Coffin Tales: Have A Bite Stay The Nite
A Welcome Change...For Me At Least
by S. Denucci
reprinted with permission
As an avid reader of all things horror, I always look forward to seeing new things. Except in a few cases, I have read the exact same book 4,000 times...only the names of the characters change. A little bit of blood, a little bit of sex, and Mr. GQ Vampire looking for a piece of tail to go with his midnight snack. Most of the time, I wonder why I bothered to pick it up. I hadn't heard of Coffin Tales when I recieved this book, so I had no idea what to expect. Seeing the cover, I pretty much expected to read the same old thing once again, and I was pleasantly surprised.
Danna B. Taylor either works very hard to purposely be different or, unlike some people, she just doesn't care about convention at all. Either way, for the first time in years, I was actually a little grossed out. The standout for me has to be "Naughty," a quaint little tale of a vampire who not only likes to wear odd disguises, but has some very interesting methods of killing. I won't share the exact words of what left me happily half gagging, because that would ruin it for you, but I will say I'll never look at Julio's Bar And Grill the same way again. At least not at Christmastime. "Naughty" is very straight ahead, while "Reality" requires a little more thought and patience. It was my least favorite, but I still liked it. She has a very defined descriptive voice that I see lacking in a lot of books I read lately, and it comes through in several places in "Reality." "Silver Service" is nothing like "Reality" or "Naughty." That might be what I enjoyed most. Each story is completely different, no formulas to bore me. "Service" is about a coven (if I can use that word in this setting) of vampires who have a very twisted rendition of "Girl's Night Out." "More Accidents Happen In The Home" is almost abrupt, it's so short, but I don't think it could be any longer without losing the feel. It is short for a reason, which is probably to leave you wondering about who might be watching you from across the street, and what people might really be thinking when they find your gooey remains on the floor somewhere. "Under The Tonaco Star" has potential, but of course, we're only allowed a brief bite of it, if you will.
All in all, my positive points are that each story is it's own entity. They aren't just four rehashes plopped in one space to sell numbers. They don't follow a formula and throw in T & A just for the hell of it. In fact, there is no rambling about things that have no impact on the story. And this isn't romantic...like Ms. Taylor says in the introduction, she writes about vampires as ruthless killers, not Don Juans on a beach on the south shores of Italy somewhere. I got into horror to read about horror, and that's what she writes about. She doesn't fill it up with useless jargon or put you to sleep (unless you're already on something) and she doesn't sugarcoat life (I'm laughing to myself because after reading "Naughty," sugarcoat has a whole new meaning for me. Yuck). The negative is that there isn't more in this volume, but as it is apparently meant to function as an introduction for people who weren't able to get hold of her first book, it serves it's purpose.
That also means there aren't many, so when people catch on to her, these stories might be hard to come by. I'd suggest visiting coffintales.com and picking one up before they ride off into the bloody sunset.
S. Denucci
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