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This post written by Clint The House of the Vampire
by George Sylvester Viereck
So you’ve read all the popular vampire series and you still want more? Do you consider yourself a fairly good reader, who doesn’t mind slightly old-fashioned writing? Are you interested in seeing the origins of today’s vampire novels? If so, you might want to check out this old-school vampire story.
The House of the Vampire is probably the first psychic vampire novel. Psychic vampires don’t drink blood. Instead, they take energy or life force or spirit or something like that from their victims. In The House of the Vampire is about a group of artists – writers, sculptors, and painters, whose creativity and spirit are being sucked away by a psychic vampire.
Reginald Clarke is a master writer, a man who can use words like nobody else. He also happens to have fantastic taste in all other forms of art, and he tends to take in and nurture less successful artists.
Reginald’s current protege is Ernest Fielding, another writer. Ernest is currently living with Reginald and trying to write the great American novel.
Jack is Ernest’s college friend, former roommate, and best friend in the whole world. Jack is away at school during much of the story, but he plays an important role.
Ethel Brandenbourg is, or was, a painter. She and Reginald were also briefly a couple. She hasn’t really painted in years, though.
Most of the story is about nervous artists being nervous artists. They make such good victims for a psychic vampire because it’s so hard to tell when they are being drained of their energy. They’re artists, after all. Are they just being overly sensitive? Are they having (absolutely natural) trouble coming up with the next great novel or painting? Are they having their life essence stolen by a vampire? Of course, evidence starts to pile up. Ethel and Ernest think they have it figured out, but nobody else believes them.
So how does The House of the Vampire compare with the Hollywood vampire stereotype?
- Drinking Blood [xmark] The vampire sucks the creative energy out of our artists.
- Has Fangs [xmark]
- Vampires Spread by Biting [xmark] According to the vampire, it just happens. It’s how you are born.
- Amazingly Strong [xmark]
- Unkillable [xmark] As far as we know, vampires are physically pretty ordinary people. It’s all in the mind.
- Weak Against Wooden Stakes [xmark] Well, no weaker than a normal person.
- Weak Against Sunlight [xmark] Not even a little bit.
- Must be Invited In [xmark]
- Weak Against Flowing Water [xmark]
- Weak Against Holy Symbols [xmark]
- Weak Against Garlic [xmark]
- Get Confused at Crossroads [xmark]
- No Reflection in Mirrors [xmark]
- No Heartbeat/Breath/Blood/Temperature/Other Signs of Life [xmark]
- Pale, Corpse-like Appearance [xmark]
- Doesn’t Age [xmark]
- Changes Shape [xmark]
- Flight [xmark]
- Wall Crawling [xmark]
- Hypnotic Powers [checkmark] Psychic powers and a ton of charisma! What a combination.
- Sleeps in a Coffin [xmark]
- Wealthy [checkmark] Not insanely wealthy, but certainly very well off.
How about some of the more modern trends?
- Sophisticated and Elegant [checkmark] Everybody likes this vampire, and he certainly has style. Not capes and things like that, but a really good sense of normal human style..
- Angsty [xmark] This vampire doesn’t feel the least bit bad about sucking people’s energy or even killing them. In fact, he sees it as his duty.
- Dark and Brooding [xmark] A little nutty, yes, but far to arrogant and cheerful to be dark or brooding.
- Really Just Misunderstood [xmark]
- A Sucker for Love [xmark]
- Looks Young and Sexy [checkmark] [xmark] I’m not sure about young, but this vampire has the charm. Women pay attention to him. So do men.
- Fluid Sexuality [checkmark] [xmark]Well, maybe. The House of the Vampire has been called the first gay vampire novel, but I’m not familiar with the cultural norm of the early 1900s. We never see the vampire get it on with another guy, but you might infer that he isn’t altogether 100% heterosexual. You might not. It’s all in how you read it.
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Where to Find It
You can read copies online through Project Gutenberg, Google Books, HorrorMasters.com, or Wikisource.
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This post written by Clint Essex County Volume 1: Tales from the Farm
by Jeff Lemire
[cover name=essexcounty]
Lester is a 10-year-old boy whose mother has just died of cancer. His father is out of the picture, so he goes to live with his uncle Ken, who lives on a farm. Lester loves comic books – he is writing his own, and he sort of lives in his own little comic book world. He wears a mask and cape all the time, and pretends to be a superhero defending humanity. Ken isn’t really sure what to do about this, but he’s pretty sure that letting Lester hang out with Jimmy, who runs the local gas station, is a bad idea. Jimmy is also a comic book fan, and he plays along with Lester’s ideas. Together, they continue Lester’s comic book and build a fort to defend against aliens. Despite Ken’s concerns, Jimmy is able to make a connection with Lester and eventually help him return to the real world.
There are two other volumes in this series, but they aren’t about Lester, Jimmy, and Ken.
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Where to Find It
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This post written by Clarissa Japan Ai
by Aimee Major Steinberger
[cover name=japanai]
This is kind of a travel sketchbook, by a professional artist (she works on Futurama and other things you’ve seen) who’s really into Japanese stuff–costumes, anime, manga, kimono, dolls–and decides to go to Japan with two of her friends. She’s six feet tall and white, so she really stands out! Fortunately for her, and for the reader, she has a really good sense of humor. You can follow along with her as she and her friends experience Japanese trains, food, and hot springs; dress up like geisha; get lost; generally have a lot of fun. She uses her own style of drawing, which is heavily influenced by manga but still unique. The drawings are supplemented with lots of handwritten explanations about what’s happening, and you’ll learn a lot of interesting stuff about modern Japanese pop culture, because she generally knows what she’s talking about. This is really a one-of-a-kind book, giving you the feel of a trip to Japan with three fun, kind of geeky (in a good way!) girls the way a travel guide never could.
Go here for a preview, or click on “OMAKE” for 60 pages of bonus sketches and photos that weren’t included in the published book! (One page has a tiny amount of back nudity of a seated person.)
By the way, if you decide to look for this in a bookstore, it might be in the manga section, even though it’s not manga. It was published by Go!Comi, a manga publisher, so Borders puts it in manga, but a used bookstore might not. You may have to ask.
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Where to Find It
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This post written by Clint Graffiti L.A.: Street Styles and Art
by Steve Grody and James Prigoff
[cover name=graffitila]
Graffiti L.A. covers the history of graffiti from the 1930’s until the 21st century. It includes hundreds of photographs, as well as interviews with graffiti artists. It is supposed to come with a CD-ROM, too.
If you want even more, check out Steve Grody’s website, linked above. It has some stuff that was cut from the book because it was too long, plus other material.
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Where to Find It
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This post written by Clarissa Paradise Kiss
by Ai Yazawa
[cover name=paradisekiss]
By the same author as Nana, this series features an abnormally tall but otherwise unremarkable high-school girl, Yukari. Yukari accidentally becomes the inspiration and main model for a wildly creative fashion-design group consisting of an elegant transvestite, a pierced punk guy with a soft heart, a young woman who wears “sweet lolita” fashion (she looks like a Victorian porcelain doll), and the charismatic, brilliant, bisexual head designer George, who pushes Yukari to become an independent woman. The art is really gorgeous and the story is very entertaining (the characters regularly make remarks about the manga itself, and complain about how much “screen time” they’re getting). Unlike Nana, this series is fairly light, and doesn’t get overly melodramatic.
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Where to Find It
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