Customer Reviews

The Many Faces of Van Helsing

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the stories in this intriguing book. What a pleasant surprise it should be to many readers to find an anthology like this these days, one that is NOT a shared world series based on a game or TV/Movie media tie-in. As such, this more "traditional" anthology might at first glance confuse some readers who are not used to having stories in an anthology sometimes contradict one another. But this is just the kind of anthology a great many readers should relish, presenting stories as it does with a variety of viewpoints from a variety of writers, each with a different take on the character created by Bram Stoker in DRACULA over one hundred years ago, Professor Abraham Van Helsing. For example, about all Stoker told us of Van Helsing's private life was that his wife was insane and his son dead. One of the stories in the anthology, "The Tomb of Fog and Flowers" by C. Dean Andersson, explores that theme and presents Van Helsing's first encounter with a supernatural force, but refreshingly, there are no Vampires and no Dracula present in Andersson's tale, which may surprise some who are aware of his "first person" Vampire novel, I AM DRACULA. Maybe someone will ask him to now do I AM VAN HELSING! However, other stories in this anthology do deal with events in Dracula, or with different kinds of Vampires. One even presents Van Helsing as a Vampire himself! All in all, I highly recommend this anthology. After all, the editor, Jeanne Cavelos, created and edited the excellent Abyss horror line at Dell Books a few years back, and anyone who read any of the Abyss novels should have a high regard for anything to which the Cavelos name is connected. In other words, I highly recommend this book!

Standout stories include Thomas Tessier's "Infestation at Ralls" Christopher Golden's disturbing "Venus and Mars", Rita Oaks's "Poison in the Darkness" and the sci-fi themed "Origin of the Species" by A.M. Dellamonica.

Sometimes lyrical, sometimes visceral, this is a damn good anthology. Vampire fans, and all fans of dark, gothic, and horror fiction, will find something to like.

When purchasing this book, I was interested to see so many different author's takes on one of the most elusive and interesting characters in vampire fiction. There is a wide range of takes on the character, with a great many centering around one of two women: either his insane wife (the vast majority) or Mina Harker (two or three). This son is also the focal point of quite a few, but by far my favorite story in the entire anthology is the first one, the Screaming by J.A. Knrath. It is a very delicious little tale and highly recommended.

A complete list of the stories follows-

*** The Screaming by J.A. Knrath *** Poison in the Darkness by Rita Oakes *** Infestation in the Walls by Thomas Tessier *** Anna Lee by Kathe Koja *** Venus and Mars by Christopher Golden *** The Power of Waking by Nina Kiriki Hoffman *** The Life Imprisoned by William D. Carl *** The Tomb of Fog and Flowers by C. Dean Anderson *** So Far From Us in All Ways by Chris Roberson *** Sideshow by Thomas F. Monteleone *** Hero Dust by Kristine Kathryn Rusch *** Remember Me by Tanith Lee *** A Letter From the Asylum by Kris Dikeman *** My Dear Madame Mina by Lois Tilton *** Ardelis by Sarah Kelderman *** Abraham's Boys by Joe Hill *** The Black Wallpaper by Kim Antieau *** Brushed in Blackest Silence by Brian Hodge *** Empty Morning by Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem *** Fantasy Room by Adam-Troy Castro *** Origin of Species by A.M. Dellamonica

Over all, the only thing I didn't like is that all the stories are about Van Helsing the man. No adventures, really, and so many of them focus on his wife and child, leaving other ground uncovered.

Still for fans of Dracula or anthology lovers, highly recommended.

ALmost all of the stories fell within the theme of the book. Very few were just standard vampire hunters, and some like Chris Golden's and Joe Hill's were very much outside the box. While more traditional than some of the others, the Monteleone story very much captured the turn of the century sense of wonder and other-worldly aspect of Van Helsing's mission--and had a GREAT twist at the end.

This is a fun book. Get it.

As with any collection of short stories, I liked some more than others. But it was a good collection with lots of variety & a great subject. I really enjoyed it.

While there are some standout stories (Thomas Tessier, Nina Hoffman, Joe Hill), there are also some clunkers. One author appears to think that "Van" is Van Helsing's first name, and many others appear to have little to do with Van Helsing other than having his name appended (a few don't even bother with that, and merely present generic vampire hunter stories).

Extremely uneven.

This means a lot coming from me because generally speaking I do not like short stories. This was thoroughly entertaining, well written, innovative, interesting. I would recommend it to others without reservation. I really enjoyed it.

J.A. Konrath wrote the first story and it sure did creep me out! I highly recommend getting this book of stories just for that one alone. Plus this Konrath has a book coming out in May or June which I'll be picking up as soon as its available! I'd consider this a must read!