Campus Chills

Title: Campus Chills edited by Mark Leslie
Genre: Fiction, Horror, Thriller, Short Stories
Rating: 4/5

From the back of the book: "Thirteen original tales of terror set on campuses across Canada..."

I really enjoyed Campus Chills. There's a good variety of stories throughout, from the utterly gruesome to the ones that make you wonder "what if." From your typical ghost story to the monstrosities that may be possible through science. My favourite stories in the collection were "The Forever Brotherhood" by Julie E. Czerneda, "Sara" by Nancy Kilpatrick, "Sown" by Susan Moloney and "Old Spice Love Knot" by Steve Vernon.

"Prospero's Ghost" by Kimberly Foottit and Mark Leslie was also really interesting with its use of metafiction. It's a story that involves books printed on an Espresso Book Machine at McMaster University and the Campus Chills collection was created for the Espresso Book Machine and launched at McMaster University, as well as three other bookstores in Canada with EBMs.

Overall, I'd recommend Campus Chills to anyone interested in Canadian works or horror stories. And don't be frightened by its Print on Demand status, it's actually of rather good quality.

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters

Title: Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters
Genre: Fiction, Mashup, Classic, Horror
Rating: 2/5

As the title implies, this is Jane Austen's classic retold with a twist. Something has transformed the world's oceans and the creatures of the sea have mutated and now hunger for the flesh of man. Amongst all the tentacles and giant lobsters, can the Dashwood sisters find true love?

I was rather disappointed in Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. The premise was intriguing but the writing failed to live up to its promise. The connection between Austen's original and Winters' new scenes felt disjointed and I think Winters would have been better off writing something original. As well, there was a little too much repetition, especially in regards to how disgusting Colonel Brandon's mucous-covered tentacles were. By the fourth or fifth mention I just wanted to shout 'all right already, I get it.' I also found the way everyone looked down on Colonel Brandon and his cursed features contradictory once Winters introduced the idea that John Dashwood was undergoing experimentation in society's fight against sea monsters. However, there was one thing I really enjoyed, the addition of steampunk when Elinor and Marianne go to Sub-marine Station Beta, a London-like city based within a dome on the ocean floor.

Overall, Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters is not a book that I'd recommend. It's not that I hadn't expected it to be ridiculous, I did, but it was just too much so. I do hope that Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was better orchestrated as it's still on my to-be-read list.

Dead Until Dark

Title: Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
Genre: Fiction, Horror, Romance
Rating: 4/5

Synopsis from Penguin:

Sookie Stackhouse is just a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. Until the vampire of her dreams walks into her life - and one of her coworkers checks out...

Maybe having a vampire for a boyfriend isn't such a bright idea.

I hate to admit it but I put off reading Dead Until Dark and its sequels for a long time because I wasn't a fan of the covers. The artwork just wasn't my style. That was most definitely a mistake. I really enjoyed Dead Until Dark. I truly liked Sookie; she's caring, charming and sentimental. Most importantly, I didn't find her annoying like I have some of the other first-person narrators in vampire and supernatural books.

The book is a real page-turner, following the mystery of the murders and the romance between Sookie and Vampire Bill. There are also several minor plotlines going on throughout involving the secondary characters. As this was the first book in the series, it understandably focused on Sookie and Vampire Bill for the most part. Hopefully the later books in the series will expand on some of the secondary characters. I'd particularly love to see more of Bubba.

I'd definitely recommend Dead Until Dark to any paranormal lover. I've already leant my copy of the book to a friend and mentioned it to several others.

The Historian

Title: The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
Genre: Fiction, Horror
Rating: 4/5

Synopsis from Little, Brown: Late one night, exploring her father's library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters. The letters are all addressed to "My dear and unfortunate successor," and they plunge her into a world she never dreamed of - a labyrinth where the secrets of her father's past and her mother's mysterious fate connect to an inconceivable evil hidden in the depths of history. The letters provide links to one of the darkest powers that humanity has ever known - and to a centuries-long quest to find the source of that darkness and wipe it out.

The Historian is a very interesting take on the Dracula sequel. Unlike most, it is set in the twentieth century and doesn't deal with the characters from Dracula. Well, except for the man himself. Instead it recognizes Dracula as a fictional work and focuses more on the facts and fictions of Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia, aka Vlad the Impaler. I studied Dracula a couple of years back for one of my University courses but had forgotten a lot of the background my professor covered. By working the information into letters and character retellings, Kostova made it enjoyable to relearn.

Moreover, she made me interested in the characters. The plot focuses mainly on the narrator and her father and their separate yet symmetrical quests for the truth. Though they occur decades apart, both involve the sinister figure of Dracula, a little bit of romance and the search for a missing individual. As the father reveals his story to his daughter in fits and starts, you come to care for them and begin to root for them to succeed. Overall, I found that The Historian was a really good read. Its biggest appeals were the historical aspect and its suspenseful twists and turns. I was always trying to guess what would happen next. And though I wouldn't say I couldn't put it down, I can say that I never wanted to put it down for long. I'd like to try some of Kostova's other works and I've already started reccing this one to my friends.

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