Claudia Caranfa’s cover artwork captures several of the key elements of Five Decembers by James Kestrel (aka, Jonathan Moore). You’ll notice in the background a squadron of bombers dropping death in a world on fire while a man watches with a gun in his hand. Oh, yeah, and the girl.

Five Decembers begins in 1941 with Honolulu police detective Joe McGrady discovering a vivisected body. Minutes later, McGrady engages in a shoot-out with a suspect. McGrady lives, the suspect dies. But the murder morphs into a story that resembles The Odyssey as McGrady is sent to Hong Kong to investigate a lead. As luck would have it, McGrady is framed, beaten, and jailed just as Hong Kong is invaded by the Japanese.

McGrady’s trials and tribulations continue during the war years, but he never gives up his obsession with the case that launched his incredible Asian journey. If you’re in the mood for a high octane crime novel with more twists and turns and surprises than the Le Mans Grand Prix, rev up your engine and read Five Decembers. GRADE: A

The Buffalo Bills, fresh from coming off their Bye Week, are 14-point favorites over the 1-6 Miami Dolphins–a team the Bills lit up in Week Two 35-0. The weather at Highmark Stadium might be a factor: scattered showers and breezy. How will your NFL team do today? We have two huge bags of candy to distribute tonight. Last Halloween we had over 100 Trick-or-Treaters. How many kids show up at your door on Halloween?

Peter Berresford Ellis (aka, Peter Tremayne) wrote a Dracula trilogy forty years ago. Of the three books, I like the middle volume the best.

The Revenge of Dracula begins when Upton Welsford, a British Diplomat, buys an enigmatic jade figurine. The jade figurine brings nightmares to its owner. Upton Welsford then discovers the woman he loves seems possessed. How does the ancient relic connect Welsford with the Dracula’s quest for immortality? Welsford travels to Transylvania to found out and to rescue his lover.

The Peter Tremayne Dracula trilogy keeps to the story elements that Bram Stroker used. The Dracula trilogy is more of a prequel to Stoker’s Dracula but shares many of its themes and horrors. If you’re a fan of Dracula this trilogy–especially The Revenge of Dracula–might just serve up the bite that you need! GRADE: B+

Dracula Lives Series
   1. Dracula Unborn (1977)
     aka Bloodright : Memoirs of Micrea Son to Dracula
   2. The Revenge of Dracula (1978)
   3. Dracula, My Love (1980)

Jack the Ripper meets Dracula, Dr. Frankenstein, Sherlock Holmes, and a menagerie of exotic characters in Roger Zelazny’s screwball Halloween novel, A Night in the Lonesome October. Each chapter is a day in October leading up to the Big Day. The novel is narrated by Snuff, a guard dog who can perform complex Thaumaturgical calculations in his head. Snuff’s duties also include keeping an eye on the various Things that are trapped in mirrors, wardrobes, and steamer trunks who are constantly trying to escape.

Snuff’s master, Jack, possesses a magical blade and a mission to stop the confluence of Powers who plan a cosmic event on Halloween.

I know some people who read A Night in the Lonesome October (as well as Neil Gaiman’s “Only the End of the World Again) every year in the run-up to Halloween.

And don’t forget Gahan Wilson’s funny and creepy illustrations! A Night in the Lonesome October will dazzle you and delight you! Do you have a favorite Halloween story or book? GRADE: A

TRACK LIST:

No.	Title	Length
1.	“Mansard Roof“	2:07
2.	“Oxford Comma“	3:15
3.	“A-Punk“	2:17
4.	“Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa“	3:34
5.	“M79” (additional lyrics by Rostam Batmanglij)	4:15
6.	“Campus” (music and lyrics by Batmanglij; additional lyrics by Koenig)	2:56
7.	“Bryn”	2:13
8.	“One (Blake’s Got a New Face)” (contains elements of “Obeah Wedding” by Slinger Francisco)	3:13
9.	“I Stand Corrected”	2:39
10.	“Walcott”	3:41
11.	“The Kids Don’t Stand a Chance”	4:03

Tracklist:

Dracula – The Beginning	6:41
Vampire Hunters	3:05
Mina’s Photo	1:25
Lucy’s Party	2:56
The Brides	4:56
The Storm	5:04
Love Remembered	4:10
The Hunt Builds	3:25
The Hunters Prelude	1:29
The Green Mist	0:54
Mina/Dracula	4:47
The Ring Of Fire	1:51
Love Eternal	2:23
Ascension	0:50
End Credits	6:42
Love Song For A Vampire (From ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’) — Performed and Written by Annie Lennox	4:21

The Kelley Music CD Collection currently features only two vampire selections: Vampire Weekend and Bram Stoker’s Dracula Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Vampire Weekend released four albums and now releases music on various streaming services.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula Original Motion Picture Soundtrack includes all the music in the Francis Ford Coppola film. The highlight here is “Love Song for a Vampire” performed and written by Annie Lennox who gained fame and glory with Dave Stewart as the lead singer of The Eurythmics.

Do you have any favorite vampire music? GRADE: B (for both CDs)

Of all the vampire anthologies I’ve read over the years, Alan Ryan’s The Penguin Book of Vampire Stories (1987) remains my favorite. Ryan takes a chronological approach and this tends to show the evolution of vampire tales over more than a century.

“Good Lady Ducayne” by Mary Elizabeth Braddon impressed me so much, I ordered a collection of Braddon stories. Braddon’s moody vampire tale captures the angst that tends to be essential in this type of fiction. Of course, “Carmilla” by J. Sheridan Le Fanu is a classic and widely anthologized. But, for me, the stories that I most enjoyed in The Penguin Book of Vampire Stories starts with “A Rendezvous in Averoigne” by Clark Ashton Smith. I’m a huge Clark Ashton Smith fan and he’s at the top of his game in this story.

“Shambleau” by C. L. Moore, a story both famous and brilliant, takes vampires to Mars. I’m also fond of “School for the Unspeakable” by Manly Wade Wellman with its haunting ending.

The last third of The Penguin Book of Vampire Stories presents many of the best vampire stories ever written: “The Girl with the Hungry Eyes” by Fritz Leiber, “The Mindworm” by C. M. Kornbluth, “Place of Meeting” by Charles Beaumont, “The Living Dead” by Robert Bloch, and “Pages from a Young Girl’s Journal” by Robert Aickman.

The Penguin Book of Vampire Stories includes two novellas, “Cabin 33” by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (a Saint-Germain story) and “Unicorn Tapestry” by Suzy McKee Charnas which really creeped me out.

If you’re looking for best vampire anthology, give The Penguin Book of Vampire Stories a try. I wish Alan Ryan would publish a sequel featuring the best vampire tales since the mid-1980s to the present. Do you have a favorite vampire story? GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction (Vampires) by Alan Ryan — xiii

Fragment of a Novel (1816)
George Gordon, Lord Byron — 1

The Vampyre (1819)
John Polidori –7

Varney the Vampyre, or, the Feast of Blood (excerpt) (1845)
James Malcolm Rymer — 25

The Mysterious Stranger (1860)
Anonymous — 36

Carmilla (1872)
J. Sheridan Le Fanu — 71

Good Lady Ducayne (1896)
Mary Elizabeth Braddon — 138

Dracula’s Guest (1897)
Bram Stoker — 163

Luella Miller (1903)
Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman — 175

For the Blood Is the Life (1911)
F. Marion Crawford — 188

The Transfer (1912)
Algernon Blackwood — 203

The Room in the Tower (1912)
E. F. Benson — 213

An Episode of Cathedral History (1919)
M. R. James — 225

A Rendezvous in Averoigne (1931)
Clark Ashton Smith — 241

Shambleau (1933)
C. L. Moore — 255

Revelations in Black (1933)
Carl Jacobi — 282

School for the Unspeakable (1937)
Manly Wade Wellman — 301

The Drifting Snow (1939)
August Derleth — 311

Over the River (1941)
P. Schuyler Miller — 322

The Girl with the Hungry Eyes (1949)
Fritz Leiber — 334

The Mindworm (1950)
C. M. Kornbluth — 349

Drink My Blood (1951)
Richard Matheson — 362

Place of Meeting (1953)
Charles Beaumont — 371

The Living Dead (1967)
Robert Bloch — 376

Pages from a Young Girl’s Journal (1975)
Robert Aickman — 382

The Werewolf and the Vampire (1975)
R. Chetwynd-Hayes — 415

Love-Starved (1979)
Charles L. Grant — 441

Cabin 33 (1980)
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro — 451

Unicorn Tapestry (1980)
Suzy McKee Charnas — 505

Following the Way (1982)
Alan Ryan — 562

The Sunshine Club (1983)
Ramsey Campbell — 574

The Men & Women of Rivendale (1984)
Steve Rasnic Tem — 579

Bite-Me-Not or, Fleur De Feu (1984)
Tanith Lee — 588

Appendix I: Vampire Novels — 613
Appendix II: Vampire Movies — 618

Even though Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter was filmed in 1972, it did not hit American theaters until 1974. It was part of a double bill with Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell.

A village suffers a series of deaths of women who are seemingly drained of their youth. They appear to be old and withered right after they are attacked by an unknown force.

Dr. Marcus (John Carson) sends a message to Captain Kronos, a vampire hunter, to come to his village and help out with what he believes are vampire attacks. Kronos travels with his friend Grost, a hunchback.

This movie was made toward the end of Hammer Horror’s run. The vampire formula had become tired and repetitive. Hammer executives were looking for something different to improve their vampire movies. Hammer decided to go with a vampire movie where the focus was on a Vampire Hunter, not the vampire. This formula was well ahead of its time. Audiences at the time did not embrace Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter. But interest grew with the transfer to DVD and Blu-ray. If you’re looking for an eccentric vampire movie, I recommend Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter. Do you have a favorite vampire movie? GRADE: B+

Grady Hendrix was best known for his wonderful Paperbacks from Hell (you can read my review here), but that might change with The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires. Patrica Campbell, former nurse who feels trapped as a housewife in South Carolina, joins a book club to escape her always working husband, Carter, her teenage daughter Korey, and her Nazi-fascinated son, Blue. Patricia finds new friends among the book club members. She’ll need them later when Patricia and the community are terrorized by a vampire named James Harris.

Grady Hendrix cleverly has James Harris appear as “normal” as he becomes part of the Charleston business group. But as minority children go missing, Patricia begins to suspect Harris is involved. Of course, Patricia’s husband, Carter, dismisses her suspicions. Harris insinuates himself into the fabric of Charleston which helps him dispel any speculation by the police when the bodies of the children are discovered.

Patricia’s investigation into James Harris and his dark actions leads her to a personal crisis. But when Harris targets Patricia’s children, Korey and Blue, Patricia and her book club members take action.

The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires blends many of the vampire novel conventions and the result is a riveting story with a shocking conclusion. GRADE: B+

Director Denis Villeneuve’s DUNE covers about a third of Frank Herbert’s classic Science Fiction novel. DUNE was scheduled to be released about this time last year, but the Pandemic postponed the date until now. DUNE is available in IMAX format, regular 2-D at your local movie theater, and on HBO Max.

Villeneuve, who directed two other SF movies–Arrival and Blade Runner 2049–spent $165 million on this sprawling tale of a desert planet which is the only source of spice. Spice becomes the most valuable commodity in the Galaxy because it allows interstellar travel.

My favorite character in this movie is Lady Jessica, played by Rebecca Ferguson, who is a powerful member of the Bene Gesseritt sisterhood. Much of DUNE–both the novel and the movie–concerns politics on a galactic scale. The Bene Gesseritt, who operate behind the scene of Power, play the Long Game for control. Their designs extend for centuries.

The cast features Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Zendaya, David Dastmalchian, Chang Chen, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa, and Javier Bardem.

When I saw DUNE at my local AMC Theater, the showing I attended was sold out. I, and a dozen other viewers, wore masks. When the movie ended, there were a lot of groans as the realization that the bulk of the story of Frank Herbert’s DUNE is yet to be told…and only if this movie makes a lot of money. Are you a fan of DUNE? GRADE: Incomplete