Title: Stars
and Other Monsters
Author:
Phronk
Publisher: Forest
City Pulp
Release:
(paperback and digital) Friday, 13 June, 2014
Official:
fuckvampires.com
Available now at Amazon.
Let me say off the start that I despise vampire stories. I’ve enjoyed,
perhaps, three of them over the years (Dracula, Salem’s Lot, Children of The
Night), and been disappointed innumerable times. There is one thing worse than vampire
stories, however, and that’s light-hearted and comical vampire stories. Stars and Other Monsters by
Phronk is a light-hearted and comical vampire story. And, somehow, against all
odds, I thoroughly enjoyed every page of it.
The story involves a wicked and slimy creature that prowls the night,
seeking out unwitting victims. Is it necessarily evil, though? After all, it is
merely trying to survive. It must surreptitiously stalk its prey, track it
down, and take its picture so it can sell the photos to magazines — and then he
meets a vampire. The reader is left to ponder if one is worse than the other: if
they’re both degenerate parasites, or simply misunderstood by humans. Maybe they have more in common than either would have imagined, and maybe
they are both more human than we think.
The vampire solicits the aid of the photographer (and his little dog,
too) in her quest to find a film star with whom she’s become rather smitten. The
photog decides to assist her, as not doing so would result in his gruesome
death, and together they embark upon a journey up through the Western U.S. and
Canada in search of her hunky obsession. The trials they encounter along the way are
one thing; what they find at the climax of their adventure is quite another.
"Stars" never lets up. It steams
ahead like a locomotive hell-bent on arriving straight to its destination, then
switches tracks when you least expect it, resulting in a wickedly entertaining and
surprising trip.
I was pleasantly surprised with this novel from start to finish. The sweet
charm and morbidity, the grotesquerie and the laugh-out-loud surprises, they all
mesh expertly to provide a thoroughly satisfying read. At no point does it drag,
and it refuses to conform to conventions even while maintaining a comfortable
literary familiarity, mostly. That's no small feat for any author.
If you enjoy vampire stories, you’ll love Stars and Other Monsters. If you hate vampire
stories, you’ll still love it. Highly recommended. Also, the book jacket has laurel leaves on it, so you know it must be good.
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