I'm new to the horror genre, introduced to it by Michelle, my horror-writing friend and critique partner. I feared (yes, feared) horror stories in the past (and I still wouldn't touch Saw with a ten-foot stake), but I've learned that if it's a good story (and not filled with gory details that will fill my over-active imagination with nightmares), I enjoy a good horror story.
To prove it, when I signed up for Thomas Nelson's new book review program (free books for bloggers who promise to review them), I started with horror--a story of vampires and demon possession.
Aren't you proud of me?
This story combines legends of vampires with biblical stories of Judas' death, demon possession, those marked to survive the coming wrath in Elijah's day, and those raised from the dead in Matthew.The story's intriguing. It interacts with Scripture in an imaginative way that brings the characters of old to life again.* The story shows us the reality of the struggle between good and evil happening all around us. Why do evil things happen in the world? Because evil forces are at work, and yes, these evil forces often occur through the acts and nature of human beings.
The nature of the vampire's thirst for blood lends itself to a rich exploration of life through Christ's blood against the vampire's sacrilegious and insatiable thirst. My favorite aspect of the book is the author's play with the vampire's sacraments, which mirror and blaspheme the Christian's.
I also liked how he realized the thorns in the flesh (or the blood), how the vampires or demons implant the temptations, but it's the human's own weaknesses and sin that feed the plant. As the evil inside a human grows, the human is drawn to the demon and his lies.
Field of Blood doesn't back away from the horror of the situation There's blood, death, and destruction, but it's not gory. For that, I'm appreciative (so is my husband, who'd have to deal with my sleepless nights).
The book has a couple of weaknesses, the main one being the info dumps. While there's a lot of information to get across from the stories of the bible and the legends of the vampires, the info dumps in dialogue got on my nerves and leads to some character oddities (e.g. a construction foreman who's also an antiques expert and lectures his crew on what they've found). Some of this results from over-explanation. Wilson's underestimated his reader. Not only does he explain things that perhaps could've been hinted at, he explains them several times. There are also times that he recaps what's happened in a previous pericope when he returns to that scene.
Overall, I'd recommend this book as a more escapist book (mostly because while there are some fun themes to explore, the exploration's done for you, leaving little for you to dig your teeth into, as it were).
*Note: This book should not be taken as a scholarly authority on the stories or their implications, such as the raising of the dead in Matthew 27, but an imaginative interaction with them.
I'm not a fan of horror either, but I can appreciate really good writing. Have you read Steven James's Bower series? I read the first, "The Pawn," and was blown away by his character development. It was graphic -- I wouldn't say "gory", but definitely graphic -- but those details futher proved his talent as a writer. He proves exquisite attention to detail.
I wouldn't be able to sleep either. I don't think I'll be reading it.
(I still have my recent purchase of "The Tale of Despereaux:" sitting on the coffee table waiting for me to read. ha ha ha ha)
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