Revelations in Black

For tonight's quick countdown to Halloween post, I thought to suggest a short story to read, which I found on The Penguin Book of Vampire Stories. Guess what it will be about? No but seriously, Halloween is not completed without a proper vampire story and this one is a nice classic, written by Carl Jacobi. It is titled Revelations in Black and you can read it online here. Tell me what you think. What makes it a perfect Halloween read, apart from the obvious genre it belongs to is the fact that it is also set around the same time of year: in September and October. And there is an antiquarian, old book hiding dark secrets, there is so much to love!

A Rendezvous in Averoigne

For tonight's countdown to Halloween's blog, I thought I would make you discover (or rediscover) a vampire story from Clark Ashton Smith, titled A Rendezvous in Averoigne. I found it back in 2007 in The Penguin Book of Vampire Stories (which I still have to finish reading). Back then, I had found it in a small library, with the cover you can see on the picture. I far prefer this cover to the one on my own copy. Rendezvous is not one of those revamped (excuse the bad pun) vampire stories, but a very classic take on the myth, set in medieval France. The vampires are no romantic antiheroes or love struck teenagers, but cruel and malevolent creatures. They are also a bit warlocks. There are elements of fairy tale in the story, but it is nevertheless a horror story. You have a medieval castle, a dark forest, a protagonist who is a trouvère named Gérard de l'Automne and, well vampires. It is simply the ideal story to read in the upcoming weeks to Halloween, when the nights are getting cold. Sure, medieval France is far too exotic to be plausible, but the atmosphere makes up for it. You can read it online here. Enjoy the chill.

The Penguin Book of Vampire Stories

Anybody in the mood for classics? As Halloween is coming, I am plugging an anthology of very scary, chilling stories (many of them at least), old classics of the horror genre: The Penguin Book of Vampire Stories. I had read it, not the whole book but some of it, a few years ago. I decided to buy it. This is the kind of anthology you want on your bookshelves and, as Halloween is coming, by your bedside. You will find The Vampyre by Polidori, Carmilla by Le Fanu, excepts from Varney the Vampire (very silly yet entertaining), Dracula's Guest from, well, the master himself (I have my own theory about this short story) and many more.I have not read them all yet, I might not read them all this coming month, but I will (re)read many. My favourite discovery so far is School for the Unspeakable by Manly Wade Wellman. It is now little known now, but a great read, especially on a cold autumn night.

Oh and for the record, I much, much prefer the earlier cover of the book.