childhood as the world collapses around them. It goes to show that the zombie genre is like any other in fiction: the most indelible works are the ones that contain strong char- acters and an affecting story. And there simply aren’t enough of these in Zombie Apocalypse! Fightback. ALISON LANG


CHIRAL MAD: ANTHOLOGY OF PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR


So much of Chiral Mad: Anthology of Psychological Horror


is not what it seems. Filled with unreliable narrators, night- marish visions, themes of mental illness and explorative tales which trawl the dark regions of the human psyche, this collection edited by award-winning author (and con- tributor) Michael Bailey is a must-read for horror fans of every ilk. The contributors are a mix of well-known scribes and


horror newcomers, but each has a distinct voice and take on the theme. Some stories are intensely visceral and im- mediate, such as Jack Ketchum’s “Amid the Walking Wounded,” which follows a man with an incessant, excru- ciating and inexplicable nosebleed as he slips deeper into a dreamlike consciousness,


losing


blood with each painkiller he takes. Other stories are deeply psychological, building horror through slow revelation, as in David Hearn’s “Brighter Her Aura Grows,” which reads like a dreamy su- pernatural love story – until you realize you are actually reading about a disturbing murder plot.


Many of the tales, as you might expect, deal with mental


illness, bringing the reader into sometimes confusing and unknown territory. Ian Shoebridge’s “White Pills” follows a patient who is taking experimental medication, and be- cause his pills are about to run out, faces unknown with- drawal symptoms and impending hallucinatory reality. There’s also some exploration into the possible causes of psychological illness; abusive parents are a common theme here, as in Monica J. O’Rourke’s “Five Adjectives,” which pulls the reader into the perspective of a second-grade stu- dent struggling under the oppressive yet neglectful watch of her alcoholic father, or Aaron J. French’s “Storm of Light- ning,” about an introspective serial killer with a split con- sciousness. With each short story offering something original to the


psychological horror subgenre, readers will find themselves well rewarded should they pick up this surprisingly solid, darkly disturbing read. Add to that the fact that all proceeds from sales of Chiral Mad will be going to support Down syn- drome charities (the included stories – 23 originals and five reprints – were donated to the collection by the authors) and it’s just one more good reason to get your claws on a copy of this book.


JESSA SOBCZUK


BARING FANGS WITH BRAD MIDDLETON I


f you’re a regular Rue Morgue reader, you know that books and video games are two of my passions. If you’re a particularly astute reader, you may have picked up on a couple more: television and vampires. So when I stumbled across an announcement


last fall for Brad Middleton’s Un-Dead TV (out now from By Light Unseen Media), an ex- haustive guide to over 60 years of the vampire on the small screen, I immediately had two thoughts: 1) put this on my Xmas list, stat!, and 2) track down this like-minded TV buff for my column. I cornered Middleton on the cusp of Un-Dead TV’s release to get the scoop on his bloody big (514 oversized pages!) book of bloodsuckers.


Why a book on vampire television? In 2009, I was tasked with rewriting the television section for the third edition of J. Gordon Melton’s The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead. While researching the subject, I uncovered an overwhelming number of vampire appearances, many more than I could include in my contribution. I also discovered there was no single volume that specifically covers television vampires; they usually only get a cur- sory overview, buried within film listings.


All told, how long did it take you to research and write this? After I completed Melton’s project, my research contin- ued for the better part of the next three years. ... Even as I was completing the manuscript, I uncovered more appearances, although these quickly became less fre- quent and more obscure in nature. Even though Un- Dead TV has been published, the research is ongoing; I continue to catalogue new appearances, as well as seek out the very obscure ones that I may have missed – and I’m posting these updates to the book’s website, un-dead.tv.


How many of the TV shows listed did you actually watch? I’ve included a selection of foreign-language productions, which were the hardest to track down; as such, I was only able to watch some of them. Overall, I’ve viewed about 75 percent of the English-language listings – roughly 1300 hours of programming.


How did you research the shows you weren’t able to view? It was my goal to cross-reference as much as I could, in order to provide the most accurate synopsis possible. This involved scouring previously published books, major online data- bases, fan forums+ and even newspaper archives – anything that provided a hint about the production. I also went directly to the source: I used different social networks and web- sites to contact writers who penned several of these stories.


Did this project lead you to any surprising revelations about how the vampire is por- trayed on TV? There’s no doubt in my mind that the vampire wouldn’t be as ubiquitous in our popular cul- ture were it not for television. In no other visual medium do you find such a broad and di- verse spectrum of stories – and vampires! Their popularity skyrocketed after the success of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series in 1997; however, prior to that, there were noticeable spikes in the frequency of related productions. There was one from 1965 to 69; was this driven in part by the popularity of the original Dark Shadows TV series? Or perhaps the spike from 1978 to 80 was a direct result of the success of Anne Rice’s [novel] Interview with the Vampire, first published in 1976.


What’s your favourite vampire TV show and why? Did it change while you worked on this book? Actually, this changed from week to week and month to month as I watched more and more productions. Overall, I’d say Angel – Joss Whedon’s Buffy spinoff – is my favourite vampire television series; it’s a shining example of TV drama at its best, supernatural or otherwise.


MONICA S. KUEBLER T H E N I N T H C I R C L E 51 RM


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