"An American Werewolf in London" released 1981

An American Werewolf in London" was released August 21, 1981 and is the first movie to win an Academy Award (1982) for Best Makeup, the first year for the award.  This is probably the first werewolf movie I've ever seen, so it's still my favorite.  I remember seeing it as part of a double feature at a drive-in movie.  The first was My Bloody Valentine (not worth the time) and then An American Werewolf in London, which ended just as a huge thunderstorm broke.  We didn't miss anything.

There wasn't an official soundtrack released since Elmer Berstein's original music was only 7-8 minutes.  So my band Meco was called in to record music for the soundtrack, which became Impressions of An American Werewolf in London.

Although the movie was campy, it's still a Halloween staple for me.

Book review - Cursed by Rhianne Aile

I’m not a big fan of werewolf literature but I picked up “Cursed” because of the gay aspect of it.  And I enjoy a good sex scene but Rhianne Aile lays it on thick.  It seems as if the novel was too short so she inserted numerous sex scenes just to lengthen it.

Basically the story is rather ho-hum.  Tristan’s ancestors cursed Benjamin’s ancestors and now Tristan is trying to remove the curse.  He casts a spell to separate Benjamin from his wolf.  It succeeds but it turns out to be a bad thing.  So he has to reverse the spell.

Aile’s writing style is difficult to follow since she head-hops from one character to another, to a third and sometimes to a fourth by paragraphs, instead of separating points of view by scene changes.  The reader gets confused at who is thinking what and when.  I found myself re-reading passages to clear up my confusion.

The characters are not well-developed either.  The reader gets a glimpse of their pasts and personalities but not enough to connect with them.  Instead of connecting with them, the reader becomes a voyeur in a sense.  Mary the housekeeper, is the only female in the story beyond the prologue.  She is a delightful character but totally cliché.

Then there are the sex scenes.  From the middle of the book to the end, they are so frequent they become tedious.  I found myself flipping through the pages to skip over the last few.  Only one or two of them advance the plot.  The rest are just filler.

If explicit porn is your thing, you may enjoy this book.  However, if you desire something with a little more substance, look elsewhere.

The Law Is My Shepherd by Don Kilcoyne

Imagine my pleasant surprise when I discovered my friend and fellow pirate Don Kilcoyne had written two novels, the first of which is The Law is My Shepherd, a novel of The Overnight. I love his sense of humor so when I read about Detective Angus Wellstone and his partner Knobs working over a local ne’er-do-well for transforming into a vampire “without the requisite paperwork” I was hooked. Then I found out that Cheeky really did need to apply to be turned to keep the number of vampires at the established quota. I loved it.

Welcome to Hawthorne, New Jersey, a Mecca for vampires, werewolves and other shape-shifters. Ten years ago, Wellstone and Knobs subdued a werewolf. Instead of turning him over to the “proper authorities” to sweep under the rug, they paraded their conquest in front of the world, demolishing centuries upon centuries of cover-ups, keeping the existence of such creatures from the public.

Then, after years of war, the creatures of the nights and humans came to an historical agreement, which included a clause that set the number of vampires that could be turned. Violation of this rule had serious consequences, as Cheeky was to find out.

Everyone exists peacefully alongside each other. The desk sergeant is a were-bear. A doctor at the hospital is a vampire (she works the night shift only). The teen wolf/skateboarder has a conscious and scruples. Everyone knows it but nobody cares.

Until now.

A new evil has come to Hawthorne. A reverend is stirring up the humans to Take Back The Night. Wellstone, his wife and several others are attacked. It becomes apparent that someone, something beyond your run-of-the-mill shape-shifter is tryint to rekindle the wars between humans and nocturnals.

In a market already saturated with vampire lore, it’s refreshing to see a different approach to human/nocturnal relations (Thank you, Don!). What makes it even more enjoyable is the fact the author stays within the established rules of vampirism, something other authors tend to snub. (Thank you again, Don!)

I love his quirky and sometimes snarky sense of humor, and it runs throughout the novel, giving it plenty of comic relief. It’s another aspect that sets The Law is My Shepherd apart and above the rest.