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Book Review: Siren Queen by Nghi Vo

cover art for Siren Queen by Nghi Vo

 

Siren Queen by Nghi Vo

Tor.com, 2022

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250788832

Available: Hardcover, paperback, library binding, KIndle edition, audiobook

Buy:    Bookshop.org  | Amazon.com

 

 

This is not so much a horror novel as it is an homage to classic monster movies and a critique of golden-age Hollywood. Readers looking for blood and gore will not find it here. What they will find is a dark, beautifully written warning about the dangers of ambition. Told in first person by the protagonist, the story reads like a memoir.

 

CK is a Chinese-American girl obsessed with acting in the movies, at the beginnings of the talkies. She is working bit parts for children off the books for a director at Wolfe Studios, who wants to present her as his new discovery once she turns 18. CK is impatient and tracks down a retired actress who gives her information that will get her an audience, and a contract, with Oberlin Wolfe, using blackmail photos. Due to this leverage she is able to demand that she not be cast in stereotypical roles for Asian women (an issue faced by real-life Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong in this time period).. She takes the stage name Luli Wei, a name that happens to also be her sister’s.

 

Getting a studio contract is similar to making a bargain with faeries. In exchange for fame and fortune, the studio owner controls your life (this is a fairly accurate description of the Hollywood studio system at the time, even without faeries’ involvement). There’s even a version of Tam Lin that takes place within the story.

 

Directors don’t know how to cast CK since she can’t be cast in stereotypical roles, but finally she is cast as a monster, the Siren Queen, and the movie and its sequels are blockbuster hits. Despite her ability to cause scandal and her defiance, the studio can’t get rid of her. CK has a lesbian romance with rising star Emmaline Sauvignon which the studio ends because it interferes with their narrative of the kind of person Emmaline is supposed to be. Later, she gets involved with a scriptwriter hired to do edits on the script of the last Siren Queen movie.

 

Despite knowing her contract would eventually have negative consequences for her, I couldn’t help loving CK for her ambition and refusal to let studio officials and directors walk on her, and for her own love of playing the role of a vengeful monster and loving it. The classic monster movies are clearly an inspiration to the author, and the critique of racist stereotypes and queer erasure in casting at that time is something I am glad to see brought to the attention of modern readers. Highly recommended.

 

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

Book Review: Classic Monsters Unleashed edited by James Aquilone

Classic Monsters Unleashed edited by James Aquilone

Black Spot Books, 2022

ISBN-13: 9781645481218

Available: Kindle, Audible, paperback, hardback Bookshop.org | Amazon.com )

 

Classic Monsters Unleashed includes one poem that opens the anthology, followed by twenty-nine stories featuring, well, classic monsters. Dracula, the Invisible Man, Frankenstein, the Mummy, and the Wolf-man are included in this homage to classic monsters. The list does not end there. Nosferatu, Captain Kronos, the Headless Horseman, the Blob and more, all find space in this anthology. I have narrowed my favourites down to my top ten, but that was difficult. Each story deserves its own time in the spotlight, really.



In Jonathan Mayberry’s “Hollenlegion,” Nazis search for the allegedly abandoned island of Dr. Moreau. Simon Bestwick’s “Mummy Calls” is one of the best, and most humorous, stories in the collection. Written as a submission letter to the anthology editor, Simon explains the story of the “Manchester Mummy” and how real she actually is. Lucy A. Snyder gives us a unique story of the Phantom of the Opera meeting Jack the Ripper in “The Viscount and the Phantom.” I do not want to give anything away, so I will just leave it at that. In “Modern Monsters” by Monique Snyman, a whistleblower contacts the crew of paranormal reality show Modern Monsters to document a science experiment gone wrong. There is some body horror in this one, but not so much that it gets too gruesome. “Hacking the Horseman’s Code” by Lisa Morton is a modern day take on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Gil contracts a Headless Horseman AI for Halloween festivities, much to his wife’s chagrin. To mess with a political rival, he alters the AI’s programming, which backfires spectacularly. Maurice Broaddus gives us a unique vision with his “The Invisible Man: The Fire This Time.” Broaddus weaves his story through a societal racial critique that is well done and very powerful. Mercedes M. Yardley’s “The Picture of Doriana Gray” is an excellent gender-swapped take on The Picture of Dorian Gray. Crystal Sapphire, a popular social media influencer, makes a new friend who in turn influences her. In “Da Noise, Da Funk, Da Blob” by Linda D. Addison, we are presented with the Blob in a new light and Its purpose for landing on Earth. Leverett Butts and Dacre Stoker’s “Enter, the Dragon,” told through text chats, emails, YouTube transcriptions, and CCTV coverage in the shadow of COVID, tells the story of a man kidnapped by an underground group to resurrect Vlad Tepes. It’s Dracula with a dash of the X-Files. Rounding out the anthology is Joe R. Lansdale with “God of the Razor,” focusing on an antique dealer who unexpectedly meets with Jack the Ripper. 

 

Other authors who contributed great additions to this anthology include Gary A. Braunbeck, Ramsey Campbell, JG Faherty, Geneve Flynn, Owl Goingback, Michael Knost, Alessandro Manzetti, Rena Mason, Richard Christian Matheson, Seanan McGuire, John Palisano, Lindy Ryan, Carlie St. George, David Surface, Gaby Triana, Tim Waggoner, Paul Wilson, Kelsea Yu, Sean Eads, and Joshua Viola.

 

I would be remiss if I did not mention the incredible artwork. Artists include Zac Atkinson, Frank Frazetta, Jeremiah Lambert, Sam Shearan, and Colton Worley. 

 

Pick this up if you want an anthology that pays homage to both the traditional classic monsters, as well as ones that do not get much attention.  Highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

 

 

 

 

Women in Horror Month: Graphic Novel Review: An Elvira-straganza, Part 2! The Shape of Elvira, vol. 1 by David Avallone, art by Fran Strukan (issues 1-3) and Pasquale Qualano (issue 4)

cover art for The Shape of Elvira by David Avallone

Amazon.com )

 

The Shape of Elvira, vol. 1 by David Avallone, art by Fran Strukan (issues 1-3) and Pasquale Qualano (issue 4)

Dynamite, 2021

ISBN-13: 9781524111977

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition, comiXology (for single and TPB digital issues), preorder (release date is May 4, 2021)

 

The Shape of Elvira is a one-volume detour from the main Elvira series, reviewed in part 1 of our Elvira-straganza. This limited series collects issues 1-4.

 

Issue #1: Chapter One: Diving In: Elvira has landed a role in “The Heart is a Black Lagoon”, an art film about the romance of a human and a gill monster. Her co-star, Gill, is introduced as a method actor, preferring to remain in costume and character at all times. Director Billy Bullworth runs a tight ship, so there is no real opportunity for the stars to get to know each other. Will there be an award, or something else in their future with this peculiar film?

 

Issue #2: Chapter Two: Love Means Never Having to Say You’re Soggy: After an intense day of shooting, that glass of champagne goes right to her head. She dreams of a romantic, yet silly, rendezvous with her scaly co-star, only to wake up finding him hovering over Elvira in in her bed. The Queen of Halloween’s co-star makes a swift retreat as Elvira tries to put things together from the evening. The issue ends with a car chase between Elvira and… the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife?

 

Issue #3: Chapter Three: Waterwhirled: Elvira, and everyone else, discovers Gill’s secret. Plus, a murder has taken place on the set.

 

Issue #4: Chapter Four: It’s A Soft G: Gill and Elvira awaken after a blow dart incident to find themselves strapped to metal tables. When they discover the film was a front for something far more nefarious, everyone learns more about Gill and just what he can do. A breakout of epic proportion ensues in the conclusion to this four-part miniseries.

 

I’m glad this was a short departure from the main Elvira series. It was fun and campy, and included a little bit of actual romance. I think it had just enough to warrant a separate storyline, but I don’t think it would have made a good addition to the main series. I would recommend this title to those readers who want to read everything in a series. Highly recommended for Elvira fans and lovers of campy horror.

Contains: a plunging neckline, plenty of innuendo, and puns galore

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker