Darkness Fears: A Tale of the Moon-Chosen

Rating:
Summary: Eerie and trend-setting Vampire Crime Fiction!
Review: DARKNESS FEARS is a big scary violent rollercoaster ride into the Unknown! Author Joseph Armstead's wierd technological/mythological vampires, The Moon-Chosen, are deadly and elegant{ly} sexy villains weaving dangerous conspiracies in his fictional twin cities by the sea, New Barrington and West Sussex. Behavioral Criminologist and re-animated murder victim Professor Patricia Silver is a wonderful character, part "Profiler" and part nightmarish avenging angel, a woman torn by her need to punish the occult evil rampant in the twin cities and her need to try to fit into society's fringes as a walking ghost. DARKNESS FEARS is the PERFECT novel for horror readers who are tired of the same old Goth-pretensions, homo-erotic poseurs, and the splatterpunk "goon"-rock slaughterfests! This is an intelligent and creepy read with moments of explosive action and adventure! This is a really visual, visceral exciting horror novel and I would LOVE to see more in this series!

Rating:
Summary: Eerie and trend-setting Vampire Crime Fiction!
Review: DARKNESS FEARS is a big scary violent rollercoaster ride into the Unknown! Author Joseph Armstead's wierd technological/mythological vampires, The Moon-Chosen, are deadly and elegant{ly} sexy villains weaving dangerous conspiracies in his fictional twin cities by the sea, New Barrington and West Sussex. Behavioral Criminologist and re-animated murder victim Professor Patricia Silver is a wonderful character, part "Profiler" and part nightmarish avenging angel, a woman torn by her need to punish the occult evil rampant in the twin cities and her need to try to fit into society's fringes as a walking ghost. DARKNESS FEARS is the PERFECT novel for horror readers who are tired of the same old Goth-pretensions, homo-erotic poseurs, and the splatterpunk "goon"-rock slaughterfests! This is an intelligent and creepy read with moments of explosive action and adventure! This is a really visual, visceral exciting horror novel and I would LOVE to see more in this series!

Rating:
Summary: A Darkly Imaginative, Intelligent Occult Thrill-ride!
Review: DARKNESS FEARS is the kind of quality horror suspense-thriller that should gain a wide readership. The story of Professor Patricia Silver,herself a victim of violent homicide at the hands (or should I say "fangs") of a secret sect of vampires, as she investigates criminal action in the occult underworld is mesmerizing! Mr. Armstead has taken a relatively interesting secondary character from his earlier novel, NOCTURNES AND NEON, and fleshed them out as a vital, driven and interesting lead character in this adventure into the mythical city of New Barrington's vampire underworld. Professor Silver is a fascinating study in contrasts: a little bookish and shy, secretive and dangerous, intelligent and impetuous, dead and yet alive. As is his standard, the author takes familiar horror trappings, like ghosts and zombies in this case, and he turns the old cliches inside-out. Too, Mr. Armstead's vampires are NOT the same old tired set of bloodsucking killers with which readers are accustomed. "The Moon-Chosen", his vampire clan empire, are vampires for the New Millenium: stylish, corporate, media-savvy, irreverent, ultra-lethal, and just plain twisted. DARKNESS FEARS is a fun, ghoulish piece of entertainment I would heartily recommend to anyone looking for some new thrills in horror fiction! Don't miss this one!

Rating:
Summary: A Darkly Imaginative, Intelligent Occult Thrill-ride!
Review: DARKNESS FEARS is the kind of quality horror suspense-thriller that should gain a wide readership. The story of Professor Patricia Silver,herself a victim of violent homicide at the hands (or should I say "fangs") of a secret sect of vampires, as she investigates criminal action in the occult underworld is mesmerizing! Mr. Armstead has taken a relatively interesting secondary character from his earlier novel, NOCTURNES AND NEON, and fleshed them out as a vital, driven and interesting lead character in this adventure into the mythical city of New Barrington's vampire underworld. Professor Silver is a fascinating study in contrasts: a little bookish and shy, secretive and dangerous, intelligent and impetuous, dead and yet alive. As is his standard, the author takes familiar horror trappings, like ghosts and zombies in this case, and he turns the old cliches inside-out. Too, Mr. Armstead's vampires are NOT the same old tired set of bloodsucking killers with which readers are accustomed. "The Moon-Chosen", his vampire clan empire, are vampires for the New Millenium: stylish, corporate, media-savvy, irreverent, ultra-lethal, and just plain twisted. DARKNESS FEARS is a fun, ghoulish piece of entertainment I would heartily recommend to anyone looking for some new thrills in horror fiction! Don't miss this one!

Rating:
Summary: this book is well worth it.
Review: Joseph knows how to create a macabre world with something that wasn't exactly deemed to be macabre. He gave the middle finger to those kind of vampires a long time ago when he wrote of this one, I read a few of his other stories so I know what I am getting into when I bought this book. Armstead is a writer that knows his horror and knows his influences -- the strongest one can see with his work here is H.P. Lovecraft.

He, like Lovecraft created a word world that no other writer but Armstead can touch, and if those of you who are out there in the HWA, pay attention because Joseph handed their asses to them with this book so far. I once joked to him about the idea of trading characters for each others stories; and what I say of him as a horror writer he says of me as well -- someone with a lot of skill and doesn't buy into the trends. Joe penned a classic, like it or not, Armstead is going to be around for years to come.

This book is more than a horror novel and more than a vampire novel, it reads more like a crime novel. Joseph Armstead has a real idea of how to write a vampire and do it in a way that will be enduring. I finally completed this book a few days ago and Armstead has a feel for his characters on this. If you are tired of Louise and Lestat (or just don't give a damn for them,) you might want to give the Moon-Chosen a chance.

Horror this muscular should be a must have for those who read Stephen King or Michael Crichton. I really can see this book becoming a movie if in the right hands. The Moon-Chosen vampire is a nasty one, they could easy put a hurt on anything that that was out there before. The gothic sensibilities are there with the story but this one is something that goes without classification, this has a lot of action behind it and a lot of supense.

Rating:
Summary: Still reading this but what I can give so far.....
Review: Joseph knows how to create a macabre world with something that wasn't exactly deemed to be macabre. He gave the middle finger to those kind of vampires a long time ago when he wrote of this one, I read a few of his other stories so I know what I am getting into when I bought this book. Armstead is a writer that knows his horror and knows his influences -- the strongest one can see with his work here is H.P. Lovecraft. He like Lovecraft created a word world that no other writer but Armstead can touch, and if those of you who are out there in the HWA, pay attention because Joseph handed their asses to them with this book so far. I once joked to him about the idea of trading characters for each others stories; and what I say of him as a horror writer he says of me as well -- someone with a lot of skill and doesn't buy into the trends. Joe penned a classic, like it or not, Armstead is going to be around for years to come.

Rating:
Summary: STAKE IT IMMEDIATELY!
Review: The plot, let's see, where was the last place I saw it? Oh that's right, it was right next to the needle in the haystack. Assaulting the brain with too many characters, way too many terms and entirely too much information at one time, the plot goes AWOL. The story is congested, overdone and off-balance. Had the details been more spread out, the weight would have shifted the focus to the point intended - the vampires. Not helping matters, the pace in the story moves like molasses on a winter's day. The speed never quite hits its intended stride and the build-up is always just a little too premature.

The atmosphere is a chaotic mess. Alternating from panic to sarcastic to flighty. The mood switches with the predictability of a tripping schizophrenic. I'm not asking for a lot here folks, just a little consistency. Armstead's style of writing is flashy, indulgent and long-winded. Constantly having to stop, grab a pen and write down a word or name, I grew irritated by the third chapter. Does he have talent? Yes, but it's hard to see under the burden of an endless purge of ten-cent words.

The characters are flat and one-dimensional. With so much time spent on the hierarchy of the fiends, Armstead slips up and neglects the most important part of all - the actual players involved. The author never establishes the characters past a short outline and a brief reason for the role they're playing; shame on you, Mr. Armstead, for skimping.