Review of It's Hard to Be a Vampire
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T V Dharani
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Review of It's Hard to Be a Vampire
[Following is a volunteer review of "It's Hard to Be a Vampire" by Viktoria Faust.]
It's Hard to Be a Vampire by Viktoria Faust is a collection of short stories. A total of nine books focus on other worldly creatures, as you might have guessed from the title itself. While I am not a huge fan of short stories in general, this book definitely made me change my mind slightly. Faust had me glued to the edge of my seat, and I was getting impatient and excited, which was a first for me.
The first story is a tale about a beautiful but fat woman who is tired of her lifestyle and encounters a handsome vampire. There are two stories with the names “Gallery of Horrors” and “The Painting Strikes Back, “which are about a disturbed painter who uses unique techniques to bring life into his paintings, and the other one is about the paintings striking back with vengeance. This would be your first dose of a gory, detail-filled story line that will get progressively disturbing in the next stories. There is a story about a vampire hunter named “Do Vampires Dream of Slaughtered Sheep?” which I really liked as it had a depth of emotion in the lead character. The one that made me swallow in fear was "Narcissus," the story of a woman who is so obsessed with herself, almost in a demonic sort of way. “Quietly They Rise From The Fog” can make you fear lakes or rivers in winter, for they are endless and reek of death, the fog just adding more to the mystery. The first one and the vampire hunter story were, in my humble opinion, the best of the lot as far as story plots go. There is a cliché in the title, but nothing in the story of “Behind the Door," which basically is a monster just separated by a door. But I was genuinely confused by how it fit into the meaning. What happens to the ink in the pen of an author is the story of “The Invisible Ink." Last but not least, “That Bloody Useless Bloodless Body" is about an author who meets one of his fans, but it comes to a disastrous end and a discovery—a full circle, to be honest.
It was like a slow-burn movie for me. I really enjoyed it. As the stories progressed, I started understanding them better and better. However, the book could have done better by giving more background information, especially the river story. Only the first story is free of any gory details or true violence. All the others have explicit, detailed plots filled with blood and gore. I couldn’t find many errors; the book was definitely edited professionally, which impressed me because short stories can be easily overlooked, but to be edited this well shows how good the author is.
Finally, for the professionally edited collection of stories, I give it a rating of 4 out of 4 stars and an overall rating of 5 out of 5 stars. The stories are great, and I definitely recommend them to whoever has the stomach for gory details. I would caution readers below the age of 16 due to the explicit content. The book is definitely not for easily offended and sensitive hearts. Additionally, there might be some religious elements that might offend a few groups or communities of people. Please read the full description of the book before choosing it.
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It's Hard to Be a Vampire
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
It's Hard to Be a Vampire by Viktoria Faust is a collection of short stories. A total of nine books focus on other worldly creatures, as you might have guessed from the title itself. While I am not a huge fan of short stories in general, this book definitely made me change my mind slightly. Faust had me glued to the edge of my seat, and I was getting impatient and excited, which was a first for me.
The first story is a tale about a beautiful but fat woman who is tired of her lifestyle and encounters a handsome vampire. There are two stories with the names “Gallery of Horrors” and “The Painting Strikes Back, “which are about a disturbed painter who uses unique techniques to bring life into his paintings, and the other one is about the paintings striking back with vengeance. This would be your first dose of a gory, detail-filled story line that will get progressively disturbing in the next stories. There is a story about a vampire hunter named “Do Vampires Dream of Slaughtered Sheep?” which I really liked as it had a depth of emotion in the lead character. The one that made me swallow in fear was "Narcissus," the story of a woman who is so obsessed with herself, almost in a demonic sort of way. “Quietly They Rise From The Fog” can make you fear lakes or rivers in winter, for they are endless and reek of death, the fog just adding more to the mystery. The first one and the vampire hunter story were, in my humble opinion, the best of the lot as far as story plots go. There is a cliché in the title, but nothing in the story of “Behind the Door," which basically is a monster just separated by a door. But I was genuinely confused by how it fit into the meaning. What happens to the ink in the pen of an author is the story of “The Invisible Ink." Last but not least, “That Bloody Useless Bloodless Body" is about an author who meets one of his fans, but it comes to a disastrous end and a discovery—a full circle, to be honest.
It was like a slow-burn movie for me. I really enjoyed it. As the stories progressed, I started understanding them better and better. However, the book could have done better by giving more background information, especially the river story. Only the first story is free of any gory details or true violence. All the others have explicit, detailed plots filled with blood and gore. I couldn’t find many errors; the book was definitely edited professionally, which impressed me because short stories can be easily overlooked, but to be edited this well shows how good the author is.
Finally, for the professionally edited collection of stories, I give it a rating of 4 out of 4 stars and an overall rating of 5 out of 5 stars. The stories are great, and I definitely recommend them to whoever has the stomach for gory details. I would caution readers below the age of 16 due to the explicit content. The book is definitely not for easily offended and sensitive hearts. Additionally, there might be some religious elements that might offend a few groups or communities of people. Please read the full description of the book before choosing it.
******
It's Hard to Be a Vampire
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Untouchable by Charles Alexander
