If you were lucky enough to read Sam Stone’s novels, then I’m sure that you’ll be delighted that she has released a book of short stories and poems. Zombies in New York and other Bloody Jottings finds its way to a bookstore near you.

Stone has a fascination for her vampire creation, Lucrezia Borgia, which has seen the character appear in both of her major novels, so it is with little surprise that the first half of the book deals with some of this character’s missing two hundred years. This will certainly please her fans without marginalising the casual reader as each of the short stories require no prior knowledge of either the character or her overall history.

Stone creates stories with a heady mix of graphic sexuality mixed with a healthy dose of gory horror; the delicious mix makes for some very interesting reading. The first seven stories concern Lucrezia, which whilst all have horror elements they stylistically range from detective story to erotic fiction.

The next six stories consist of tales which have appeared before, as well as a number written especially for this book. From Stone’s warped imagination the stories encompass a homosexual clown fetish to the more classic horror staple of a possessed typewriter.

The last section of the book has six poems. Interspersed between all of this are jottings from Stone which illuminate either the genesis for the story or how it was written. It is a brave author which gives away all her trade secrets.

I liked her novels, despite the fact that this is not a genre I would normally voluntarily buy or read. Stone has a real knack of bringing her characters to life and she uses this skill to great effect in her short stories which are full of inventive ideas contained within some strong story telling.

Inside Zombies you’ll experience the weird, the erotic and spend some time in the company of some strongly written characters. Overall a generally good read, but not for the young or feint hearted.

7

Charles Packer