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The Laughing Corpse (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 2) (Paperback)

by Laurell K. Hamilton (Author) "Harold Gaynor's house sat in the middle of intense green lawn and the graceful sweep of trees..." (more)
Key Phrases: exterminator team, killer zombie, two exterminators, Dominga Salvador, John Burke, Harold Gaynor (more...)

4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (157 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Harold Gaynor offers Anita Blake a million dollars to raise a 300-year-old zombie. Knowing it means a human sacrifice will be necessary, Anita turns him down. But when dead bodies start turning up, she realizes that someone else has raised Harold's zombie--and that the zombie is a killer. Anita pits her power against the zombie and the voodoo priestess who controls it. Notice to Hollywood: forget Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Anita Blake is the real thing. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
Anita Blake is one of the most fascinating fictional heroines since Scarlett O'Hara... -- Publishers Weekly, starred review

Hamilton just keeps getting better and better. -- St. Louis Post-Dispatch --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Jove (September 24, 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0515134449
ISBN-13: 978-0515134445
Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 0.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (157 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,266 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

#20 in	Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Dark
#30 in	Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( H ) > Hamilton, Laurell K.
#32 in	Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Urban

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This is item 2 in The Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Series.

Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
Harold Gaynor's house sat in the middle of intense green lawn and the graceful sweep of trees. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
exterminator team, killer zombie, two exterminators, spook squad, sister reporter, master vampire, human servant

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Dominga Salvador, John Burke, Harold Gaynor, Peter Burke, Master of the City, Dead Dave, Se�ora Salvador, Anita Blake, New Orleans, Detective Perry, Wheelchair Wanda, Glazer Safety Rounds, Benjamin Reynolds, Browning Hi-Power, Burrell Cemetery, Jean Jacket, The Grey Cat, Manny Rodriguez

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Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

Citations (learn more)

This book cites 13 books:

The Killing Dance (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 6) by Laurell K. Hamilton on 4 pages
Guilty Pleasures (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Book 1) by Laurell K. Hamilton in Front Matter, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
Narcissus in Chains (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 10) by Laurell K. Hamilton in Front Matter, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
The Lunatic Cafe (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 4) by Laurell K. Hamilton in Front Matter, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
Bloody Bones (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 5) by Laurell K. Hamilton in Front Matter, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)

See all 13 books this book cites

14 books cite this book:

Blue Moon (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 8) by Laurell K. Hamilton on 4 pages
The Lunatic Cafe (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 4) by Laurell K. Hamilton on 4 pages
Bloody Bones (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 5) by Laurell K. Hamilton in Front Matter, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
Circus of the Damned (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 3) by Laurell K. Hamilton in Front Matter, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
Guilty Pleasures (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Book 1) by Laurell K. Hamilton in Front Matter (1), Front Matter (2), and Back Matter

See all 14 books citing this book

Books on Related Topics (learn more)

Danse Macabre by Laurell K. Hamilton

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Blue Moon by Laurell K. Hamilton

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Bloody Bones by Laurell K. Hamilton

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Burnt Offerings by Laurell K. Hamilton

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	66% buy the item featured on this page: The Laughing Corpse (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 2) 4.2 out of 5 stars (157) $7.99
	13% buy Guilty Pleasures (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Book 1) 4.0 out of 5 stars (492) $7.99
	10% buy Laurell K. Hamilton Set - Guilty Pleasures, The Laughing Corpse, Circus of the Damned and The Lunatic Cafe 4.5 out of 5 stars (44) $20.13
	6% buy Bloody Bones (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 5) 4.4 out of 5 stars (132) $7.99

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Customer Reviews

157 Reviews

5 star:		(77)
4 star:		(48)
3 star:		(22)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

Average Customer Review

4.2 out of 5 stars (157 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Anita Blake, Animator, is up to her neck with killer zombies, May 7, 2001

By	Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER) (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

This review is from: The Laughing Corpse (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter) (Paperback)

"The Laughing Corpse" is the second in the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series by Laurell K. Hamilton, although the focus is much more on her job as an Animator than as the person the vampires call The Executioner. Once again the title is taken the name of a St. Louis hangout for those who like to visit the dark side, in this case a comedy club (helpful hint: zombies do not like to be the butt of jokes). This time around Anita is in way over her head with a whole bunch of serious problems. A lord of the underworld wants to pay her big time bucks to raise someone who has been dead for a couple of hundred years and does not like it that Anita has refused because the only way to do so required a human sacrifice. Her friend Catharine is getting married and wants Anita to be a bridesmaid, which involves wearing a pink gown that has to be altered to cover all of her scars. The voodoo priestess for the entire Midwest has learned how to put a person's soul back in their dead body, which stops the zombies from decaying, and Anita refuses to help her raise more zombies for profit. Meanwhile, Jean-Claude, the Master Vampire of St. Louis who has already put two of his marks upon our heroine, demands Anita start acting like his human servant. But the case Anita is trying to focus regards a savage zombie that is going around murdering families in their home, making her problems with three powerful people who refuse to take "No" for an answer rather inconsequential. Like it says on the coffee mug her boss would not let her have at the office, "It's a dirty job and I get to do it."

I was surprised to decide at the end of "The Laughing Corpse" that it was not only an improvement over the first book in the series, but one of the best horror stories I have ever read (and I read a lot of horror novels). There is a lot going on her, but Hamilton weaves the various cases, most of which would have sustained an entire novel, into a coherent narrative. I really was surprised when everything came together in the end. Hamilton has a much surer sense of her character this time around and I have every reason to believe that future novels in the series will be at least as good as this way. These books deserve their reputation and popularity if the rest are any where near as good as "The Laughing Corpse."

Big Time Warning: this is a gruesome book. Younger readers of "The Laughing Corpse" are going to be upset by several of the scenes, especially when Anita investigates the bloody crime scenes and the climatic encounter. I read these sections in the light of day and they were still disturbing. Those who come to this series because of their love for Buffy the Vampire Slayer need to be told that this is a much darker world where the violence is brutally horrific and not beautifully choreographed. These books are much more intense. If they made this into a film it would give "The Exorcist" a run for its money. Remember, you were given fair warning.

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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can't get enough of Anita Blake!, April 8, 2004

By	Fred Wiehe "Horror Author" (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Laughing Corpse (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter) (Hardcover)

Animator and vampire hunter Anita Blake is back. And everyone wants a piece of her. Master vampire Jean-Claude wants her for his own. Millionaire Harold Gaynor threatens her life unless she agrees to raise a three-hundred-year-old corpse from the grave. The catch? Only a human sacrifice will raise a zombie that old. Voodoo priestess Dominga Salvador wants her to go in to business with her, raising zombies with souls. Is nothing sacred? Necromancer John Burke wants her to help him find his brother's murderer. However, he's a murder suspect himself. To make matters worse, a killer zombie is on a rampage, murdering and eating whole families. It's just an ordinary day for the Executioner.

THE LAUGHING CORPSE is the second novel in the Anita Blake series. The action is nonstop. The humor is sharp as a wooden stake. The vampires are (...). The romance is as hot as a date in Hell. And Anita is the girl of my dreams. My next date with her is in CIRCUS OF THE DAMNED. Can't wait!

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33 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, March 5, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Laughing Corpse (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter) (Paperback)

Ever wonder what the United States would be like with vampires and shapshifters? Where vampires are treated as living people and a person could be tried for murder when they staked the undead. Where the disease known as lycanthropy can make a regular person howl viciouly at the full moon and crave warm human flesh. And a woman known as an animator makes a living off of raising the dead...as in zombies. If you've ever wondered if the supernatural could be natural then I would encourage you to read this book and the other books of the Anita Blake series. Especially those who love blood, guts, gore, and a heroine who's tough enough to take on the whole supernatural world that Laurell K. Hamilton has created.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Unimportant
Having read the last few Anita Blake books before I started the beginning of the series skews my view a bit. Read more

Published 2 months ago by Ithlilian

3.0 out of 5 stars Not going to lie...kind of boring.
This book was really boring. I LOVED the first one so I went out and bought The Laughing Corpse...to my dismay it took me 3 times as long to read because it sucked that much. Read more

Published 2 months ago by Chelsea

4.0 out of 5 stars Zombies & Vampires & Voodoo Priestesses OH my!!!
Great story, very exciting!

This is the second book in the Anita Blake Vampire Slayer series. Read more

Published 4 months ago by Melanie

1.0 out of 5 stars I felt soiled and victimized by bad writing and nauseating gore.
I tolerated the first book because I needed to be introduced to what all the fuss was about ANITA BLAKE VAMPIRE KILLER. Read more

Published 5 months ago by Born in a Library

2.0 out of 5 stars I don't know why this series is so popular
Who did the author have to b*o* to get these reviews? Anita ain't no Scarlet O'Hara, much less fascinating. Read more

Published 5 months ago by The LIterary Critic

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Entertaining!
Action packed, easy reading..a bit gory in some parts..but worth the time it takes to read. I can't wait to read the next one

Published 6 months ago by Lacey77

2.0 out of 5 stars Zombie attacks
Zombies make awesome murder weapons. And when your anti-heroine is able to raise zombies, they make an excellent source for a horror/mystery plot. Laurell K. Read more

Published 6 months ago by E. A Solinas

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining
This book got me in to this series. It at least has a plot, unlike the later novels.

Published 7 months ago by Jennifer R. Creamer

3.0 out of 5 stars I liked it, though it had parts that can annoy you
This is the second book in the series. Once again these books are short so I hope no one expects a lengthy in-depth read. Read more

Published 9 months ago by B. Sanders

3.0 out of 5 stars OK
Although the first bok in this series is really good this on e seemed a little dry and hard to follow for me. I was very disappointed

Published 11 months ago by Grimmy Teves

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