Brides of the Impaler

When I read the synopsis of this book, it seemed interesting, but synopsises are sometimes the best parts of a book...not in this case!! Brides of the Impaler was an awesome book. It could be subtitled, Rosemary's Baby Meets Dracula. Rarely was there a lull in the story. The characters were believable and the ending, oh the ending was as much of a surprise as any ending in any book I've ever read before. I would strongly recommend this book to the true horrow afficianado.

I liked the book, It has a good story line and is fun to read.

Edward Lee's first vampire novel is a gory, erotic, mystery-stuffed ton of fun and pumps new "blood" into all things Draculean. I liked it even more than House Infernal which was great too. This is a must read for all horror fans!

I've been reading a lot of Leisure Fiction's horror novels this year, and even before I read a page of Edward Lee's Brides of the Impaler, I had decided that, at the very least, it had the best title in the bunch. With the Impaler reference, it has to be a story about Dracula (a.k.a. Vlad the Impaler), it is also reminiscent of the old Hammer Films titles, particularly Brides of Dracula. The horror allusions don't stop there, as Lee also names characters after Euro-horror cult figures Paul Naschy and Jess Franco among others and even has a Ketchum Hotel, an obvious nod to writer Jack Ketchum. So Lee pays his tribute to the genre, but is the book any good? My only other experience was the weakest story in the anthology Triage (with co-writers Ketchum and Richard Laymon); this was a more positive experience. As the title hints, this is a Dracula story, though the character is off-stage for most of the novel, relegated to historical accounts by other characters. The villains are the title characters, an unappealing bunch of homeless women who are recruited by the mysterious New Mother to assist in a secret ritual. This ritual will involve, among other things, the brutal impaling of several people and the use of some ancient artifacts. These artifacts are currently buried in the basement of the newly purchased home of Cristina Nichols and Paul Nasher. Paul is a loving fiance but otherwise a typical wealth-obsessed lawyer who wants the best of everything. Cristina is the designer of some morbid figurines that have become popular collectibles. Something in the house is affecting Cristina, giving her ideas for new figures and hypercharging her sex drive, but also giving her nightmares and putting her in trances. Though the sex and violence is more than you would ever have seen in a Hammer Film, Brides of the Impaler does evoke memories of the studio's old Dracula films. But even you've never seen one of those movies, this is a nice read. Lee shows that you can write a good Dracula story without even much Dracula in it.