SF Signal: Review: Stagestruck vampires and Other Phantasms

Review: Stagestruck vampires and Other Phantasms

MY RATING:
BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Stagestruck Vampires is an anthology of author Suzy Mckee Charnas' work. It collects several of her short stories, one a 1990 Hugo winner for short story, and two essays.
PROS: Charnas' writing is outstanding. She uses language that easily paints pictures in your mind, and adds 'texture' to each story. Charnas also pens some memorable characters.
CONS: I'm not a big fan of vampire/horror stories. Really, the horror aspect, as well as the vampire aspects, are downplayed in these stories. I'd say its really more urban fantasy.
BOTTOM LINE: I'd recommend this book to any vampire lover, (that is, anyone who loves to read about vampires, not those who have been bitten by vampires and are now in their thrall) or anyone looking for a chance of pace and likes good writing.

MY REVIEW:
I had the opportuninty to pick up Stagestruck Vampires, and while I don't usually read these sorts of stories (having had my fill of horror at least by reading Stephen King years ago), I decided to give this one a go. While I wasn't blown away by the stories, there are still some decent ones here, with a few rising above and making an impression on me.

Beauty and the Opera or the Phanton Beast - The 'true' story of the Phantom of the Opera. Charnas lets us know what really happened between the Phantom and the heroeinne, Christine. I was non-plussed by this one. For me, it was basically a re-telling of Beauty and the Beast, albeit with some great writing.
Unicorn Tapestry - The story of an unusual psychiatric patient, who may, or may not be a vampire. And the lengths to which the psychiatrist will go to get a book out of his case study. The patient, Dr. Weyland, is a unique character, with some traits vampires, but yet able to move around in sunlight. Is he or isn't he a vampire? We don't know. A bit better because of the mystery surrounding the good doctor. Otherwise, I didn't find this one especially moving.
Boobs - Now this is one good story, and its plain to see why it won the Hugo. Its a short story, with a fast pace and some brutal images. The titular heroeinne is a teenaged girl who has matured rapidly, leading the class bully to call her 'Boobs'. Unfortunately for him, making fun of someone who turns out to be a werewolf is a bad thing. A fun 'get even' story.
Evil Thoughts - Another story that straddles the 'urban fantasy'/'horror' line. This time, Charnas tackles the story of Fran. A mid-30's woman who is unsure of herself, her relationship with her younger boyfriend, and her insecurity with the world around her. She keeps having 'evil thoughts' that she tries to control, but eventually consume her. Certainly and unexpected ending, with a lot of horror aspects to it. It kept me reading though.
Advocates - A collaboration with author Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, this story is basically a vehicle for both authors to bring together their signature vampire characters in a story (Charnas has Dr. Weland, Yarbro has Comte de Saint Germain). In the near future, vampires have taken over the Earth, keeping normal humans around as livestock. In this world, a predator arrives that preys on other vampires, leaving them in a coma-like state. This predator is caught, and turns out to be Dr. Weyland. We learn a bit more about Dr. Weyland and his unusual abilities. Comte de Saint Germain is assigned as his advocate to help Dr. Weyland in his upcoming trial. A rather short story that really didn't do much for me. It felt like nothing more than a way to get these two characters together, even if in a somewhat adversarial way.
A Musical Interlude - Another story following the exploits of Dr. Weyland. This time, the doctor has taken a job at a university in New Mexico. Upon his arrival, he is taken to a showing of the opera, Tosca as a 'welcome to New Mexico' gift. The music affects Dr. Weyland in ways he isn't prepared for, and ends up questioning his detachment from humans, whom he regards as food only. Charnas is able to detail the power of the music through language and its effects, not just on Weyland, but on those in the audience. An entertaining and engrossing read.
Peregrines - This story is the one that has stayed with me the longest. It concerns two boys, one of whom may, or may not be, a messiah for his people. Certainly its clear he has supernatural abilities, and enemies. At times this read like a much better written Golden Child, but with much more depth to the characters. And the boys turn out to be maybe more than we realized at first. Highly recommended.
Listening To Brahams - The only overtly SF story in the bunch, and the last story. Earth has destroyed itself, and the last survivors are plucked from coldsleep on their journey to the stars by well meaning aliens. They are taken to the alien planet to make new lives for themselves. Some adjust well, others don't. They aliens are also huge fans of Earth TV. They learn as much as they can about humanity through TV, and have basically turned their culture into a copy of pre-destruction Earth's. What would happen to you if everything you knew, everyone you loved, was gone forever, yet you were constantly reminded of that loss everyday of your life? I liked this one quite a bit, but the ending just didn't do much for me. Still, Charnas' writing easily evokes the anguish of the lead character.
The Stagestruck Vampire and They're Right, Art Is Long - This volume concludes with two essays by Charnas. The first, concerns her experiences in writing her play Vampire Dreams and bringing it to the stage. In the second, Charnas discusses how her experiences have affected her writing ability and style. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get into either one and ended up skimming over them. Perhaps if I had known more about Charnas beforehand, these may have been more interesting to me.

Overall, a worthy collection of stories. I'd recommend them to anyone, but especially those who enjoy Charnas' work or who want a bit of heft to their vampire stories.