Handbook of the Vampire: Chronicling the Critical Reception of True Blood

Written for Handbook of the Vampire by Lauren Rosewarne, the Chapter Page can be found here.

There is no doubt that True Blood (I have linked to my Season 7 review, which in turn links reviews for the other 6 seasons) was a TV phenomenon. A series that started strong, and whilst it lost its way for a couple of seasons, it built back strong (only for the very coda of the series to fall flat, for me at least – and one part of this chapter is called An Unsatisfying Ending). As such I think that the series deserved a chapter within the Handbook.

Roseworne looks very much at the series’ critical reception, how the series came to be, its place as a prestige series for HBO all the way to Alan Ball leaving the series as showrunner and a perceived decline – to be honest I thought season 5 (his last season as Showrunner) began to pick up where it had lost momentum in season 4 (and 3 to a degree) and Season 6 and 7 stepped the game up from 4 and 5 (bar the ending of 7) – but that’s just me. Specifically mentioned is Sookie being revealed to be of fay blood as a jumping the shark moment, but the series just followed the direction of the books.

There isn’t much in the way of analysis of the show itself – gendered analysis is touched on – and so it doesn’t touch as much on the outsider aspect, perhaps quoting Ball talking to the analogy of vampires to the lgbtq+ community but not exploring the ideas within the series to any depth. This was not a miss, as such, the chapter explored its intended topic but shows a gap where another chapter might look into that in more depth. Nevertheless, for a media student that presents an interesting case study.

Short Film: It Gets Dark Too Early

Released in 2022, this short film by Rebeca Spiegel comes in a under 10-minutes and is a great piece of short film making. It does, however, have a dark theme around sexual assault that some might find triggering.

It starts with a spooky looking house and a whole lot of knocking. Eventually the owner, Chrysanthemum (Carlos Diehz), opens the door to find Valerie (Genevieve Guimond) there. He doesn’t want saving, assuming her reason for being there, but she gets her foot in the door and produces the flyer for a vampire support group.

Chrysanthemum and Valerie

They talk for a while. He explains that he was turned in 1850. She tells a tale about being in bed and something attacking her, the sequence for her flashback in black and white. He notes that she doesn’t have fangs, she suggests they might be growing in. He does some arts and crafts, and she used to film stop-motion with her sister, and we get a 'becoming friends over a shared hobby' montage (including their own little film). However, when he orders in dinner the truth starts to emerge.

As I said, this is a neat little trope playing with the useful simile that is the vampire, here representing the self-Othering of the victim. For a student effort it is well shot, well acted and on point with its screenplay. The imdb page is here.

Fangs Out: Blood Apocalypse – review

Director: Chris Schwab

Release date: 2024

Contains spoilers

Originally billed as Fangs Out 2, I can see little connectivity between this and Fangs Out bar them being about vampires, and Randy Oppenheimer (Blood Moon Rising, Arise of the Snake Woman & Ammityville Vampire) and Marlene Mc'Cohen (The Boneyard Collection. Vampire Boys & Vampire Boys 2: The New Brood) being in both films, but playing different roles. As the title suggests this is a vampire apocalypse film and yet, despite this, it somehow feels much smaller than the previous film.

city during the vampire war

We get background to begin with of the last days before the war. The vampires took the children and then blackened the sun before waging war on humanity. It suggests three sisters as the vampire originators and that war has been raging for six years. We then move to Thompson island, an inhospitable island with a research lab. One of the residents is outside, wearing protective gear, and finds a man, Ray (Brenton Jones), washed up on the shore. He is taken into the facility but then bound.

the facility team

The facility has an all female staff. Head researcher is Davis (Ginny You) and the other, I assume, researcher (it’s never clear) is Starling (Marlene Mc'Cohen). The commanding military officer is Cross (Harmony Smith) and she has three soldiers with her; Hartt (Isabela Penagos), Parker (Andrea Martina) and Collins (Kennedy Anderson) – it becomes readily apparent that boredom has set in amongst the military. Also on the island, captive, is one of the three sisters, Sariel (Siomara Rubio). She is in a non-corporeal form and Davis’ job is to find out how they can kill her as the sisters seem invulnerable. Davis, who lost her family to the vampires, is determined to achieve this but the presence of Ray seems suspicious.

captured Sariel

He suggests he was on a ship, one of very few survivors, looking to get to the Falkland Islands. He says that humanity has lost and tells a tale of a desperate launch of nuclear weapons, and thus the fallout would soon come to the island. This fits with the last supply run not turning up but local instruments don’t detect radiation. There is a better sensor on the other side of the island, though it needs fixing, and so Cross determines to go. Whilst Cross is out of the facility Starling releases Ray, feeds him and then takes the dubious decision to take him to see the secret bit of the lab. Following this Ray manages to persuade the women that partying like there is no tomorrow is the order of the day…

Starling fights back

And, this is ok, but character decisions made are poor, and whilst the set up could be likened to Romero’s Day of the Dead with researchers and military cooped up together, this film lacks the nuances, acting chops and emotional tension that Romero’s zombie flick absolutely had. That said, we do get a flashback to the night the children were taken and Starling losing her daughter and it was surprisingly effective emotionally. Not a lot of lore on offer – a bite turns, and the sisters, they discover, are vulnerable when feeding.

Siomara Rubio as Sariel

All in all, this is pretty much throwaway fluff. It didn’t experiment with lore like the pervious film did (no nun blessed blood or apotropaic tattoos) and it avoided too many close up sfx moments, where the other film had some really shoddy ones, though there are city wide air attack scenes that you know are matted CGI. That said, the filmmakers did add an unexpected emotional core by adding in the flashback I mentioned. Not great but positive aspects make it nose ahead of the earlier film 3.5 out of 10.

The imdb page is here.

On Demand @ Amazon US

On Demand @ Amazon UK

City of Demons – review

Director: Charles Band

Release date: 2025

Contains spoilers  

It really seems like the guys at Full Moon Features have given up trying. That’s somewhat unfair, there is some original material coming out, but the mash up of other films continues. This time, a little like Haunted Hotties, it takes from a variety of films and splices them together in a Frankensteinian nightmare (and by that I mean a mess, not a thing of terror). For the record I spotted footage from The Dead Want Women, Trophy heads, Killer Eye: Halloween Haunt, Evil Bong 666 and Decadent Evil 2 - of course, there might have been others.

red vampire eyes

The IMDb blurb says: “Hollywood realtors Danni and Reese close the biggest deal of their lives and throw a party. But the previous owners still occupy a tunnel system beneath the house and are having a party of their own. The bad news? The hosts are vampires.” This is mostly inaccurate to the lumbering monster they have created and mostly lifts from the footage carved from The Dead Want Women (which hasn’t got vampires in it). Danni (Ariana Madix) and Reese (Jessica Morris) are realtors and have just sold a mansion that no-one has been able to sell. They are cleaning it up as they wait for the buyer and then…

bite

Then we start flipping through scenes from the different films. Some of them feature recurrences of Madix and Morris as a variety of characters. However, the stories don’t gel generally and the scenes from any one film might be moved out of sequence to the source narrative. It is a big old mess. Now, I do like a good non-linear narrative – emphasis on good. To achieve this, in a way that holds your viewer, requires excellent writing, direction and editing. This film is edited in a butcher’s shop. It makes so little sense that it genuinely might give a viewer a headache. Still, there are vampires, thanks to the Decadent Evil 2 footage used, which comes towards the end of the film. I cannot recommend this and suggest that you would be better seeking out the original films. 0 out of 10.

The imdb page is here.

On Demand @ Amazon US

On Demand @ Full Moon via Amazon UK

Hungerstone – review

Author: Kat Dunn

Release date: 2025

Contains spoilers

The Blurb: FOR WHAT DO YOU HUNGER . . . ?

Lenore is the wife of steel magnate Henry, but ten years into their marriage the relationship has soured, and no child has arrived to fill the distance growing between them. Henry's ambitions take them from London to the Peak District, to the remote, imposing Nethershaw estate, where he plans to host a hunting party. Lenore must work to restore the crumbling house and ready it for Henry's guests - their future depends on it.

But as the couple travel through the bleak countryside, a shocking carriage accident brings the mysterious Carmilla into Lenore's life. Carmilla, who is weak and pale during the day but vibrant at night, Carmilla who stirs up something deep within Lenore. And before long, girls from the local villages fall sick, consumed by a terrible hunger . . .

As the day of the hunt draws closer, Lenore begins to unravel, questioning the role she has been playing all these years. Torn between regaining her husband's affection and the cravings Carmilla has awakened, soon Lenore will uncover a darkness in her household that will place her at terrible risk . . .

Set against the violent wilderness of the Peaks and the uncontrolled appetite of the Industrial Revolution, HUNGERSTONE is a compulsive sapphic reworking of CARMILLA, the book that inspired DRACULA: a captivating story of appetite and desire.

The review: Whilst this is a retelling of Carmilla (and I note the blurb mentions it as a sapphic retelling, which forgets that the original – whilst not as direct or graphic as this – was a sapphic tale anyway), it is so subtle around the vampirism that a reader unfamiliar with the original novella or not deeply invested in the vampire megatext may well miss the fact that it is indeed a vampire novel.

And it has a couple of vampiric themes in it, not least that of capitalism as a vampire as the industrial revolution literarily bathes in the blood of the worker to extract the capital. But Carmilla is a vampire and the book connects vampirism with appetite (as well as hunger), which was interesting as Orlok in Eggers’ Nosferatu says “I am an appetite, nothing more.” I am not suggesting there was any read across between the two texts but it was a nice trope, used in both, where the vampire is drawn as having (and offering) a psychological desire to consume as well as a physiological need. Jumping ahead, we only see attacks on Lenore – with sleep paralysis, a (potentially imagined) cat form and, at one point, a blood soaked Carmilla at the end of the bed (mirroring a scene from Le Fanu) but we can read into at least three other women visited by Carmilla (the appetite), which unleashes a hunger that manifests as one eating hair, another eating a live chicken and a third eating flesh from her husband’s arm. The hungers awakened in Lenore are much more complex.

The book moves us from Styria to the Peak District for location (offering an immediately Gothic landscape to play upon), in 1888, but whilst Carmilla still enters their lives through a carriage crash, the reader does not see the crash, rather the aftermath as Lenore and Henry come across it on their journey to the Nethershaw estate. Indeed, the more graphic description of a carriage crash comes in flashback as Lenore recalls the crash that left her orphaned as a child. Lenore is, of course, very different from Laura in the novella – as well as the trauma from her childhood, she is married, sexually active (though she has not during ten years of marriage become pregnant), with Carmilla awakening her bisexuality, and whilst naïve in some respects she is wise in the way of society and etiquette. This brings in other dimensions that Le Fanu could not explore. Her marriage allows for an exploration of misogyny widder than the patriarchal exploration in the original novella.  

I did wonder whether the book was aimed at the YA audience but the themes it explores certainly do not seem to be. However, I very much enjoyed the book, found it a satisfying revisit to Carmilla through an interesting lens. I enjoyed the subtlety of the vampirism and overall think this deserves a strong 7.5 out of 10. I need to add a thank you to Gary who posted about this volume on Facebook, which brought it to my attention.

In Hardback @ Amazon US

In Hardback @ Amazon UK

Daylight to Dark – review

Director: Jake C. Young

Release Date 2024*

Contains spoilers

*date taken from the Amazon page as IMDb does not have a date listed at time of writing.

This is a film that references, and is set in the same world as, 1990’s turkey American Vampire. Now, giving that film some love is kinda cool because it featured Adam West (and, well… Adam West). It also feels odd because American Vampire is a really poor film. That said, if such a poor film is your inspiration then the bar is set nice and low and you should be able to step over it with ease.

old Drac

The film opens with a man showing a couple of people a car that’s for sale. One of the buyers is old, bent and wizened – actually a mask, clearly, but darker lighting and very little screen time makes it workable. It is just like the one he used to have, bar one detail – he scratches the paint work with a claw, the owner becomes upset and is eaten. The other gets in and asks Mr Dracul (Wade Yates) if he wants to go home – now young, Vlad Dracul opts for them to go for a drive.

scratching the car

A moment here about accent and identity. Vlad Dracul was obviously meant to be Vlad Ţepeş and later we see the classic Ţepeş portrait redone with the actor. In that case it would have been Dracula (the ‘a’ denoting ‘son of’). The accent was a bit odd too. As the old version we get a vaguely Eastern European accent but when young we get a posh-end British accent – why is unclear. He also suggests at some point that he is at least 1000 years old – so either Vlad was a vampire when ruling Wallachia (and that might be the answer chosen by the filmmakers) or someone got the dates wrong.

Jeremy Boggs as Renfield

Into the town of Wormwood drive Mason (Drake Daffron) and his sister Bridgette (Ka'ssee Rhe'anne). She’s not long left her fiancé after catching him in bed with her best friend and they are off to a music festival. They’ve taken a backroad and have gotten lost and their GPS and mobile signals are non-existent (the mobile signal is contested – lack of signal is confirmed later but people also seem to use them). They stop to get directions from an office run by Renfield (Jeremy Boggs) – sporting a deliberately bad comb-over wig.

Bridgette and Vlad

Having got a map (pre-interstate), they discover the oil-pan is leaking and Renfield reveals himself a mechanic (it’ll take two days to get a part) and purveyor of cabins (the last in town). Seeking to do something fun, they discover there is a horror convention. Once in, Vlad spots Bridgette (who he saw earlier outside Renfield’s, sunlight is not a thing in this), distracts Mason by having two vampire chicks have a threesome in the bathroom with him (we see nothing, they don’t bite him that we know of, but they do wipe his memory of the event) and introduces himself to Bridgette – they get on and Vlad gives her a special drink (obviously blood and it is very intoxicating).

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So, Vlad has ordered the move from Wormwood (before getting distracted by Bridgette, who he has searched for, for 1000 years) as the cops are getting suspicious. In another breath they have been there 70 years, having invaded, changed the name from Renfield to Wormwood and allowed the Renfield family to be unharmed but made the town their slaves (and so the cops line made little sense). Also in town is Jonah Helsing (Jake C. Young), vampire hunter, student of the Big Kahuna (from American Vampire), who once denied his family business and had a relationship with Madam Lily (Tuesday Knight) the vampire queen.

Tuesday Knight as Madam Lily

Helsing takes it on himself to help the siblings as he is after Vlad anyway. Lily happens to be in town but is not connected with Vlad and his vampires, it seems. Renfield wants to take the town back. Bridgette seems quite ok with being with a vampire and becoming one (Mason suspects mind control and Helsing knows he can save her if he kills Vlad before she drinks human blood). All in all, it’s quite the Bugger's muddle. It was made with comedy in mind, like the film it takes inspiration from, though this one works that bit better (though it isn’t hilarious), indeed it comfortably steps over the low bar previously set.

Drake Daffron as Mason

Acting is a bit of a mismatch, some better than others – though Jake C. Young is very personable on screen. The sfx are minimal and betray the budget – whilst the old Drac mask was worked around, a vampire bat creature looks as unreal as you’d expect. Some is used for comedic effect (Renfield’s wig) but the killing of a vampire, where we get literally dust and some clothes (that we don’t see the disintegration, showed a realisation of the budgetary issues they had and the dust pan comment following the kill worked with the low budget to make it palatable). However, this isn’t a great film – though significantly better than it’s inspiration – 3.5 out of 10.

The imdb page is here.

On Demand @ Amazon US

On Demand @ Amazon UK

Lucy Undying: A Dracula Novel – review

Author: Kiersten White

Release date: 2024

Contains spoilers

The Blurb: In this epic and seductive gothic fantasy, a vampire escapes the thrall of Dracula and embarks on her own search for self-discovery and true love, from the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of Hide.

Her name was written in the pages of someone else's story: Lucy Westenra was one of Dracula's first victims.

But her death was only the beginning. Lucy rose from the grave a vampire, and has spent her immortal life trying to escape from Dracula's clutches - and trying to discover who she really is and what she truly wants.

Her undead life takes an unexpected turn when, in twenty-first-century London, she meets another woman who is also yearning to break free from her past. Iris’s family has built a health empire based on a sinister secret, and they’ll do anything to stay in power.

Lucy has long believed she would never love again. But she finds herself compelled by the charming Iris, while Iris is mesmerised by the confident and glamorous Lucy. But their intense connection and blossoming love is threatened by forces from without. Iris's mother won't let go of her without a fight, and Lucy's past still has fangs: Dracula is on the prowl again.

Lucy Westenra has been a tragically murdered teen, a lonesome adventurer, and a fearsome hunter, but happiness always eluded her. Can she find the strength to destroy Dracula once and for all, or will her heart once again be her undoing?

Dracula changed her. Love will transform her.

The review: Based on Dracula, I need, in the first instance, to address the obvious error in the text. One of the main (modern) characters is Iris Goldaming part of the Goldaming dynasty, founded in the US when Arthur emigrated and took his hereditary name as his familial name – so, not Godalming then? Friend of the blog Clark has read the volume and mentioned this to me, he also communicated with the author who admits it was a missed thing. This has not affected the score.

Because, beyond that faux pas, the book showed an insight into Stoker’s novel and the story fit nicely with Stoker. The volume does, however, deliberately change things. Lucy is a closeted lesbian and unrequitedly in love with Mina, her engagement to Arthur is due to it being expected (she shows, in her real journal, little care for any of the suitors) and she kept two journals – the one that might be found (and we are familiar with from the novel) and a real, personal and hidden one. I have to say the method of her survival from the ministrations of the crew of light was really inventive.

The other main character is the aforementioned Iris. Her controlling mother recently died and she has run away to London to escape the family business – a predatory MLM with cult like practices. Indeed, as well as vampires we get the business as a vampire, capitalism out of control. In London, trying to free cash to vanish, she meets Elle – a museum worker and they start to fall for each other. This is very much a queer re-telling and expansion of the tale.

There was a really interesting take on vampires and flowing water, with a suggestion that as they age, they become denser and they have, therefore, a tendency to sink. The vampires are often not as rounded as Lucy as they lose themselves but Lucy was given her name back after she turned (literally told her name) and this allowed her to mentally reach back to her mortal life and self, but the vampires are also frozen in development, prisoners of their mortal desires/belief at the time of death. As we see Lucy grow beyond this we see a vampiric coming of age. Holy items are not so much a thing – it is the belief behind them that is important – and there is a really clever thing done with this and self-belief. There is also a wonderful deconstruction of the character Dracula that I don't want to spoil.

I thoroughly enjoyed this. I thought it a really clever exploration of themes through a modern lens – despite the faux pas with a primary name. 8 out of 10. Thanks to David who got me the book for Christmas.

In Hardback @ Amazon US

In Hardback @ Amazon UK