Review: Stagestruck Vampires and Other Phantasms

Stories with a supernatural twist are popular today, but are often rather predictable. Consequently, I was a little uncertain what to expect from this book. To my great pleasure, when I opened this book, I found stories and essays demonstrating great variety and originality instead of yet more tales about cooky-cutter sexy supernatural monsters.

"Stagestruck Vampires" contains previously-published short stories and new essays. The short stories - not all of them about vampires - were new to me, although some readers may have encountered them in their original publications.

The book begins with the stunning 'Beauty and the Opera or The Phantom Beast', with its delicate revelations about the way in which disfigurement and acceptance operate within as well as between people. I won't list each title, but I will mention 'Boobs' - wish- fulfilment for anyone who as a young girl wanted revenge on school bullies more than an entree to the mysterious and initially unappealing world of womanhood.

Each of the other stories has its own special charm and twist, and is set in places ranging from the present day to the distant future. If there is one I like less that the others, it would be 'Evil Thoughts'. I think I may have missed the point of this story, and it didn't grip my attention as well as the others.

The final two selections are essays about different aspects of the writer's art. Both are behind-the-scenes descriptions of specific literary projects. 'The Stagestruck Vampire' describes the process of writing a play and having it performed professionally; 'They're Right, Art is Long' is about the history behind the 'Holdfast Chronicles'. These essays are fascinating for anyone who has ever wondered just how do writers do it as they describe how one particular writer 'did it'; created a play and a series of novels.

Overall, I highly recommend this collection. The excellent short stories are complemented by the 'behind the scenes' aspect of the essays, and the stories themselves are nicely varied, while always having enough of an odd edge in their theme or plot to enable them to fit together in a single collection.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Cheryl - RAM

Book Review: Stagestruck Vampires and Other Phantasms