would be terror enough, but of course the virus spreads via contact with blood, and the authors have made sure there's an abundance of that flying around. What I loved
The characterizations are memorable, particularly Clay, the gun nut cop and Randall the chainsaw wielding hick. But my favorite is Benny the Clown, the image of a sadistic, blood covered, vampire clown stalking the surviving patients of Blessed Crucifixion is etched in my mind for ever, the sound of squeaking clown shoes the harbinger of horror. Extreme reading
The pacing of the book suggests the term extreme reading. It's that full on from start to finish that I find it hard to describe it any other way. It's rare I think to find books that can continue pace at this level for so long. What I wanted more of
A little bit more of the back story, how the original Dracula came about and how the Order of the Dragon and the central villain's membership of it fit into the larger story. I realize though, that this would have distracted from the pace of the book. Too many chefs? Nah !
Dracula's has four authors, four capable exponents of the horror genre throwing their skills into the ring. You'd think this type of arrangement would be a minefield of bruised and bloodied egos, not to mention a work that would seem disjointed to the reader - after all each of these writers brings with them a distinct style. The book, however, hangs together so well that without knowledge of the above, you'd think it was written by one author How did they do it? According to the extra's (yes this book has extra's just like a DVD) at the end of the novel they chose particular characters to write for the length of the novel. The book isn't structured in normal chapters but rather told from the points of view of the various main characters and specific villains. Value for money
Disclaimer: This is a review copy of the final product, provided by the authors.
ADVENTURES OF A BOOKONAUT ***
What does "Horror" have to do with "alien romances"? Not much! However, some Horror straddles other genres, such as speculative fiction, particularly if it involves vampires-as-aliens.
Draculas ("a novel of terror") by Blake Crouch, Jack Kilborn, Jeff Strand, and F. Paul Wilson doesn't involve aliens --although images from the Sigourney Weaver movies are used as comparisons-- but it does offer an interesting and heroic reinterpretation of Vlad The Impaler's motives.
Is an alternative historical fragment of backstory sufficient to reinvent "Splatterpunk", and confer upon it the same respectability that "Steampunk" and "Cyberpunk" enjoy?
Splatterpunk—a term coined in 1986 by David J. Schow at the Twelfth World Fantasy Convention in Providence, Rhode Island—refers to a movement within horror fiction distinguished by its graphic, often gory, depiction of violence and "hyperintensive horror with no limits." It is regarded as a revolt against the "traditional, meekly suggestive horror story". Splatterpunk may also been called "Gross-out" or "Gore" Horror or "Extreme Horror" but not every horror aficionado agrees that the terms are synonymous. I googled "splatterpunk and Konrath" just to see what I'd find, and found this on The Pontifications of Maurice Broadus: Maurice asks: What's the difference between splatterpunk and extreme horror (or even gross out), and why is that sort of approach making a comeback? JA Konrath: If the goal is to cause fear, it's straight horror. If the goal is to make you gag, then it's extreme horror. Or extreme something. It's possible to write a disgusting scene without blood or violence. The written word is provocative. Always has been. If used properly, it can make people laugh, cry, think, get angry, or get ill. As a species, we're fascinated by disgusting things. As writers, it's our jobs to make our readers feel something. Put the two together, and some writers are bound to go for the gross out.
In the front matter of Draculas, JA Konrath warns the gentle reader: "…And it's going to freak you out. If you're easily disturbed, have a weak stomach, or are prone to nightmares, stop reading right now. There are no sexy teen heartthrobs herein. You have been warned…." No romance, then. Expect extreme gore. Since Jeff Strand and JA Konrath are involved (Konrath uses his splattery alias, "Jack Kilborn" as a red flag), expect levity also. I recommend watching this book for two reasons which have nothing whatsoever to do with its literary merit. Horror isn't really my cup of tea, (humor, however, is) and I may have been sent an ARC because I joined a particular GoodReads group. Or, it could have been because I reviewed "Afraid". FWIW, I joined Horror Aficionados to support my online friend Guido Henkel in a discussion of e-book piracy. Joe Konrath is well known for being tolerant of e-book piracy and copyright infringement. http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2010/05/steal-this-ebook.html One of his collaborators, F. Paul Wilson, is rather less tolerant. http://trueslant.com/fpaulwilson/2010/05/06/word-thieves-ii/ I will be fascinated to see whether and when this book is upped to the pirate sites, and who --if anyone-- writes DMCAs that are posted on Chilling Effects, and who --if anyone-- publicly learns from whom. The other reason is "Draculas" groundbreaking response to pirates' exhortations that authors should not only write better, faster, cheaper, but should also add plenty of extra content. This ebook does it all. Well, almost all. I didn't see that it was "enhanced" in the sense of containing moving illustrations or sound effects. Another caveat: I don't know if it is exactly "better" than individual works by Blake Crouch (www.blakecrouch.com), J A Konrath (www.jakonrath.com), Jeff Strand (www.jeffstrand.com), or by F. Paul Wilson (www.repairmanjack.com), but from the timeline and transcripts in the back matter, this book does seem to have been written in about four months, and it is selling at the pirate-recommended price of $2.99 on Kindle.
Approximately half the book is bonus material, with free short stories, interviews, transcripts of the emails exchanged between the four co-authors as they plotted and edited the developing book, deleted scenes, and more. It's fascinating stuff, and I predict that it will one day be added to an academic syllabus somewhere. As I wrote in my requested review, "DRACULAS" is worth its weight in gold for the bonus material alone. FWIW, below is my review, which was solicited, and was written to satisfy a quid pro quo agreement (free read for review written and posted on amazon, goodreads, facebook, blogs).
ALIEN ROMANCES
***
Vampires are all the rage these days. Teenage vampires. Vampires with a soul. The common factor seems to be sex appeal. Vampires are cool.
Not anymore.
I recently had the pleasure of reading an advanced copy of DRACULAS (A Novel of Terror) by J.A. Konrath, Blake Crouch, Jack Kilborn, F. Paul Wilson and Jeff Strand. This is not your modern, sexy vampire tale. This group of authors combine to take us back to the type of vampire that stalked innocent people without the least concern for their humanity. Nothing about this book is sexy. But that won't stop you from turning the pages! Here's my review of DRACULAS (A Novel of Terror) :
If you're looking for a sexy vampire with any sort of redeeming qualities, you won't find it here. And this book is absolutely not for sensitive or squeamish readers. Draculas is a fast-paced, bloody mess of a story about the original type of bloodthirsty vampires who terrorized humans. Once you start reading, you won't breathe or smile much until long after you've read the last word. The bonus material is fascinating, as we're allowed a glimpse into the process these writers' went through as they worked together to turn their ideas into a book. While I would have liked to see something go right for someone in the book, after reading their thoughts I was able to understand why they chose such gruesome paths.
I enjoyed the mix of writing styles. Draculas is well written and anything but dull! A huge thank you to all four authors for allowing me an early look at their work.
DRACULAS (A Novel of Terror) officially goes on sale for Kindle tomorrow, October 18. Check it out. You won't regret it, though you might not sleep for a few nights. A WORD PLEASE
***
I'm well aware of each of these four authors, Jeff Strand, Blake Crouch, F. Paul Wilson and J. A. Konrath under the pen name of Jack Kilborn, but haven't had the privilege of exploring each of their individual works which is why I consider this a real treat. I want to first point out this is not the combination of several tales in one book. DRACULAS is the combination of four authors talents in to one story. The debut collaboration from four of the genres finest authors. Their take on the vampire myth (hence the title). No lovey-dovey Twilight twerps. These are vampires at their most primal. Get in their crosshairs and consider yourself dead. This is quite refreshing after all the romanticism vampires have become thanks to Twilight, Vampire Diaries and even True Blood. In DRACULAS, they're viewed as the monster they really are. Multiple POVs should really be left to the experts. This book is an example as to why. The story contains POV shifts between over ten different characters. Each is very crisp. All details between each character lines up with the others. Didn't see any major problems with this. The pacing is fast and steady. Characters are engaging and yes, they had to throw in a vampire clown. The story wouldn't be complete without one. And there is plenty of bonus material for readers and writers alike to drool over. However, I do have a couple of drawbacks. There were a couple of misspellings (since been corrected, I have been assured). I can overlook a couple but not thirty. I didn't understand why after turning in to the Dracula creature why none of them beelined for the blood bank. They retained some rational thought while craving blood. That would be the first place I'd look for a good meal. Yet, I don't recall any of the DRACULAS creatures actually doing it. I wasn't totally sold on the ending. You have patient zero, Mortimer Moorecook, emerging literary as a new man under the guise of Dr. Cook after the infection is "contained". I felt like some of the scenes toward the ending could have been drawn out a little more. I think they shouldn't have cut so much out. Overall, DRACULAS is a great read for anyone who loves a gore-fest and is tired of the pretty boy vampires.
GHOST STORIES
***
Draculas by J.A Konrath, Blake Crouch, Jeff Strand and F. Paul Wilson is something to get behind. Courage and innovation like this are in short supply. It's a bold experiment; an ebook by four noteable authors, full of special extras, telling a story from a multitude of perspectives. This is not what you expect from reputable, noteworthy authors of genre bestsellers. Draculas is an ebook that tells the story of a hospital beset by grotesque, deformed bloodsucking aberrations against nature, vampires closer to the repulsive revenants of Slavic folklore than to the byronic debonair fiends our culture has embraced. The characters are perhaps a bit cliche, but nonetheless likeable, the atmosphere cinematic, the gore the product of a Tom Savini or a Screaming Mad George. Sheer terror, splatstick and one very unsettling flesheating clown make this more than worthy of your attention. But when you add in free short fiction and interviews from the authors, you get a hell of a package, the sort of thing I hope to see more of. Support innovation and have a lot of Halloween fun doing it.
THE GARRETT COOK? ***
This review is from: DRACULAS (Teaser Chapters) (Free Sample of the Upcoming Novel Release) (Kindle Edition)
I admit it. I was afraid to read, Draculas! Having read other books by these authors, my imagine went wild with expectations for violence and terror. And they didn't let me down. Plenty of blood and guts, but what's unexpected is the humor. And, for me, the humor makes the violence palatable...or should I say yummy. Really got me into the Halloween spirit. My only complaint: this story is set in my hometown. Excuse me, someone's knocking at my door--be right back. "Oh, hi Blake." (It's Blake Crouch.) "Hey, what's up with your face? Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!" OMG, can you believe he bit me? Had to slam the door on him. Wait a second...got to spit out a few teeth. Like I was saying, the story takes place in Durango. Wait...another tooth. What's happening here? Sorry, I'll get back to this review later. I need a snack. Think I'll head over to the hospital right now. note: don't read this book if you have a clown phobia. SUZANNE TYRPAK - WHO'S IMAGINING ALL THIS?
***
There's something you need to know right now: I don't like my vampires sparkly.
Neither do Crouch, Kilborn, Strand, or Wilson…the authors responsible for DRACULAS, a new horror novel collaboration available exclusively through eReader devices like the Amazon Kindle. Lately, there's been a lot of talk about story medium (particularly surrounding Kilborn AKA JA Konrath), the digital revolution, and the future of publishing. This tag-team match of high octane thriller-horror writers may very well stir that pot once again, but I'm not here to talk about that. I want to talk about sweet red candy. Blood. Particularly the RIVERS of it running through this tale. The premise is simple enough. Terminally-ill billionaire Mortimer Moorecock purchases what tabloids call a "Dracula skull", supposedly the fossilized skull of the Count himself (or one of his cousins). The goal: immortality. Upon pressing this skull's crocodile-like fangs into his own neck, Moorecock succumbs to vicious seizures. His caretakers rush him to the hospital where things go horribly wrong. The infection changing Moorecock into a blood-crazed predator spreads quickly and what should've been a quick trip to the ER turns into a battle for every single person in the hospital to survive the night.
And what a battle it is. I haven't read a book like this in…well, ever. The mix of comedy, gore, and horror combine for cycles of laughter, wincing, and heartbreak. When you consider that four different authors put the words together, it seems like a miracle that the story is even coherent. They pull it off though, with seamless transitions between characters and voice. As an added bonus, this book comes with DVD-like extras that pull the curtain back on the process that birthed this beautifully bloody gorefest. Some may call DRACULAS a throw-back to blood-soaked vampires who didn't shop at Banana Republic and romance brooding teenage girls. On well level, I agree, but I would simply add this type of vampire probably should've been the standard all along. If you feel the same, then this is a must-read.
Sidenote: Did Sam Raimi ever make a vampire movie? One of his old-school, guerilla style horror films that's gained cult status but has somehow escaped my memory? If not, and if I ever have an audience with the man, I would beg him to adapt this. There'd be very little for him to do. Hire great actors. Hand out Kindles. Let the cameras roll. I may start a petition. And if you read DRACULAS, I think you'd be happy to sign it. LRGILES.COM
***
A wealthy, retired gentleman finally gets his hands on a prized, ancient artifact. With his days numbered and terminal cancer, painfully eating away at him, retired Wall Street tycoon, Mortimer Moorecook, has nothing left to lose and everything to gain. As Mortimer is moved to the local hospital for emergency care, life-altering events are set in motion; the results of which could devastate humanity and lead to its total annihilation.
DRACULAS: A Novel is a brilliant, collaborative effort between four, incredibly-talented horror novelists. This book is a full-length novel and it is in no way a short story collection. This high-powered, action-driven novel is the successful convergence of imagination, creativity and evil genius. DRACULAS is the full package; it reads like a movie and will likely be turned into one before long. The story moves at a rapid, pulse-pounding pace that never lets up. The characters are dynamic, well-developed and easy to identify with. The internal and external dialog is inspired and clever; often with a generous splash of dark humour. Readers should also be prepared for plenty of bizarre, fast-paced action, gory violence and crude language. DRACULAS: A Novel is very highly recommended for thriller, horror and classic vampire fans! The eBook edition is well-packaged with fantastic bonus content that includes Hardy-boy style illustrations, deleted scenes, 2 alternate endings and a whole lot more!
Nurture Your BOOKS™ eagerly awaits DRACULAS 2.
NURTURE YOUR BOOKS ***
Draculas is the new eBook collaboration of four bestselling digital authors — F. Paul Wilson, Blake Crouch, Jeff Strand, and JA Konrath. Advertised as a return to the true vampires of yesteryear instead of the more recent "twinkling" version, these vampires are more zombie-like, only fast-moving with numerous, huge fangs. While they aren't traditional vampires, they are definitely much more evil, ravenous and destructive that recent incarnations.
The book itself is a quick, fun read. There's plenty of action and plenty of gore for fans who like their horror with an extra truckload of blood and body parts strewn all over the place. While the four authors wrote different character points of view, for the most part, the transition from author to author is fairly seamless. Occasionally there are glimpses of stylistic changes, but overall it's much less obvious than in many multiple-author collaborations. While a fun read, the book is not without its faults. Too often the characters experienced with firearms and defense are taken out too easily, but everyday Joes manage to defend themselves in a MacGyver-like fashion. There were also too many clichéd situations and phrases uttered. Finally, the last third or so of the novel seemed to lose some steam while the gore factor went up. All in all, not major problems, but some that I noted.
The bonus features, such as deleted scenes and alternate scenes, are a nice touch. Some of the e-mail banter is also good for a chuckle.
I would recommend this to fans of gory horror or fans of vampires and zombies. Fans of atmospheric or psychological horror likely would not enjoy the book. On a five star scale with half stars available, I'd rate this one 3.5 stars. DIGITAL AND AUDIO FICTION REVIEWS ***
I don't read a lot of horror novels. Admittedly, I'm a little on the wuss side, but I couldn't resist Draculas by F. Paul Wilson, Jack Kilborn, Blake Crouch and Jeff Strand. The idea of four authors collaborating on a single book intrigued me. That I was already a fan of Wilson and Kilborn sealed the deal. From page one, the story grabbed me. A terminally-ill millionaire purchases a Romanian skull rumored to be that of Dracula. In sight of his hospice nurse and research assistant, he plunges the skull's elongated fangs into his neck and convulses. They rush him to the hospital where he dies. Like the clock striking midnight on December 31st kicks off a new year of revelry, the millionaire's arrival in the E.R. triggers a night of escalating terror where nobody is safe and even the innocent transform into monsters. Unforgettable characters are the heart of Draculas: A nurse takes her mission of caring to the bravest level; a not-so-bright lumberjack demonstrates that loyalty and love are powerful weapons; a gun-nut's heroism puts you on his side regardless of your stand on the NRA; a tender pastor and his wife see their daughter born while numerous others die.
I won't give spoilers, but trust me that the evil characters are as compelling as the heroes. I was as engaged in their scenes while praying that they'd be defeated. You'll never look at a clown the same way again.
Even with multiple authors, the writing is seamless and the action moves so fast that you're nearly breathless. All four of the contributors are master craftsmen. The storytelling is superb with tension that escalates through to the climax. How good are these writers? In the midst of relentless gore, they made me laugh out loud and brought me to tears. This avid reader, who rarely picks up horror, now hopes they'll collaborate on additional books. While I wait, I'll enjoy the bonus stories and extra, cool, features included with the download. Draculas goes on sale at Amazon tomorrow and will be available in electronic version only. The book is a bargain at $2.99. Click here to purchase.
MARY STELLA'S POSTCARDS FROM PARADISE ***
If you don't like books with terror and blood and gore and violence and dark irreverent humour and taut seamless writing, this book is not for you. Honestly? It's not for me either. This will not come as a surprise revelation to regular readers of this blog. I don't usually read horror fiction. I don't enjoy being terrorized. I've raised two kids to quasi-adulthood — I don't need more fear in my life or another reason to lie awake in bed at night, worrying.
But when Konrath(Kilborn) said he and three of his writer friends had written a book about vampires, who are usually amusing or sparkly or just plain ridiculous rather than scary — um, vampires that is, not his writer friends — I thought, hey, how bad could it be?
I seriously underestimated these guys. Easy to do, since I don't read horror and had never heard of these other people. Um, well sure, of course I'd heard their names. Ahem. Of course I had. But I thought maybe I recognized them from the FBI's Most Wanted List or something. The awesome cover wasn't much help, even with proper punctuation added: "Crouch, Kilborn. DRACULAS! Strand Wilson."
Turns out they're all talented writers and the cover copy is a listing of last names and not a cryptic directive to Kilborn about how to survive the vampire apocalypse. Who knew. But I digress.
One of the reasons I don't read horror is that my slightly warped writer's imagination tends to take up where the book leaves off. And then I have nightmares. Well, let me tell you, there's no worry of that happening here because this book never leaves off.
Others have summarized the plot elsewhere so I won't do that, but I will say that the resurrection of an ancient skull with the still-potent power to create "draculas" however many centuries later is a unique and brilliant premise. The resultant frenetic replication of the "vampire virus" feels a bit like being caught up in a psychedelic blood-drenched petri dish run amok, but then I suspect horror fiction tends to be like that.
Even so, I was delighted by the brief flashes of humour. I wasn't expecting that in a horror novel. I'm not familiar enough with it to be sure, but even much of the over-the-top gore felt like a tongue in cheek (or what was left of those body parts) tribute to the genre.
There were some tender moments, like this one:
Mortimer rolled on top of her, like a lover, blood and saliva dripping onto Jenny's face and neck. She reached up to push him away, but as terror-stricken as she was, Jenny couldn't bring herself to touch him.
Quite a touching scene. Without actually, you know, touching.
And then there were the balloon animals. And that whole kangaroo thing. Words fail me. The use of multiple point-of-view characters should have made this a confusing read. Instead, it serves to increase the tension, making you worry about which of them will survive. You'll be surprised by who doesn't. And who does. I'm conflicted about how many stars to give this book. I don't enjoy horror and so I can't say I "liked" it. But I do appreciate a well-written book that does exactly what it's supposed to do, even if I plan to never read another horror novel, ever again. DRACULAS delivers on its promise. I'm giving it five rather bloody stars. And I'll be sleeping with the lights on for a while. Once it releases on October 19, you can buy DRACULAS here. It's only $2.99 and hey, what's a few nights lost sleep.
KJ JAMES
***
It's no secret that J.A. Konrath is one of the best-selling Kindle authors in the world, and tomorrow marks the release of his newest novel, a horror yarn called DRACULAS, written (under the pseudonym Jack Kilborn) in collaboration with Blake Crouch, Jeff Strand, and F. Paul Wilson. I expect it to sell a ton of copies. (And that's a lot, considering what an ebook weighs – nothing!) Anyway, I'm one of many who got a review copy. As I've probably mentioned here before, I don't read a lot of horror novels, but I like to try one now and then, especially if it has plenty of action. I'm not much of a fan of slow-moving, creepy, psychological horror. Give me some monster-fightin' and I'm okay, though. DRACULAS has that in spades. The plot finds a rich guy who's dying of cancer spending millions of dollars to buy a recently-discovered skull that may have belonged to a vampire. Thinking that a bite from such a creature might restore his health or at least keep him from dying, he uses the teeth on the skull to chomp his own neck, and sure enough, he starts to transform into something else. (This isn't really a spoiler, since it all happens very quickly as the novel begins.) Rushed to the local hospital by his nurse, he becomes a bloodthirsty monster and goes on a rampage, infecting most of the people he comes in contact with, who in turn infect others, until there are only a few human survivors left in the hospital to battle the vampires (or "draculas", as one of the characters dubs them) and try to keep the outbreak contained. Gory chaos ensues. That's really all there is to it. All the action – and there's a lot of it – takes place over a span of a few hours. The collaborators wrote this book by divvying up the viewpoint characters amongst themselves and each writing the scenes featuring their characters, with some mutual editing and helping out to make everything fit together, of course. Some characters die, some characters rise to the occasion, tragedy and heroism abound. There's some very dark humor, too.
I'm probably not really the target audience for this novel, since I tend not to like really gruesome stuff, and DRACULAS reaches that point in a hurry and builds from there. But it won me over with the characters. The ending probably would have bothered me if I didn't know there was already a sequel in the works. I'm sure I'll read it, too.
The Kindle edition of this book includes a lot more than just the novel. There are reprints of several short stories by Konrath, written in collaboration with each of the other contributors, excerpts from other novels by them, an interview with the authors in which they discuss how they went about writing the book, and all the email correspondence that went on between them while the whole thing was going on. It's a fascinating behind-the-scenes look that's almost a book in itself, although it's probably more of interest to other writers than to general readers, as Konrath acknowledges. All in all, I liked DRACULAS. If you're a horror fan, there's a good chance you will, too. But if you're squeamish, it's probably best to avoid this one. ROUGH EDGES
***
This story takes place in Durango, Colorado. Mortimer Moorecook has been anxiously awaiting a package. When the Fedex man arrives, Mort gets really excited. Mort ordered a skull. Though the skull is not just any normal skull. It is a "Dracula skull". Shanna specializes in the evolution of primates. Mort hired Shanna. He wants her to research and figure out the history behind the "Dracula skull". In her research, Shanna found some interesting information regarding the Wallachian Order of the Dragon and its founder, Oswald von Wolkenstein. Supposedly Oswald's son had a birth defect that affected his teeth, which might account for the long incisors. Mort suffers an attack and is rushed to Blessed Crucifixion Hospital. There Dr. Kurt Lanz examines Mort. Soon, there is a outbreak of vampires. Can anyone stop them before it is too late? Draculas by Blake Crouch, Jack Kilborn, Jeff Strand, and F. Paul Wilson is a bevy of super star giants. I have not read a really great Dracula book in a long time. Draculas is the best one of 2010! The characters were so full of personality and I found them to be very interesting. This helped with the story. The characters were normal people just trying to survive. Of course, I still would have been intrigued by this book as the story line was in your face… in a good way. An added bonus was that this story took place in Durango, Colorado, which is about 3 ½ hours away from where I live. It was fun to imagine that this was really happening in Durango. Be warned as Draculas is not for the weak stomached. Draculas is no Twilight and this is an excellent thing. Draculas needs to be made into a movie. Draculas is a bloodthirsty, fang, sucking good time! CHERYL'S BOOK NOOK ***
I thought Dracula was a name not a creature, but getting past that having four authors combine their talent of horror and terror is a feat in itself. Draculas is a terrifying collaboration involving blood sucking creatures that overtake a hospital in their never-ending quest for blood. Written from each character's point of view; it blends from scene to scene. This is not your romanticized vampire but a frightening tale that takes horror to the next level. To warn you it, this is graphic but I couldn't stop reading as I wanted to find out who dies and who lives. I think the authors made their point of showing what vampires are all about. There was even a short explanation of how and why these came into existence. I think I will stop here before I write any spoilers. If you a fan of horror and/or any of these authors, read this book. And read it in the dark!
DAN'S JOURNAL ***
It's not often that a person gets a chance to be part of a big internet experiment. So when the opportunity popped up, I grabbed! Here's the deal: four writers got together and wrote a horror/gore/humor novel. Together! They're putting it up on Amazon, and they offered a free e-copy to anyone who wanted to review it. On release day (tomorrow, the 19th) they'll link to all the reviews, all the reviews will link to the book, and we'll all also post our reviews to Amazon. What happens after that is anyone's guess. Will it be a smash? Will it tank? Time will tell. That said, here's what I thought of the book itself.
The book is called Draculas, written by (in alphabetical order) Blake Crouch, Jack Kilborn, F. Paul Wilson, and Jeff Strand. (Yes, the cover makes it look like there are two authors: Crouch Kilborn [I used to dance under that name] and Strand Wilson.) And really, if you've ever been involved in creativity by teamwork, you'll know how nearly-impossible it is to create something decent with just two people, let alone four. The fact that it all flows fairly well together shows how skilled these guys are. The premise is a basic one: a group of people in a secluded hospital must fight off vampires, with more and more people becoming bite-infected as every tense moment passes. But the book flies beyond basic thanks to a couple of facts: these authors aren't afraid to get good and gory, and they can write pretty good humor with their horror.
There are no chapters in this book — each section is headed with the name of the point-of-view character. That's how these guys were able to collaborate so well — everyone took a few characters, and intertwined details from each others' sections. Genius! So even if (like on Lost) there are characters you don't care much for, you'll soon be into a storyline with one of your favorites. Although it can get confusing in parts, before everyone's cemented in your head (the two leading ladies take a while to sort out, and I also got one of them [Jenny] confused with a side character [Janine] for a little while). But once you figure out the gun-nut cop, the lumberjack, the spoiled brat, the depressed party clown, the arrogant doctor and all the rest, there's someone for almost everyone to root for (whether you want to root for a human, or a dracula).
I don't want to spoil too much, but if you're in the mood for a dark horror novel with a light twist, you could do much worse than Draculas. Especially for the Kindle price of $2.99.
Before I rate the book, I have to mention the extras. This was the first book I read using the Kindle app for Android, and these guys really took advantage of the electronic format to give the reader great bonus materials. Not only did they include deleted and altered scenes, full short stories, and excerpts from the authors' other novels, but there's also a huge section containing the emails they sent back and forth as the novel was developed and written. It was a great behind-the-scenes peek at how this kind of collaboration can happen.
The cool extras bumped my rating up a point; you know me, always giving sevens for books I like (but that I don't find earth-shattering). That means this one gets 8 out of 10.
THEMISSY.COM
***
There are a lot of books being written about vampires today. Heck, I'm writing them myself. The vampire has moved from a creature that inspires fear and horror to something that inspired lust and now, most of the time, love. Four well-known horror/thriller authors, J.A. Konrath, Blake Crouch, F. Paul Wilson, and Jeff Strand, have reversed that trend with Draculas, which will be released as a Kindle exclusive tomorrow.
Buy it. If you don't own a Kindle, not a problem. You have a computer or smartphone (or you wouldn't be reading this). There's a Kindle app for you. Why buy Draculas? What makes it worth adding to your busy schedule? Because it's a darn fun book. It's not for the squeamish or faint of heart. But if you want a rollicking, scare-the-pants-off-you good time, it's for you. I read Draculas on a camping trip. Outside. At night. The only light from a flickering campfire. And, oh yeah, it works. The action starts immediately. These guys don't waste time with lengthy exposition. They jump right in. And it never lets up. The entire book takes place in less than 12 hours, and, as the authors discuss in the included interview, that was part of the goal. Fast. Short period of time. High intensity. They deliver. There's a large cast of characters, but you won't have trouble keeping them straight. Each of them has a distinctive hook. I was particularly fond of Adam, the preacher, and Benny the Clown. For some reason, I envisioned Nathan Fillion as Adam. If you guys do this as a movie (and you should), keep that in mind, okay? Benny's appearance in the story is so well-described, it'll have you in stitches and will stay with you a long time. He's got, in my opinion, the best hook. You always know when he's coming into a scene. But there's lots more to this book than a great story. When you get to the explosive end, you'll find yourself only half-way through the book. By releasing on Kindle, they were able to add DVD-like extras. There's sample works by the authors, a couple of interviews, deleted scenes and more. If you are a writer, you'll be fascinated by the complete series of emails exchanged by the authors as they were writing it. Not to be missed for the insight into the writing and co-authoring process. It's only $2.99, less than a Venti Starbucks coffee. It'll keep you awake better than the coffee too. So what are you waiting for? Go buy it. Or the draculas might get you. WARLOCK WRITER
***
I did something over the past week that I haven't done in roughly 12 years: I read a horror novel. While researching ebooks and the publishing thereof for my current employer, I came across the blog of one J.A. Konrath. Apparently he's a fairly well-known horror author. His blog offered up a lot of great info on ebook publishing. As I scrolled on through, I saw a post asking for readers to review a new novel that he and 3 other well-known authors would be releasing on October 19th. Despite my aversion to horror, I jumped on the opportunity. Here's my review. Those of you who hate all things Twilight, rejoice! DRACULAS, a novel of terror written by Blake Crouch, Jack Kilborn, Jeff Strand and F. Paul Wilson (and being released as a one-year Kindle exclusive), definitely puts horror back into one's mental image of a vampire. Despite having four authors, it's entirely seamless. While not holding back in the gore and violence department, the authors did nothing to romanticize the vampires, which was refreshing. It starts off pretty harmlessly, but from the moment you're introduced to the first honest-to-goodness vampire, DRACULAS doesn't let up. The almost non-stop barrage of bloody teeth and talons keeps your eyes moving right along. The multiple protagonists quickly endear themselves to the reader, and the villains attain the "love to hate them" status by page 8. It's From Dusk till Dawn meets 28 Days Later meets Children of the Corn meets It, with a sprinkling of Shaun of the Dead. If you're interested in purchasing DRACULAS, click here. Christian audience, I have some warnings. If the fact that it's a horror novel isn't enough to cause you to steer clear, the Lord's name is used as a curse word no fewer than a dozen times, there are many sexual references (more than just references in the bonus material), and quite a bit of cursing. (Note: I was not, nor will I be in any way compensated for this review or for any purchases of the book through the above link.) ZILLA'S BLOG
***
Take one part vampire lore, two parts campy slasher, and three parts thriller, drop them in a Kindle, and you've got Draculas, the highly entertaining (and oh-so-gory) new release from a talented cast of writers: Blake Crouch, Jack Kilborn (aka J.A. Konrath, the self-pub juggernaut), Jeff Strand, and F. Paul Wilson. Forget the slick, sparkly, sexy brooders of recent years—these vamps are nasty, all teeth and bloodlust and inhuman endurance. Billed as the Anti-Twilight, these draculas don't want to dazzle you or teach you to trust; they want you dead, blood bag. In a much-needed revival, the vampire-as-monster makes its return just in time for Halloween. The authors got creative with the draculas, as they're called. The method of turning humans gets a reboot, making a local hospital an unexpected vampire breeding ground. Draculas isn't a book that takes itself too seriously. There's death and gore on a level any horror fan will appreciate, but there's also enough humor to temper the violence. The pace and tension are the adrenaline-heavy, hurry-hurry-hurry variety, which makes Draculas a nice, fast read. Be forewarned, though: this book will not help you work through that clown phobia you picked up in the '90s. That's right—a vampire clown. Pennywise is kind of cuddly in comparison to this floppy-shoed monster.
Despite having four authors, the book is so consistent you'll never know who wrote which parts. Until you get to the bonus content, of course, in which the authors spill things like that. Draculas is the literary equivalent of a two-disc special edition; the book ends right around the halfway mark, and the rest is a ton of hilarious, interesting content, interviews and other unexpected, cool stuff. (Editor's note: I received a full-length digital ARC for this review from the authors via Goodreads. The bonus content—80,000 words of it!—comes standard with the Kindle edition.) A digital-only, self-published title, Draculas seems to have all the makings of the Worst Book Ever: no traditional publisher, no formal editor, trendy subject matter, multiple authors, it's crazy cheap (only $2.99), and to top it off, it's "genre fiction". A few years ago, this book wouldn't have made a blip on the radar. No one would be reviewing it pre-release, certainly. But Crouch, Kilborn, Strand and Wilson have a clever marketing ploy: treat Draculas just like a traditional print release. Send reviewers copies of the book, get the posts out there before release, and see what happens. It's not only a marketing experiment, it's also a potential precedent for high-quality self-published titles. Will Draculas be a viral marketing success? Are there enough ereader owners out there in search of a disgusting, gory good time? Looks like the world will find out Tuesday, October 19, when the book releases. THE BEST DAMN CREATIVE WRITING BLOG ***
I have recently had the chance to read Draculas, since I got my hands on a review copy. The novel is scheduled to be released tomorrow, and it was written by ??J. A. Konrath, Jack Kilborn, F. Paul Wilson and Jeff Strand. According to the authors, it is an attempt to make vampires scary again, and it succeeds to a certain extent. They move away from angst-filled teen heartthrobs, and make the monsters in the story animalistic monstrous predators, with no interest other than blood.
The story is simple, it focuses on a bunch of people trying to survive a vampire outbreak in a small hospital. Blood is something that you will find plenty of in this novel, and I personally found the constant gore to be too much at times, as the authors tried to outdo each other. There is no mistaking this book for psychological horror! I found the book entertaining, despite its faults. It is fairly short, and it took me a while to get into it. The characters are very well done, and have some depth to them. Overall, I found Draculas to be a light and entertaining read. If you are a fan of over the top splatterpunk horror, this would be perfect. If you are not, than you might want to give it a miss.
JUST NENAD
***
With the rise of Vampires in Teen Novels , they are starting to lose their scariness and be replaced by Vampire Hunks - like Bill , Eric, Edward, Lucuis, Damon and Stefan etc. They are also being turned away to drinking solicited human blood or even going vegan which insists of drinking animal blood. This collection of authors decided to re-claim what has disintergrated over the years - the Vampires that we can remember along the lines of Interview with a Vampire, Underworld and Lost Boys.
Review : Draculas - Crouch, Kilborn, Strand , Wilson - A Novel- October 19th 2010
Having contacts within the realms of authors is a fine thing to build up as you get alot of awesome books to review, that you might never have come across and sometimes if you are lucky you get to read books before they go on sale to the public. Are you a Vampire fan ? and I mean a TRUE Vampire fan , not one who is into the boys who sparkle or the vampires that are all good and want to fit into society and mingle with the natives and pretend as closely as they can to be human or those who prefer what they call vegetarian diets by drinking animal blood rather than human blood or even those vampires who are seen as hot and hunky guys not the scary fang-teeth and blood sucking vampires. Think back , how long has it been since we have seen a Vampire movie that depicted Vampires to be the cold and cruel supernatural that they are ?.
These 4 authors decided that they had enough of the modern Hollywood version of a Vampire and so they all sat down to contribute to a new book project called Draculas .
Draculas for all those wondering is not a collection of 4 short stories but is in fact a complete novel where each writer has completed their own chapters and threaded them together to create a story for our enjoyment.
Draculas is set in a small backwoods town in America and the story starts when a skull was found in Transylvania and the skull supposed to be of a vampire , millionaire Mortimer is near his death bed and is looking for a cure to his ailments so he decides to purchase the skull as of course everything has a price. Unfortunatley this skull tends to have powers as Mortimer after playing with it finds himself bitten and transported to hospital, there of course he starts to turn into a hideous blood sucking monster.
From the 2nd or 3rd chapter , the story picks up into a frenzy place as the hospital turns into a bloodbath and everyone who comes in contact with the Vampire finds themselves turning into Vampires. Soon the whole town is breaking out into Vampires and killing off the human race. Can Jenny, Shana and the Deputy save the town from the Vampires or will it be too late and the town's civilisation as we know it be all over and over-run with Vampires. This is one outbreak that if they cannot contain then it is the end of all civilisation as we know it. THE PHANTOM PARAGRAPHER ***
This horror novel was written by four authors working together, and I can't tell you how impressed I am at the execution. It's been awhile, but I've read individual works by three of the four, and I couldn't really differentiate between them in this book. It's incredibly well written and the story itself just pulled me right along.
I had my doubts in the beginning, to be honest. I loved the very first section wherein a freakish, mutated skull is found and makes its way into the hands of a wealthy dying man. The set up was excellent. The next section turned into a bloodbath of the highest order, and honestly, felt kind of gratuitous – gore for gore's sake. Maybe it's the fact that I'm steeped in Halloween decorating at the moment, but I found myself getting bored with all the blood and carnage.
It didn't take long to capture my interest again when the story started moving forward, and character personalities really started to show. It also intrigued me that the monsters (these vampires really are monsters – no darkly charming sexy dudes here) still retained some ability to think and reason. The plot is very simple, but no detail was left out, nearly everything was plausible for me, making it easy to be drawn into and stay engaged in the story.
My only issue aside from the bloodbath in the beginning was with the description of the monsters. I had (still have) a hard time visualizing what is described, so it took me a few sections (there are no chapters – it's all delineated by character) to stop trying to figure out what they looked like and just accept it was something super-ugly with really big bad teeth. In the front of the book it's described as "anatomically impossible", which annoyed me because I would have liked an explanation of how something that's "impossible" could become possible. The ending is deliciously wicked, and fascinating in light of the original mythos of vampirism as it's laid out in this particular book. But wait...there's more! The authors have packed this ebook with extra materials – interviews, bonus short stories, and emails that cover the collaborative process. I found all of them quite interesting, and certainly extra value for the cost of the book. When you consider the novel itself is 80k words, it's an amazing amount of material you get for what you'd normally pay just for the story. I received my review copy for free, but I wouldn't hesitate to pay the $2.99 for the whole package.
If you like horror with a healthy helping of gore, you'll want to read this. If you don't like horror but you're a writer and can stomach the gore, you still should read this, just for the artful construction and collaboration. If you've overdosed on handsomely mysterious sexy vamps, or those sparkly youngsters, this book is the cure. It's an excellent read all around, with something for everyone. Draculas is a Kindle exclusive, but you can either download a Kindle app for your device of choice, or you can download the file and use a program like Calibre to convert it to read on whatever ereader you have.
THE VARIETY PAGES ***
Spawned by an ancient virus, their talons click on the linoleum of the Blessed Crucifixion Hospital as they work their bloody way from the maternity ward to pediatrics. Layer on layer of terror accompanied by that creepy clicking sound. I couldn't put the book down long enough to get a second bowl of buttered popcorn. This is the real deal. How vampires should behave. No suave George Hamilton vamps, no gentle Edward Cullen, these creatures know how to get under your skin and stay there. Carnage and heroism from multiple points of view take place in the most vulnerable spot on earth - a hospital. Congrats to Blake, Joe, Paul, and Jeff. DRACULAS is an engrossing, satisfying, wet-horror read. I loved it. Now if I could just bring myself to turn out the lights. P.S. I've always enjoyed the brotherhood of horror writers. They are some of the nicest people on earth - generous with advice and encouragement. Maybe they're so kind because they exorcise all their demons on the printed page. This team of authors should be gentle as kittens... now. BARB'S WIRE
***
No sparkles just BLOOD When I first heard of the collaboration, I was very excited and the promise of the blood and gore. Then I found out it was another vampire book my excitement dropped down a notch. Well I should of went with my first gut reaction because this book rewrites the general publics thoughts on that subject, Soon after you dig your teeth into this eBook you grab hold of it, addiction sets in and you cant get enough. Instead of chapters you get headings of a characters name and the story shifts to where they are in the timeline of this nightmare. The pace of the book is fast and ferocious. As each of them struggle to remain human and not part of the vicious tribe hunting down everything to fulfill their blood lust.
By far the best book I have read on the subject of humans turning into creatures with uncontrollable urge for blood, each drop is it's addiction that is never satisfied. But you will be.
This book not only has an amazing story but is also filled to the max with extra content. Interviews, behind the scenes, and short stories from all the authors. This is a book you will be talking to your friends about.
CLOSING MY EYES HELPS ME SEE CLEARLY ***
Draculas would give Barnabas Collins nightmares.
One of my first introductions to horror stories was watching Dark Shadows, the daytime soap with the vampire, Barnabas Collins. My friends and I would hide under blankets as Barnabas' fangs emerged and he bit the neck of his next victim. I'm not a regular horror reader, but I indulge occasionally. When I got the opportunity to get an early copy of this story I said yes. I said yes, because I wanted to see how these four authors (Crouch, Kilborn, Strand and Wilson) would pull together a story and what they would do with the Dracula legend. This isn't a story of a vampire in a long, black cape who grows fangs and bites on the necks of beautiful people. Draculas is told in a seamless, fast-paced, action packed story from multiple viewpoints, which lets you see and feel the story in different ways. You feel the fear, disgust and insanity as the innocent people try to save themselves from the monsters looking to feed on their blood. And you feel the primal blood lust of the monsters as they look to feel the need for blood. These guys delivered a story that is well worth the read, just not in the dark.
THRILLER R US
***
Recently I was approached by Joe Konrath and his fellow e-book authors of DRACULAS to read and review in advance the unveiling and promotion of their horror novel. In part it was a good idea, and I was glad to help out my fellow e-book authors, but DRACULAS is more than out of character for what readers are accustomed to seeing on this blog. If you're inclined to read horror novels or you know someone who does like this genre, I'd like to encourage you to check out DRACULAS on Amazon and buy a copy for yourself and a friend...it's a terrific Halloween gift! DRACULAS review by Cynthia Briggs: I didn't know I had a queasy stomach until I started reading DRACULAS. Joe Konrath warns in the introduction: If you're easily disturbed or have a weak stomach, stop reading right now! I should have listened! Although the genre is not necessarily my forte, the story is laid out so it's easy to follow the characters. I liked how the reader knew every thought of each significant character. The story flows well; word choices are good (even the profanity was well-matched to the appropriate characters and given circumstances). I commend the authors on their writing proficiency and their unbridled imaginations. DRACULAS is a frightening vampire tale that will have you looking over your shoulder every time you enter a hospital full of medical professionals. Don't be naive. The opportunity for unimaginable horror striking at any moment lurks everywhere, so keep up your guard even with those you suspect the least and trust the most ... COUNTRY CHEF READER ***
There are a lot of books being written about vampires today. Heck, I'm writing them myself. The vampire has moved from a creature that inspires fear and horror to something that inspires lust and now, most of the time, love.
Four well-known horror/thriller authors, J.A. Konrath, Blake Crouch, F. Paul Wilson, and Jeff Strand, have reversed that trend with Draculas, which will be released as a Kindle exclusive tomorrow.
Buy it.
If you don't own a Kindle, not a problem. You have a computer or smartphone (or you wouldn't be reading this). There's a Kindle app for you.
Why buy Draculas? What makes it worth adding to your busy schedule? Because it's a darn fun book. It's not for the squeamish or faint of heart. But if you want a rollicking, scare-the-pants-off-you good time, it's for you. I read Draculas on a camping trip. Outside. At night. The only light from a flickering campfire. And, oh yeah, it works.
The action starts immediately. These guys don't waste time with lengthy exposition. They jump right in. And it never lets up. The entire book takes place in less than 12 hours, and, as the authors discuss in the included interview, that was part of the goal. Fast. Short period of time. High intensity. They deliver.
There's a large cast of characters, but you won't have trouble keeping them straight. Each of them has a distinctive hook. I was particularly fond of Adam, the preacher, and Benny the Clown. For some reason, I envisioned Nathan Fillion as Adam. If you guys do this as a movie (and you should), keep that in mind, okay? Benny's appearance in the story is so well-described, it'll have you in stitches and will stay with you a long time. He's got, in my opinion, the best hook. You always know when he's coming into a scene.
But there's lots more to this book than a great story. When you get to the explosive end, you'll find yourself only half-way through the book. By releasing on Kindle, they were able to add DVD-like extras. There's sample works by the authors, a couple of interviews, deleted scenes and more. If you are a writer, you'll be fascinated by the complete series of emails exchanged by the authors as they were writing it. Not to be missed for the insight into the writing and co-authoring process. It's only $2.99, less than a Venti Starbucks coffee. It'll keep you awake better than the coffee too. So what are you waiting for? Go buy it. Or the draculas might get you.
1 TO 1 DISCOVERY ***
Name of Book: Draculas Authors: Black Crouch, Jack Kilborn, Jeff Strand, F. Paul Wilson Genre: Horror Reviewer: Melissa Description: Put one scary dracula who has the ability to infect others in a rural hospital and you have the basic plot of this novel. Basically. Rating (with 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest): 5 Reason for rating: Let me say that I absolutely loved this book! I didn't think that I was going to be so gung-ho on it when I first started because I don't read very much horror. However, this book, I feel, will intrigue all readers if you can stomach the thought of picking up a horror book. It was the right mix between horror and humor. It also was descriptive without making me want to throw up. Also, the characters were very realistic and compelling. I fell in love with them – all for their own reasons. Randall and Jenny were my favorite though. Randall for being a dumb nut but super lovable and brave. Jenny for taking care of the kids as her first priority (that would be me too). Also, Adam and Stacie were favorites of mine too. I definitely cried after certain characters died (though I won't tell you who). It was so good, I took it to bed with me one night intending to read for maybe 15 minutes – instead I read until my battery died. I was so tired in school the next day, but it was so worth it. I highly recommend this book, even if you don't like horror, because it doesn't seem one dimensional horror at all – like I said, there are lovable characters. Also, it comes with bonus features. At first I was like – whatever, take it or leave it, but when I finished the book I was so glad there were bonus features because I wanted more! As a writer, I loved reading how they worked with each other on this project. Only one criticism – I do think I found an inconsistency. I'm pretty sure there was one more couple on the maternity wing that gets mentioned early on but never mentioned again. Were they there in the end or did they make it out alive? My guess is the first one, but I just thought I'd point that out, though most people probably won't notice it.
WORD HEARD
***
My name is Mortimer Moorecook. I'm a predator, or sorts. I made my fortune in the 80's when it was not only acceptable, but stylish, to rip off those less aware of the consequences of finance. Capitalism is a game, and I knew how to win that game better than Bill Gates himself. Unfortunately, balance sheets and income statements don't guarantee long-term health, and so, like Goliath, I found myself knocked on my ass by the unexpected stone called cancer. I was wasting away in my mansion, accompanied only by my hospice nurse, Jenny, and my assistant, Shanna. I was alone in my pain. ..Until I saw the tabloids about its discovery. It, of course, was the fabled skull of Dracula himself, unearthed by some simpleton Romanian farmer who had no idea what it really was…what it truly meant. I sent him a sum equal to the fortunes of his entire village, perhaps his whole country. I was dying, but I knew that immortality could still be within my reach. By the time the FedEx driver disappeared into the dark night, I could already feel my senses on edge. Shanna, my assistant, was an anthropologist, and her curiosity nearly equaled my own. Jenny, my hospice nurse, hovered above us, always willing to deliver the sedative that would render me senseless. Tonight wasn't the night to dull my senses. Shanna approached the curious skill with learned anticipation. She noted the elongated jaws, the sharpened, hollowed teeth. She felt it was hardly human, if it was ever human at all. Jenny agreed. Thoughts crashed over my brain like tides…young thoughts, healthy thoughts…the thoughts of young, vibrant men. In an instant, I raised the Dracula skull up, and clamped its fangs deep into the paper-thin skin of my own neck.
***
If Mortimer Moorecook had been able to confess his state of mind, his testimony may have read something like I concocted above. Unfortunately, readers aren't granted such insight, because Mortimer barely reveals who he is, why he wants to last forever, or who matters in his life before he latches the fangs of the dead vampire to his neck, and instantly undergoes a transformation that touches every life yet to be introduced in the horror-comedy book, "Draculas."
Think of the reading experience as a crack in the windshield that just expands outward in circle after circle. Mortimer is the center of the web. Jenny and Shanna represent the closest ring. Mortimer codes, and the EMT comes to the scene. They head to the ER. The EMT's and ER doc; callous, pompous narcissist Dr. Lanz, are the next wave. That spreads to the other patients and attendees in the E.R., and there's where the comedy begins. "Draculas" features a wide variety of heroes and (sometimes involuntary) villains, thanks largely to the authors collaborating on the story. Unlike traditional stories, "Draculas" is the collaboration of four well-established and incredibly talented horror fiction authors. In this instance, each has chosen to represent a hero and a villain, and to incorporate the story arcs in a rapid-fire, disorienting series of events that has readers hopping between multiple points-of-view.
Understanding what readers are in for is easier if they understand which cooks inhabited the kitchen to create the heaping bowl of comedy, medical jargon, guns, ammo, fear, desperation, and horror that is "Draculas." Jack Kilborn (Afraid), Blake Crouch (Abandon, Snow Bound), Jeff Strand (Single White Psycopath Seeks Same), and F. Paul Wilson (the Repairman Jack series) decided to come together for a very unusual collaboration. (If asked, they'll all blame Kilborn for the idea, which seems to be the normal M.O. for this crowd.) Ten pages in, the story is frightening. Thirty pages in, the story is bizarre. Sixty pages in, readers will be looking at their eBook readers and saying "really, WTF?" The title "Draculas" may give prospective readers the image of a marching army of Bela Lugosi clones. That is very far from the case. The vampires in this book range from old men to cops, clowns to kids, invalids to orderlies. Anyone can get infected, and infection means bloodlust. Think of "Draculas" as the machete aimed at chopping down the growing harvest of happy, children-friendly vampire stories flooding the market.
The readers' experience is very much like reading a movie. I don't mean reading a screenplay. I mean reading sight gags (some that may actually make you gag) and the type of comedic horror that made the Evil Dead franchise famous. The characters have strong beliefs and devotion, and their individual stories aren't lost in the overwhelming chaos that overtakes Blessed Crucifixion Hospital. The "Draculas" eBook is a rather unique beast in itself. In addition to the 159 page story, the eBook includes alternate and deleted scenes, bibliographies of each author, several email threads shared by the collaborators, and acknowledgements. Several short stories are also included, like "Cub Scout Gore Feast" and "Serial." In all, the extras span 220 pages, most of which is email exchanges that provide insight into the writing styles and personalities of the collaborators.
"Draculas" is not for the squeamish, and certainly not for traditionalists who believe that horror and comedy can't, or shouldn't, co-exist. The book is incredibly violent, and each author's attempt to outdo the others helps to ensure they each bring their A game. In all, "Draculas" is disgusting, scary, hilarious, and entertaining…confirmation that each author understands how to torture their characters and their readers alike. HORRORVIEW.COM
***
I posted last week that I had been asked to preview and review a new book collaborated on by JA Konrath, called Draculas. I finished it last night! If you like vampire books and don't mind some blood and guts, I would definitely recommend this book. I really liked it! The best part is, it's only $2.99! However, it's an ebook only, so if you don't have a Kindle or an e-reader, you probably won't be able to read it. I really enjoyed it and I am so honored that he asked me to review it. Here's my official review on Good Reads and Amazon: I'm not a big fan of gore. In fact, gory movies? No thanks. However, JA Konrath is one of my favorite authors. I can't watch the gore, but I have no problem reading it. I know, weird, but let's just go with it. "Draculas" is definitely not one for the squeamish. It's a VAMPIRE book, for real! No gorgeous vamps here. They don't sparkle, it's not ok for them to live among us, they're awful and relentless. Through all the blood and guts (and there's lots of it), there's some funny and lovable characters and I found myself getting really upset when we lost some of them. Even though this is a scary book, it was refreshing to read a vampire book that just scares the begeezus out of you, as vampires should. Loved it and hoping there's a sequel, it could definitely keep going!
THE SCRAP ANGEL ***
Do teen idol vampires make you sick? If the answer is yes, then Draculas by Crouch/Kilborn/Strand/Wilson is the remedy. Vampires as they should be--evil bloodsuckers not sex symbols. MyHalloween read of the year. Pick up for your e-book reader today.
THE SCI-FI GENRE REVIEW ***
I received Draculas as an ARC from the four authors that wrote it. Before I write the review, let me start by saying that these four guys are classy writers. I've read lots of their work in the past and I've always loved it. I just finished "Midnight Mass" by F. Paul Wilson a few months ago. Love that stuff. So when I heard these four guys: Blake Crouch, Jack Kilborn, F. Paul Wilson and Jeff Strand I not only wanted to get involved, I needed to. The Review: I have to give this 80,000 word accomplishment 5 stars out of 5 stars. It has been a long time since I've read true horror this good. The gore was awesome too. This is an amazing pick for getting into the spirit of Halloween. Without giving anything away, I was pleasantly surprised at how they decided to bring the legend to life. It was quite exciting and I found myself racing along to see what would happen next. I haven't read such a good horror story in a long time. I've recently blogged about the publishing industry and how horror is a section that's lacking in quality and it's been that way for the last 10-20 years in my opinion. Therein lies one of the problems with traditional publishing. With indie e-books I'm now able to get true, hardcore horror.
The characters were fantastic. The idea amazing. The setting was great and believable as was the overall book. All I can say is READ THIS BOOK if you dare. I'm serious. Draculas was one of a kind and my favorite book so far this year! The authors surprised me too. They added a huge amount of bonus material to the book, short stories and a look into how Draculas was written with four different authors. Fascinating stuff. Definitely worth the read. Here's the link to the book on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/DRACULAS-Novel-Terror-ebook/dp/B0042AMD2M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=books&qid=1284569826&sr=8-1 Well done guys, well done! AUTHOR DARYL SEDORE ***
He was the first. He'd been infected by the original source. That made him special. He knew he was going to change into something else. Something more powerful than what he already was. Something that would allow him to infect the whole world. – Mortimer Moorecook
If you like your vampires well mannered, well dressed, sophisticated and seductive… run in the other direction as fast as your legs will carry you.
On the other hand, if you like your vampires the old fashioned way, rude and ridiculously full of fangs and attitude, wreaking gory indiscriminate havoc on everyone in their path, Draculas is definitely the book for you.
Retired billionaire Mortimer Moorecook is dying of cancer. Convinced it has the power to somehow cure him, Mortimer purchases a hominoid skull with elongated teeth – dubbed the "Dracula Skull" by the press – which was discovered in a farmer's field in the Romanian countryside.
Upon receipt of the skull he uses it to bite himself in the neck… and promptly goes into convulsions before being whisked off to rural, out in the sticks Blessed Crucifixion Hospital. Once there he dies on the table in the E.R. Or does he? Of course not, or we wouldn't have much of a story. In the E.R. Mortimer comes back to life and undergoes an absolutely hideous transformation:
Mortimer's cheeks exploded like a grenade had gone off inside his mouth, white points bursting through his lips, shearing flesh, digging rents into his face. His new teeth began to elongate – an inch, two inches, bursting through his bleeding gums in rows that ended in wicked, dagger-like tips. They shredded Mortimer's face into jagged strips, and he began to snap his jaws, chewing through the inside of his mouth, grinding off his cheeks all the way back to his earlobes, making room for his monstrous new dentata. Transformation into horrific creature complete, Mortimer quickly sets about creating carnage and turning others into vampires. The new vampires in turn dish out more carnage and create more vampires and, before you know it, the sleepy little rural hospital is under a full-on vampire onslaught.
Along the way the reader is treated to some wonderful characters including: Randall, the dim-witted lumberjack with a heart of gold; a gun-nut deputy sheriff who relishes the chance to play with all of his toys; Adam, a young preacher, and his pregnant wife; a pre-teen vampire obsessed with the "warm red candy" in people; and Benny the (vampire) Clown, who makes balloon animals out of creative materials… to say the least. The collaborative effort of four extremely talented authors – Blake Crouch, Jack Kilborn (aka Joe Konrath), Jeff Strand, and F. Paul Wilson – the book reads seamlessly despite having been a group project. Unless the reader is extremely familiar with the entire catalogs of the authors it is nearly impossible to tell who wrote which parts. And not only is the story itself extremely entertaining, if thoroughly gore soaked, but the e-book also comes with a slew of DVD-style extras such as deleted scenes (with explanations for why they were cut), an email exchange between the authors showing the creative process, a round table author discussion, and selected previous works (short stories) from the authors.
Draculas is a marvelous reclaiming of the Dracula lore from the clutches of those who think romancing high school girls and sparkling in the sunlight is appropriate vampire behavior. So what are you waiting for? Go get your copy now! Also be sure to check out the official Draculas website, which includes a free sample of the book, discussion forum, reviews and more. MUSINGS OF AN ALL-PURPOSE MONKEY ***
I've been reading Joe Konrath's blog lately, where he has some fascinating things to say about the business of publishing and self-publishing ebooks specifically. He has been a professional writer for some time, working through traditional publishers, but now releases his new books directly on Kindle for $2.99, which he argues is the optimal price-point for novels in ebook format. My impression is that most of his books are thrillers/mysteries, which aren't really my preferred genre, so I had never gotten around to reading any of his novels. (That's something which seems to be happening more and more as I add new author blogs to my reading list.)
So, when he posted about his upcoming release of DRACULAS, a novel dedicated to the idea that vampires should be scary rather than angsty and sexy, I was pretty interested. Then, when he posted an offer to provide advance reading copies in exchange for reviews, I jumped at the chance.
DRACULAS, is, as I mentioned, a novel about *scary* vampires, as in twist-your-head-off-and-guzzle-your-blood scary. They're hideous, relentless, and *hungry,* and contagious enough to spread like wildfire through your friendly neighborhood hospital. The novel is a collaboration by four authors: J.A Konrath, Blake Crouch, F. Paul Wilson and Jeff Strand. Each author follows their viewpoint characters over the few hours following the outbreak as they try to survive and to protect those dear to them.
To be honest, I started the book with low expectations – four authors I've never read anything by, collaborating on a self-published novel called DRACULAS? I was hoping I'd be able to make it through the book before release, (tomorrow, October 19th) but I wasn't sure it would be good enough to honestly recommend to anyone.
Then I started reading, and didn't want to stop.
I won't say this was a deep novel – it wasn't – but it was a lot of fun to read. If you like thrillers, monsters, gore and gallows humor, I think you're likely to enjoy DRACULAS. There were places where I raced through the pages to see what happened next, others where I giggled out loud, and even a couple where I got a little teary-eyed. (True, I get teary-eyed at the drop of a hat, but still. It means I connected enough with the characters to care.) I was also pleased and surprised to find that I couldn't tell where one author started and another left off – the book worked perfectly as a fully integrated whole. In addition to the novel itself, which weighs in at around 60,000 words, the bonus content for the e-book includes a couple of short stories, an interview with the authors, transcripts of their email discussions while writing the book, and teaser chapters from a novel by each of the authors. If the description sounds like something you would enjoy, I can recommend this one without reservation. ANTHEASTREZZE.COM ***
I'm an indie author now, and so I'm interested in new techniques to get readers. When Joe Konrath and his co-authors thought to give away ARCs of their new book so hundreds of reviews could hit the web at once, I had to help with their experiment. (Not that I have hundreds of readers yet, but it could happen.) Book reviews are probably not going to become a habit of mine. I'll save that for Goodreads. But this was a book that really caught me, and I'm not just saying that. When I got my copy of Draculas, I read it that day. Within a few chapters I was already excited, and telling all my friends they needed to read it. This is easily one of the best vampire books I have read in quite a while. It's like Dawn of the Dead bred with 30 Days of Night, and the baby was born with chainsaw in hand, sucking down a bottle of Wild Turkey. It's a very fast-paced book, with a steady flow between the viewpoints. You barely get to meet some of the main characters before everything goes pear shaped, and it really works. The authors have you wondering who's about to die, and who's going to live, and wondering who you should place your bets on. When the climax arrived, I know I was stunned and happy and sad, all at the same time. The four authors work well together, and while you can pick out that one of them was in charge of a character, there's no dissonance to the tale. They keep the narrative and the voice so similar that you comfortably slip from one part to the next, but you are definitely in a different person's point of view. When we get to be inside the vampire heads, there's an alien feel to the thought processes, but with a very eerie familiarity to the humans they were. Fear is harnessed well. Unarmed, alone in the dark, surrounded by ravening monsters, your heart races with the characters. Hospitals aren't meant to be defensible, and the make-shift way everyone deals with the vampires highlights how limited a hospital is in that way. I'd rather be trapped in a mall any day. As odd as it is to say about a vampire apocalypse fiction, the ending was very realistic. No deus ex machina swooping in on our heroes. The vampires don't suddenly become retarded and are easily thwarted by the humans. There's tragedy, and surprises, and an all-guns-blazing finale. It's an extremely satisfying ending, wrapping up the threads that need to be wrapped up, and yet dynamic enough to make the world feel alive. And leave you craving a sequel. (Based on some of the included extras, I believe a sequel likely.) The mythos of the vampires is unique in a very good way. Any origin story that has to deal with Romania and Vlad Tepes usually makes me cringe a little, but I loved what these gentlemen did. They blended existing folklore into something horrific and plausible, and put a new face on it. Not everything worked for me, though. There were humorous situations, and while I see this as part of Konrath's style, it seemed a little forced to me. When I'm reading or watching a survival horror, I prefer the humor (if any) to be a lot more situational and relevant, and almost accidental. Some of the jokes were great, and were signs of how people react under pressure. There were just a couple that pulled me out of the moment a little, but not so much that I didn't go right back to devouring the book. Because this is an indie ebook, the guys got to include a whole bunch of extras. Short stories, previews, interviews, behind-the-scenes stuff. It really reminded me of when DVDs came out, and movies could have so much more on them than just the feature. As an author, I liked getting to see some of their creative process. As a reader, I liked getting to know more about the four authors. All in all, Draculas is a fantastic book, and very much worth buying. It's dark, bloody, and a very quick read. This would make a great movie, and I love seeing vampires as monsters again. (Even though I write vampire romances, I still like monsters.) If you like horror at all, you will enjoy this.
INSERT TITLE HERE ***
The new thriller/chiller Draculas takes the reader on a wild ride from beginning to end! The book was co-written by four talented authors who blend their talents seamlessly. It's about the takeover of a small hospital in the middle of nowhere by vampires, or what the book terms "Draculas." It goes from one character's point of view to another's throughout the book, which is a very interesting technique. The tension mounts exponentially as the draculas increase in their numbers. The authors have taken the vampire theme to new heights. The characters are interesting and believable as they either try to survive or turn into these monsters themselves. I enjoyed being scared out of my wits with each new turn of events. Anyone who enjoys a good vampire story should pick up a copy of this book.
JULIE ACHTERHOFF'S BLOG ***
After reading just the first 50 pages in a preview, I was already creeped-out. No vampire 'sparkles' for love-struck teens--just terror! (Keep reading for my full review). Meanwhile, check more from these authors at www.jakonrath.com (Kilborn), www.blakecrouch.com, www.jeffstrand.wordpress.com, and www.repairmanjack.com (Wilson). PS: No Kindle? Download Kindle for your PC free at amazon.com. Enjoy, and be scared! UPDATE: (Disclaimer: I got a free advance copy of the entire book in return for reviewing it, so there you go FTC or whomever). OK, just got done reading everything, and I give this monster-baby five stars. There's a quick set-up and then BAM!--it never stops! The characters are alive (well, at least in depth, if not all of them in longevity), and you like the good guys/gals and want them to survive in this isolated hospital but these darn draculas keep on chewing up everything in their paths in search of blood. Add a new mother in need of a blood transfusion and you want to check out of this hospital but you have to stay to keep turning the pages. I said I read "everything" because there is a ton of bonus stuff, including short stories from each of the authors, deleted scenes and alternate scenarios, and their e-mail volleys as they fought a deadline to make the book work. Note: If you enjoy books (which you must since you are reading this) or are a budding author, you'll enjoy reading about what happens when four horror/thriller authors decide to collaborate.
As for the "monster-baby" remark above, the authors have created one. This story will feed and grow. Also, I'd like to mention that I never did like clowns, and now I really don't. THE POWER OF SCOOP ***
This is not your quintessential vampire book. There are no sparkly immortal heartthrobs fighting a valiant battle against their inner thirst for human blood while pondering the state of their souls. This book is so much more realistic than any of that, and might I say better as well! In the introduction, Konrath states that he wanted to make vampires scary again. Well, he and his cohorts, Blake Crouch, Jeff Strand and F. Paul Wilson have done it. This book is not for the weak. The tale begins harmlessly enough when an eccentric millionaire, Moritmore Moorecook, purchases the famed "Vampire Skull." Mortimore then morphs into a Dracula in the emergency room of a rural hospital after coming in contact with the fangs. No one is safe from his terrifying bloodthirsty rampage (not even the clown), and his victims become Draculas as well. There is small group of brave and wise-cracking heros: Jenny, a hospice nurse, and her average lumberjack ex-husband, Randall, Shanna, a biological anthropologist and her lawman-cowboy sort of fiance, Clay, and Stacie, a pregnant woman on the verge of giving birth, along with her preacher husband, Adam. This is the band of saviors Konrath, Crouch, Strand, and Wilson have stand up to the horde of Draculas, and you will feel compelled to root them on. As each character runs for their very life, things seem to become hopeless for them. You'll keep thinking, no, no, no! Surely their luck will change this time! The amount of gore is nearly indescribable. It is balls-to-the-wall action and a non-stop adrenaline rush. With four different authors writing this, the question of flow has been brought up. All I can say is this: The change between characters is completely seamless, which is amazing since each author had a set of their own characters. These guys rock my socks! The bonus material alone is worth the price of the e-book. I highly recommend getting this if you are a fan of the horror genre ... or a fan of laughing ... or a fan of excellent writing. Purchase here: Pre-Order DRACULAS from Amazon! The book will be released tomorrow!
I was freaked, excited, disgusted, and entertained. Thank you for the laughs and nightmares, Mr. Konrath and company.
FICTION DAME
***
Draculas is not your ordinary tale of a bloodsucker. The Draculas in this novel are nasty and billed as the kind that will crawl into your head and give you nightmares. The novel is a collaboration of four different authors and it really works. One might expect for it to be a hodge podge of words and thoughts but the plotline is tight and the action, bloodletting and carnage is constant and moving. I am just starting to enjoy novels in this genre and this had me from page one and then it took off like a rocket from there.
Here is the introduction by Joe Konrath:" I grew up reading books where vampires were scary. This novel is an attempt to make them scary again.
When I thought of the premise that became DRACULAS, I knew it needed to be a group project. Take four well-known horror authors, let them each create their own unique characters, and have them fight for their lives during a vampire outbreak at a secluded, rural hospital.
This is NOT a collection of short stories. It?s a single, complete novel.
And it's going to freak you out.
If you're easily disturbed, have a weak stomach, or are prone to nightmares, stop reading right now. There are no sexy teen heartthrobs herein.
You have been warned."
I think that this is an adequate description and once you begin to read the novel you will find that what he wrote in the intro is absolutely the truth; this is a novel that is meant to scare and create images that will stay with you after you read it. Beyond that I was very interested to find out how they would carry off having so many different authors and hands in one novel. It was seamless and it worked well. Draculas is many things: scary, contains brutal images, disturbing, funny, and above all well written. I don't hesitate to recommend this. The time of year for this genre of novel is excellent, but then again, a good horror novel is always in season, right? Check it out, read it with all the lights on, and make sure to lock the windows and doors.
Here are some of the links you may wish to have: The authors- www.blakecrouch.com www.jakonrath.com www.jeffstrand.com www.repairmanjack.com & the novel itself-- www.draculasthebook.com GELATI'S SCOOP ***
DRACULAS~A Novel of Terror--As if the powerhouse list of authors (Blake Crouch, Jack Kilborn, Jeff Strand, F. Paul Wilson) and the title weren't enough--the disclaimer at the beginning will certainly grab your attention: "If you're easily disturbed, have a weak stomach, or are prone to nightmares, stop reading right now. There are no sexy teen heartthrobs herein." Well, I am all those things, and I happen to like sexy heartthrobs…though not particularly teen heartthrobs. So, I put on my best brave girl face, swallowed hard, and hit the page down button anyway. Wow! What a ride!!! This book delivered all that it had promised. Yet, even with that, can I truly say I liked it? I mean, it's phenomenal but "like" indicates to me a story I'd want to put myself in. I DO NOT want to be in this story in the least! The writing is fantastic, of course, and the story flows – it is, in my opinion, a truly unique take on the legend. You'll come away with a different view. The characters are well developed and I felt as if I was part of the action – right there as it was happening. All good and leading me to dish out a 5 star rating…but "like"??? The book was written as a full-length, 80,000-word novel by 4 extremely gifted authors, and they put it together seamlessly--so much that the reader can't tell which author did what. The premise is that an ancient skull, believed to belong to Dracula, was found in Transylvania and purchased by a wealthy, dying businessman in (of all places) Durango, CO. The rich man gets the skull which his "all that" beautiful assistant is skeptical about until he mysteriously sinks the razor sharp teeth of the skull into his neck. Then things start happening. I can't tell you more because, well, author/friend Andrew E. Kaufman would frown on me and accuse me of giving away spoilers! He's pretty good at creepy characters and they might come after me if I'm not careful. I can tell you, however, that I would highly recommend Draculas~a novel of terror written by Blake Crouch, Jack Kilborn, Jeff Strand, and F.Paul Wilson. It is available for pre-order at Amazon.com until Tuesday, October 19. I'd go ahead and click the pre-order button if I was you…but don't blame me if you can't sleep, you see movement in the shadows, or your stomach remains a bit queasy. Take that up with the authors on the Draculas website. And, while you're there…you can learn a bit more about the book. There's also an interesting bonus that comes along with this ebook. You can find out about that on the Draculas site too. Go ahead…be brave…and make sure you come back and let me know if you can honestly say you "like" it! I mean, REALLY!!! Isn't "like" usually associated with a positive emotion? Something...happy? This…this was sheer gore and horror created by the best with the sole purpose of writing the most frightening book they possibly could. Mission accomplished. THE SHELF LIFE OF A NOVEL WRITING BOOK WRITER
***
Dracula's was AMAZING. Take four talented authors, give each of them one main character, put those characters in a life or death struggle with visicous monsters, shake and serve… awesome. Also no sparkly… no emo-goth… no tragegic count… these vampires are animals. Pure blood devouring fiends, so crazed they'll eat their own kind… hell they'll devour themselves if no other food is present. The book is fast paced, once the biting starts it never stops and with no chapter breaks… merely PoV shifts that keep the story carooming around the hospital, it'll leave you with pulse pounding and wanting more. I easily see people sitting to start this and not moving until it's done. Whew…. with all the action and blood and mayhem you still have to remember that they let Strand into the pot so every so often the comic gem, so now you're biting your nails, sitting on the edge of your seat and giggling occasionally. That all said its still a horror book and it still pulls on the emotions. Keeping it spoiler free… after all the fun and the humour as we came toward the end they pulled my heart strings, a total emotional gut punch involving my personal two favourite characters. Dracula's delivered on all fronts… fast energetic pace, great characters, dread, gore, emotional gut punches, and the funny. Moving away from the story and to the ebook itself the authours have included a whole host of goodies… like DVD extras there are interviews, excerpts, and extra short stories packaged into the deal. So readers aren't just getting a single top notch novel, they're getting a whole goodie bag full of material.
KURT M. CRISCIONE ***
Title: Draculas Authors: Blake Crouch, Jack Kilborn, Jeff Strand and F. Paul Wilson Publisher: Amazon Digital Services Genre: Horror A dying man's greatest treasure…opens the door to an ancient evil…where death is just the beginning. Mortimer Moorecook, retired Wall Street raider, avid collector, is losing his fight against cancer. With weeks to live, a package arrives at the door of his hillside mansion – an artifact he paid millions for…a hominoid skull with elongated teeth, discovered in a farmer's field in the Romanian countryside. With Shanna, his beautiful research assistant looking on, he sinks the skull's razor sharp fangs into his neck, and immediately goes into convulsions. A rural hospital. A slow night in the ER. Until Moorecook arrives strapped to a gurney, where he promptly codes and dies.
Review: 3 stars *** When I sat down to write this review, Draculas already had 47 reader reviews on Amazon.com, 36 of which were five star reviews and the remaining 11 were four star reviews. I looked at that tally and wondered what I was missing.
You see, I wanted to like Draculas. And I did – to an extent. After all, any book that is described as a "balls-to-the-wall monster book" gets my attention. But that's where the authors failed to deliver as well, because I think a monster novel needs more than just over-the-top fight scenes and ravenous creatures thirsty for blood to be a good story.
Don't get me wrong – Draculas is well written. With guys like Black Crouch, Jack Kilborn (Joe Konrath), Jeff Strand and F. Paul Wilson at the helm, it would have to be. These guys aren't newcomers off the streets – they've been toiling away in the publishing industry for years. Crouch has written a handful of thrillers for St. Martin's. Konrath has his Lt. Jack Daniels series from Hyperion, Strand has been doing comedic horror for several years and recently won the Bram Stoker Award while F. Paul Wilson continues his string of successes with his internationally bestselling Repairman Jack series. These guys have the chops to do really great work. Which, in part, is why Draculas was rather flat for me. Aside from a quick introductory scene that sets up Mortimer's search for and acquisition of the Romanian hominid skull that kicks the whole thing into motion, the rest of the book is simply scene after scene of mayhem told through different points of view. Several of the scenes were so over the top that they were almost comical. Comedy's not bad, in and of itself, but when the authors are trying to "write the most intense novel they could", as they note on the book's Amazon.com webpage, it has tendency to rob the story of its power rather than add to it.
In the extras attached to the book (and there are a lot of them, 80,000 words worth) they state that they wanted to make vampires scary again. That's a great goal to aspire to, as I'm as tired of angst ridden vampires as the next guy. While they certainly made them gory, and far from all the teen heart-throb bloodsuckers we've been bludgeoned with lately, the over-the-top moments robbed the story of its most frightful elements.
While well written, the build-up left me wanting more.
DAILY EBOOK REVIEWS ***
I don't read a lot of 'adult' fiction, let alone horror, so this was a bit new to me. I read a lot of Stephen King when I was younger, but that is more horror-thriller, if you will. But I, like many others, love vampires and was interested to give this a go. Mind you, I do like horror movies that include humor, like Zombieland, Scream, and Shaun of the Dead (and even not so funny ones like 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later) so I really appreciated the humor in this book. The first week I was reading it, I had just gotten over the flu and had to actually stop reading it while eating dinner one night because the descriptions were making me a little queasy. Once I got my strong stomach back, I was good to go, merrily reading about spleens, livers, and limbs being eaten. Nom nom! And though I'm exactly the kind of vampire reader this book is not for, I loved it all the same. I think the thing I liked the most was the fact that these were almost zombie-vampires, my two favorite supernatural villains. It was a great marriage of the both. It was high in action as well, lots of guns and gore on every Kindle page. The story line reminded me of many of the zombie stories, where a bite transmits the 'disease.' I enjoyed the characters as well and was really caught up with them by the end. All in all, a cool story and a fascinating project as it was written by 4 different people. It was quite seamless, blending together very well. If you're looking for a great horror read this Halloween, I think you'll really enjoy this one.
KARLY KIRKPATRICK ***
THIS IS A VAMPIRE BOOK REVIEW BY RICK TAUBOLD ON MY BLOG. HE BEGGED ME, SO I GRACIOUSLY LET HIM POST IT FOR THE CLASSIC VAMPIRE AFICIONADOS AMONG YOU. "Draculas" is an interesting attempt to get back to the more horrific, classical vampire, except that the authors take it a step beyond that. It begins with an eccentric millionaire Mortimer Moorecook purchasing the alleged skull of Dracula. He has terminal pancreatic cancer and is looking to do something about that. Let me issue a disclaimer here. I'm am not a horror aficionado, and very few horror stories have ever creeped me out. I wish I could say that this novel did that, but I'd be lying. I do find it interesting that one of the memorable horror novels I've read was "The Keep" by Paul Wilson (one of the authors of this novel). Nevertheless, "Draculas" has a great concept to it, and it's certainly terror-laden. Hollywood would love this because as a movie it has an enormous body count.
If you like the idea of vampires begetting new vampires from a single bite within a short span of time (I'm talking minutes, a little longer in some cases, but not over an hour), and if you like a cast of characters you can sink your teeth into (sorry, couldn't resist), then this novel is for you. If, on the other hand, you're looking for a novel with a more complex story line and rich subplots, you may not find this satisfying. There are subplots, and they're all integral to the story, but everything is mostly straightforward, with very little twisting and turning. Well, in truth, a lot of body parts get twisted off and there's a LOT of turning into vampires by men, women, and childrens. This isn't a story for the squeamish. The authors have taken an interesting approach to the narrative in that they put the reader into the heads of each of the characters at one time or another (sometimes even after they've turned). In that regard, this novel is highly experiential for the reader. Given that four different authors constructed this novel, I found it amazing that the narrative was seamless. I know they split up the characters among them, but there's no way to tell who wrote which character. On top of that, they've made all the characters three-dimensional individuals and interesting. My hat's off to all of them for pulling this off so well with so many characters.
I should also mention that the hospital scenes and terminology were accurately detailed. They should be because one of the hats F. Paul Wilson wears is that of a doctor. So, how did I rate this novel? I gave it 4 out of 5. It's better than your average vampire romance fare these days, and it's a nice return to the more classical vampire. I would have liked more background on the Dracula skull, but given how this story is designed and plays out, that would have been difficult to pull off without interrupting the forward momentum of the story. And there's clearly a sequel planned. Even if I hadn't seen it mentioned at the end of the e-book material, the story telegraphs one at the end.
ALL THINGS VAMPIRE ***
I do not typically read horror novels, but I really enjoyed this one. Draculas returns the vampire to the scary shadows where they once resided. The authors did it in a way that I feel Bram Stoker would be proud. The four authors weaved a seamless gothic style horror story that takes place in the current century at a small southern Colorado town hospital. The writing was fluid and the characters were very real. I enjoyed the changing point of views from one character to another, and the authors did not just stick to the unaffected for the point of view narrations. Even though there were four individual authors, a reader would only be able to tell by very little tell tale signs and only if they were looking for them. I would recommend this book to people who love old school "monster in the box" type horror.
I give Draculas a 4 Horseshoe rating. PONYTAILS BOOK REVIEWS ***
I've just finished DRACULAS, a project by J.A. Konrath, Blake Crouch, F. Paul Wilson and Jeff Strand. Four horror novelists collaborated on this story about vampires, with the stated goal of making vampires scary again. I think they've succeeded! This is a great, fast read. The story begins with the discovery of Dracula's skull in Romania. Though dismissed as a hoax, the skull is purchased by an American billionaire who is close to death himself. His intention is to become a vampire and gain immortality. He collapses after stabbing himself with the fangs and is rushed to the emergency room. The hospital is soon teeming with vampires. Thanks to a train crash in another part of the state, the hospital is on its own as far as police and National Guard help. The whole story takes place in one night, making it fast-paced and hard to put down. It's a great story for anyone who's been missing the evil, monstrous kind of vampire--the kind that actually gives you nightmares. JL BRYAN'S BOOKBLOG ***
A sickly millionaire purchases a skull unburied in Romania; a skull with giant teeth. In a fit of grandeur the man unleashes an ancient horror in his bloodline. Suddenly a blood borne pathogen takes over a small town hospital in rural Colorado. The disease that takes over this place reminds me of a cross between 28-Days-Later and 30 Days of Night. Once contracted teeth begin to fall out, replaced by giant razor sharp teeth that tear apart the cheeks of the afflicted. The concept was compelling and had me slamming through the book, eager to see what was going to happen next.
I seriously felt like I had watched a movie after reading this story; it'd make a kick ass horror flick. The story is told through multiple perspectives, even by the monsters themselves. It's incredibly eerie to read through the eyes of a child Dracula scouring a hospital for 'red candy,' or blood. And then there's Bennie the clown who likes to make balloon animals from his own intestines. Though the book is full of action on every page, it's the characters that made it for me. I cried when some died, I sighed when some lived. They are very well done.
The authors have modeled their ebook to a DVD with tons of bonus features. Short stories, interviews with the authors and other cool stuff. There's actually more bonus material than actual text. Because ebooks are easier to produce, they can include as much content as they want. And the put in as much as they could fit, which I appreciated. It makes the book an easier sell…like getting a DVD with bonus videos, gag reels and other such stuff. It's more fun than just the main feature. And for the low price of $2.99 it's a pretty damn good bargain.
EILEENANDREWS.COM ***
Kudos to the four authors of DRACULAS—Blake Crouch, Jack Kilborn, Jeff Strand, and F. Paul Wilson—I am mega impressed. Their collaborative effort resulted in a seamless tale of non-stop horror guaranteed to produce a white-knuckle read from the first page to the last. Most definitely, this novel is not for the weak-kneed and spineless who insist on happy endings. None of the characters in this book escapes unscathed—the good, the bad, the ugly, the innocent and the obscene—all suffer major consequences for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. That is, every character except the monster who initiated such horrific havoc. Hm-m, what's that I smell? More blood and gore? With any luck there'll be a sequel, one involving some over-the-top acts of retribution.
Loretta Giacoletto ***
When Crouch, Kilborn, Strand, and Wilson decided to collaborate on a book, at a time when vampires are ubiquitous in our literature, films and television, I wasn't surprised when they chose to write a story about vampires or draculas. However, the crisp, concise, and fast-pace style of their prose – demonstrated in the description of grotesque, macabre, and gory scenes, and compelling dialogue - treats the subject rather differently from the modified epistolary style of Bram Stoker's Dracula, the seminal story, published in 1897, and from subsequent writers. I've always found it rather interesting reading when authors attempt to write a modern version of a seminal story that was written over a hundred years ago. Hollywood filmmakers and studios do it all the time, releasing remakes of films from earlier years – King Kong, The Pink Panther, The Wizard of Oz, Ocean's Eleven, The Poseidon Adventure and many others. Most of them are never as good as the original, but, here, I'd have to acknowledge that Draculas is extremely well written and will hold your interest throughout the narrative. In fact, I'm sure you'll be clamoring for more of the same, wanting the story to continue with another episode or sequel. The story is rich in grotesque and macabre scenes and touches upon a number of interesting and illuminating concepts that the authors superbly integrate into the narrative. Concepts dealing with the evolution of man, the ability of man to renew himself and start over again, regaining one's youth – the fountain of youth, here, depicted as a spurting fountain of blood instead of water – the Biblical source of life in the desert - the elixir of life and regeneration, vampire myths, religion and faith, the human need for redemption is explored, as well as hatred and prejudice, isolationism, overcoming one's fears, nihilism, questioning the existence of God, taking people for granted, the inner conflicts and the eventual anagnorises of the primary characters. It's all here and more than a little fascinating. It begins with Mortimer Moorecook, a recluse millionaire of Durango, Colorado. He is the quintessential Dracula of modern times, and a member of the secret society of the Wallachian Order of the Dragon, which was formed in the 15th century. It's members fought against the Turks and the Ottoman Empire. He made his money on Wall Street and used some of it to retrieve the "Dracula skull," Oswald Von Wolkenstein's son's skull, the original Dracula. When Moorecook grazed one of his liver-spotted fingers on the razor-sharp teeth of the Dracula skull, his transformation and the ensuing mayhem is assured. As the "virus" – a modern explanation of the horrible disease - spreads like wildfire in a dry brush amongst the population of the hospital, the draculas, demons, or monsters, multiply in number, forming a legion, and attack mercilessly the doctors, nurses, patients and visitors at Blessed Crucifixion. In Draculas, the authors chose names for people and places that have significant meaning. For instance, Mortimer's name is from the English, Welch, Scottish, and Irish of Norman origin. In Seine-Maritime, France, the name is "Mortemer," so called from Old French mort (e) dead + mer (sea), Latin (mare). The place name might have referred to a stagnant pond, or a partly drained swamp, and there are allusions to the Biblical Dead Sea Scrolls seen by the Crusaders. This is significant because Mortimer's name suggests death, or the living dead. The name of the hospital is "Blessed Crucifixion," and it reminds me of the crucifixion of Jesus. When you enter "Blessed Crucifixion," it is as if you are entering Dante's Inferno, a hell on earth. Here, I had the impression that Blessed Crucifixion was not a place of convalescence, but one of execution and crucifixion. Adam Murray is a minister, but his name reminds one of our first parent, Adam, from Genesis. I was more than a little impressed with the text and its numerous literary and film allusions. I found them to enrich the scenes and they gave me additional insight into the psychology of the characters. I particularly enjoyed the authors' literary references to Dante's Inferno, which I thought was an appropriate description of the hospital once it was taken over by the draculas; Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow suggested the decapitated head of Oswald Von Wolkenstein's son, the Bible referred to John 15:13, and Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities. Film allusions were Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry, Magnum Force, Sigourney Weaver's Aliens, The Terminator, Killer Shrews, The Chainsaw Massacre – The Beginning, and others. While Adam recites the lines of Sydney Carton, Deputy Sheriff Clayton Theel and Randall recite the lines of Harry Callahan, as they square off to resolve their own personal conflict, and it provides the reader with a fabulous scene of comic relief. Overall, I was delighted by the literary and film allusions as it worked to pull me deeper into the story and to provide me with empathy and a greater understanding of the feelings and emotions of the characters. The authors did a great job shattering preconceived vampire myths and legends. For instance, according to legend and myth, it was believed that a vampire was afraid of the cross, whenever anyone held up the cross in front of the vampire's face, like a shield to ward off evil, it would cringe and back away. Here, however, the vampires were unaffected by the presence of the cross. Then, there is the notion that the only way to kill a vampire is to drive a stake through its heart. In Draculas, a "stake through the heart" - even a stake made from the splintering wood of the cross – doesn't work and has little affect on the demons. Moreover, I always believed that a vampire had to return to his or her coffin before the rising of the sun, because, if they were caught in the sunlight, they might burn to death. Here, the draculas don't have coffins, and they are not afraid of sunlight as morning approaches Durango. I was more than a little pleased that the authors thought it was suitable to break these preconceived myths. By breaking these time-honored myths, they've enriched the story. It fact it has evolved into something quite different, just like Moorecook, who, eventually, evolves into something other than an ugly, grotesque, and otherworldly monster. The evolution and renewal of Moorecook, Randall, Jenny, and Shanna are central to the plot of the story. Moorecook is more than a Dracula or a monster with talon-like claws and canine fangs, and regenerative powers. His purpose is to evolve into something more deadly…something more than human…something better than human. The authors write, "He knew he was going to change into something else…something more powerful than what he already was. Something that would allow him to infect the whole world." In the crisis at hand, Jenny, a former nurse at the hospital and now Moorecook's hospice nurse, has faith that Randall, her ex-husband, whom she divorced because he was an alcoholic, would not leave her, but stay and protect her and the children in the pediatrics ward from the draculas that wanted to kill them for their blood. Her renewal of faith and love for Randall was fascinating. She thought, "That's what Randall was at his core…big and stupid." But, "he was a good guy," and "seeing him gave Jenny a burst of hope." Randall loves Jenny, had always loved her and wanted nothing more than to get back together with her and renew his life. Shanna Davies feels differently about her boyfriend, Deputy Sheriff Clayton Theel. They've known each other for little more than six weeks, and she already wants to break off her relationship with him. She loves the sex, but he's always thinking and talking about guns and gun shows and movies. He talks like Clint Eastwood and is often reciting lines and dialogue from Dirty Harry and Magnum Force. However, in the melee at the hospital, she becomes fainthearted and disgusted when she is forced to uses one of Clay's guns to mow down a nurse who had turned into a vampire. She is determined to break off her relationship, when in the parking lot she comes to the revelation that if one of the draculas were to escape from the hospital, it might start a pandemic. She blasts the dracula in the parking lot of the hospital and comes to realize that, perhaps, she shouldn't break off her relationship with Clayton merely because of his love for guns and gun shows. Hence, throughout the narrative, there is an underlying sense of revelation, evolution, and renewal – even rebirth - in these scenes, which permeates and enriches the text. The concepts of evolution, renewal, and rebirth are enhanced by the numerous and significant religious and Biblical images in the text. For instance, there are several significant scenes between Adam Murray and his wife Stacie that question and challenge the minister's faith in God. Perhaps, as in Job, God is testing him, and this might suggest that the only way one might confirm one's faith is to have it tested by some trial. Adam is a minister, a religious man, whose instincts turn primal when he is confronted with scurrying rats in the basement of the hospital, draculas, and a "little demon girl." To save Stacie and his daughter, Daniella, the minister resorts to violence. "Something possessed him—a livid, white-hot jolt of rage, and as the little girl tried to sit up, the minister rushed forward, grabbing a knot of her hair as he shot past, and dragged her out into the corridor." Reacting to Brittany's explosive birth of an "eight pound demon with a face full of half-inch razor whites" that is "slowly chewing its way out," Adam stated, "This is hell worse than any I ever read about." And then he said, "Please God, please…where are you?" The minister's question is reminiscent of the arguments of the nihilists, such as Immanuel Kant, Soren Kierkegaard, and Friederich Nietzsche, who questioned the existence of God in the universe, and proclaimed God was dead. When Stacie questioned her husband about his faith, stating, "I hope you don't lose your faith over this," he responds as expected, "Of course not," but, we, nevertheless, are left "wondering if he was lying to her." Moreover, there is an internal conflict within Adam that has to do with the idea of him taking his own life, of sacrificing his life so that others might live. In other words, when Clayton asked him to commit an act of suicide, he struggled internally with this idea. According to his Christian beliefs, suicide is a sin and, if committed, will result in his damnation…he will never be in the presence of God. On the other hand, he believes in the argument set forth in John 15:13, which states, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Adam's love for mankind supersedes his fear of an eternity in hell. Randall, a big and stupid lumberjack seeks redemption in the eyes of his beloved wife Jenny. His expressions of remorse and his desire to make things right engender concepts of hope and futurity. In his case, as in all cases, sacrifice precedes redemption. Randall, Jenny, and Adam make the ultimate sacrifice in he name of love. Brooke Allen expressed succinctly and precisely the significance between faith, friendship, and perhaps, love, in the introduction to Bram Stoker's Dracula, published by Barnes and Noble, when she stated that "simple faith has clearly not been sufficient to slay this dragon. Modern science, intellectual effort, and the bonds of friendship have all been needed to back it up." In Draculas, the bonds of friendship and love, between Randall and Jenny, Clayton Theel and Shanna Davies, and Adam and Stacie and Daniella turn the tide in the battle between good and evil. Though, what had occurred at Blessed Crucifixion was only the beginning. Anthony A. Policastro ***
When elderly, dying, Mortimer Moorecook, retired Wall Street raider, uses an ancient skull(the supposed Dracula Skull) to bite himself, hoping to cure the illness ravaging his body, to say all hell breaks loose would be putting it mildly! He is taken to the hospital, where he completes his transformation and goes on the rampage!
If you're looking for handsome, romantic vampires, dewy heroines, have a weak stomach, or are in the mood for a nice "cozy", this is not the book for you. If you're looking for slam-bang, no holds barred, gory fun, or killer vampire clowns with claws and fangs, then you're in for a treat! The Vampire mythos gets a whole new treatment from four stellar talents, Jack Kilborn (J.A. Konrath), Black Crouch, F. Paul Wilson, and Jeff Strand. You'll cringe and laugh your way through this great read! A very refreshing story just when the vampire genre started to get stale. 5+ Stars!
KRISTIN CENTORCELLI ***
(4 stars) This book hooks you in and really gets you involved in the action that Mortimer starts. It goes from bad to worse and leaves you wanting more. This has everything a good horror novel should, and with the humor it reads more like a movie. The details really bring the words to life. While I mostly skimmed the gore, I really paid attention to feelings, emotions, and human interaction. When everything goes wrong, even the most unreliable people become heroes and pull through. Old relationships reform, others fall apart, and everything is chaotic. The horror or this novel appeals to men while the women can still feel like this novel was time spent well. Everyone can enjoy this book! MICHELLE REED
***
This book was written as a collaborative effort by a group of great authors. J.A. Konrath, Blake Crouch, Jack Kilborn, F. Paul Wilson and Jeff Strand. While reading this book I could never tell who wrote about each character. The story flowed seamlessly. You would never know that more than one author was involved. This story starts out with a story about a skull being found in Transylvania. The skull has 32 elongated teeth. Mortimer Moorecook is terminally ill with cancer. He buys the skull thinking it will be the answer to all of his prayers. He had hired Shanna, an Anthropologist, to start doing research on the skull prior to it's arrival. The day the skull arrives Mortimer removes it from the packing crate. He then runs those elongated canines into his jugular. And then the real fun begins. I don't want to have any spoilers in this review so I will stop there. But believe me, this story is one that starts out fast and never slows down. Anyone who likes Dracula/Vampires will want to read it. It's scary. It's bloody and gory. And it's fantastic. Those that are squeamish, this is a warning. This may not be the book for you. But I could not stop reading. Even laying in bed at night I had a hard time sleeping because I wondered what else was going to happen. Who was going to be the next to turn into a Dracula? Who was the next person who would be killed or chased by these Draculas? This book kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time I was reading it. One night I was reading and I was home alone. I was so engrossed in the story and it was so tense, the clock chime went off and my Kindle was just about thrown across the room because it scared me so bad. I can laugh about it now but it's quite the book that can do that to me. And it's been a long time since that has happened. Also, the way the book ended left me with the question of whether there would be a sequel. I'm not saying the book didn't end well. It definitely did. But it ended in such a way as a sequel is very possible. That being said, should a second book come out, I will be first in line to buy it. I have always liked to read this type of book just before Halloween to get me in the spirit of things. This book has definitely done that. All of the bonus material at the end of the book is great. You get to read emails that went back and forth during the writing of the book. You get sneak peeks at books in progress. You get Biographies of the Authors. I think all of the bonus material was just as good as the book was. I really liked reading about the deleted scenes from the book. About how they were originally written and then how they were changed. That was very interesting. I have to applaud all of these great authors. All I can say is WOW, what a book!!!
Thanks for the great book Debbie Gilliam