Memnoch The Devil

by Anne Rice

This is the fifth book in the Vampire Chronicles. Short synopsis on wiki here.

To be honest, I don't know what to make of this book. It is decent. But the bulk of it can be considered taking vampires as the subject matter. It seems more a discussion of theology and evolution. And for that matter, it almost read like some simplified version of the Bible. It is very different to the previous book. Well, I can at least say the style of writing is still the same. Maybe that is just the way Anne Rice writes. Very, very descriptive. It could be painfully slow at times. At times, I even skip over details. Because really, I do not need to know the hue of the curtain. In real life I am not the type of person to go up to a piece of fabric and analyze, smell, touch, like the thing. So that is perhaps a personal preference thing. I tend to skip over these bits.

In terms of the overall plot of the Vampire Chronicles, it is flowing along quite well, and the character growth is good. But now everything has grown to such epic proportions, it is just very difficult to reduce it back to the previous scope of just vampires. It is as I have just been watching the whole Season 6 of Supernatural. The scope just is blown too big out of proportion that the story becomes generic and superficial. I would have enjoyed things more if things were kept at a more micro scale, and the details of the character relationships be described that way. Also, revealing everything of the known universe, that simply removes any mystery and wonder from the story. Again, I quote a movie I loved. The Matrix. If they left it at that it would have been wonderful, one would just imagine the rest. But they made the next two movies and that just killed everything. It became too superficial, generic. This is particularly true for horror and vampires. They are mysterious and dark creatures. This story sort of puts them in their place. I don't like vampires being put in their place, I like to NOT know, I like to guess and never know. Ah, it can't be undone anyways.

I think I will take a break from the Vampire Chronicles, the story telling style can be weary if one reads too much at once. It is like rich food. Even if you have the loveliest dished for a week, if it is the same thing, you will get sick of it. So it's time for a change for me. Need to return to my horror roots, and read up on more horror fiction.

The Tale of the Body Thief

by Anne Rice

This is the fourth book in The Vampire Chronicles. I skipped pass the 2nd and 3rd book because I read them before and after reading the 1st, Interview with the Vampire, it came back to my memory what the other 2 were about. So no harm just reading the fourth. The synopsis is quite long and you can read it here.

This book is still great. But after the first 3 books, there seems to be some limitation in scope now of the story. This is what I mean. The first book is set from 1790 to the present, second book from the 18th century, third book almost spanning from the beginning of the vampires. This book however is set entirely in the 20th century. So, I am wondering is it the case now that the story is written into a corner. Hopefully not. But I will read through the series and see where this story goes. I like my vampires old and ancient, spanning from ancient times to present. I don't like to read just modern day things. Also after Queen of the Damned, I don't know what kind of story can top that kind of epic. Reading on, Memnoch the Devil next. Book Five.

Interview With The Vampire

by Anne Rice

This is what I call the good kind of vampire, not like that Twilight nonsense. Here is a synopsis.

This book as the title suggest is an interview by a journalist with a vampire, in a dingy hotel room. The vampire has arranged this because he wants his story told. The story is as follows.

Louis de Pointe du Lac is a plantation owner in New Orleans, and his beloved younger brother has just died under very strange circumstances. After this, he struggles to get his life straight and goes to drinking and brawling. His life is going down the drain. Then one evening as he is doing this, a vampire takes him and turns him. This vampire is Lestat de Lioncourt. Louis, though he wanted to die after his brother's death did not want to be a vampire. So this story goes on about the early years of Louis as a vampire and his struggle with the life of a vampire.

Okay, my synopsis does not do the story justice really. I had a looked at the wikipedia summary and it's the length of a short story, so you know how complex and intricate it is. Firstly, about the writing. The first time I read this book several years ago, I found the story quite dry for the first 3 quarter of the books. And if you are not into vampires, this book will probably bore you to death. It goes into such painfully slow detail of their life. But if you DO love this genre, then Anne Rice is the gold standard. The details would then give such life and richness to this world of the undead. I still love this book, though it's the second time reading it it's still great.

The Raven

by Edgar Allan Poe

Summary from wikipedia.

"The Raven" is a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in January 1845. It is often noted for its musicality, stylized language, and supernatural atmosphere. It tells of a talking raven's mysterious visit to a distraught lover, tracing the man's slow descent into madness. The lover, often identified as being a student,^[1][2] is lamenting the loss of his love, Lenore. Sitting on a bust of Pallas, the raven seems to further instigate his distress with its constant repetition of the word "Nevermore". The poem makes use of a number of folk and classical references.

I love this poem and is one that I read over and over as it colours the slow transition towards madness very well. The pacing is beautiful. Everything about is wonderful. Nothing will ever come close to how wonderfully dark it is. Nevermore.

Darkness Comes

by Dean Koontz

A short summary. This book is about a police officer, Jack Dawson who is assigned to a case investigating the strange deaths of the Caramazza mob family. Their deaths were very peculiar with their whole body seeming to be bitten by small creatures and bleeding to death. One by one, the Caramazzas are dying, and although they are scum Jack must solve the case before more people die. And even worse, it seems these creatures are going to come for not only Jack but his young son and daughter. The tiny creatures are coming, they are coming for them all...

I loved the first chapter of the book, where it was a scene of Jack's daughter in the dark with the creature coming from who knows where, the fear and anticipation was electrifying. Then after that scene it was pretty much flat all the way through. The whole story was predictable and all the characters were very corny. It seems the story was written like a cheap movie production; stringing along one horror scene to the next horror scene and some of these were decent but it all felt too rehearsed. Like okay I will scare you now a little, then we will have a little break, then I will scare you again. And by the end I felt there was some glaring holes in the plot. But I finished the book nonetheless. There are some good moments in the book, but overall I think it is not that worth reading. Koontz is said to be comparable to King, and I can see at moments his style works. However, based on this piece of work, I think King is much better story telling wise. I perhaps need to read a couple more of Koontz's books to have a better idea of things. But definitely will hold off buying any of his books until I have read a few more from the library.

The Eyes of the Dragon

by Stephen King

This is a dark fantasy book set in a sort of medieval age, of castles and wizards. It is a story of a young prince, Peter who is framed by Flagg, the magician/advisor of King Roland, Peter's father. He is then sent to live out the rest of his life in the top of a tower that overlooks the whole city, called the Needle. In the meantime, Peter's younger brother Thomas takes over the kingdom and being so young and not very bright, Thomas is simply a puppet to Flagg's will. In all this while, Peter sets about setting things right and starts to hatch a plan to escape and reclaim his throne and clear his name. All this Peter must do before Flagg causes the whole kingdom to riot in arms from the high taxation and injustice of the courts he has imposed.

I think this is not one of King's best works. It seems to simple and the world's coloring and texture is very thinly veiled. The concept are also not explored into much depth. I felt there was very little to make this story have any sort of fantasy feel, or is it not supposed to be fantasy but just set in medieval times. I wonder. Anyways, it is also not dark and scary enough.

With other King books I have read, I always felt sick to my gut about how mentally disturbing it is. For instance, when I read Rose Madder, even thought the overall plots was not very well put together, the depth and substance of the characters are enough to make you feel and sick with everything, which is where I set the bar for King's fiction.

Overall, the story is decent and the characters are likable but at the end of it I felt it could have been so much more and I did not feel particularly horrified by any of it.

It Comes

The blood, the blood,
A bleeding heart.
The scream, the scream,
A terrible cry.

Knock on the door. Don't let it in. Please don't let it in...

Mister B. Gone

by Clive Barker

Just finished this book just now. Took me about 6 hours to finish. It is as a very good story and a very interesting idea.

Firstly it is a book. And what is important is that it is a book. There is a demon trapped in this book. If you open it, you will find Mister B. the demon, He will ask you to burn this book and read no further. If you read on it is at your own peril.

What he treats you to is the story of his life and how he ended up being trapped in this book. But be warned, this book is all things evil and by its end you may be as corrupted as Mister B. Mister B. has a very interesting story to tell. If you would like to wager your life, do read it...