The scary vampires are back

I read The Strain and now I am watching the TV series based on the books. The premise behind The Strain is that vampirism is more like a virus that transforms the human body into some kind of creature or organism with no sense of humanity. All they want to do is feed and make more vampires. And the way they feed is really gross—they have these long tongue-like things that extend out of their mouth. It’s really freaky to imagine something like this could be real.

What I like about this vampire series is that there is nothing loveable about these vampires. They are frightening. And changing into one of these vampires is anything but sexy. I love being scared and the recent vampire books and movies are not scary at all. In fact, some are just silly. I grew up in the era of the non-sparkly vampires, and I welcome this new wave of vampires like the ones in 30 Days of Night that spent the whole movie wearing dried blood and Let Me In where childlike innocence is a disguise for a true predator. And now I look forward to watching the truly inhuman ones in The Strain.

Finally, vampires are scary again and there is nothing better than a good scare.

 

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

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Two mortals are caught in the midst of the battle between the Titans and Olympian gods.

Buy links on author website: http://kelleyheckart.com/daughter_of_night.html

Growing up Paranormal

Now that I think about it I was probably a weird kid. From a very young age I was fascinated with the paranormal, especially horror movies and books. I remember staying up to watch the late night scary movies hosted by various strange hosts like Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. My favorite movies were the classic horror movies, the black and white Dracula and Wolfman, and the 1970’s Dracula movies starring Frank Langella.

My décor in my bedroom included glow-in-the-dark models of Dracula and Wolfman. Not really normal for a girl, right? My collection of books included Stephen King, Robert McCammon, Dean Koontz, collections of short ghost/horror stories and Ann Rice’s vamps and witches. I was into vampires long before they became trendy and sparkly. I still have a fascination with skulls and keep my macabre collection out all year. It’s Halloween all the time for me.

Growing up a horror fan, it would seem natural for me to write horror. Not exactly. I did write some short horror stories way back when I became serious about writing, but they were never published, and for good reason. Somehow I ended up writing romance, which is strange because I didn’t read much romance growing up. I think what changed my mind was Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander. It was a romance, but it wasn’t the usual formulaic romance. I decided to try writing romance and adding the elements I like—Celtic mythology, fantasy, paranormal, magic and otherworldly creatures like faeries (not the tiny, sparkly good kind), gods and goddesses, shifters and ancient vampires. All that time spent watching horror movies and reading horror stories was well worth it.

With my love of the paranormal, horror and Halloween, it was natural for me to be drawn to the ancient Celts, the founders of Samhain/Halloween and a people linked with the mystical realm. This is how I came to write Celtic historical romances with paranormal/fantasy elements.

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A Greek vampire, Celtic kings, vengeful goddesses, an ancient faery curse…

All three books of my Dark Goddess trilogy are available in Print and Ebook. Set in dark age Scotland, I mixed history with a Samhain/Beltaine myth that revolves around an Irish clan and the goddesses Brigit and Cailleach.

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/ Check out my long hair hotties!

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

My book page at Mundania Press:

http://www.mundania.com/author.php?author=Kelley+Heckart

My author page on amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Kelley-Heckart/e/B002BMOQ3C/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

An Awesome Vampire Movie

I watched this really cool vampire movie on Sunday. The movie is called Let me In. It’s based on a Swedish story and there is also a Swedish version of this movie called Let the Right One In. I thought about seeing the Swedish version, but then I would have to read subtitles and I hate reading a movie—just a pet peeve of mine. I’m glad I watched the American version because it was set in 1983 in New Mexico during winter, which gave the movie a stark, frightening look that matched the story.

The main thing I liked about this movie was how different it was from other vampire flicks like Twilight. The vampire wasn’t sparkly and certainly wasn’t a seductive creature. There was no sex or sexual undertones. This vampire tale was really unique because it was a coming of age story with twelve-year-old kids. Well, the vampire looked twelve, but was a lot older. She used her innocent looks to lure her victims and also to recruit her human caretakers. When she is overcome by her blood lust, she is terrifying.

Let me In is a thought provoking story in many ways. I don’t want to spoil the ending for anyone, but there is a theme in this movie that deals with bullies and those they choose to pick on. In some ways, the vampire is no different in how she chooses her caretakers—although in a strange way, there is affection in this odd relationship of master and caretaker.

It was refreshing to see a vampire movie that reveals the darker side of vampires and of life in general.

Kelley Heckart

'Timeless tales of romance, conflict & magic'

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/ Check out my long hair hotties!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604