Review: "Vampire Romance" by Kim Newman

Grade: B+

Like many men who have a significant other that enjoys the Twilight franchise, I have been subjected to what counts as "vampire romance" in this day of age.  Despite the RiffTrax commentary that I plug into, I have been unable to escape the sheer banality of it.  So you can guess how happy I was when I found out that Kim Newman decided to take a stake to the recent trends in vampire fiction.  What he gave us is an amusing mystery with some social commentary.

Published in the new, Titan Books printing of The Bloody Red Baron, "Vampire Romance" is set in 1923.  The Central Power have been defeated and Dracula has been exiled to an island where the sun never sets.  This has left a power vacuum in the vampire community.  Elders gather at Mildew Manor to pick the next "King of the Cats", but the Diogenes club would rather the position remain empty.  They have tasked their agent Edwin Winthrop to recruit Geneviève Dieudonné and have her pose as a claimant to observe the proceedings and what influence the costumed criminal "Crook" has on the next vampire king.  If his choice gets elected it could make his criminal organization (and nascent political movement that has similarities with the anti-vampire Nazis in Germany) a threat to the Empire.  Of course all this backroom dealings means nothing to the resident vampire-loving, teenage girl who is convinced that one of the vampires present is her soul mate from a past life.  Add an unexpected murder, a Japanese schoolgirl vampire and an ancient dictator and you got yourself a novella.

The story was very funny and I enjoyed Newman's response to the hunky vampires of the 21st century.  To me Newman's vampires are more realistic then what you usually find in fiction.  Despite their immortality and powers, they are still human.  They can be petty, stupid and vicious...but also loyal, intelligent and reasonable.  The twist at the end when the killer is revealed is also a nice touch, but the entire story probably should have been published outside of The Bloody Red Baron.  After reading about an elder American vampire turning into mist so he could enter a German tank and slaughter its crew only to be incinerated by a giant flame thrower, the more humorous (even if dark) "Vampire Romance" did not mesh with the horror present in the novel that preceded it.  The beginning chapter where Geneviève gets a haircut probably could have been shorter, even if it did set the scene.

Despite some small issues, "Vampire Romances" was a delightful commentary on how horror is presented to the masses and if you do get a copy of the Titan Books printing of The Bloody Red Baron then I recommend that you keep reading into 1923.

*       *       *

Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a volunteer editor for Alt Hist and a contributor to Just Below the Law. His fiction can be found at Echelon Press, Jake's Monthly and his own writing blog. When not writing he works as an attorney and enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana.

Review: "Anno Dracula: The Bloody Red Baron" by Kim Newman

Grade: A

Creatures from our darkest nightmares are unleashed on the closest thing to hell on Earth from human history.  Monsters own the skies and tanks can be brought down by a single, blood-thirsty soldier.  Women surrender their silver for the war effort and creatures lurk in No Man's Land that you could not imagine.  This is World War I envisioned by horror and alternate history author Kim Newman.  This is Anno Dracula: The Bloody Red Baron.

Some backstory for those not familiar with the Anno Dracula series.  The Bloody Red Baron is the sequel to the first book in the series, Anno Dracula.  The series is ann alternate history, except the point of divergence comes from literary history and not real history.  In the first book, the heroes in Dracula fail to defeat the world's most famous vampire.  The Count goes on to marry Queen Victoria, becoming Price Consort of the British Empire.  The upper crust of British society willingly become vampires, while older vampires step out into the moonlight (because sunlight is bad for them you know) feeling comfortable that no one is going to stab them in the heart with a stake.  Dracula's reign, however, is far from peaceful and a revolution sends him into exile.

Now Dracula is back and he has the combined armies of the Central Powers under his command.  In this alternate World War I, vampires fight on both sides and their unique ability to see at night means the war is fought 24/7.  Silver is hoarded by both sides as it is one of the few substances lethal to the undead.  I am glad I finished this book before watching episode 189 of Mythbusters which featured silver bullets.  Because silver tends to shrink and deform as it cools after molding, silver bullets may acquire shape irregularities that affect their flight.  This means they are incredibly inaccurate, which makes the idea of a machine gun loaded with a silver bullet every seventh bullet an ineffective weapon against a horde of fanged troopers.

The Bloody Red Baron begins in the winter of 1918 and everyone on the Allied side of the lines is awaiting the dreaded Spring Offensive, the Kaiserschlacht.  A million men have been freed from fighting on the Eastern Front and are being moved for one last push in the West.  An important piece of the offensive is Manfred von Richthofen and his all-vampire Jagdgeschwader 1.  Charles Beauregard, member of the ruling cabal of the Diogenes Club, has sent his protege Edwin Winthrop to find out what the German's plan is for their squadron of undead aces.  Kate Reed, vampire reporter, is also on the tail, but it will be vampire Edgar Poe who will get to meet Germany's secret weapon and witness first-hand the next evolution of vampire-kind.

The Bloody Red Baron is exceptionally well-written, gore-filled, alternate history masterpiece.  There were scenes in the book, such as Isolde's grisly performance in a dilapidated Paris theater, that sent my imagination into some dark places.  Unlike the prissy, sparkled vampires that infect popular culture today, Newman's vampires are bloody and dark.  They do not just prefer human blood, they desperately need it.  Yet despite its horror setting, one can't help but notice the humor in the over-arcing story.  The Bloody Red Baron is amusing as it is horrifying.

Like Back in the USSA, Newman's collaboration with Eugene Byrne, The Bloody Red Baron features a great deal of intertextuality.  Historic events and people are combined with fictional characters  from popular culture.  Part of the fun of the novel is to try and figure out all of the references.  An appendix is provided in this edition, but it is only for characters that Newman feels were too obscure.  After reading a more complete list on the Internet, it made me ashamed about how little-read I am compared to Newman.

Despite being separate timelines, I cannot help comparing The Bloody Red Baron to By the Blood of Heroes by Joseph Nassise.  Both alternate histories are set in World War I, have steampunk elements and feature horror monsters being used as weapons.  Both novels also feature Manfred von Richtofen, the Red Baron, as one of the antagonists.  In By the Blood of Heroes, Richtofen is an egoistical, reanimated monster bent on not just winning the war, but conquering the world.  If this presentation of the Baron seems like a cliche super-villain, that was intentional.  On the other hand, Newman's vampiric Richtofen is much more straightforward.  He is a killer, pure and simple.  There is nothing else but the war, the fight, the kill.  He has no plans for the future, he lives for the hunt.  Personally I think I liked this version of Richtofen better.  He was more frightening as an undead serial-killer then as a power-mad zombie.

I highly recommend reading The Bloody Red Baron and if you get the Titan Books edition you will also get the new novella, Vampire Romance, included in the back.  I will be writing a review of that story next week, so stay tuned.

*       *       *

Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a volunteer editor for Alt Hist and a contributor to Just Below the Law. His fiction can be found at Echelon Press and Jake's Monthly Anthology. When not writing he works as an attorney and enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana.

Preview: "Anno Dracula: The Bloody Red Baron" by Kim Newman

“How could World War I be made even grislier? Add vampires, as Newman does with great skill in this sequel to his Anno Dracula.” – Booklist

Written by the critically acclaimed novelist Kim Newman, The Bloody Red Baron [Titan Books, April 2012] is the eagerly anticipated follow-up to the bestselling Victorian vampire novel, Anno Dracula. Filled with literary and historical characters from the early 20th century, this second book in the groundbreaking series on the War of the Great Powers in Europe sees an alternate Europe in a pitched war between the living and the undead!

It is 1918 and Dracula is commander-in-chief of the armies of Germany and Austria-Hungary. The Diogenes Club is at the heart of the British Intelligence and Charles Beauregard and his protégé Edwin Winthrop go head-to-head with the lethal vampire flying machine that is the Bloody Red Baron.

This brand-new edition of The Bloody Red Baron includes a special added bonus: a lengthy new novella, Vampire Romance, which is set in the 1920s between the events of The Bloody Red Baron and the third novel in Anno Dracula Series, Dracula Cha Cha Cha. This volume also boasts intriguing new annotations from Kim Newman and an action-packed outline for a film version of The Bloody Red Baron called Red Skies.

On first publication in 1992, Kim Newman’s brilliantly imagined story Anno Dracula was praised by critics and won numerous prizes, including the prestigious International Horror Guild Award for Best Novel. Now, due to the modern reader’s fascination with vampires and speculative histories, this enduring classic Dracula series is brought to a new generation of fans.

Praise for Anno Dracula:

“It was the first mash-up of literature, history and vampires, and now, in a world in which vampires are everywhere, it's still the best, and its bite is just as sharp. Compulsory reading, commentary, and mindgame: glorious."  — NEIL GAIMAN

“Politics, horror and romance are woven together in this brilliantly imagined and realized novel.” — Time Out

Anno Dracula The multi-award winning series depicts an alternative history in which the heroes of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula fail to stop Count Dracula’s conquest of Great Britain. Titan will publish a brand new edition of the third book, Dracula Cha Cha Cha, in Fall 2012. The eagerly awaited fourth novel, Johnny Alucard, will be published for the first time in 2013.

Kim Newman is a London-based author and movie critic. He makes frequent appearances on radio and TV. He has won the Bram Stoker, International Horror Guild, British Fantasy and British Science Fiction Awards and been nominated for the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards. He writes regularly for Empire Magazine and contributes to The Guardian, The Times, Time Out and others.

*          *          *

Titan Books was kind enough to consider me when sending out review copies of The Bloody Red Baron, so stay tuned because I will be posting a review of the novel in the near future.

*       *       *

Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a volunteer editor for the Alt Hist magazine and a contributor to Just Below the Law. One of his short stories will be published in the upcoming Echelon Press anthology, Once Upon a Clockwork Tale (2013). When not writing he works as an attorney in the state of Illinois and enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana.