The New Vampyres of Literature

March 1, 7:27 PMEast Bay Literary ExaminerTony R. Rodriguez

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the East Bay Literary Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Ever wonder how some Hollywood celebrities maintain such a youthful complexion? Sure, most of the Hollywood elite have easier access to the top advanced forms of skin renewal creams and cosmetic surgery options. But what if some of Hollywood’s A-list celebs maintained their healthy glow not because of facial skin products or creative surgery, but simply because they were vampyres?

Best-selling authors Adrienne Barbeau and Michael Scott have partnered together to create Vampyres of Hollywood, a lusciously explosive novel that artistically and intelligently does more for the vampyre genre in literature than Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series could ever do.

BELA LUGOSI in the 1931 classic DRACULA 

Forget those old concepts on vampyrism, those comical exploits provided to the populace by actors like Max Schreck, Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, Tom Cruise, Kiefer Sutherland, and Gary Oldman. Adrienne Barbeau and Michael Scott have engineered a fresh perspective on today’s vampyre. Rather than view the vampyre as a type of demon or fallen angel or some night-crawling monster bent on an insatiable lust for blood, consider vampyres to be part of human evolution, one species that has perhaps branched off of the Homo sapien line. According to their book, these evolved humans can be known as Homo sanguineous.

In the novel, Ovsanna Moore is a famed Hollywood actress nicknamed the “scream queen” for her legacy in blockbuster horror films (including the ones that went straight to DVD). She’s a firm and ferocious woman of power who runs Anticipation Studios, a small movie production company that makes cult horror films. Moore’s also a 500 year-old vampyre in charge of Clan Dakhanavar, the same clan who’s staked its claim on Hollywood and its surrounding areas. Moore is viewed as the Chatelaine of Hollywood by all the vampyres in the geographic region, which means she’s essentially the head vampyre in Hollywood.

INTERNATIONAL MOVIE DATABASE 

Officer Peter King is the Beverly Hills police detective investigating three recent killings. With his good looks and quick charm, King has a deep desire to make his presence greater known in the Hollywood circles. He secretly wants to make his mark among the A-list celebs of Hollywood; he even has his own IMDb webpage.

But both Chatelaine Ovsanna Moore and Detective Peter King have a problem on their hands: these three recent killings are ominously connected. It turns out there’s a Vampyre Hunter in the greater Los Angeles area. Thus far, the killer, dubbed by the media as the “Cinema Slayer”, has killed three celebrities who were secretly vampyres created by Ovsanna Moore. Jason Eddings was impaled on an Oscar he had just won hours before his death; Mai Goulart was beheaded; and Tommy Gordon was believed to have drowned. Clearly, the Vampyre Hunter is sending a message to all the Vampyres of Hollywood, but namely the message is intended for Chatelaine Ovsanna Moore. Eventually Moore and King partner up to form an “unholy” alliance in order to stop this Vampyre Hunter. And once they do, the narrative explodes into thrilling layers of suspense, action and gore.

Not since Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles, has there been a better tale of the undead than through the methodically pulsating and sharp prose of Adrienne Barbeau and Michael Scott. And though Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series has already done wonders with book sales and made it into film, I’m certain that Vampyres of Hollywood will outlive the much over-hyped Twilight narratives. This is merely one man’s humble opinion. Twilight fans should read the Barbeau and Scott book for themselves and come to their own conclusions. But if most Twilight fans tend to be more moviegoers than book readers, just wait a bit. Who knows, we might also soon see Vampyres of Hollywood on the big screen. Now that would be something!

Copyright © 2009 Tony R. Rodriguez, Examiner.com