In a small quiet town a band of vicious shapeshifter vampires take refuge in what was once an elegant theater and lure their victims to their deaths–until Jenny, her ex-husband, Jeff, and her brother, Joey, step forward to hunt and kill them.
For years the vampire family lived in the shadows, hidden by the night and people’s disbelief; feeding on animals or throw away people who would never be missed. But as the family moves into an old theater, and uses it to cover up their crimes, the youngest of them are restless and determined to live as they like. Recklessly. Killing and feeding when and where they want. Feeding on who they want.
Only the parent vampires have managed to keep them in check. But no longer.
Unaware of the night stalking menace, the townspeople of Summer Haven, Florida, blithely go about their daily lives until, one by one, they begin to disappear.Screams are heard in the night. Fear grows. The lost are never found…alive.
But Jenny Lacey and her father, who are hired to renovate the old Grand Theater, can’t escape when they find themselves caught up in the middle of the vampire’s war. And, in the end, it’s up to Jenny, her brother, Joey, and her ex-husband, Jeff (who she still loves and reconnects with in this novel…happy ending there), to get rid of the bloodthirsty fiends that are destroying their town…if they can.
Excerpt
Jenny gawked around her at the lobby. “It’s candle¬light,” she gasped, discovering that the source of the weak light was several tall candles illuminating the lobby. It gave the room an eerie softness with its plush red velvet carpeting, fairyland like plaster nymphs and gleaming dolphin statues.
The marble drinking fountains, standing guard at the bottom of the ornate staircase leading to the top floor balconies, were as she remembered. All of it was just as she remembered. Lovely.
“Haven’t got the electricity working yet. That’s why there are candles.”
She gazed up, awed by the unreal beauty of the can¬dlelight sparkling off the elaborate chandeliers and the etched mirrors lining the lobby, her eyes wide. A dozen blurry, shadowy Jennys stared back at her, weaving, like pasty ghosts.
She walked over and rubbed her hand along the staircase’s ornamental hand railings laced with plasterwork, and the rose, turquoise, silvery green, gold and silver paint glinted back at her their faded dusty hues in a breathtakingly wild tapestry.
Jenny wandered about, sliding her hand reverently along the edge of a statue and then on the banister up to the bal¬cony; she coughed, covering her mouth. Dust cloaked everything like a blanket.
“Magnificent still, though, isn’t it?” the man who’d called himself Terry asked. He gazed affectionately around them.
“Time hasn’t changed the Grand’s beauty, just aged it. The old place has held up quite well, don’t you think? Is it as you remember it, Jenny?”
Jenny turned to face him and smiled dreamily. “Yes, it is.” There was a magic here that seemed to lull all her senses. She loved this beautiful place, never wanted to leave it. It had her under its spell again, and she could see by their eyes that the ones who’d purchased the the¬ater were under the same spell.
“It needs a good scrubbing. Every inch of it,” Jenny an¬nounced thoughtfully. “Definitely a fresh coat of paint here and there. Replace some of the tiles over there around the counters.” She checked, moving close to the walls, probing at the cracks with her fingers.
“Needs some plasterwork up in that far right corner.” She pointed. “You’ve got a lot of work ahead of you.” She wanted so badly to go in and see what the au¬ditorium looked like and how the velvet-backed chairs had fared over the years. The balcony. The large screen. She didn’t have the nerve to ask.
When she looked back, her eyes met the young girl’s, and Jenny frowned slightly.
The girl was glaring at her from a lounging position across the lobby. Jenny could have sworn her eyes were narrowed with arrogance and something else . . . some¬thing darker. She was scrutinizing Jenny like a frog would a bug before it devoured it. It sent shivers rippling up Jenny’s spine.
“A lot of work,” Terry concurred with her, shaking his head.
“It’d be safer,” she told him, “if you had an electrician check all the wiring out before the electricity is turned back on. A plumber should look at the plumbing first, too. Might save you some heartache.”
He faced her, then, excited. “Jenny, you sound like you know about such things—plaster, plumbing, paint and all. Do you?”
“Yes, my father and I do small home improvements around town: paint houses, fix things, a little carpentry work. You know,” Jenny waved her hand around them languidly, “if you need help cleaning this place up, we’ll be free to hire in about a week or so. We’re painting the house of some friends out on the edge of town right now.”
Irene was listening attentively, actually motionless for the first time.
Jenny shook off her feeling of inner disquiet. She had always been fairly perceptive about people, but there was something odd, she couldn’t exactly put her finger on it, about these . . . owls. For that’s what they reminded her of suddenly. Owls. A family of owls. With their hungry, staring, wide eyes.
They also seemed to have an aversion to mirrors. Jenny had caught them, at different times, purposely avoiding coming near any of the mirrored walls. They held back.
No wonder.
They were strange. Looked and dressed strange. The more Jenny studied them, the more aware of it she became.
The teenage girl, Irene, had on so little it was almost indecent.
Not only did the woman, Annie, have on a long evening dress, but the man, Terry, had on a dark velvet loung¬ing jacket and matching pants. In August?
Well, so what? Nowadays, people seemed to wear whatever they wished.
Jenny’s misgivings vanished as she gazed lovingly at the muted beauty of the old theater and knew that to be able to help restore it to its original magnificence ex¬cited her far more than anything else had in years, even if what it needed the most was probably basically a ton of elbow grease.
Professional Reviews
Sherry Fundin on November 8, 2013 5 stars
Michelson thought he had found a home.
But Irene had been a bad vampire, leaving six mutilated victims to be found.
Now they were running again.
They were going back to Summer Haven.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vampire Blood starts with mutilated bodies and ends with a...........Bite.
I had read Human No Longer and loved the book and Jenny. Kathryn Meyer Griffith told me she had written a prequel to Human No Longer and I was curious to see how and why Jenny came to be Jenny.
Vampire Blood tells the story of the theater and how it changed Jenny and Joey's lives forever.
Rumors and mystery had surrounded the theater. The townspeople always thought it was haunted. Oh no, it was much worse than that.
Jenny is the main character and I loved her. She had courage, with a capital C. Courage means that you face your fears, you do what must be done no matter how terrified you are.
This was the first time Jenny had ever lived alone. She felt it was time to find herself. She was afraid of the dark. Sounds funny, because she wrote horror novels, Vampire novels to be specific. Just because she wrote about Vampires, didn't mean she believed they were real. It was fiction.
Until the mutilated bodies were found.
Who would have thought it was all true?
I felt so sad for Joey and that surprised me. I did not feel that way when I read Human No Longer, but when I found out about his story, it may me want to wrap my arms around him and tell him it will be okay.
Vampires and shapeshifters. Some are so cruel and blood thirsty. They like playing with their food. Made me think of Orcas playing with seals. How terrifying can that be?
Randi on June 20, 2004 5 stars AWESOME!
This book is the best in the entire world. I'm sad that no more will be printed. It's brillant in everyway. It's the old styled, cinema vampire, but through the eyes of a human surrounded by vampires. Nowadays it's always through the vampires eyes, which is nice. But this, this is just so much more. It's a clever story and you'll end up loving the characters. Most people can read this book, it's not too complex, as if the author wants to prove herself. The story is proof enough. IF EVER YOU WERE TO READ A BOOK, one book, in your ENTIRE LIFE. PLEASE READ THIS ONE, it's worth it. It's my #1 favorite.
kimberly hritzko on January 10, 2002 5 stars
I saw a rating of "1" by another reviewer...and I couldn't beleive it!
As a fan of horror fiction, (Vampire fiction specifically), I thought this book wonderful!
You have a truly nasty, evil, vampire and an un-likely hero in the ex-horror novelist turned 'handy woman.'
The story is about a 'family' of vamps, who due to the actions of one of their own are forced to move away from their current home, to escape discovery.
They then settle into a small town and by the local, derelict, movie theatre and hire a woman and her father to fix it up...but
one of the vampires has a more sinister plan for the theatre than showing film...she wants to use it to trap her evening meals.
The story is fast-paced and very enjoyable. And, most importantly, you care what happens to the characters.
Chris has been fostered at the Crowley boot camp since he turned seven. At sixteen, he is finally ready to run away because his foster father is an abusive person who works Chris and the other children to the point of exhaustion. All he has left of h
