I read one of Drac Von Stoller’s chapbooks before and was not impressed with it at all. So, when I decided to read “Deathmas day,” I did not enter into it with the highest hopes. But, judging by the name, it seemed to be a story related to the season so I thought it might provide an entertaining diversion with a Christmas theme.
In “Deathmas day,” the reader is introduced to the family of Count Drac Von Stoller. The Von Stoller family celebrates Halloween in the same manner that human’s celebrate Christmas. First, they decorate a skeleton with ornaments and then sit around for a special holiday dinner followed by the opening of gifts. This short story details the events of that quiet evening of celebration in the vampire family along with the odd presents and meal that one might expect from such a ghoulish family.
This is the second short chapbook I have read from Drac Von Stoller and this one is no better than the other one I read. Not only is the story uninteresting, the grammar is poor and the sentences are often choppy. Any attempt at building a narrative is undone by the poor writing that simply turned me off and left me just wanting to finish the story and move on to the next one. Fortunately, the story itself is only five pages long so it was over quickly. I try to find something positive in what I read and am almost always entertained to some extent, but “Deathmas day” just completely missed the mark for me.
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