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gsatori's review
4.0
What fun. This book is over the top and relentless. I would love to see Rodriguez or Tarantino do a film version.
The plot is unimportant..it's.merely a frame for the nonstop action
.
The plot is unimportant..it's.merely a frame for the nonstop action
.
theshadowplay's review
3.0
Kind of hard to get through in the beginning and the middle. I almost quit it, but I kept going to find the ending to be pretty decent.
holtemon's review
2.0
Mehhhhhh. Way too drawn out and a lot of forced situations and umm... forced sympathy? Not a fan of this the second time.
lee_ann_a's review
3.0
This is such a weird book to review, but I think I'm going with 3.5 stars. Having been written by four authors, it actually flows really well and I did not find it choppy at all. I went into it with the belief that it would have the usual Crouch feeling to it, which doesn't involve much humor and usually involves lots of face-paced heart wrenching moments, but that was not the case. Although this was a total gore fest (and I mean GORE), there were some funny moments, and Crouch's characters were surprisingly not my fav. Benny the clown and Randall stole the show, courtesy of Jeff Strand. I think I enjoyed reading the interview and behind the scenes making of this novel more than I actually enjoyed reading the novel itself. I also wish they would have gone with the alternate ending, as I think it flowed better and made more sense if they chose to make a Draculas #2.
git_r_read's review
5.0
Thoughts on DRACULAS: A Novel of Terror – F Paul Wilson, Jeff Strand, Blake Crouch, and Joe Konrath/Jack Kilborn
This ain’t no TWILIGHT, shiny sparkly vampire book…..DRACULAS is butt-ugly from the get-go. I mean that in the best way possible. Four authors who have scared the bejeezus out of me in the past with their books have collaborated to write this scarey-ass ode to the uber Daddy of the vampires, Dracula.
Dracula’s skull (fangs and all) has been discovered by a farmer in Transylvania. Mortimer Moorecock purchases the skull for an unnamed price….all hell breaks loose from there. Mortimer is dying and decides he wants to not be that way….he takes matters into his own hands and uses the skull’s fangs to bite himself in the neck. It isn’t pretty….
The story is told through different viewpoints. Each moving on through the story is seen as it is happening to that person. The reader gets to know each character, good and bad, incompetent and reluctant hero.
I had some laugh out loud moments, especially with Randall, the “quarter shy of a dollar” dim lumberjack. Like this line, “His chainsaw-the-monster redemption would be a lot better if his ass wasn’t hanging out.” I sort of had images of Bruce Campbell’s character Ash J Williams of Evil Dead eminence when I read Randall’s scenes.
Even through the scary parts (it’s all scary), there is laughter and tears…for me anyway. These are four splendid writers who can do this to a reader.
PS….And now I really hate clowns….
PPS/PSS..whatever…did you know nondairy coffee creamer was flammable? Read the book….
Link to the pre-order site on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/DRACULAS-Novel-Terror-ebook/dp/B0042AMD2M/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
This ain’t no TWILIGHT, shiny sparkly vampire book…..DRACULAS is butt-ugly from the get-go. I mean that in the best way possible. Four authors who have scared the bejeezus out of me in the past with their books have collaborated to write this scarey-ass ode to the uber Daddy of the vampires, Dracula.
Dracula’s skull (fangs and all) has been discovered by a farmer in Transylvania. Mortimer Moorecock purchases the skull for an unnamed price….all hell breaks loose from there. Mortimer is dying and decides he wants to not be that way….he takes matters into his own hands and uses the skull’s fangs to bite himself in the neck. It isn’t pretty….
The story is told through different viewpoints. Each moving on through the story is seen as it is happening to that person. The reader gets to know each character, good and bad, incompetent and reluctant hero.
I had some laugh out loud moments, especially with Randall, the “quarter shy of a dollar” dim lumberjack. Like this line, “His chainsaw-the-monster redemption would be a lot better if his ass wasn’t hanging out.” I sort of had images of Bruce Campbell’s character Ash J Williams of Evil Dead eminence when I read Randall’s scenes.
Even through the scary parts (it’s all scary), there is laughter and tears…for me anyway. These are four splendid writers who can do this to a reader.
PS….And now I really hate clowns….
PPS/PSS..whatever…did you know nondairy coffee creamer was flammable? Read the book….
Link to the pre-order site on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/DRACULAS-Novel-Terror-ebook/dp/B0042AMD2M/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
trudilibrarian's review against another edition
4.0
Yowza, wowzers, and woot! woot! This book -- a mad collaboration from four horror gods (small 'g') -- is this cat's meow (or as they say where I come from -- it's all that and a bag of chips).
It was going to take a lot for this book to impress me for the simple reason that vampires of late have become...meh for me. As monsters meant to inspire horror they have been done to death it seems. Not to mention they have suffered an incredible disservice in recent years both on film and in print (yeah, I'm looking at you Ms. Meyer). There just hasn't been anything really new or fresh tried either. It's either you're sparkling and pouty and misunderstood, or it's waaay back to the Stoker tradition of a debonair, aristocratic abomination that abhors garlic and crucifixes.
Don't get me wrong: I haven't always felt this disillusioned. I love [b:'Salem's Lot|11590|Salem's Lot|Stephen King|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327891565s/11590.jpg|3048937] and [b:I am Legend|547094|I am Legend and Other Stories|Richard Matheson|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1317791583s/547094.jpg|2223519]. I went through a huge Lestat phase in my early 20s. The Lost Boys remains one of my favorite movies of all time, and I love Steve Niles' re-imagining of vampires in his graphic novel series 30 Days of Night (the movie is pretty kick-ass too).
Despite that, I've stopped 'looking for love' with vampires. Even del Toro's [b:The Strain|6065215|The Strain (The Strain Trilogy, #1)|Guillermo del Toro|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1326225354s/6065215.jpg|6241525] underwhelmed me. So I had doubts with this one, I really did, but thanks to two awesome reviews filled with squee here on goodreads by Stephen and Daniel, I decided to throw my doubts aside and dive in.
This is about the most self-indulgent fun I've had in bleems! Draculas hits just the right note of gorror-ific combined with pee your pants scary that's doused with a gallon of can't help but giggle here even though that's beyond messed up and so wrong (I can't tell you how many times I cringed and burst out laughing at the same time Remember the first time you ever saw The Evil Dead? Oh yeah baby, that's what I'm talking about!
So yeah, this book is tremendous fun, awesomely gory, written with a frantic energy that keeps the pages turning. Another thing worth praising is the way this novel is a completely mad mash-up of a whole bunch of horror elements; it's like the authors took vampire stories, along with zombies, werewolves and aliens, threw them into a blender and spit out this mish-mash of pure chaos and entertainment. I recognized about 100 shout-outs to other books and movies, but at the end of it all, this book stands as its own original. The authors tried things here I don't think I've seen tried anywhere else. The way the teeth are described though made me think of this from 1985's Fright Night: c'mon, gimme a kiss!
The ensemble cast is fun too, and added a lot to the story's enjoyment. If it weren't for such a large cast and getting to know the group -- I loved that the narrative kept changing pov -- it just would have been a ho-hum affair about a bunch of lunatic infected running rabid through an enclosed space (which has been done a 1000 times). Not only do we get pov from the good guys, we get the story from the side of the infected too. I really appreciated that and the decision to do so added great entertainment value. Highly recommended!!!!!!
P.S. I paid three dollars for the eBook and there's really no way to express how much bang I got for my buck. The eBook also contains mega extras that make this title worth so much more. My thanks to Stephen and Daniel on this one. Ain't goodreads grand?
P.P.S. Stephen, I am a woman of my word. You have earned yourself a shelf, sir. :)
This review also appears at Shelf Inflicted.
It was going to take a lot for this book to impress me for the simple reason that vampires of late have become...meh for me. As monsters meant to inspire horror they have been done to death it seems. Not to mention they have suffered an incredible disservice in recent years both on film and in print (yeah, I'm looking at you Ms. Meyer). There just hasn't been anything really new or fresh tried either. It's either you're sparkling and pouty and misunderstood, or it's waaay back to the Stoker tradition of a debonair, aristocratic abomination that abhors garlic and crucifixes.
Don't get me wrong: I haven't always felt this disillusioned. I love [b:'Salem's Lot|11590|Salem's Lot|Stephen King|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327891565s/11590.jpg|3048937] and [b:I am Legend|547094|I am Legend and Other Stories|Richard Matheson|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1317791583s/547094.jpg|2223519]. I went through a huge Lestat phase in my early 20s. The Lost Boys remains one of my favorite movies of all time, and I love Steve Niles' re-imagining of vampires in his graphic novel series 30 Days of Night (the movie is pretty kick-ass too).
Despite that, I've stopped 'looking for love' with vampires. Even del Toro's [b:The Strain|6065215|The Strain (The Strain Trilogy, #1)|Guillermo del Toro|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1326225354s/6065215.jpg|6241525] underwhelmed me. So I had doubts with this one, I really did, but thanks to two awesome reviews filled with squee here on goodreads by Stephen and Daniel, I decided to throw my doubts aside and dive in.
This is about the most self-indulgent fun I've had in bleems! Draculas hits just the right note of gorror-ific combined with pee your pants scary that's doused with a gallon of can't help but giggle here even though that's beyond messed up and so wrong (I can't tell you how many times I cringed and burst out laughing at the same time
Spoiler
1. the balloon animals made out of intestines, 2. the baby eating its way out of mom's stomach, 3. all the scenes involving self-mutilation, cannibalism and auto-cannibalism.So yeah, this book is tremendous fun, awesomely gory, written with a frantic energy that keeps the pages turning. Another thing worth praising is the way this novel is a completely mad mash-up of a whole bunch of horror elements; it's like the authors took vampire stories, along with zombies, werewolves and aliens, threw them into a blender and spit out this mish-mash of pure chaos and entertainment. I recognized about 100 shout-outs to other books and movies, but at the end of it all, this book stands as its own original. The authors tried things here I don't think I've seen tried anywhere else. The way the teeth are described though made me think of this from 1985's Fright Night: c'mon, gimme a kiss!
The ensemble cast is fun too, and added a lot to the story's enjoyment. If it weren't for such a large cast and getting to know the group -- I loved that the narrative kept changing pov -- it just would have been a ho-hum affair about a bunch of lunatic infected running rabid through an enclosed space (which has been done a 1000 times). Not only do we get pov from the good guys, we get the story from the side of the infected too. I really appreciated that and the decision to do so added great entertainment value. Highly recommended!!!!!!
P.S. I paid three dollars for the eBook and there's really no way to express how much bang I got for my buck. The eBook also contains mega extras that make this title worth so much more. My thanks to Stephen and Daniel on this one. Ain't goodreads grand?
P.P.S. Stephen, I am a woman of my word. You have earned yourself a shelf, sir. :)
This review also appears at Shelf Inflicted.
jessseadoesstuff's review against another edition
2.0
2.5/5
The writing was fine. I enjoyed the series of characters. Plot was predictable but enjoyable. I quit reading the bonus content and would recommend skipping it. Draculas is fine. Possibly enjoyable if you skip right to the start.
The big problem I had started with the introductions tone. For a book that claims and wants to be scary and not sexy, it really misses for mark. The introduction and "apology" to Bram Stoker book makes it clear this book was written by white males trying to be edgy. There were several laughable moments by female characters. Writing in a round robin isn't new. I don't want to tell spoilers but literally did things they were supposedly against.
I understand that part of this came from a Twilight pushback and that didn't age well. I don't want to defend that book and luckily I don't have to. Hopefully one it the extras writing was worse than Meyers.
I really hope the apology to Stoker was about what they were doing and not popular culture. Ugh. rambling review. Don't shit talk tropes and then do them. Especially when you clearly missed things that Stoker did. Don't make a big deal about writing a horror story when I'd be okay with mature kids who can handle the language and sex reading it.
The writing was fine. I enjoyed the series of characters. Plot was predictable but enjoyable. I quit reading the bonus content and would recommend skipping it. Draculas is fine. Possibly enjoyable if you skip right to the start.
The big problem I had started with the introductions tone. For a book that claims and wants to be scary and not sexy, it really misses for mark. The introduction and "apology" to Bram Stoker book makes it clear this book was written by white males trying to be edgy. There were several laughable moments by female characters. Writing in a round robin isn't new. I don't want to tell spoilers but literally did things they were supposedly against.
I understand that part of this came from a Twilight pushback and that didn't age well. I don't want to defend that book and luckily I don't have to. Hopefully one it the extras writing was worse than Meyers.
I really hope the apology to Stoker was about what they were doing and not popular culture. Ugh. rambling review. Don't shit talk tropes and then do them. Especially when you clearly missed things that Stoker did. Don't make a big deal about writing a horror story when I'd be okay with mature kids who can handle the language and sex reading it.
perfectlymisaligned's review
5.0
5++ stars
A completely different and ingenious take on the vampire novel.
4 amazing authors: [a:J.A. Konrath|137270|J.A. Konrath|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1238279777p2/137270.jpg], [a:Blake Crouch|442240|Blake Crouch|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1264134132p2/442240.jpg], [a:F. Paul Wilson|20561|F. Paul Wilson|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1210613635p2/20561.jpg], [a:Jack Kilborn|1724698|Jack Kilborn|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1264134305p2/1724698.jpg], and [a:Jeff Strand|207708|Jeff Strand|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1238033438p2/207708.jpg] - each creating their own characters and following them through to the end - come together to create an absolutely amazing twist on the Vampire novel.
Mortimer Moorecook is a desperate and dying man. Willing to do just about anything to survive the disease that is ravaging his body. After acquiring the so called "Dracula's Skull", he believes he has found the answer to his prayers. Within minutes of the skull arriving at his home, he sinks the elongated teeth into his own neck...
To say anything else about the actual storyline would take away from the enjoyment of discovering all the twisted nuances to this roller coaster of a novel.
As gory and twisted as this novel is (and trust me when i say, this is not for the squeamish), there is a hefty dose of delightfully warped black humor thrown into the mix, which only made me love this book more.
I am already a HUGE fan of JA Konrath/Jack Killborn, but this book makes me anxious to read more by the other authors as well.
Not for the fainthearted, but if you enjoy finding yourself giggling as you squirm in your seat, grab this book and dig in!
Get the book here!
Kindle
A completely different and ingenious take on the vampire novel.
4 amazing authors: [a:J.A. Konrath|137270|J.A. Konrath|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1238279777p2/137270.jpg], [a:Blake Crouch|442240|Blake Crouch|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1264134132p2/442240.jpg], [a:F. Paul Wilson|20561|F. Paul Wilson|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1210613635p2/20561.jpg], [a:Jack Kilborn|1724698|Jack Kilborn|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1264134305p2/1724698.jpg], and [a:Jeff Strand|207708|Jeff Strand|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1238033438p2/207708.jpg] - each creating their own characters and following them through to the end - come together to create an absolutely amazing twist on the Vampire novel.
Mortimer Moorecook is a desperate and dying man. Willing to do just about anything to survive the disease that is ravaging his body. After acquiring the so called "Dracula's Skull", he believes he has found the answer to his prayers. Within minutes of the skull arriving at his home, he sinks the elongated teeth into his own neck...
To say anything else about the actual storyline would take away from the enjoyment of discovering all the twisted nuances to this roller coaster of a novel.
As gory and twisted as this novel is (and trust me when i say, this is not for the squeamish), there is a hefty dose of delightfully warped black humor thrown into the mix, which only made me love this book more.
I am already a HUGE fan of JA Konrath/Jack Killborn, but this book makes me anxious to read more by the other authors as well.
Not for the fainthearted, but if you enjoy finding yourself giggling as you squirm in your seat, grab this book and dig in!
Get the book here!
Kindle
skateanddonate's review
3.0
Interesting experiment. The writing styles of the skilled authors meshed seamlessly and the writing was beautiful. However, the lack of a central character made it one of those books that is great while you are reading it, but whenever you set it down there is no real motivation to pick it back up...unless of course your reading preferences are gory massacres.
Maybe I'm just bitter that it wasn't scary. I love a book that invokes fear. The physical reactions to fear are similar to the bodies reaction to sex...unfortunately this book was just gory not unsettling enough to provoke fear.
Maybe I'm just bitter that it wasn't scary. I love a book that invokes fear. The physical reactions to fear are similar to the bodies reaction to sex...unfortunately this book was just gory not unsettling enough to provoke fear.
markj71's review
5.0
Fantastic collaboration and a great read! If you like vapires go read this book!