Book Review: DRACULA'S DEMETER by Doug Lamoreux *** and a 1\2 out of *****

Bram Stoker’s seminal horror novel, Dracula, has inspired numerous sequels, prequels, re-imaginings, and stories focused on side characters from the book. What makes Dracula’s Demeter by Doug Lamoreux in some ways special, is its focus on the vampire count’s journey from his homeland to England onboard the Russian schooner, the Demeter. Stoker only dedicated a small portion of his novel to the events that take place on the Demeter, but Lamoreux uses every ounce of detail that Stoker provides and runs with it, creating an entertaining, compelling, if a bit stilted, novel, that is filled to the brim with nautical minutiae.

Lamoreux fleshes out the five characters only briefly mentioned in Stoker’s original book, and creates an original character of his own with a clever twist. And although it is a bit hard to tell who’s who in the first third of the book, by the second half, as events speed up and the violence escalates, the characters come into their own, especially the Scottish cook, and the English stowaway. Lamoreux’s version of Dracula himself is also notable, as this Count is no romantic figure. Lamoreux takes Dracula back to his original form, depicting him as a powerful, vicious, disgusting, brutally violent monster with no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

What stops the novel from becoming a horror classic is Lamoreux’s almost sole focus on storytelling. This is the kind of book that is almost all story, without enough emphasis on character. While the cast is likable enough, aside from the previously mentioned cook and stowaway, none of the characters really shine. Also, the book’s tone is slightly inconsistent, with the first two thirds playing out like a violent Gothic horror story, with graphic violence and a somewhat playful tone; while the last third of the story takes a darker, grimmer aspect. And Lamoreux’s choice of eschewing the epistolary format of the original novel, disconnects it stylistically from its source material, to a large degree.

But faults aside, Dracula’s Demeter is a fun, richly textured, Gothic horror novel, and is a must for fans of Stoker’s classic tale.

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Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2021.

Ahmed Khalifa is a filmmaker and novelist. He is the writer/director of several short films and a feature, which was released on Netflix, and the author of a number of novels and short stories, including the YA horror novel, Beware The Stranger, available on Amazon. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @Dark.Fantastic.AK·Writer

ZOMBIE BIGFOOT: In a bravura performance, author/narrator Nick Sullivan (@NicktheSullivan), turns a fun, tongue-in-cheek adventure/horror novel, into a wild, hilarious ride, that is sure going to please audiophiles. And is there a sequel? Zombie Billionaire, maybe? #audiobook pic.twitter.com/NajOw2oeFL

— Ahmed Khalifa (@AFKhalifa) December 12, 2021

Book Review: THE VOICE OF THE NIGHT By Dean Koontz. *** and a 1\2 out of *****

© Berkley

First published in 1980 under the pseudonym Brian Coffey, and later released under his own name in 1991, The Voice of The Night is one of Dean Koontz’s best, yet least known, novels. It is one of his most understated books, and his only coming-of-age tale.

The story, about Colin, a 14 year-old outcast who befriends Roy, the coolest kid in town, only to find out that his new friend might be a psychopath, isn’t original, but Koontz has a lot more on his mind than delivering a mere suspense novel, although The Voice of The Night works quite well as one.

Koontz, who has been very open about his childhood traumas involving parental abuse, writes here with a candor, with an urgency, that is rare in his work. On the surface, this is a compelling page-turner about a child’s loss of innocence, and the realization that the world is a much darker place than previously imagined. Colin, a “geeky” teen, who spends his time reading horror and sci-fi to escape his loneliness, is a wonderfully drawn character. He is likeable, vulnerable, and real. Which makes his rude awakening all the more heartbreaking. Slowly, as Roy reveals one layer of his psyche after another, Colin starts to see what his friend, and the world, are really like. Ghouls, monsters, and aliens are good for a brief glimpse into a darkness imagined, but true human evil is an abyss.

This is heartfelt stuff, as Koontz vividly and realistically paints an honest picture of a lonely, alienated boy, starved for attention and companionship. His father is an aggressive, gruff man, who bullies his son for being sensitive; and his mother is a self-involved, absentee parent who doesn’t really make the effort to understand the complex nature of her son and his worries.

Koontz’s writing here is solid, unfussy, and, for the most part, confident. The dialogue flows smoothly, capturing the combination of innocence and vulgarity that is unique to teenage conversations. And his command of atmosphere is impressive, conjuring an evocative feel for the small California town, its beauty, its dark secrets, with a few clear sentences, unlike the verbose, and occasionally trying, style he would later adopt in many of his novels from the mid 1990s onward. The plotting is a bit bumpy, and Roy is never fully realized as a believable villain. While the ending, though hard-hitting, is a bit rushed. But the closing lines are both moving and disturbing.

The Voice of The Night is one of the few novels where Koontz faces the dark full on, with only a glimmer of hope. It is one of his rawest, darkest books, and one of the best American horror coming-of-age novels to come out of the 1980s, preceding, and, in many ways, surpassing, the Stephen King novels dealing with similar themes that would make King one of the most popular writers of all time. Highly recommended.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2021.

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Ahmed Khalifa is a filmmaker and novelist. He is the writer/director of several short films and a feature, which was released on Netflix, and the author of a number of novels and short stories, including the YA horror novel, Beware The Stranger, available on Amazon. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @Dark.Fantastic.AK·Writer

Film Review: CRY MACHO (2021) *** and a 1\2 out of *****

© WB\Malpaso

Clint Eastwood returns as actor and director with Cry Macho (2021), a sweet, gentle, and charming little film, which, in its own modest, easy-going way, achieves so much with seemingly little effort. But although Eastwood is a notoriously fast worker, his movies, with very few exceptions, are almost always a smooth ride, and easy on the eyes. Cry Macho is a prime example of these trademark qualities of an Eastwood film.

Cry Macho tells a simple tale: 1980. Texas. Mike Milo, a washed-up rodeo star and horse breeder, reluctantly agrees to help his ex-boss and benefactor to bring his half-Mexican teenage son home and out of his abusive mother’s reach. So he crosses the border to rural Mexico, finds the troubled boy, and, together, they journey back to Texas. But their journey takes an unexpected turn or two. The plot is little more than a collection of road-trip movie cliches, and the script, especially some of the dialogue, doesn’t really add much that is fresh or original to the mix. But Eastwood is a smart, restless filmmaker, and it’s easy to see why he was attracted to the material, despite its shortcomings. In his hands, Eastwood turns this tired script, which has been floating around Hollywood for decades, into an exercise in charming filmmaking.

From the endearing performance of most of the cast, especially Natalia Traven as Marta, the lovable den mother; and Eduardo Minett as Rafo, with his tough kid posturing and moving dedication to his pet rooster, Macho; and, of course, Eastwood himself, who gives himself one of his most likable characters in a long time as Mike Milo, everyone involved seems to be having a blast.

And, in many ways, Milo’s character, and the film itself, is spiritually linked to one of Eastwood’s favorite films, 1980’s Bronco Billy, about the leader of a wild west show, a middle-aged dreamer who loves show business, the old west, and horses. Milo could be Bronco Billy gone to seed. A burnt out man who has lost his hopes and dreams, and who, by befriending the teenage Rafo, a hopeless outcast like himself, starts to find his way again. No wonder Eastwood uses the same font he used on the Bronco Billy poster for the Cry Macho titles.

Cry Macho is a film out of time. A film that would have been right at home in the early 1980s or 1990s. Now, it’s understandable that it struggles to find an audience, at a time when nihilism is trendy, and negativity is bankable. But Cry Macho, despite its flaws, is a spellbinding, humane film that feels old and new at the same time, and is Eastwood’s best film in years. Highly recommended.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2021.

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Ahmed Khalifa is a filmmaker and novelist. He is the writer/director of several short films and a feature, which was released on Netflix, and the author of a number of novels and short stories, including the YA horror novel, Beware The Stranger, available on Amazon. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @Dark.Fantastic.AK·Writer