Terror World, A Zombicide Invader Novel - Cath Luria Interview

 

Cath Luria is a Colorado girl who loves snow and sunshine. She is a prolific author of science fiction, fantasy, suspense and romance fiction, and has a vast collection of beautiful edged weapons. She has written a number of books for Aconyte, including Elsa Bloodstone: Bequest, and Terror World, A Zombicide: Invader Novel. I got a chance to ask her some questions about her latest work.

Terror World mixes together sci-fi and horror really well, with some fun sci-fi concepts and some interesting aliens and characters and a situation that just keeps building the tension. Are you a fan of stories where the two genres combine, and if so what films, books, or games are your favourites?

Sci-fi and horror are like milk and cookies to me. They’re good alone, but they also work so well together! I think there’s a lot of horror, or at least extreme anxiety, inherent in science fiction—no one knows what’s coming next. It could be amazing, but it’s so much easier sometimes to imagine how things could go terribly. Science fiction horror is a genre in its own right—the Alien franchise is amazing and terrifying and one of my favorite things ever.

How did you end up writing Terror World, was this a project that you pursued, or were you approached to write it?

I pitched the IP for it! It’s outside of my Marvel wheelhouse, but that was the point for me. I wanted to try something new, and I LOVE zombie media. Make them space zombies, and it’s a total win for me. It wasn’t smooth sailing getting from pitch to finished novel, but I’m really glad I did it. 

Were you a fan of Zombicide before writing the book, and if not did you have to emerse yourself in the game universe much before writing your story?

I didn’t know anything about Zombicide before writing this book, but I did a LOT of research heading into pitching it. I read all the media I could get my hands on, I read Tim’s book, I delved into the game and the playstyle—and thankfully, I was able to be pretty comprehensive with it all, since there really isn’t that much Zombicide media out there yet.

The Zombicide games are pretty new, and don’t have a huge amount of lore to draw upon, though their website features galleries of lots of different characters and creatures. How much of Terror World was constrained to things already established, and how much freedom did you have to create new things?

Exactly, it’s new! I actually appreciate that, because it makes it easier for me to get fully acquainted with the IP. Lucky for me, they were very encouraging when it came to new ideas and concepts. In fact, I ended up being warned away from what they’d done before. They wanted something really difference from me, which ended up being a blessing.

You introduce a whole new group of characters for the book that don’t appear in the game, how did you go about choosing what type of characters would become the heroes of the book, and were there any that were favourites of yours?

I read through a bunch of Zombicide character descriptions and the graphic novel to get some ideas, but once I knew the general direction I wanted to go with this book, I knew I was going to need a different kind of crew than Zombicide had seen before. My book begins as a journey of scientific discovery, so you’re going to have to center scientists for that. It helps that I’m married to one—I’m very familiar with that archetype 😊 Dizzie Drexler was definitely one of my favorites to write, but the Bane brothers were awesome too. I loved writing Mason’s multi-mind perspective.

Your book features a few different types of monsters beyond what we’d seen in the previous Zombicide: Invasion novel, Planet Havoc, and you did some new and interesting things with the way some of the characters were infected. Was it daunting to try and put a new spin on things like that?

I thought it would be daunting, but then I was basically given carte blanche to do whatever I wanted and all of a sudden things kind of fell into place. The IP owners still had to approve the synopsis, of course, so they were fine with it, but I got to do the heavy lifting with how infection spread and things like that, and that was hugely fun. My editor Gwen Nix was so, so helpful there.

Terror World feels a lot different to Planet Havoc, where that one was filled with action and shooting and had quite a few characters to lose along the way your book was smaller in scope, focused on only a handful of people, and dealt more with building tension slowly than having monsters constantly rushing at the heroes. Do you prefer horror stories that are like that over the ones with the bigger body counts and lots of action?

I personally like a nice, intimate horror story. Don’t get me wrong! I love action novels and big casts! I loved Planet Havoc, and originally I pitched a book that was very similar to it. I thought that was what the IP wanted, and was subsequently smacked down. They had the big action story full of monsters, and they wanted to go in a different direction with my book. That went from being a disappointment to being hugely fun in short order.

The book has a pretty big mystery in it, and whilst we don’t really get any concrete answers by the end there are a few possible scenarios raised. If you were asked to continue the story would you want to tell the sequel/prequel story to Terror World?

I would LOVE to continue this in a sequel/prequel sort of way. I thought the twist at the end was particularly interesting, and I’d love to delve into the repercussions of it all if given the opportunity. Plus I’d just like to revisit the survivors.

If you were stuck in a zombie scenario like this what skills do you think you’d be able to bring to the table in order to survive to the end?

I’ve survived in some fairly minimalist situations, so I think I could offer quite a bit 😉 I’ve killed and cooked a turkey, I have decades worth of adrenal stress conditioning to help in fight or flight situations, I own lots of bludgeoning and cutting weapons, and my husband owns a huge number of tools. We’ve got a zombie-killing armory in our very own home, so convenient!

Can you give us any hints for future projects that you’re working on that fans of the book can look forward to?

I’m pitching a few different projects right now! As soon as I’m allowed to talk about them, I will happily share 😊 My next Aconyte book, however, is Silver Sable: Payback, coming out March 24, 2023, and I’m so excited for it!

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Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures #2 – Comic Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Eagle eyed readers of our comic reviews will have noticed that I’ve covered Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures before, and that the series came to an end last year. You’re not imagining things, and this is indeed the second time that this series has been made. And whilst the names are the same, the contents inside are quite different.

The latest era of the Star Wars universe, The High Republic, proved to be a hugely popular series of stories set around 200 years before the event of the prequel trilogy. Spread over books, comics, and audio dramas (and with a live action series set in that era being made right now!) it was an exciting time for fans. But those stories came to a close, and the decision was made that the second phase of The High Republic would go even further back in time. And that’s where this new comic takes us.

In the first issue we were introduced to Jedi Padawan Sav Malagán, a Kyuzo Jedi who appeared as an older woman in the original run of the series in issue eight, who is a much younger woman now (barely more than a young teen). Training on the planet Takodana, she’s become obsessed with the stories about the pirate queen and outlaw Maz Kanata, who owns the castle across the lake from the Jedi outpost. Sneaking over there one night, she ends up getting involved in one of Maz’s adventures, and finds herself going off planet with Maz’s crew to help.

The second issue picks up with Maz and her people heading into orbit to chase after the Dank Graks (evil space gang). However, it seems like Maz and her people got into space first, so they leave their ship and board the bad guys’ ship before they can get back. Unfortunately, the Graks realise this, and end up boarding Maz’s ship to take that over. Thus we end up with each group on the other’s ships, having a space battle.

Where the first issue gave readers a lot of different things to sink their teeth into, this second issue feels a little light on the ground in comparison. The overview of the plot above is pretty much most of what happens here, and there’s not really much for either group to do other than board a ship and start fighting. There are a couple of small moments where we get some more insight into the characters that make up Maz’s crew, such as Coromont having a small corrections officer living inside his back that pops out to tell him off whenever he breaks the law.

These are the more interesting parts of the book, as Maz’s crew are definitely one of the weirder and more eclectic teams we’ve seen in Star Wars. I understand that the comic needs to have some action beats here and there in order to keep things exciting, but I can’t help but feel that time might be better spent exploring these characters a bit more first, giving us more details about them.

In comparison, it felt like I had a much better handle on the characters in the phase one version of the series than I do here, with the young Jedi in that series being characters that were a lot easier to get to know and connect with than this bunch of space pirates. One thing that Older does do here, that was a big part of the first phase comic, is to introduce another queer Star Wars romance. Whilst this seems to be one that has come to an end, it does seem like it’s one that will have some bearing on the story. Plus, it’s great to have more queer Star Wars content.

The art on the book, by Toni Bruno and Michael Atiyeh, is bold, bright, and easy to keep track of. The book is mainly designed with younger readers in mind (even though it’s a book for all ages) and the art reflects this. Its pretty simple to understand, and the characters all have distinct looks and designs that are easy to recognise and pick out of a crowd. That being said, this issue is mainly people either sitting around, or walking through hallways, so it does feel like this issue fails to really show off the full extent of what the art team can do. I’m looking forward to seeing what they might be able to deliver in future issues.

Overall, this is an okay start to the series, though it does feel a bit more directionless than the Phase One content, which seemed to have a very clear mission statement. I don’t know what these characters are going to be getting up to, or much about them, but hope that this is something that future issues helps to lock down.

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Who Are The 5 Best Jedi?

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The Jedi are much beloved by both casual viewers and Star Wars fanatics alike. If a Star Wars project doesn’t have someone using the force or pulling out a lightsaber at some point, people will start trying to examine which character is secretly a Jedi and will do so at some point, or call it boring (we’re looking at everyone claiming Luthen is secretly a Jedi in Andor right now). Over the course of the Star Wars saga there are a lot of Jedi, and everyone has their favourites. But which are the best ones, the ones that best exemplify what it means to be a Jedi? Here’s a list of five that we think do just that.

(Before we begin, because this will definitely be criticised at some point: Luke Skywalker isn’t on this list. I love Luke, he’s a great character, but he’s not one of the best Jedi. He makes mistakes, he tries to recreate the old Jedi order and fails because of that, and whilst he does great things following that he does make a lot of mistakes. It’s the same reason Yoda won’t be here either. Sorry.)

Obi-Wan Kenobi

This might be a choice that some people would argue against being considered one of the best. He trained the man who would become Darth Vader and helps destroy the Jedi order, so how can he be one of the best? And that’s a good point. However, thanks to the manipulations of Palpatine it’s not all down to Obi-Wan. But the stuff that is down to Obi-Wan makes him a pretty damn good Jedi. A rebellious youngling, Obi-Wan was put with Qui-Gon Jinn (more on him later) to learn from. With Qui-Gon being something of a rebel the only way for Obi-Wan to rebel against his master was to become the most by the book Jedi possible.

This is something that we see in Obi-Wan across the saga. He follows the rules, but with a sense of right and wrong. When the Jedi council order the assassination of Count Dooku he speaks out against it. He treats his clones as living beings, people with personalities and the right to live. He respects life, he cares about people. This helps to make him one of the better Jedi around. Even after Anakin falls to the dark side he ‘does what he must’ to stop him, bringing the fallen Jedi close to death – yet he can’t kill a wounded and broken man who he loved. Whilst that decision would go on to have huge repercussions, his respect for life stopped him killing, and kept him on the right path. Obi-Wan is the best example of what the Jedi of the prequel era should have been. He was an exemplar of the order at that time.

Kanan Jarrus

A padawan during the Clone Wars, Kanan watched his master die during Order 66 and went on the run. After hiding out for a number of years, picking up new skills from smugglers and rogues, he met pilot Her Syndulla and joined her crew, a crew that would eventually become part of the beginnings of the Rebel Alliance. It was when the team went to rescue a group of Wookie prisoners that Kanan relit his saber and embraced his role as a Jedi once again. Over the next four years Kanan would battle against Imperial Inquisitors, Darth Vader, and Maul, all whilst trying to train his own apprentice, Ezra Bridger. Despite never finishing his own training, Kanan was officially knighted through the Force by the spirits of former Jedi.

Kanan isn’t what people expect when they think of Jedi. He’s not a monk-like figure like most others. He embraces his emotions, forming a family with the crew of the Ghost, and even falls in love. Despite this, he manages to find a balance between the teachings of the old Jedi and his new life. He’s able to use his passions and his love to make him into a better Jedi, driving him to do some good in the galaxy. In many ways, he’s what Anakin could have been if he was allowed to love openly. There are many reasons for Kanan to be considered one of the best Jedi, but it’s perhaps his final act, giving his life to save his family, that solidifies why he’s deserving of the title. In the end he sacrificed his existence to help others and do the right thing; which is ultimately what the Jedi are all about.

Ahsoka Tano

Yes, another one that people will instantly argue against because of her line ‘I am no Jedi’, but there’s a good reason for Ahsoka Tano to be here. Ahoska instantly garnered criticism from some Star Wars fans when she was introduced in The Clone Wars as Anakin’s apprentice. He never had an apprentice in the third film, so why was she there? Over the course of the series, however, Ahsoka grew on fans, and became a firm favourite. We got to see a different side of Anakin through her, and she became an important part of his eventual fall.

Despite leaving the Jedi order during the war Ahsoka still held true to the values of the Jedi. She wanted to help people. She would go on to take part in the Siege of Mandalore alongside the clones, even if she wasn’t an official Jedi. After surviving Order 66 she would go into hiding, but would ultimately be drawn back into the conflict in order to help others. She would help with the formation of the Rebel Alliance, and risked her life on multiple occasions. She could have had a quiet, simple life away from everything, but her desire to help those in need and fight against the darkness in the galaxy prevented that. Whilst she might not be a Jedi in name, she is in deeds. The things she does are the things that Jedi do. She helps people, she puts her life on the line, and she tries to make the galaxy better. She might claim she’s not a Jedi, but she’s more Jedi than most. She’s also one of the few people to survive in conflicts against Imperial Inquisitors, General Grievous, Darth Vader, Maul, and Emperor Palpatine (some more than once), and shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Qui-Gon Jinn

Qui-Gon Jinn was not particularly liked by the members of the Jedi council. He didn’t always follow orders, he questioned authority, and was considered something of a renegade. But he didn’t do these things for bad reasons. Qui-Gon, more than most other Jedi, believed in the Living Force, and whilst other Jedi tried to maintain order and held to more rigid rule Qui-Gon kind of just went with the flow. He’d allow the Force itself to guide him, to help make his decisions, and help him to do what was right. And this often put him at odds with the council.

The Jedi at the time of the prequel era were mired in politics, they’d lost their way somewhat, and Qui-Gon wanting nothing to do with that made him a maverick. But it also made him a better Jedi. He wasn’t happy to let injustice lie if it meant that political deals could be made. He hated slavery and those who practised it. He called out wrongdoers, no matter their station. He was the kind of Jedi that the Jedi should have been. Whilst Obi-Wan was the best the Jedi of that time could have been, his old master was what the Jedi should have been.

Rey Skywalker

Rey Skywalker (and she is a Skywalker) gets a lot of hate for a lot of reasons, some petty misogynistic reasons included. And whilst some will call her a Mary Sue (often using the phrase incorrectly) she’s a lot closer to Luke Skywalker than people would like to believe. She shares a lot of aspects with Luke, an upbringing on a harsh world, the affinity to the Force, great piloting skills, and a family with ties to the dark side. But where Luke becomes focused on recreating the Jedi as they once were, which leads to his failure, Rey is perhaps the best way to create a new Jedi.

Rey has many, many reasons to turn to the dark side throughout the sequel trilogy. She gets tempted by it at multiple points, with characters trying to push her towards turning. And she never does. It would be easier for her if she did, but it doesn’t once enter her mind. Instead of allowing her anger to turn her, she channels it to try and do good instead. Perhaps closer to Kanan than other Jedi, able to better balance the emotions the old order would try to remove, she becomes the embodiment of what the Jedi can be, becoming ‘all the Jedi’ in order to defeat Palpatine. With the sequel trilogy having come to an end, exploring what comes next in other forms has the potential to see Rey create a new Jedi order, one that has learned from the mistakes of the past, and can become a better force for good.

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Godzilla: Monsters & Protectors – All Hail The King #4 – Comic Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The penultimate issue of IDW Publishing‘s latest kid friendly Godzilla series, Godzilla: Monsters & Protectors – All Hail The King, sets up for one final fight as King Ghidorah and Godzilla prepare to face off once again – but a new Kaiju protector steps up to challenge the evil space dragon (wyvern) too.

After the previous issue saw Godzilla and Ghidorah fight, a fight that brought an end to the golden monster’s reign of terror, our heroes think that the danger has passed, and that the world is safe. Which isn’t too far-fetched a conclusion to have made. Unfortunately, another psychic dream lets the kids know that Ghidorah is still out there somewhere. With the monster coming back, stronger than before, the kids need to call upon some extra help for the weakened Godzilla, and so Karen is finally able to make a connection with her Kaiju and summon his aid. And whilst I won’t reveal who it is, I will say that my prediction was right, and that I’m looking forward to seeing the next issue.

Whilst not a huge amount happens in this issue, and most of it takes place over a relatively short amount of time, it does get everything in place for the finale. It gets readers caught up on the situation, it explains the odds stacked against our protagonists, and it makes it clear that this isn’t like other Kaiju battles where the monsters will smash a city or two and go back to sleep. This is a fight with the fate of the entire planet hanging in the balance, because if Ghidorah isn’t stopped he’ll kill every other living thing. And the book does this whilst furthering the development of the core set of characters.

Cedric gets to calm down a bit, and isn’t as much of an insufferable gory hog as in previous issues. He understands that things are bad, and stops being a dick towards Karen. He even seems to get excited when she summons her Kaiju, and is impressed that her way of doing so is a bit more visually interesting than him and the others holding hands and calling for Godzilla. It’s nice to see him finally getting a bit of growth, and seeing him finally being nice towards Karen feels like something we’ve been waiting for for a long while.

The art on this issue, crafted by Dan Schoening and Luis Antonio Delgado, is really nice, and whilst there’s no Kaiju action in this issue to wow readers they still manage to make the book look visually interesting and engaging. The small touches in the backgrounds, and the expressiveness of the characters stop a dialogue- and information-heavy issue from feeling like a slog. It’s always fun to look through this book and see what little touches the art team put in there, like the Hedorah plushy that Cedric has in his bedroom that’s absolutely adorable.

With one more issue to go it’s a shame that the end is so close, but with the promise of the biggest fight that this series has seen it’s an issue that could be one of the best ones yet.

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DmC: Devil May Cry – Throwback 10

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The Devil May Cry franchise is an unusual one to say the least. Originally created to be the fourth instalment in the Resident Evil franchise, the game was considered too much of a departure from the tone of that game, and was instead turned into its own IP. And it was one that thrived. Thanks to the frenetic and dynamic action of the series, as well as some interesting character design, a complex story, and the ability to be open to a lot of replay, the series became a hit and received a number of sequels.

But, as can often happen with sequels, the series became more complex and even a little confusing as it went on, especially to new fans. Devil May Cry became a series that wasn’t easy to drop into with each new release, and required you to either go back and play them all, or to do some reading online. As such, in 2013 an attempt was made to reboot the franchise.

DmC: Devil May Cry was announced in 2010 at the Tokyo Game Show, confirming rumours circulating in the games industry that a fifth entry in the series was being developed. However, audiences were left a little surprised when it was revealed that the new game would be a reboot set in its own, separate universe to the others. Despite Devil May Cry 4 being a financial success it had performed poorer than other entries, and Capcom decided that a fresh restart would be a good way to entice in newer players.

The British game studio Ninja Theory were hired to spearhead the new game, thanks in part to their work on the game Heavenly Sword, which Capcom believed would work well with the Devil May Cry series. The new game was given a brand new setting, a world where demonic forces existed in secret beneath the human world that they controlled through comforts like the media and our food. Living on the edges of society, Dante is a young demon hunter who has made it his mission to challenge these evil forces whenever he can. However, this has made Dante a target for the demons, and when they try to kill him he gets recruited to join The Order, a group dedicated to exposing and destroying the demon world.

The game not only changed the setting, but small parts of Dante’s back story too. As opposed to the original series where he was half human/half demon, here he’s a demon-angel hybrid. This change was made in part to introduce a new element into the game-play that not only allowed Dante to enter a demonic form, but an angelic one too. Players were able to switch between his three forms in combat at will, allowing them to create some impressive combos. However, the one change to Dante that seemed to rile up fans was his physical appearance.

The original Dante was designed from a Japanese perspective, and he fell in line with many of the visual styles that you’d expect to find in manga and anime heroes. One of the series producers, Motohide Eshiro, said that the original Dante was created to be what a Japanese audience would think of as cool, and that one of the things that they wanted from the new game was to appeal to a younger, western audience. This led to a pretty radical redesign of the character that received a lot of backlash before the game had even been released. Some fans hated the design that much that the team at Ninja Theory received death threats over it.

Despite this backlash, when the game was finally released it received a great deal of praise from both the games media and the public. The game was praised for the reboot, with outlets citing the newly revised story as being a lot easier to follow than previous entries, as well as more accessible to new gamers. The new combat system was also held up as something worthy of praise, with the frenetic action, the ability to create combos, and the easy to learn yet complex system seen as an improvement.

Despite the complaints from the ‘fans’ of the series, it seemed like DmC: Devil May Cry became something of a success. As time has gone on since it’s initial release the anger over the new direction has lessened, especially since Devil May Cry 5 has been released and returned players to the ‘prime’ timeline and characters. DmC: Devil May Cry is an interesting and enjoyable game, but is also an interesting look at how fanbases can react to new ideas being introduced into their franchise; though this kind of anger at change is something that we’re seeing more and more of in geek circles.

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Godzilla Rivals: Rodan vs Ebirah – Comic Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Godzilla Rivals has been showcasing some of the best monsters in the Godzilla universe, pitting the iconic monster against the various foes that he’s faced over the decades. However, the latest issue does things a little differently, as Godzilla takes a back seat to let some of his friends have the spotlight.

Set in the year 2030,  Godzilla Rivals: Rodan vs Ebirah focuses on Dr. Carole Kincaid, a cryptobotanist who’s been recruited to assist with a special project aboard the orbiting space station, ParaSOL. Taking a space elevator up into orbit, Kincaid is shocked to discover the range of experiments that are happening far above the Earth; experiments that could lead to a better future for humanity now that they’re not constrained by any Earthly laws or regulations. But what do they want with a cryptobotanist? Well, it turns out that the station has a sample of the plant-based Kaiju Biolante, and wants Kinkaid to figure out why it’s not growing properly.

But Biolante isn’t the only Kaiju that they have held prisoner on the station. When the giant pteradon Rodan, and the monstrous lobster Ebirah, break free from their containment and start battling, it puts the entire station at risk. The two creatures fall into the space elevator, hurtling towards Earth at huge speeds, giving the crew of the station only a short time to act in order to save the Earth from the impact.

This issue of the series stands out amongst the others that we’ve had so far, as Godzilla doesn’t get to take on a lead role (he’s pretty much not even in the book). And whilst that might seem like an odd decision for a book with his name on the title it does mean that we get to focus on a couple of other monsters instead. Rodan has always been a big favourite amongst fans, and is one of the few Kaiju to make the leap across to the US Monsterverse in Godzilla: King of the Monsters. He’s one of the more recognisable creatures. But his opponent, Ebirah, is a bit more niche.

Ebirah has only appeared in two films (three if you count the reuse of stock footage), and is a bit less known outside of more dedicated Godzilla fans. He’s basically a giant lobster, and he absolutely rocks. I’ve got a soft spot for lobsters, and his first film Ebirah, Horror of the Deep was a really good one. So I was really pleased to not only see him make an appearance, but to get a focus. Unfortunately, not a huge amount really happens in this issue for him.

For most of the issue the two monsters are falling towards the Earth, leaving the human characters to carry the drama. Whilst this is fine, it does mean that we don’t really get to see either creature used to their full potential. The match-up of a flying creature and a monster who’s at home in the water made for a good mix, but neither one of them really gets to be in either location in this story. It’s an odd choice, and once that I can’t help but feel leaves the comic a bit weaker. There are a couple of other creature appearances that pop up, but I’ll leave those to be a surprise for the reader.

The artwork on the book is decent, and whilst it’s not one of the more detailed or realistic art styles on the series to date, it chooses to go for a more cartoonish look instead. This works for a lot action across the book, with the larger than life giant lobster and huge dinosaur looking pretty good when they’re not being taken completely seriously. Characters like Godzilla can look fantastic in any style, but some of the creatures definitely feel better portrayed as a bit outside of reality, and this issue seems to recognise that.

This was a decent enough issue, though it doesn’t seem to give the featured creatures enough room to really shine, and the situation at the end will never be resolved thanks to each of these issues being set in their own worlds. As such, it’s a fun issue, but one that might leave the reader feeling like it could have been better.

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Carmilla: The First Vampire – Graphic Novel Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

If you’re a fan of vampire stories there’s probably a good chance that you’ve heard of Carmilla. A lesbian vampire seductress that pre-dated Dracula, she’s one of the oldest vampires in fiction, although she doesn’t get nearly the same kind of attention as the previously mentioned Count. Perhaps it’s due in part to the fact that whilst Dracula and other vampire stories are rooted in sexual imagery and can sometimes border on being queer, Carmilla is unabashedly a queer story, one where if you try to remove that from the text it ceases to be Carmilla at all. Luckily, this new story about Carmilla from Dark Horse and creators Amy Chu and Soo Lee, not only fully embraces the LGBTQ+ aspects of the character, but also brings in a lot of Chinese culture and history to expand it in new and exciting ways.

Carmilla: The First Vampire is set almost thirty years ago, in 1996 (writing that sentence just gave me physical pain), and takes readers to the cold of winter in New York City. Here, we meet Athena, a young lesbian social worker who’s doing her best to help young people living on the streets. She works at a shelter that takes in vulnerable kids and gives them a place to stay, as well as help with their addictions, mental health, and general life issues. She’s passionate about her work, and making the world better for these people, so is hurt when she learns that another of her clients has fallen victim to a killer that’s stalking the streets, targeting young women.

Unable to just let it go, she ends up looking into the killings, and soon finds herself at a nightclub called Carmilla’s, built in an old converted Chinese Church. It’s here that she first meets Violet, a young woman who Athena finds herself instantly attracted to, despite having a girlfriend already. Initially wanting to help Violet, Athena soon finds her carefully balanced life unravelling as Violet becomes a bigger part of it, and she digs deeper into the killings.

Those coming to this graphic novel expecting a retelling of the original book, even an updated one, will not find that here. This isn’t the original story transplanted to a new time and setting. Instead, the creators tell their own story, one inspired by the original. Though there are some parallels. Violet takes on a role similar to Carmilla in the original book, slowly ingraining herself into the life of our protagonist. There is a vampire hunter present in the book, just like the Baron Vordenburg character, and Carmilla likes to play word games with her name. But that’s about it, and these things are minor parts of the narrative.

Instead, we get a brand new story, one that has its own themes and goals. This book is created by a team of Chinese American women, and that becomes a big part of the book’s identity. Athena is Chinese American, and that informs her life in a number of ways. The first time we meet her she’s getting yelled at by someone who assumes she can’t speak English. Later in the book we get to see her bonding with her grandfather, and how he’s trying to get her to embrace parts of her heritage that she’s less enthusiastic about. It’s wonderful to see the story written this way, where Athena’s heritage isn’t just a piece of token representation but a part of who she is, and this is the kind of story that you only really get when people who understand that get to play a key creative role.

The book also deals with queer themes, and Athena’s sexuality is another key part of the book. With the story being set in 1996, attitudes towards queer people were different, and the book does reflect this. Whilst there are some characters who know about Athena’s relationship with her girlfriend and fully accept it, there are times where she’s forced to explain that they’re not just roommates. Queer identities are an afterthought for some people in this book, a thing that wouldn’t even enter their mind as a possibility, and when it does get brought up their attitudes shift towards becoming hostile.

The book’s artwork reflects the often dark themes of the book, and has a very gloomy, moody feel to it a lot of the time. The book uses colour carefully throughout to help to shape the tone and to lean into certain emotions. A lot of the book is presented in shades of blue to begin with, to represent both the coldness of the city, and the coldness that surrounds Athena. The first time we get warm colours is when she first enters Carmilla’s, a queer club where people don’t have to hide who they are. The second time we get warmer tones is when she’s with her grandfather, a man who loves and accepts her, and around whom she can feel relaxed. Colour plays a huge part in the presentation of this story, and is worth keeping an eye on whilst reading.

Carmilla: The First Vampire is an interesting adaptation of the original story, taking the themes and the ideas presented there, but transforming it into something new and unique. The queer themes inherent to Carmilla are joined by those that cover experiences for other groups of marginalised people, and helps to expand it in new and interesting directions. This isn’t your typical vampire story, and often feels more like a story about identity and discovering your place in the world, and for that it stands out amongst other vampire tales.

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Terror World, A Zombicide: Invader Novel by Cath Luria - Book Review

 

'Time and space are under threat when a monstrous new alien zombie threat emerges, in this horror thriller from the riotous Zombicide Invader boardgame.

'Scientist Dizzie Drexler is on the mission of a lifetime: exploring a strange planet named Sik-Tar, in the company of a mysterious alien crew. The dig looks like a dud, until they stumble across an ancient spaceship, filled with arcane tech. What could possibly go wrong? Everything: opening the spaceship activates an unimaginable horror: a form of ravenous mold which possesses the skeletons that litter the spaceship with the desire to kill, spread, and consume every living thing. While fighting these undead terrors, Dizzie and their team delve into the spaceship’s mysteries, and soon realise that such monstrosities could only come from one place: the future.'

We've had some great books in the new Zombicide line recently. There have been some good traditional zombie stories set during modern day, Last Resort and All or Nothing, the fun fantasy story Age of the Undead, and the futuristic sci-fi horror Planet Havoc. The latest book returns us to the distant future for another Zombicide: Invader novel, one which sees a small group of explorers heading to a remote planet to investigate an ancient signal.

Terror World follows a handful of new characters, the first of these being Ix-Nix-Six, a Caridian, an insectoid alien from a distant part of the galaxy outside of human controlled space. Having been granted permission to travel into human space by his superiors, Six approaches the human coalition government, requesting the opportunity to investigate a remote world within their borders. This world, Sik-Tar, has been transmitting a signal for the last thousand years, one that Six's people picked up long ago. Even more intriguing, the signal appears to be Caridian in origin. The Coalition agrees to let him investigate the planet, but sends a group with him to keep an eye on him, and investigate the possibility that Sik-Tar might be home to the powerful fuel source Xenium.

The human scientist Dizzie Drexler, and their friend and colleague, the Centauran telepath Corinus, are sent along to lead the expedition and search for any signs of Xenium on the planet. A Thassian mercenary called Divak is assigned to the team for their protection, and a pair of human brothers and theives, Grayson and Mason, are hired to help out thanks to their particular set of skills; and Mason being an incredibly adaptable cyborg.

The small team head to the remote planet and find a huge Caridian ship on the surface, one that's been there for centuries, and has been mining the Xenium deposits on the planet, refining them into a never before encountered liquid form. However, the team's presence on Sik-Tar seems to awaken something, the deadly mould infects and transforms living matter, turning them into the deadly Xenos creatures. With the long dead crew of the ship returning to life as monsters, the team are left fighting for their lives.

I compared the first of the Zombicide: Invader novel to being like Aliens. It featured monstrous alien creatures that were zombies in how it animates the dead and infects the living, but are closer to aliens than traditional zombies. The book also had a base under siege type story, and featured a lot of action. In comparison, this book is a lot smaller in scope, and feels more akin to horror stories like Alien, and Event Horizon more than anything else, thanks to the small group being picked off one by one whilst on a remote mission hoping to discover something amazing. There aren't as many characters, virtually none of them have weapons, so there's not ass much running and gunning happening here. Instead, we have the ever mounting dread of waiting for something awful to happen.

The book doesn't jump straight into the action, it takes its time setting up the characters and the locations, letting the reader get attached to the people before anything bad happens to them. With a small cast of characters it's easier to spend this time with them, to expand upon them and make them more than just stock characters of 'scientist', 'soldier', and 'thief'. Each of them ends up being much more complex than they first appear, with even the bloodthirsty warrior woman ending up being more complex than she really has any right to be.

This time spent setting things up and slowly introducing small elements doesn't just mean that we get the chance to know the characters though, as it also slowly increases the tension. This is a Zombicide book, we know something awful is going to happen. It's not a question of if, but one of when. As such, as the characters are slowly exploring the ancient ship, searching around for answers as to how it got there and what happened to it, the reader is waiting for the other shoe to drop. You know that the monsters are coming, and that wait is a horrible one. By the time the monsters do arrive it feels like something of a relief; though the characters then end up in incredible danger, and the tension begins to increase in different ways.

One of the things that I really liked about the book was that this wasn't a group of soldiers or mercenaries or bounty hunters armed to the teeth and ready for action. These are mostly scientists, they're people who aren't used to having to fight, and who don't have weapons. The situations aren't going to be resolved by shooting your way through Xenos or blowing things up, and requires the characters to start thinking smart, to have to come up with plans and strategies to just keep their lives going a few more hours.

Cath Luria manages to keep things tense throughout without it ever feeling completely overwhelming, and part of that is by having smaller character moments scattered throughout the narrative. Things get to slow down for a moment and we get to really see how the characters are reacting to this and how its effecting them. This focus on the characters ended up greatly improving the book for me, and allowed the horror of what was happening to really hit home.

Overall, this ended up being a very different kind of book from any of the other Zombicide novels we've had, not just the other Zombicide: Invader entry. The book ends with a mystery, one that's partially answered, and yet still has a ton of room for it to be able to mess with your head a little. It makes you wish that the book continued on, and that all of the answers were given; which for me is a sign of a really great read, where you don't really want it to end and you just want more. Hopefully we'll get more book in this series by Cath Lauria, even if they don't continue on from this one, as this was such an enjoyable reading experience.

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The Collector: Unit 731 – Graphic Novel Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Using real world horrors and atrocities in entertainment is a very, very dangerous thing to do. You need to make sure that you handle the situation with care, otherwise the project can come across as crass and exploitative. There have been times when such things have been done well, when they serve the story in ways that don’t feel like the real life tragedy is being used without careful thought. Examples like Magneto’s origins in the concentration camps of Nazi Germany, and how it informs his entire character. But there are a lot of creators who seem to expect to be able to use tragedy for their own profit; just look at the recent push back against comedic ‘girl bossing’ true crime podcasts that treat victims and their families like toys.

One subject that is rarely covered in fictitious work is the Japanese research centre and prison camp Unit 731. Everyone has heard of the concentration camps in Nazi Germany, which were run at the same time as Unit 731, in part due to the sheer numbers of people who were killed at them. Auschwitz alone was responsible for 1.1 million deaths. But not as many people have heard of Unit 731. Whilst Unit 731 was not responsible for as many deaths, with it believed to have seen 300,000 people killed it should not be forgotten, nor the events there downplayed.

Unit 731 was responsible for some of the most gruesome and horrific war crimes perpetrated by Japan during World War II. Its prisoners were dehumanised, referred to as ‘logs’, and were treated as objects rather than living people. The camp conducted disease experiments; testing of biological weapons; performed frostbite testing where they’d freeze and beat living victim; performed vivisections on people; dehydration experiments; hypobaric chamber experiments; amputations; and standard weapons testing where they would shoot, stab, and beat prisoners just to see what would happen. And those they did this to included children, babies, and pregnant people. It was a horrific place that rivalled any atrocity at the time (and since), and it’s impossible to even go and read the Wikipedia article about Unit 731 without feeling feeling your faith in humanity die a little. If you’re anything like myself, you’ll end up in tears before the end.

So with that in mind, writing a story set there would have to be handled with extreme care. Does The Collector: Unit 731 do that? No. Not at all. The story is about a man named Michael Smith, an apparently immortal man who in the present day learns of the death of someone he once knew. This begins his tale of his time in Unit 731, where he and his friend were detained by Japanese forces and sent to the camp as prisoners. The depiction of the camp in the book barely reflects the reality of what it was. We follow Michael as he is infected with a virus to see what will happen, but other than that we don’t really see much.

The tight focus on Michael and his small group makes it seem like Unit 731 is a tiny operation, where they’re doing virus research on around twenty men. There is one section where we see an escaped prisoner purposely shot and then vivisected, and one time we see one panel of a frostbite experiment on a woman, but that’s it as far as expanding the camp and acknowledging the reality of it goes. The book does an incredibly poor job at depicting Unit 731, to the point where it might as well have been called something else. I understand that creating a comic that covers the events of that place accurately would be a very hard read, but glossing over it all like this to concentrate on the story of an immortal white man who breaks out and escapes feels kind of gross.

And the fact that this super special man is apparently the only person to have ever escaped this place (there were none known to have done so in real life), and that he basically punches and fights his way out, again feels kind of awful. And it once again feels like its downplaying the horrors of the camp and the things that the people there went through. If this story was set anywhere else – literally any other research camp – it would be fine, because the story itself is fine; the characters whilst not particularly fleshed out still work, and it would have made an interesting enough story. But setting it here and handling it the way it does just doesn’t work. Especially as it ends with the main scientist who was experimenting on Michael still alive and trying to chase him down in the modern day. It makes these very real monsters feel like cartoon villains.

I wanted to read this book because I knew about Unit 731; I’d read about it years ago and have never been able to forget about it. I was hoping to see a book that would perhaps try to tell this story in a way that respected the victims and introduced this dark part of history to new people. Instead, it’s perhaps the worst piece of exploitation I’ve read, that honestly left me angry. Zero stars.

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Lair of the Crystal Fang - S.A. Sidor Interview

 

S.A. Sidor is the author of four dark crime thrillers and more recently two splendid supernatural-pulp adventures, Fury From the Tomb and The Beast of Nightfall Lodge. He has written a number of Arkham Horror titles for Aconyte books, including Cult of the Spider Queen, and The Last Ritual. I got the chance to ask him a few questions about his latest book, Lair of the Crystal Fang.

This isn’t your first Arkham Horror title, and you’ve written some fantastic stories for the series. Were you a fan of the work of Lovecraft before coming on to write for the series, and did you have much experience with the games?

I was a reader of Lovecraft, but more often I prefer tales and writers inspired by the Cthulhu mythos rather than the original tales themselves, although I do have a soft spot for At the Mountains of Madness. Lovecraft has an odd appeal compared to most writers of the pulp era. His characters and plots are not what resonate the most with readers, I think. It’s the eerie weird vibe, the creeping dread of cosmic terror, and the ornate prose which is often hypnotic. Our family played Arkham Horror games (Arkham Horror, Eldritch Horror, Mansions of Madness, and Elder Sign) before I ever dreamed of writing stories in the game universe. But I found an old note I wrote to myself years ago about looking into the prospect of writing novels based on the AH games. A premonition? It freaked me out when I found it.

The Lair of the Crystal Fang is a sequel of sorts to Cult of the Spider Queen, did you always know that you were going to be telling another story with those characters, or was it a decision that came about later on?

When I originally pitched the idea for Cult of the Spider Queen to Aconyte, they asked me to consider writing a duology. I liked the idea. I knew some characters would return for Lair of the Crystal Fang, but the setting would be different. After an adventure in the Amazon jungle, a horror visiting the characters back in New England made sense to me. I wanted to show the team of investigators dealing with the traumatic aftermath of their first encounter with the Ancient Ones while they were confronted with a new cosmic terror. How would they react?

Your story brings back three of the characters from your last Arkham Horror novel, and it shows that they’ve not really been having too good a time of things. Was it tough to figure out what happened to them after the book ended and where they’d be when this one started?

I wanted to place the action soon after their return to Arkham while their physical, psychic, and career wounds were still healing. I wanted to present them with another challenge before they’d had a chance to rebound fully. That’s how life is. You get hit with things all at once, and you must fix yourself as best you can while you try and move forward. Life doesn’t play fair.  We’re all headed into the next battle nursing old wounds. I took each of the returning characters and challenged them where they were most vulnerable. Andy loses his job, Jake is physically challenged in a way he never imagined, and Maude is lost in her nightmarish dreams.

The story also brings in some characters that have appeared in the games, as well as in some other Arkham Horror stories from Aconyte, who were your favourite of the new characters to write, and were there any that you considered including in addition to them?

I envisioned a citywide threat that had the possibility of spiralling out of control, imperilling the whole planet. At first, my imagination wanted to include as many investigators as possible. But I soon realized cameo appearances by the games’ characters wasn’t the way to go. If an investigator from the game showed up, they needed to play an essential role. Rex Murphy was a lot of fun to write. Dr Carolyn Fern added great psychological depth and insights, especially into the subject of The Dreamlands. Surprisingly, Mayor Charlie Kane was my favourite to write. I hadn’t expected that. But looking at Arkham’s problems from his perspective opened previously hidden imaginative doors for me. Likewise, Wendy Adams observes the city, and its monsters, from a completely different viewpoint. Diversity is what makes these games great.

Your previous story took the action far away from Arkham, and put readers in an extremely different environment. In this story you return to the city, what was it like returning to Arkham, and was it a different kind of writing experience because of that?

It was good to return to Arkham. I wanted to tap into Arkham history a bit, and I liked the idea of a growing threat underneath the city itself. Setting part of the action of the story in subterranean Arkham was a way to bring the story home but also to enter a hidden world. The setting proved just as complex as the Amazon. In the beginning, it was a challenge to keep all the characters and locations sorted out so the reader might follow things without trouble. The plot tightened up in the editing phase. The result is twisty but always propulsive.

Cult of the Spider Queen had a pulpy adventure kind of vibe to it, and reminded me of stories like Creature From The Black Lagoon. Lair of the Crystal Fang has a much more claustrophobic kind of feel to it, and the horror of being trapped in the dark tunnels was quite intense at times. Did you choose to make the books thematically different that way to change things up, or are these kinds of stories and themes that appeal to you?

It's funny that you mention Creature From The Black Lagoon. I’ve always loved that film. Creature From The Black Lagoon and The Mummy are the two old Universal horror films that scared me the most as a child. It’s no mystery that they influenced my imagination. Being trapped in a confined space is a recurring motif in horror because it’s a basic fear that works on an animal level, but it also has many symbolic levels of interpretation. I’m not particularly claustrophobic; in fact, I happen to enjoy snug little spaces. I spent a great deal of time as a child playing in boxes and making little forts where I acted out my imaginary fantasies, travelling in time machines, hiding from monsters, rationing my supplies and scanning for voices on a staticky old walkie-talkie. I live in my head and that’s a dark, tight spot most days. 

This story delves into some of the history of Arkham, and introduces another mysterious group into the novels with the inclusion of the witch coven and their ties to the city’s past. Is it ever daunting to start digging into to the past when it comes to a franchise like Arkham Horror, or is that something that you enjoy?

One of the great things about working with Aconyte and Arkham Horror is the amount of collaboration that goes into planning and vetting the stories as they move from the idea stage to the final product. The smart folks at Fantasy Flight Games have oversight and input while the book is in development. They steer people like me away from dangerous or complicated elements that might conflict with the games and their long history spanning many storytelling formats. The editors at Aconyte know what territory other Aconyte writers have covered, or will be covering, so everything is well-coordinated. Short answer: it is daunting to dig into Arkham’s past, but I know I’m not going into the dark alone. My teammates look out for me. 

Some of the other writers on the Arkham Horror series have spoke about the huge wealth of characters and stories that the game has created that you’re able to draw upon when writing the books; what’s it like working in a pre-established universe like that?

It’s both a challenge and a source of inspiration. I want to make sure my work measures up to the legacy of stories that have come before me. I hope readers have an experience that is familiar but surprising. I want readers who play the games to feel as if they are diving into another form of the same immersive universe. The books ideally work two ways: readers will want to play more games, and gamers will want to read more books. As the Arkham universe deepens, it becomes a fountain of new possibilities. I never felt limited in what I might write.

You definitely seem to be a big fan of horror, and you write it very well. What horror stories have been some of your favourites and might have had some influence upon your own work?

As I mentioned earlier, I’ve read Lovecraft and many writers influenced by the Cthulhu mythos. It’s a rich legacy to explore because it’s shrouded in ambiguity and strangeness. It’s hard for me to pick favourites, because my answer would change every day. I’m a big fan of the stories of Clark Ashton Smith, Fritz Leiber, T.E.D. Klein, Robert Bloch, Michael Shea, Ramsey Campbell, Caitlin Kiernan, Stephen King, and Thomas Ligotti. Other writers whose work I find myself returning to include: Daphne du Maurier, Shirley Jackson, Elizabeth Hand, Sarah Waters, Margaret Atwood, Anne Rice, and Octavia Butler. I could go on and on.

If people enjoyed this book is there anything you can tell us about to expect in the future, or any upcoming projects that you might be able to tease us with?

I think I’ll always work with an element of horror. I like blending genres. In the past, I’ve mixed historical and westerns with horror. In the future, I’d like to try science fiction horror.

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A Venom Dark and Sweet by Judy I. Lin - Book Review

 

'A great evil has come to the kingdom of Dàxi. The Banished Prince has returned to seize power, his rise to the dragon throne aided by the mass poisonings that have kept the people bound in fear and distrust.

'Ning, a young but powerful shénnóng-shi—a wielder of magic using the ancient and delicate art of tea-making—has escorted Princess Zhen into exile. Joining them is the princess' loyal bodyguard, Ruyi, and Ning's newly healed sister, Shu. Together the four young women travel throughout the kingdom in search of allies to help oust the invaders and take back Zhen's rightful throne.

'But the golden serpent still haunts Ning's nightmares with visions of war and bloodshed. An evil far more ancient than the petty conflicts of men has awoken, and all the magic in the land may not be enough to stop it from consuming the world...'

I really enjoyed A Magic Steeped in Poison, the first part of this duology, and the book featured on my list of best books for 2022. As such, I was really looking forward to seeing what Judy I. Lin would do with the second part of the story; especially as the first book seemed to indicate that what was coming next would be quite different.

The first book saw Ning, a young woman from a remote rural village, travelling to the capital city to take part in a competition to find the next shénnóng-shi, a magic user that uses tea making to craft their powers, that will advise the royal family. Ning, who had faked her credentials to get in, simply wanted to win in order to help find help for her younger sister, who had been poisoned in a series of attacks that are threatening people across the kingdom. Knowing that if she wins she can get whatever help she needs, she enters a dangerous world of lies, intrigue, and double crosses.

And whilst she does well during the competition, even coming to form something of a friendship and mutual respect with the princess, things go horribly wrong when an exiled general performs a coup, and ousts the princess from her throne. Worse still, Ning is framed for multiple crimes. Forced to go on the run, Ning, the princess, and the princess' lover and bodyguard flee the capital. Travelling home, Ning uses the magic she's learned to cure her sister, and the four young women set out to find a solution to the issues facing the kingdom.

And this is where this second book begins. Where the first seemed to be something of a fantasy take on competitions like The Apprentice, with a group of young hopefuls competing for power and position, slowly whittling down the competition and impressing the judges, this book has none of that. The tone changes dramatically. Instead of court intrigue and mystery we have a quest to save the kingdom; one that involves searching for mysterious figures, gathering ancient relics, and preparing to fight an evil god. Despite sounding like this book should have nothing in common with the first, it feels like the perfect continuation. Things have changed, dramatically so, but it absolutely feels right for the story.

One of the things that's really wonderful about this second book is that is expands the world Lin has created. The first book was pretty much set in one city, and mostly in one area of that city (the royal palace). And whilst we got to meet people from all over the country, and learned a lot about the rest of Dàxi from conversations and small pieces of lore dropped throughout the book, we never really got to see it or experience it. This book changes that, as Ning and her companions travel to several new locations; some of which border of the fantastical.

Much of the first book felt like a story that could take place in the real world too, with the magic existing in what seemed to be a fairly fantasy light environment. The second book, in contrast, has magic possession, alternate planes, a living forest, ancient warriors, and evil gods trying to return to corporeal form. It goes hard on the fantastical parts, and because so long was spent on getting readers used to the more recognisable and realistic parts, as well as the characters, it became a lot easier to accept the wilder elements.

But even through all of these new developments, changes, and fantastical moments, it's still a story about Ning; and she's still very much at the heart of the book. Her mission has changed, but she's still finding herself caught up in something that she never wanted. She's pushed in ways that she never expected, and one of the best things about this book is her learning that she's much more powerful, more intelligent, and more important than she ever really gave herself credit for. She spends much of the first book doubting herself, unsure if she's doing the right thing, but here she's really come into her own, she's taking an active role, and proves why she's the best choice to be the royal shénnóng-shi.

This proves to be a pleasant, enjoyable conclusion to the story that goes in directions I honestly couldn't have predicted. Lin seemed to be creating a certain kind of story with the first book, and manages to completely subvert my expectations at every turn with this one. And whilst the book is very different, it proves to be a fantastic conclusion to the story.

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Wolf Manor – Film Review

Originally published on Set The Tape

Werewolf movies seem to have one of two approaches: they either play things completely seriously, and make things dark, distressing, and gory, or they inject a little bit of humour into things to try and lighten the mood somewhat.

Films like An American Werewolf in London manage this second option perfectly, giving the film moments of genuine humour and levity, whilst also making it truly terrifying at times. Sometimes it can skew a bit too far into comedy, giving us films like Werewolves Within, which felt like a comedy film with some monsters thrown into the mix. The new British-made horror film Wolf Manor is trying to create a werewolf movie with some fun, but seems to play it a bit too safe, and never really veers far enough into horror, or comedy, to really excel at either.

Wolf Manor drops viewers into the final days of a film shoot, where a small team of people have stayed on at an old manor house in the middle of nowhere, past their agreed upon time, in order to get the final few pick-up shots to finish their Gothic vampire movie. The crew are tired and ready to go home, with the past month of shooting having drained many of them. It doesn’t help that the film is the final hurrah of old horror legend Oliver (James Fleet), who seems to find it difficult to get into character, has problems with his fake teeth, and keeps sneaking off for a drink whenever he’s not being supervised.

Determined to make the film a success, a couple of horror magazine reporters are stopping by the shoot to try and promote the movie. However, the locals warn them that they shouldn’t go up to the isolated manor house on the full moon. As the moon rises the bodies begin to mount, and the cast and crew discover that they’re under siege from a creature right out of their nightmares.

Wolf Manor knows it’s a bit of a campy, silly film. It makes it clear straight away when the film begins with classic horror credits, with a model plane flying around a spinning globe, and old style titles appearing on the screen. The movie within the movie is a love letter to old films from Hammer and Universal, and the rest of the movie seems to embrace many of the tropes and references that fill most werewolf films.

There are comments about the pub nearby being like The Slaughtered Lamb from An American Werewolf in London, and the locals inside all go silent and creepy when outsiders come in. There’s the wolf head cane from the old Lon Chaney movie, and warnings to stay on the road when out at night. If you’ve watched a few werewolf movies you’re going to recognise the trappings of the genre here, and will probably appreciate their inclusion.

As mentioned before though, the film isn’t just a horror movie, and it tries to inject quite a bit of humour into things. Whilst some of it works well, such as a visual gag of an ever expanding pile of balls every time the camera comes back onto a certain character, other times it feels a bit too forced, like the contents of the old wooden chest the pub landlord brings out. Comedy is always a difficult area, as you can never guarantee just what is going to make people laugh, and can end up with a film that people hate. It’s perhaps because of this that Wolf Manor never quite seems to be comfortable to push the comedy too much, relying on giving the audience a smile and a small chuckle, rather than going for out and out laughs.

On the horror side of things the film does pretty good, with some gory, surprising moments when the werewolf attacks. Some of it is a bit predictable, and you know that the character carefully sneaking outside to try and escape is going to get grabbed by the beast, but it’s always done well enough that the moments feel frightening and awful for the characters. The film doesn’t skimp on the blood, guts, and dismembered body parts, and every time a character gets snatched you know that something terrible is happening to them.

The werewolf design is pretty decent too. Rather than going more wolf-like, the film almost goes for a bestial, ape-like wolf, and the face brought to mind the vampires from From Dusk Till Dawn or the hellhounds in Buffy the Vampire Slayer more than it did something from The Wolfman. Whilst I’m sure there are some who would want to see a more classic wolf-like look, the design felt different and interesting enough to stand out, and showed that the design team put some effort into their creature effects.

Wolf Manor is an interesting and entertaining horror film that doesn’t really do anything new or different, and seems more focused on just having a bit of fun. The people who made the film are clearly fans of the genre, and that love comes across in the film. Wolf Manor doesn’t take itself seriously, and if you’re looking for a film that’s a bit of decent fun that will keep you entertained for a few hours you could pick a lot worse than this.

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