REVIEW: VAMPIRE STORIES FROM THE AMERICAN SOUTH

TITLE: VAMPIRE STORIES FROM THE AMERICAN SOUTH

SERIES: --

AUTHOR: LAWRENCE SCHIMEL & MARTIN H. GREENBERG

GENRE: HORROR

EDITION READ: HARDBACK

AMAZON PRICE: USED FROM $2.87

SYNOPSIS:

Few parts of America are as historied as the South, so it’s no surprise that many southern horror stories feature the long-lived vampire. Vampire Stories from the American South is a feast of fear for lovers of vampire fiction, offering a dozen tales in which insatiable vampires prowl plantations and scour the bayous in search of mortal blood.

Spanning settings that range from Virginia to Louisiana, and from Florida to Texas, these stories feature creatures of the living dead that are haunting incarnations of local color and folklore unique to the southern states. Some of those raised here include:

*a blood-drinking monster of the Mardi-Gras in Susan Shwartz’s “The Carpetbagger”
*femme fatale who stalks the Civil War battlefields in Manly Wade Wellman’s
“The Cursed Damozel”
*an Elvis Presley immortalized by more than his music in Tracy A. Knight’s
“Blessed By His Dying Tongue”

The South rises again in these eerie tales of the supernatural, and the shape it takes is sure to bring a chill on the most sultry southern summer night!

MY RATING: 3 STARS

This anthology includes 12 vampire stories set in the south. Being a southerner myself, I thought this would be a neat little read. Honestly, I only enjoyed about half (maybe less) of the stories.

The short stories included in this anthology are:

*The Carpetbagger (Louisiana) by Susan Shwartz

*Claim-Jumpin' Woman, You Got a Stake in My Heart (Georgia) by Esther Friesner

*The Silver Coffin (Virgina) by Robert Barbour Johnson

*Like a Pilgrim to a Shrine (Florida) by Brian Hodge

*The Cursed Damozel (Tennessee) by Manly Wade Wellman

*The Scent of Magnolias (Alabama) by Lawrence Schimel & Billie Sue Mosiman

*The Flame (North Carolina) by Fred Chappell

*God-Less Men (Texas) by James Kisner

*Blood Kin (Louisiana) by Delia Sherman

*Carrion Comfort (South Carolina) by Dan Simmons

*Blessed by His Dying Tongue (Tennessee) by Tracy A. Knight

*She Only Goes Out at Night (West Virginia) by William Tenn

By far, the most famous story included is Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons. I purposely opted NOT to read this particular story. The reason being I actually have the novel sitting on my shelf and I haven't read it yet.

The stories I found enjoyable were:

The Silver Coffin

The Scent of Magnolias

The Flame

God-Less Men

She Only Goes Out at Night

Of Course, being an anthology is going to be a hit and miss with the stories. I have yet to find an anthology in which I enjoyed all the stories. If you chose to read this book, I would suggest checking it out from your library or finding a cheap used copy from Amazon or Thriftbooks.

*Book Hollow*