Creatures of the Night: Vicious Vampire Tales by Kevin J. Kennedy, Gord Rollo and Simon Clark

Book Review

Sarah Deeming

Creatures of the Night: Vicious Vampire Tales is a collection of three long short stories about vampires and all things dark, revelling in the evil, violent, ruthless side of vampires and enjoying it. These are vampires as Bram Stoker intended.

Return of the Blood-Feeders by Simon Clark is a fantastic story about a drifter, Karl, who falls for a hotel owner, Magenta. Just as they start to settle down, something comes up from the basement, attacks them both and kidnaps Magenta. Karl is left with a severe head injury, and this is really where the story really got interesting for me. While Karl is convinced vampires attacked them and kidnapped Magenta, his head injury is so bad he’s an untrustworthy narrator and knows it. Even while talking to the one person who does believe him, Karl can’t remember everything that was said or the plans they made. The vampires are also different even to your normal blood-thirsty killers as these are Viking vampires, created by the Norse gods to punish mortals for not worshipping them anymore. It’s well-written and fast-paced, with unique characters driving the action forward.

Kevin J Kennedy’s Perspective looks at the life of a vampire from the vampire’s point of view with an unashamed acceptance that blood will be spilt, lives will be taken, and they most likely are just ordinary people going about their lives. There are two side characters of notes: werewolves from Werewolves from KJK Publishing, who form an alliance with the vampires when the vampires draw the attention of a demon stronger than them. This is a nice touch, grounding the story in Kennedy’s universe of monsters and connecting his previous stories. Perspective focuses on the battles of the immortals in their own world rather than their impact on ours, which is a refreshing point of view.

Beneath Still Waters by Gord Rollo is the last story of the trio and my favourite for several reasons. The first is the setting of a remote Canadian mining town which had suffered tragedy over two decades earlier when an explosion in one of the mining shafts caused an underground river to flood the mine and kill sixty-five people. The mine site is now a lake used by the town as a peaceful spot to contemplate and enjoy life, so when people start going missing from there, it is a double tragedy. Small-town tragedies always hit harder because everyone knows each other, and the pain of loss is more intimate.

The second reason why this story stood out for me is because the ‘vampire’ is a creature from the mythology of the First Nations of the Northeastern Woodlands. Exploring mythology and belief systems of other cultures is always enjoyable, and I found this section of the story brilliant as modern-day characters come up against something very real from another character that is outside of their comprehension. The ending was fantastic. I won’t give you any spoilers other than to say the town’s tragedy is set to continue.

The final reason is that a lot of the action takes place underwater, either at night or with limited visibility. Nothing is going to make for a more claustrophobic nightmare-inducing story than a monster underwater where you don’t know it is there until it grabs your foot. This story sent chills down my spine for so many different reasons.

Creatures of the Night is a great collection of sinister stories about true evil that shouldn’t be read at night, and buying it means you’re supporting an independent publisher – it’s a win-win for everyone.