In Vengeance, a man does the unthinkable to strike back at the vampires who destroyed his family.
By C. Michael Forsyth
I finally got a chance to read the book Vengeance, the first novel by Robert Cruchfield. I picked up a copy after serving on a panel with the author at the Undead Con organized by the Anne Rice Vampire Lestat Fan Club.
The back story here intrigued me. Crutchfield was a U.S. soldier fighting overseas during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan when he began reading Anne Rice’s vampire series in the base library. He was so inspired, an idea for a vampire novel of his own came to him. In a fan email to the author he mentioned what was then a vague aspiration to write. To his surprise the mistress of the macabre emailed him back within a few days and encouraged him to put his story on paper. And so he did.
The plot revolves around Jayden Endsley, a high school football coach In Las Vegas whose family is decimated by a pack of vampires. To seek revenge on the ruthless bloodsuckers, he does the unthinkable: He allows himself to be converted into a vampire so he can take the gang on. Before long, Jayden’s surviving family members join him among the ranks of the undead.
The book is fast-paced, well-written and many of the action sequences are especially vivid. The scene in which Jayden’s family is set upon by the vampire crew is genuinely horrifying. I liked the idea of an ordinary middle-class family suddenly becoming vampires. And there are touches of humor. After her conversion, Jayden’s teen daughter Katie comes out of the movie “Twilight” complaining about the corny manner in which vamps are portrayed.
My biggest complaint about the book is that after Jayden turns into a vampire, has no qualms about murdering innocent people. Nor does he think twice about converting loved ones – even his teenage daughter. This threw me for a loop because the hero’s personality appears to make the human-to-vampire transition intact.
There’s also one glaring plot flaw. The vamps target Jayden because he’s inadvertently come into possession of a book prized by their kind. Jayden, who knows the book is valuable and has it tucked away in a safe, has a chance to bargain for his family’s safety, yet inexplicably, he doesn’t do so. The vampires, likewise, could simply drop in on the Endsley household and use their mind-reading skills to get the book from Jayden. But they insist on doing things the hard way.
JESUS would be unlikely to condone the spilling — or drinking — of blood.
The book treads into controversial territory: Vampirism is linked to disciples of Jesus who consumed the Savior’s blood at the Last Supper.
This isn’t the first time an author has had Jesus mix it up with the undead. Previous writers have picked up on the similarity between elements of vampirism and the New Testament themes of blood-drinking, supernatural powers and return from the grave.
In some books, Jesus himself is a vampire, such as Shadows and Saints and The Last Days of Christ the Vampire. In other variations on the theme, Judas becomes a vampire, as in the movie “Dracula 2000,” or the soldiers who crucified the Messiah are cursed to walk the Earth forever as nosferatu. Sometimes, Jesus bats for the human team, most famously the movie “Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter,” a bizarre musical comedy about the Second Coming.
What I found a bit disconcerting in this book is how Jesus and his followers are portrayed. Hopped up on the blood of Jesus and endowed with super strength and speed, Saint Peter and other disciples take bloody revenge on those who put him to death, launching a sadistic killing spree that leaves Pontius Pilate, Herod and scores of others dead.
When Jesus returns from the grave and learns of the bloodbath, he tells Peter, “I cannot say I condone it.” You’d expect our Lord to take a firmer stance on mass slaughter! And you’d think if anything, drinking Jesus’ blood would make you more peace-loving.
Nevertheless, on the whole, I’d call it a successful and entertaining outing from a first-time author. Keep an eye out for Robert Crutchfield’s name. I have a feeling he’s just warming up.
The author of this article also wrote the acclaimed horror novel Hour of the Beast. In the opening chapter, a bride is raped by a werewolf on her wedding night. Then things get out of hand.
Hour of the Beast is available in hardcover and softcover at Amazon.com. But you can save $4 by clicking HERE! The Kindle version is just $7 and the Ebook is a measly $5. Be the first on your block to read this bone-chilling tale — before the motion picture hits the big screen.
SKIMPY Speedos are the preferred beach attire of Frenchmen, who usually wear them with no ill effects.
By C. Michael Forsyth
MIAMI — As 51-year-old French tourist Jean-Claude Rumiere strutted down Miami Beach in a Speedo, he hoped to dazzle lady beachgoers with the sight of his pudgy bod in all its glory. But that plan went up in smoke when his skimpy swimwear mysteriously burst into flame!
More than 20 eyewitnesses watched aghast as the businessman’s teensy bikini-style trunks became enveloped in what they describe as a “bright bluish blaze” and were reduced to ashes within seconds.
“The guy was waddling down the beach with his gut hanging out over his tight bathing suit and his ‘package’ on full display,” said eyewitness Bill Yerling, 38. “He obviously thought he looked great, but it was pretty gross. I covered my daughter’s eyes and a lot of people were glaring at him.
“Suddenly smoke started to come from his Speedo and it caught fire. The guy screamed his head off and ran into the water to put it out.”
Rumiere suffered second-degree burns on his buttocks and genitals, say police, who are investigating the bizarre August 12 incident.
Psychic researcher Lee-Anne Pryce calls it an apparent case of spontaneous human combustion or SHC. She believes that the hostile stares of dozens of beachgoers combined into highly focused psychic energy.
“It’s called the social pyrokinetic effect, and it’s believed to be responsible for about 1 in 5 cases of SHC,” explained Atlanta-based Pryce.
“We all have heard of the experiment in which hundreds of college students were instructed to concentrate on a candle in the middle of a stadium and ‘will’ it to light. Famously, they succeeded. In the Miami case, something very similar occurred. The only difference was that the energy was directed unconsciously.”
Pryce recounted a 1972 case in which a British bride burst into flame at the altar as several of the groom’s former girlfriends stared angrily at her.
“In that instance, the long, flowing gown went up like a Roman candle and the victim was quickly incinerated,” the expert noted. “Most cases of SHC are fatal. What probably saved Mr. Rumiere is that the article of clothing that caught fire was so small.”
Copyright C. Michael Forsyth
If you enjoyed this mind-bending story by C. Michael Forsyth, check out his collection of bizarre news, available on Kindle and in other eBook formats.
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The author of this article also wrote the acclaimed horror novel Hour of the Beast. In the opening chapter, the unthinkable happens. Then things get out of hand.
Hour of the Beast is available in hardcover and softcover at Amazon.com. But you can save $4 by clicking HERE! The Kindle version is just $7 and the Ebook is a measly $5. Be the first on your block to read this bone-chilling tale — before the motion picture hits the big screen.
TISSUE samples were taken from baby elephant found frozen on the ship.
By C. Michael Forsyth
GOTEBORG, Sweden — An extensive study of the mitochondrial DNA from 17 mammals discovered dead aboard a mysterious Noah’s Ark-like vessel last year has yielded proof that it originated in a parallel universe, scientists say.
“Each of the mammals is genetically similar to its counterpart on Earth, except for a single mutation found in their mitochondrial DNA. This mutation occurred in their common ancestor approximately 80 million years ago,” revealed Dr. Alberik Hakansson, a leading expert in molecular phylogenetics and a co-author of the study.
“This is consistent with the theory that around that time the two universes diverged and developed two markedly different histories.”
Reports of the discovery of the ship frozen in Antarctic ice by Swedish researchers in February 2011 sparked an uproar in the scientific community. The vessel matched biblical descriptions of the Ark in its physical dimensions and contained representatives of scores of species. However, all the animals as well as the entire crew were frozen stiff, as reported on this site last year.
Scientists, Bible scholars and armchair archaeologists proposed a variety of theories to explain the bizarre find. Some Christian leaders asserted that the ship had been planted in the ice as an elaborate hoax cooked up by atheists. Others suggested that a copycat of Noah built his own ark and ventured out during the Flood with disastrous results.
THE MULTIVERSE theory holds that our universe is but one of a vast number.
The theory that the ship, dubbed Noah’s Ark 2 by researchers, hailed from an alternate universe was first proposed by quantum physicist Dr. Jeremy Blinkley, often described as the world’s smartest man. The concept that our universe is just one of many in a “multiverse” is accepted by many theoretical physicists. The expert says he’s “tickled pink” by the results of the year-long DNA study.
“This makes the search for the so-called God particle look like a 2nd grade science project,” Dr. Blinkley declared. “It simultaneously provides powerful proof of the multiverse theory, supports basic tenets of evolution and confirms the literal truth of the Bible.”
MITOCHONDRIAL DNA, found in every cell of a human or animal body, is a useful tool in tracing the ancestry of a species.
Mitochondrial DNA, discovered in the 1960s by Margit and Sylvan Nass with an electron microscope, is a form of DNA located in structures known as mitochondria found in every cell of the body.
“Mitochondrial DNA is inherited only from the mother,” explained Dr. Hakansson.“With ‘ordinary’ DNA the offspring gets a mix of genes from both parents creating a garbled genetic history.
“Since mitochondrial DNA allows you to trace a direct genetic line through the mother, that makes it ideal for mapping out evolutionary trees.”
ANIMALS found frozen aboard Noah’s Ark 2 were in a remarkable state of preservation.
The analysis revealed that the animals from Noah’s Ark 2 all share a mutation in their mitochondrial DNA.
“This mutation must have occurred in the common ancestor of all placental mammals,” revealed Dr. Hakansson. “This was the Eomaia scansoria, a shrew-like creature that weighed no more than 9 ounces.”
Eomaia scansoria (Latin for “tree-climbing dawn mother”) was the ancestor of virtually all mammals, experts say.
“The mutation was a subtle shift in a single nucleotide,” the researcher continued. “The elephant, giraffe and donkey, and other species we took tissue samples from all share the trait. Corresponding animals on our Earth, although they look similar, don’t have it.”
Computers played a vital role in the study, filling in blanks with an assortment of complex algorithms.
“The programs helped us reconstruct several genome sequences,” explained Catherine Gorweyde of the U.K., who led the project’s computer paleogenomics team. The study did not include egg-laying mammals such as the platypus, only animals that bear their young live, known as placental mammals, she added.
For millions of years, the history of the alternate universe was probably quite similar to our own, experts believe.
“It had primitive cavemen like our own Adam and Eve and, presumably, all the significant events in Genesis leading up to the Flood occurred,” said Dr. Hakansson. “But obviously after the Flood the history of the other universe would have been dramatically different, since Noah’s Ark 2 foundered off the coast of Antarctica and all aboard perished.
“We are almost certainly talking about a world devoid of both human life and land animals.”
Biblical scholar Reverend Bob Sudlen, who calls the lab results “stunning,” says we may never how Noah’s Ark 2 got here from the other universe or why it sank.
“Perhaps it was a freak storm or maybe someone on board cracked a joke that angered God,” he observed. “We can only be sure that it was part of the divine plan.”
ALL ABOARD! Noah’s Ark saved a handful of humans and two of every animal — at least in OUR universe.
If you enjoy reading fact and fiction woven skillfully together, you might enjoy the thriller Houdini vs. Rasputin, written by the author of this article.
If you enjoyed this mind-bending story by C. Michael Forsyth, check out his collection of bizarre news, available on Kindle and in other eBook formats.
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If you found this story by fiction writer C. Michael Forsyth entertaining, you might enjoy his novels…
The creator of Sherlock Holmes and the world’s greatest magician probe a paranormal mystery in new thriller.
The tables turn on an identity thief in the latest thriller by C. Michael Forsyth. To check it out, click HERE.
In Hour of the Beast, a young bride is raped by a werewolf on her wedding night. When her sons grow up and head to college, things REALLY get out of hand.
There are great horror movies that even aficionados of the genre have missed and are often overlooked on top 100 lists. Here are a dozen rarely viewed films that gave me the willies:
A remote forest is home turf for a demon in “Equinox.”
EQUINOX, 1970
Four young people searching a remote forest for a missing scientist get more than they bargained for when they encounter the demon Asmodeus. Taking refuge in a cave, they come across an ancient book the evil being needs to spread destruction beyond his wooded domain. Heroically, the humans fight to keep The Book out of the demon’s claws, while trapped within his forest by a mysterious force field. Asmodeus sends a series of monstrous minions, including a giant ape-like creature with cloven hooves, to retrieve The Book.
Though shot on a shoestring budget, the movie makes create use of Ray Harryhausen-type stop motion animation. Plot-wise, it is a forerunner to “The Evil Dead,” and the filmmakers could show the producers of “The Blair Witch Project” a thing or two about telling an entertaining story with no dough.
A rustic European town harbors a terrible secret in “Vampyr.”
VAMPYR, 1932
Most horror buffs have seen the silent-era vampire film “Nosferatu,” an unauthorized adaptation of Dracula, but only hardcore enthusiasts have seen this 1932 picture from Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer. Though less well known, it’s every bit as creepy as “Nosferatu.” Inspired by a tale by Carmilla author J. Sheridan Le Fanu, it’s about a student of the occult who stumbles across a village under the curse of a vampire hag.
Although made in the sound era, it too is silent. It benefits from a haunting atmosphere and imaginative effects. Among the most striking, the vampires slinking around the deserted town are seen only as shadows.
A young woman rubs shoulders with history’s most infamous sadist in “Waxwork.”
WAXWORK, 1988
A group of students visit a wax museum featuring 18 villains from horror lore and history. Two are sucked into the waxwork displays, where they run into a werewolf and Dracula. Another two find themselves pitted against zombies and the infamous Marquis de Sade. The concept of universes within the displays struck me as quite original, and I loved how each one is depicted as real as our own. A kinky highlight of the film arises when the teenage girl drawn into de Sade’s world is whipped by the infamous sadist…and kind of likes it! Zach Galligan, who had vanished from the screen after “Gremlins,” does a smashing job as the young hero struggling to rescue her.
Homeowner Jesse (Ayre Gross, left) learns there’s more problems with his new digs than mice in the attic in “House 2.”
HOUSE 2
This horror comedy is a rare case of the sequel surpassing the original. Charlie and Jesse, a pair of yuppie pals, move into an old mansion Jesse has inherited. Rummaging through the basement, Jesse finds a picture of his great-great grandfather in front of a Mayan temple holding a crystal skull. The buddies soon learn that the house has been transformed by the skull his ancestor swiped and that each room is a doorway across space and time. The guys must keep the skull out of the hands of evildoers, while their mettle is tested in a series of harrowing adventures on the other side of these portals. Jonathan Stark, best known as the vampire’s henchman in the original “Fright Night,” is great as the goofier member of the duo. And look for an appearance from a smartalecky young Bill Maher.
A visit to the family crypt reveals clues to an awful curse in “The Undying Monster.”
THE UNDYING MONSTER, 1942
Mystery and horror combine in the curious case of the Hammond family which has been cursed since the Crusades and whose members frequently die under strange circumstances. When the latest Hammond heir is slain by an unidentified creature, intrepid private detective Robert Curtis and his plucky sidekick Christy are summoned to investigate. An early clue is a very peculiar statue in the Hammond family crypt.
What delights me about the film is the successful blend of genres. Curtis brings the logic of a Sherlock Holmes to the case and his relationship with Christy is reminiscent of Nick and Nora of “The Thin Man” fame. The detective takes a scientific approach, which makes the increasingly uncanny events all the more alarming. In one memorable sequence, he uses a microscope to examine a strange hair and it vanishes before his eyes!
Boris Karloff is a father who returns home from a vampire hunt and brings terror with him in “Black Sabbath.”
BLACK SABBATH, 1963
This anthology film boasts some truly terrifying segments. My favorite, “The Wurdalak,” is drawn from a common theme of vampire folklore rarely depicted on film: that when the undead return they first prey on their own relatives.
In 19th century Russia, a young nobleman on a long trip stops at a small rural cottage to ask for shelter. He learns that the family patriarch has disappeared for five days while searching for a vampire, or “wurdalak” as the locals call it. At the stroke of midnight, Dad — Boris Karloff at his creepy best — shows up at the cottage. His disheveled appearance and odd behavior lead his sons to suspect he’s joined the ranks of the undead. The situation makes for a rather tense evening.
“I tell you, I’m not crazy. Now get that hand off my mouth.” Michael Redgrave is a ventriloquist with a sinister dummy in “Dead of Night.”
DEAD OF NIGHT, 1945
Another chilling anthology film, it includes the granddaddy of all evil-ventriloquist-dummy stories and a chilling yarn about a haunted antique mirror. The frame story itself (often laughable in such movies) is truly unnerving. In the frame story, a man arrives at a country house party where he reveals to the assembled guests that he has seen them all in a dream. They begin to tell various tales of the supernatural and the uncanny. The frame story climaxes with a haunting twist ending.
“I don’t much like the look of that.” Peter Cushing, right, finds that a fellow scientist has created a deadly new lifeform in “Island of Terror.”
ISLAND OF TERROR, 1966
The great Peter Cushing stars as a scientist investigating the peculiar case of a farmer found dead on a remote British isle without a single bone in his body. He and his companions learn that a researcher working on the island accidentally created a new lifeform from the silicon atom while searching for a cancer cure.
The tentacled creatures, dubbed “silicates,” kill their victims by injecting a bone-dissolving enzyme into their bodies and are virtually indestructible. Trapped on the isolated island, the heroes battle the monsters with guns, Molotov cocktails, dynamite and other weapons to no avail. In one hair-raising scene, Cushing is grabbed by a silicate. With a stiff upper lip, the Englishman sternly instructs a companion to chop off his hand with an ax before its too late.
Wicca is for wimps. These witches are the real deal in “Horror Hotel.”
HORROR HOTEL, 1960
A college coed visits a small Massachusetts town to research the witchcraft trials, unaware that her landlady is the reincarnation of an infamous witch burned at the stake in the 1600s. The accused witch wasn’t innocent – not by a longshot. She and her evil cohorts practice virgin sacrifice in order to remain immortal. Christopher Lee as the missing girl’s professor and her friends must solve the mystery of her disappearance before an unholy ritual on Candlemass Eve. Look for one of the most startling heroic rescue scenes in horror cinema history.
A madman (Patrick O’Neal) doesn’t let a disablity stand in the way of exacting bloody vengeance in “Chamber of Horrors.”
CHAMBER OF HORRORS, 1966
Cesare Danova, the suave actor with the sexy foreign accent that made him a ubiquitous TV guest star, plays the proprietor of a wax museum and amateur sleuth, aided by a dwarf sidekick. When a deranged man named Jason Cravette murders a woman and marries her corpse, Danova helps police bring him to justice.
Unfortunately, the killer escapes from a manacle by amputating his hand and vows vengeance on everyone involved in his capture and trial. In place of his hand, the madman wears an array of deadly weapons. He associates his foes with body parts – for instance, the cop who arrested him is the “arm of the law.” So after each revenge killing he makes off with that body part. The wax museum owner has a special incentive to stop the culprit, because he solved the initial murder and Cravette has indentified him as “the head of the law.” Gulp.
The movie was filmed as a pilot for a series to be called “House of Wax,” but it was deemed too gory for TV. But I would have tuned into such a show every week!
The devil is afoot in Merry Old England in “Blood on Satan’s Claw.”
BLOOD ON SATAN’S CLAW, 1971
This movie is set in village in 17th century England, where a series of bizarre events suggest to superstitious peasants that the devil is afoot. The trouble begins when a farmer plowing a field uncovers a deformed skull with one leering eye. Later, young townsfolk begin to sprout patches of fur and other odd markings on their bodies. It’s up to the local judge, a rational man who is initially skeptical of the supernatural, to stop the epidemic and solve the mystery. High production values and convincing period dialogue elevate the film. It’s like watching a version of “The Crucible” in which Satan really is on the prowl.
Dinner is served! An army officer resorts to cannibalism in “Ravenous.”
RAVENOUS, 1999
The always compelling Guy Pearce ( “L.A. Confidential”) stars in this film, which offers a unique take on cannibalism.
The story takes place during in 1840s California during the Mexican-American War. Pearce plays a U.S. Army captain who comes across the aftermath of a Donner Party-like disaster. The sole survivor, a Colonel Ives, is now hooked on human flesh. According to a Native American legend recounted in the movie, a man who consumes the flesh of his enemies takes their strength but becomes a Wendigo, a demon cursed by a hunger for man meat. Turns out the Indians were right. Col. Ives has cured himself of tuberculosis and turned himself into an invincible superman through cannibalism. Worse still, he gets others addicted and is bent on turning our hero Capt. Boyd into a cannibal too.
I found the notion of cannibal as a sort of vampire thought-provoking and appreciated the film’s dark humor. With great performances from Pearce and Robert Carlyle as the sinister Colonel Ives.
The author of this article also wrote the acclaimed horror novel Hour of the Beast. In the opening chapter, the unthinkable happens. Then things get out of hand.
Hour of the Beast is available in hardcover and softcover at Amazon.com. But you can save $4 by clicking HERE! The Kindle version is just $7 and the Ebook is a measly $5. Be the first on your block to read this bone-chilling tale — before the motion picture hits the big screen.
C. Michael Forsyth is the author of "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle & Harry Houdini in The Adventure of the Spook House,""The Blood of Titans," "Hour of the Beast" and "The Identity Thief." He is a Yale graduate and former senior writer for The Weekly World News
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