Things That Go Bump in the Night

Ah, autumn! The days are growing shorter, the air crisper, and the color orange once again rears its round and bulbous head. This is the perfect time to curl up in a favorite chair and sink your teeth into a juicy paranormal story. I've just turned in the manuscript for my third novel, THE BRIDE OF CASA DRACULA (Simon & Schuster, September 2008), so now I can read a few books and catch up on all things vampy.

I made the mistake of turning on The Howling (1981) today. I think it was about werewolves, but the feathered hairstyles and Aerosmith wardrobe choices scared me so much I had to change the channel. Fans of Joe Dante's special effects manage to overlook these terrifying flaws, just as fans of du rian fruit ignore the stink.

Speaking of things that stink, I tried to watch the new vampire series, "Moonlight". I endured two episodes about a vampire detective who lives in L.A. and inexplicably drives a convertible. Why, dude, why? Especially hilarious were scenes of vamp detective Mick St. John's motionless feathered ‘do as he cruises around town with his dimwit reporter/love interest. This show's creators have the delusion that 1) internet reporters work in hip offices; 2) they wear something other than sweatpants and Crocs; and 3) they actually leave their offices (i.e., parents' basements) to investigate murders! The only thing I believed was that a guy could live in LA for hundreds of years and his Botoxed associates wouldn't notice anything strange about his continued youthfulness.

So turn off the television and pick up a book. Fresh Fiction's recently Fresh Picks reflect the spooky season, and include Mindy Klansky's Sorcery and the Single Girl, Jennifer Rardin's Once Bitten Twice Shy, and the anthology No Rest for the Witches.

Teens may want to check out the new Lily Dale series by Wendy Corsi Straub, beginning with Awakening. After a teenager's mother dies, she moves in with her grandmother and discovers that the grandma is a psychic. And the teen may be one, too.

Kimberly Raye's many fans will want to read her Your Coffin or Mine? Reviewer Kay Quintin calls the novel clever and says it "keeps you chuckling all the way through."

Even supernatural creatures get the blues. Vicki Lewis Thompson's Over Hexed is a comic romp about a therapy team who helps the human-impaired. Reviewer Rosie Bindra calls the novel "a wildly hilarious ride that'll keep you laughing from cover to cover."

If you want a more serious (and sensuous) approach to therapy for the living dead, try Lynda Hilburn's The Vampire Shrink. Denver psychologist Kismet Knight gets more than she bargains for when she advertises to the goth crowd.

Las Vegas has been the setting for a lot of paranormal stories, including Dancing with Werewolves, the new novel by Carole Nelson Douglas. Not only does the mob run Vegas in this horror story, but they're werewolves.

The raves are coming in for Jeaniene Frost's debut paranormal Halfway to the Grave. It seems that this vampire book is living up to its fab cover, and review Paula Meyers calls it "an outstanding paranormal that grabs the reader by the throat and doesn't let go." Sounds like just the kind of read for a rainy night!

Marta Acosta