Lively Corpses - The Website of Author William A. Veselik

Mundania Press / October 2007
Reviewed by: Derek Clendening

Professor Alfred Rhys Smythe, the protagonist of William A. Veselik’s Corpses So Lively, returns to London after several years spent abroad. Upon his return home, he notes some changes to the neighborhood: namely, the theater district is now crawling with the walking undead! The mysterious death of a boarding house neighbor triggers this suspicion, and he soon realizes that bloodthirsty vampires are stalking London. As Smythe finds a telling infection in one of his student’s blood and the death toll continues to mount, the impact of the crimes strikes closer to home and he finds himself engaged in battle against vampires with a Scotland Yard sidekick. Corpses is the first book in Veselik's My Soul to Take trilogy. The Mundania Press trade paperback cleverly weaves vampire lore with a Sherlock Holmes-style mystery plot.

Veselik skillfully re-creates an authentic Victorian atmosphere by blending historical and cultural details that transport the reader back to a different time and place. His approach to the vampire as a creature is inventive as well, using hard science to explain the spread of vampirism in the city.

The most noteworthy aspect of the novel – one that will be received by readers as either a tickle of ingenuity or a smack of cliché - is its direct parallel to Dracula. It references Stoker's text - as many vampire novels do - only Veselik's direct comparisons are intentional. The time period is 1897, the year Bram Stoker’s Dracula was published, and Veselik uses Smythe’s familiarity with the creatures described in Stoker’s new literary work as a plot device. And while the opening chapter’s revelation that Smythe is a biology professor who is familiar with vampires certainly helps with the hard science aspect, it screams Van Helsing perhaps a bit too loudly at times. Occasionally, Veselik overshoots a bit, either not trusting the reader to understand facts that he has already established or weighing down the narrative in unnecessary detail.

Corpses So Lively ends with an excellent cliffhanger as any serialized novel should, and Veselik offers enough enticement to pick up the next installment, Enter Death, Stage Right. Though parts of this first volume rehash classic vampire works, it still offers some new insight into vampire lore, and a satisfying new twist for vampire fiction.

CORPSES SO LIVELY: MY SOUL TO TAKE PART 1 by William A. Veselik (2007 Mundania Press / 245 pp. / trade paperback)

Veselik's last novel, WEEP NOT FOR THE VAMPIRE, was an enjoyable old-school vampire romp that brought back the feel of Hammer-era films. Veselik continues in this vein (pun fully intended) with his latest, CORPSES SO LIVELY, the first part of a proposed series (Part 2 should be out sometime in 2008).

When a few unusual deaths go down in London, a recently enlightened Professor Alfred Smythe is on the case, along with the similar-minded Inspector Arthur Jenkins; both men know these deaths are the work of the undead, and Smythe's will to go vamp-hunting inspires Jenkins who until now has not taken action. I liked how Veselik set this story around the release of Bram Stoker's novel DRACULA, which is how a few characters in CORPSES learn about the creatures of the night. Being a newly appointed Professor at London's King's College, Smythe also has a few other things at his disposal to deal with the vampiric threat, giving the novel a couple of little surprises. This one ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, so if you hate waiting for the next installment you might want to wait until the series is fully published!

While the story is standard vampire fiction, Veselik's passion for monster stories of the past resonates throughout the tale, while the writing is well-paced and LIVELY (which makes the long chapters seem shorter than they are). While I don't think this will convert too many new vampire fans, those into bloodsuckers will dig it.

Once again my only gripe with the novel is Mundania's really corny-looking computer-generated cover art; these neat, pulpy vampire novels would probably gain more readers if the publisher would spring for more attractive packaging.

(This review will appear in the 19th issue of THE HORROR FICTION REVIEW, due out in late April, 2008).

Review © 2008 Dru Pagliassotti

This review is available for reprint under a Creative Commons License.

Corpses So Lively: My Soul to Take Part I
William A. Veselik
© 2007, Mundania Press

As the title suggests, Corpses So Lively is the first part of a series, and in a pulpesque manner suitable for a novel about a Victorian professor chasing vampires, the last page ends on a cliffhanger — so be ready for it. The sequel is due out soon.

It's 1897, and Professor Alfred Rhys Smythe has returned from Rumania to take a new job teaching biology at King's College. Smythe's time in Rumania opened his eyes to the existence of certain beings described in Bram Stoker's recent novel, Dracula, so when a series of deaths in London suggest that vampires may be stalking the streets of the theatre district, Smythe knows what to do. He links up with a like-minded police inspector and tackles the problem with all the resources and science available to him.

Corpses So Lively is written in a mildly stilted period style that is an amiable nod to Dracula and Sherlock Holmes, and its subject matter is pure pulp-style fiction and Hollywood horror. The novel doesn't break any new ground, but its descriptions are rich and detailed, and the drama of Smythe's familial relationships add a personal dimension to a story that is otherwise formulaic. Some of the forensic chemical analysis seems advanced for a college professor in the late 19th century, but we must assume that Smythe, like Holmes, was a cutting-edge scientist who kept a close eye on the medical journals. And the point really isn't what is or isn't possible, but whether Professor Smythe and Inspector Jenkins can cure vampirism — or at least find and destroy the master vampire — before being, themselves, destroyed.

Corpses So Lively is an easy-going read squarely situated in historical vampire fiction. If you enjoy Victorian-style storytelling with a classic Hollywood horror sensibility, you'll want to pick up this book.

Necropsy: The Review of Horror Fiction has just published this glowing review of my novel:

Veselik, William A. Weep Not for the Vampire. Cinncinnati: Mundania Press, 2006. 183 p.

Anyone who has ever researched Phil Rickman and P. D. Cacek finds out one of the horrifying truths about the publishing world in general, and the horror publishing industry in specific—believe it or not, ageism sometimes rears its ugly head when publishers and their imprints are deciding on whom to take a chance. Apparently, according to some of the demographic research, readers themselves are a good bit to blame. Not only must their heroes (and quite often their monsters, especially when it comes to vampires) be full of youth, but so must their authors.

But then every so often something happens that flies in the face of conventionality and threatens a change. In vampire fiction that something—or someone—may well be a 48 year-old Public Relations Coordinator for a Virginia community college.¹ Weep Not for the Vampire (and let me here say a heart-felt THANK YOU to Mundania Press for realizing the absolute gem they found) is the first novel length publication for William A. Veselik (although it's not the first book he has written). And fortunately for vampire fans and horror aficionados alike, it will not be his last. Mundania has already contracted a sequel and a potential trilogy.

Now I have read some very good novels from up-and-coming writers with small or independent presses. Michael Bailey’s Palindrome Hannah, reviewed in the Summer 2005 issue of Necropsy, immediately comes to mind. However, I was taken completely aback with the maturity, creativity, professionalism, thoughtfulness, and absolute brilliance of this Veselik’s rookie novel. Imagine the goal of changing current fictional vampire conventionality by introducing completely new traits, and then imagine doing that—and doing it to perfection—with your first publication.

First, let me just mention some of the new possibilities that Veselik’s vampires add to the current mythology. Cullen Roark, Veslik’s human turned into the undead in his 20s, is a young man with long black hair. That is what he will be for all eternity, and he knows this for a fact because he CAN see his reflection in any glass, including a mirror. However, he can easily create what is termed a sham by simply thinking about an appearance he wishes to project (providing he has seen this person beforehand). So he can impersonate specific individuals when necessary, or he can simply make people at ease by projecting himself in a non-threatening guise. The genius of this is that it allows Veselik to play both sides of the age card: any given scene can star a youthful, attractive vampire, or a more Weylandesque² vampire. Also, it allows excellent opportunities for comic relief, such as in scenes where the vampire takes the guise of the older, fatter Elvis at a bus stop. And without being given a rather silly ability like flight, Veselik’s vampire is a supernatural specimen both physically and psychologically. He can “run” a mile in a minute (without breathing hard, for, as the narrator reminds us, vampires have no need to breathe), climb buildings in seconds, and sense every single living creature around him due to heightened olfactory, auditory and visual senses.

About the only conventional aspect of Veselik’s vampire is that he, as many undead before him have come to realize, is tired of his supernatural existence. Roark joins the ranks of diverse suicidal vampires that have come before him. But even here Veselik outshines previous authors because of the maturity of the narration. Rather than express the existential angst of a Louis, Roark simply comes across as an individual who is tired of playing the hand that was dealt him. There aren’t any grand passages with epic language; he sees his passing out of existence as being an incident related not with a bang, but a whimper.

The final ingredient Veselik adds into the mix is that of intrigue and surprise. Lest readers forget that vampires were once humans who had at some point been turned, here they are reminded in scenes where Roark visits his mother at a nursing home (she is well on her way to Alzheimer’s, and sees immediately through his sham, recognizing him as her long lost son, although she still thinks the year is 1968), where he meets the daughter he never knew he had (he had been married two months before he was found “dead”), and where he meets and helps save his grandchild from another vampire.

All these elements aside, I have to credit Veselik with successfully traversing the most important two hurdles that ultimately define whether a novel is both of a high quality and potentially successful or marketable—producing an enjoyable story (plot line) with characters that readers can actually relate to and care about. Veselik’s vampire is the most human (and humane) vampire seen since Suzy McKee Charnas’s The Vampire Tapestry. Although Roark kills, and rather indiscriminatelywhen he is taken by what he calls the thirst, his reaction is not melodramatic or philosophical. Perhaps readers are saved from this by the fact that we meet the vampire well after he has made his decision to return to the place of his birth in order to end his existence. The well-worn descriptor that often plagues Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, that the novel is “one big pity party,” in no way applies here.

Indeed, readers may weep not for this vampire, but they will not finish this novel without feeling both moved for the title character and happy for the struggling author who finally broke through.

¹Mundania’s “About the Author” section is a full two pages long, containing much more than the typical birth date and bibliography of the author, and I say more power to the editors there. Not only is the author information an interesting read, but readers get to feel like they are actually meeting a human being who happens to write books, rather than an author-bot. More publishers ought to emulate this format.

The following review will appear in THE HORROR FICTION REVIEW #16, due out February, 2007. This review by Nick Cato. Please give credit to The Horror Fiction Review if using any quotes from this review.

WEEP NOT FOR THE VAMPIRE by William A. Veselik (2006 Mundania Press / 183 pp. / tp & e-book)

It’s been a while since I’ve read a vampire novel, and I forgot how much fun they can be when done the right way.

Cullen Roark returns home to the Virginia town where he was turned into a vampire; now displeased with his dark existence, he seeks to commit suicide--until he discovers a daughter and a granddaughter he never knew he had--and that another, more vicious vampire is after his newfound family.

This is author Veselik’s debut novel, and as far as vampire stories go, I can’t see any fan of the The Undead being disappointed. Our protagonist’s ability to make others believe he’s someone else gives the tale a nice little edge (especially when he uses this power to mess with the opposing vamp’s buddy), and there’s some very good, carefully placed humor that doesn’t take away from the effective modern-Goth feel of the story.

Veselik’s love for vampires can be felt on each page of this brief novel, and it should come as no surprise that he’s a life long fan of them. Weep Not for the Vampire is a fun, quick read that will sit well with those looking for an old-school monster mash. My only gripe is the tacky, computer-generated cover art (something Mundania Press seriously needs to reconsider in its future releases). Visit www.mundania.com, to get a trade paperback edition OR a cheaper ebook version).

Disregard the angsty title and gothy-romantic cover: Weep Not for the Vampire is a surprisingly fresh vampire novel that brings a new perspective to this much-overworked genre.

Cullen Roark, a vampire for over fifty years, has returned to his home town of McMullin, Virginia, to die. He's sick of living on the blood of others and horrified by what the blood-frenzy made him do a little over a month ago. Now he's sworn off human blood and wants to say one last good-bye before he goes to a hell he feels he richly deserves. It should be easy. Drop in, find some old-timers, discover what happened to his friends and family, and then let go.

But when he meets the daughter he never knew he had and finds out that a vampire has been snacking on his teenaged granddaughter, Cullen Roark suddenly discovers that he's still got some unfinished business in town.

Weep Not for the Vampire is a human story, not a horror story. Cullen Roark has special powers, true, and so does his opponent, the vampire who claims McMullin as its hunting ground. But this is really a novel about a regular guy, an ex-town-bully who loved his mother and wife, who has been away from home for a very long time. With a combination of wistful nostalgia and righteous anger, Cullen Roark sets himself to putting things right before he passes on.

If you enjoy vampire novels but are getting a little tired of the same old thing, pick up Weep Not for the Vampire. The pacing is uneven at first, but by the last page you'll find yourself pleasantly surprised. This little novel is worth the effort.