Draculas (or would it be Draculi? :)) by Crouch, Kilborn, Strand and Wilson is, as promised, a “balls-to-the-wall†wild ride. The concept is a recipe for terror, the collaboration is seamless, and the pace is mind-boggling. Unfortunately, I think it was a little too rushed to develop fully into what it could have been. Yes, Draculas packs some hard hits—but after a while, the punches start to feel like WWF big-time-wrestling instead of a real sock to the gut.
The “draculas†in the book are definitely not an original breed of vampire with new rules, lore or deep-rooted mythology. We’ve seen creatures like this before—they’re fast-zombies, the kind who eat viscera and cannibalize others and even themselves,
Okay, so it’s a zombie story instead of a vampire one. I can deal. The big all-important question is—are they scary? Well…I think they could have been. The problem is the whole book was in such a hurry that I think it passed up its own potential.
Aside from several issues I found with the editing (I received an ARC of the book, and I’m sure those will be fixed in the final version. But I had to wonder if there would have been fewer issues – like an entire set of three missing characters! – if the book hadn’t gone from rough draft to published in just six weeks) I get the feeling that these four authors were primarily trying to one-up each other.
Who can write the bloodiest, goriest scene? Who can cross the line into black humor so far the line practically disappears? (The humor in Draculas is woefully adolescent and I’m afraid it becomes a parody of itself—jokes range from dracula-clowns making balloon animals out of intestines to fart jokes. Yes, really. Fart jokes. *head-hand*) I don’t know who won their contest, but I think, as a reader, I was the one who lost. Sometimes less really is more.
For me, the best part of the book was the second half—after the story had ended and all the “extras†began. I’m one of those people who loves the “behind the scenes†and “making of†sections of my DVDs. I was thrilled to find this ebook packed with deleted scenes from the book and an “exclusive behind the scenes making of Draculas.†As a writer, I was interested in the collaboration and back-and-forth between the authors—I just wish they’d all done a little less towel-snapping and fist-bumping in the process and instead had used their collective powers for good (or perhaps better evil?) It was clear from the backend material that these guys are good writers, and are fully capable of taking the time to really layer a story with texture and substance. I have hope for and would buy a sequel, even if they won’t give me another ARC after this review. 🙂
If you pick up Draculas and you’re expecting subtle terror and suspense (or anything subtle, really) you may be disappointed. But if you’re the type of horror-reader who is entertained by slapstick black humor and you love wet-work and the shock-and-gore torture-porn that’s been released in the genre, then for $2.99, you will receive a screaming-fast, grisly, blood-soaked ride. There’s a huge audience for this stuff, and kudos to these authors for their addition to that genre. In that respect, it’s just what the splatterpunk-lover ordered.
But as an old-fashioned horror-girl who likes reading books that make me check my doors and leave the lights on while I’m reading, I just want readers to know that Draculas is really a ticket for the Fun House—not the Haunted House.