Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Pocket Books (2009), Edition: Reprint, Mass Market Paperback, 480 pages
Description
The Horror Writers Association Presents BLOOD LITE ...a collection of entertaining tales that puts the fun back into dark fiction, with ironic twists and tongue-in-cheek wit to temper the jagged edge. Charlaine Harris reveals the dark side of going green, when a quartet of die-hard environmentalists hosts a fundraiser with a gory twist in "An Evening with Al Gore"...In an all-new Dresden Files story from Jim Butcher, when it comes to tracking deadly paranormal doings, there's no such thing as a "Day Off" for the Chicago P.D.'s wizard detective, Harry Dresden...Sherrilyn Kenyon turns a cubicle-dwelling MBA with no life into a demon-fighting seraph with one hell of an afterlife in "Where Angels Fear to Tread"...Celebrity necromancer Jaime Vegas is headlining a sold-out séance tour, but behind the scenes, a disgruntled ghost has a bone to pick, in Kelley Armstrong's "The Ungrateful Dead." Plus tales guaranteed to get under your skin -- in a good way -- from Janet Berliner Don D'Ammassa Nancy Holder Nancy KilpatrickJ. A. Konrath and F. Paul Wilson Joe R. Lansdale Will LudwigsenSharyn McCrumb Mark Onspaugh Mike Resnick Steven SavileD. L. Snell Eric James Stone Jeff Strand Lucien Soulban Matt Venne Christopher Welch So let the blood flow and laughter reign -- because when it comes to facing our deepest, darkest fears, a little humor goes a long way!… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member rarelibrarian
I got this book for the Dresden Files short story, but decided to read the rest of the anthology because I don't normally read horror writing and I wanted to see if I found a new author I enjoyed to look up their other writings. I've been disappointed. Some of the stories really stood out (I'm
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thinking of Kelley Armstrong), but some of the others have left me mentally traumatized. I don't think I'll ever be able to look at Smokey the Bear ever again without gagging. The stories were generally lame, and the 'twists' were more like zig-zags. I consider myself not easily offended, but the graphic description of a variety of bodily functions and what to do with various body parts repulsed me. If your favorite author is in this book, read it. Don't bother with the rest of it. Show Less
LibraryThing member randirousseau
I have to admit I tend to be hard on anthologies - you get a bunch of authors together and not every author appeals to every reader, so some stories you like better than others.
My issue with this anthology, was that I had a hard time liking ANY of the stories. Even, regrettably, the Jim Butcher
My issue with this anthology, was that I had a hard time liking ANY of the stories. Even, regrettably, the Jim Butcher
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one. It was by far the best of the bunch (in my opinion), and any Harry Dresden story is a good Harry Dresden story, but it still felt a bit hobbled-together and abrupt. I grieve for this book - there are several of my favorite authors, whose other books I actively collect, that I just couldn't get through in this volume. So much potential, so little payoff. Sigh. Show Less
LibraryThing member jjmachshev
There are many amusing stories in "Blood Lite" an anthology with 21 stories from some of the biggest names in the current horror/paranormal genres. Includes stories by Jim Butcher, Charlaine Harris, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Mike Resnick, Sharyn McCrumb, and Kelley Armstrong. From witches to wizards,
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ghouls to ghosts, and weres to vampires, these stories vary wildly depending on the author's genre, but all have a wacky, humorous zing to them. A pleasant afternoon's reading and sure to hit your funny 'bone'. Show Less
LibraryThing member bragan
This anthology of humorous horror stories was a very mixed bag, more so even than most anthologies tend to be. There were several stories I really enjoyed, a number of amusing but forgettable pieces, and, sadly, a generous handful of duds. Perhaps that shouldn't be too surprising. Comedy and horror
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are difficult genres to combine effectively, although when it does work, the results can be terrific. I'd say most of the stories I especially liked in this one do a good job of combining their humor with actual horror, rather than just the trappings and tropes of the horror genre. Cases in point: Joe R. Landsdale's "Mr. Bear," which initially put me off with its unpleasantness, then somehow won me back again with even more unpleasantness, and Will Ludwigsen's "A Good Psycho is Hard to Find," which made me laugh out loud, immediately made me feel like a horrible person for laughing... and then made me laugh again. It's just a pity they weren't all like that. Show Less
LibraryThing member Abby_K.
I will admit I only read about half the stories in this book all the way through (the others I just skimmed). But for the most part I really enjoyed the ones I did read, they made picking up the book actually worth it to me. Especially Jim Butcher's and Kelley Armstrong's stories, very funny
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tidbits on some of my favorite characters. Show Less
LibraryThing member noneofthis
This should be rated one star for general principle. I found nearly all of the stories within it to be crap. Crap! Most of them I couldn't even bother to finish reading.
I've rated it two stars, however, because one of Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden stories is included, and that story was quite good.
I've rated it two stars, however, because one of Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden stories is included, and that story was quite good.
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It's a real pity it isn't keeping better company. Show Less
LibraryThing member LoriTori
I find most of these types of anthologies a disappointment, but since some of my favorite authors are involved I always find myself picking them up. I never read the whole thing all at once so I may edit this over time.
Kelley Armstrong - Like her as usual. She has become one of my pre-order
Kelley Armstrong - Like her as usual. She has become one of my pre-order
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authors. Jaime is one of her characters that does not have a load of depth on her own, but gains depth in her interaction with other characters. Kelley always injects humor into subject matter that can be difficult or grotesque. Gotta love that! Show Less
LibraryThing member SunnySD
Twenty one tales of gruesome, gory, and not so awful blood lettings. Four or five tales by established authors and a raft of not so well known. A surprisingly even bunch. I'm not usually a horror fan, but enjoyed these and may even track down a few of the authors' other works.
Lucien Soulban's "Hell
Lucien Soulban's "Hell
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in a Handbasket" was completely unexpected and amusing - reminiscent of Zelazny's Bring Me the Head of Prince Charming. Show Less
LibraryThing member les121
Not the best anthology I’ve read. It’s marketed as a collection of humorous horror stories, but some of them weren’t particularly horrifying or funny. Not all of them were bad - Mr. Bear by Joe R. Lansdale was one of best short stories I’ve ever read. I also enjoyed the ones by Lucien
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Soulban, J.A. Konrath and F. Paul Wilson, Steven Savile, Eric James Stone, Jeff Strand, and Jim Butcher. The other 14 stories were just okay with a few that were either boring, baffling, or just plain bad. Overall, I wouldn’t recommend Blood Lite unless, like me, you’re a huge fan of one or more of the anthology's big four - Butcher, Harris, Kenyon, and Armstrong. Though it contains a few gold nuggets, the clunkers in this collection made it very difficult to get through. Show Less
LibraryThing member MrsLee
Meh, after reading three such collections, I've decided this is not for me. A couple of the stories were mildly amusing or somewhat clever, but the overall feeling is ick, eew and ho-hum. I did like the story, PR Problems by Eric J. Stone. Yes, it was gory, but the story was a good one with a
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cleverness and originality which I enjoyed. The Jim Butcher story, at the very END, was one I had already read. This is really not my genre, and I think I won't be buying these any more. Show Less
LibraryThing member Krumbs
This was much more uneven than most of the anthologies I've recently read. The Jim Butcher story was fun, but definitely a throw-away and did not contribute anything to the development of the Dresden Files (particularly having already read the most recent full-length novel). I think the best story
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overall was The Ungrateful Dead, but even that one felt a bit off from what I would have expected from the characters (but I've only one of Kelley Armstrong's books in the series so I could have missed developments). Overall, this is a great big "meh". Show Less
LibraryThing member pjh1984
Why this got a 2 was Dresden. It was a well prepared funny story. The rest? You know a week after reading this? I can't remember one of them. I do remember I didn't laugh and I wondered where and when the humor was going to show up.
Harry was a 5 star. The rest I wouldn't have even bothered to give
It's a serious contender to be opened in Sigil, edit out the rest of the stories, and keep just Harry. If it weren't for DRM, it would be.
Harry was a 5 star. The rest I wouldn't have even bothered to give
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a 1 star too. I would have just left the review blank. Considering the line up, I would have thought better of the book. There should have been humor. There should have been snorts. There should have been smiles. There was none.It's a serious contender to be opened in Sigil, edit out the rest of the stories, and keep just Harry. If it weren't for DRM, it would be.
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LibraryThing member adelgranado
Funny stories, all more or less of average quality, although two were standouts: "The Eldritch Pastiche from Beyond the Shadow of Horror" was a brilliant spoof of the entire H.P. Lovecraft style, and "Hell in a Handbasket" is a fall-out-of-your-chair-laughing hilarious misadventure that starts with
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a baby left abandoned at Hell's doorstep and ends with the dark realm in complete chaos. Show Less
LibraryThing member StaceyHH
I'll admit I didn't read all of the stories in this anthology, but the ones I read were humorous, well-written and fun, as expected.
LibraryThing member Rosa.Mill
Okay so I assume that the point of this book was that the stories were supposed to be funny and horror. Some of them were quirky and cute, others just came off as weird. Some favorites were Hell in a Handbasket, The Ungrateful Dead, An Evening with Al Gore, and Dear Prudence. Some awful ones were
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Mr. Bear, The Bell... From Hell, Bitches of the Night, I Know Who You Ate Last Summer and Dead Hand. Show Less
LibraryThing member Rosa.Mill
Okay so I assume that the point of this book was that the stories were supposed to be funny and horror. Some of them were quirky and cute, others just came off as weird. Some favorites were Hell in a Handbasket, The Ungrateful Dead, An Evening with Al Gore, and Dear Prudence. Some awful ones were
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Mr. Bear, The Bell... From Hell, Bitches of the Night, I Know Who You Ate Last Summer and Dead Hand. Show Less
LibraryThing member Rosa.Mill
Okay so I assume that the point of this book was that the stories were supposed to be funny and horror. Some of them were quirky and cute, others just came off as weird. Some favorites were Hell in a Handbasket, The Ungrateful Dead, An Evening with Al Gore, and Dear Prudence. Some awful ones were
Show More
Mr. Bear, The Bell... From Hell, Bitches of the Night, I Know Who You Ate Last Summer and Dead Hand. Show Less
LibraryThing member Auntie-Nanuuq
A bit gruesome but really funny...dark humor. I did not read the first story, because it was long and I just could not get into it.
LibraryThing member AngelaJMaher
This anthology showcases just how varied and quirky humourous, or light-hearted, horror can be. Of course, some stories are better than others, but it's worth a read. I thought the bear story was just plain nasty though.
LibraryThing member TheYodamom
I just had the hardest time getting through this book ! I found many of the stories so uninteresting. Even my favorite author Charlaine Harris, disappointed me with her input.They were just too "lite."
LibraryThing member LongDogMom
I was really disappointed in most of the stories in this book. Beyond a couple of standouts, I could even finish some of the stories, which is a rare thing for me.
LibraryThing member xofelf
These stories were all quite fabulous :)
Language
Original publication date
2008-10-21
Physical description
480 p.; 6.68 inches
ISBN
1439148406 / 9781439148402
Local notes
A collection of vampire tales from contemporary urban fantasy authors.
• Charlaine Harris 'An Evening with Al Gore': the dark side of going green
• Jim Butcher 'Day Off': when it comes to tracking deadly paranormal doings, there's no such thing for Harry Dresden
• Sherrilyn Kenyon 'Where Angels Fear to Tread': a cubicle-dwelling MBA with no life turns into a demon-fighting seraph with one hell of an afterlife
• Kelley Armstrong 'The Ungrateful Dead': Celebrity necromancer Jaime Vegas is headlining a sold-out séance tour
• Joe Lansdale 'Mr. Bear': The unnerving true story of a celebrity bear gone bad.
• Lucien Soulban 'Hell in a Handbasket': A surprise delivery to the infernal gates winds up more than the nether regions can handle
• Christopher Welch 'The Eldritch Pastiche from Beyond the Shadow of Horror': Part tongue-in-cheek parody of H.P. Lovecraft's works, part shivery meta-fiction.
• Matt Venne 'Elvis Presley and the Bloodsucker Blues': What happens when the King of Rock and Roll becomes a king of the night.
• Don D'Ammassa 'No Problem': A mad scientist's descendant discovers his heritage and starts to experiment with his findings with disastrous results.
• Mark Onspaugh 'Old School' -- A ritual gone wrong when the practitioners failed to read the fine print.
• JA Konrath & F Paul Wilson 'A Sound of Blunder' -- A gleefully splatter-laden parody of Ray Bradbury's 'A Sound of Thunder' featuring two inept gangster-wannabes' attempts to make a bad deal go away.
• Steven Saville 'Dear Prudence' -- A blackly witty tale in letters as a man contemplates offing his shrewish wife...
• Will Ludwigson 'A Good Psycho is Hard to Find' -- A spoof on chainsaw murderer flicks -- and a rip on who the real psychos might be..
• Janet Berliner 'High Kicks and Misdemeanors' -- A skeezy talent scout finds a strange use for a gift left to him by his Native American uncle.
• Eric James Stone 'PR Problems' -- A ghoul gives us a look into the sorry lot he has in being overshadowed by other, cooler preternatural beings.
• Mike Resnik 'A Very Special Girl' -- A group of Damon Runyon-esque paranormal gangsters juggle a sticky bit of bookmaking with a dame you don't want to mess with.
• DL Snell 'Love Seat Solitaire' -- A shivery duel between a group of slackers and an angry old poltergeist.
• Nancy Holder 'I Know Who You Ate Last Summer' -- A pair of washed-up rock stars' foray into the Other white meat comes up to bite them.
• 'Bitches of the Night' -- Ever wondered what it must really be like for Dracula and his brides? Here's a sneak peek into the other side of the coffin lid...
• Nancy Kilpatrick 'The Bell... FROM HELL!' -- A nerve-jangler featuring a man with a shockingly simple demonic artifact... and where the real horrors lurk.
• Sharyn McCrumb 'Dead Hand' -- A car-racing crew member tries to get his team ahead by resorting to Cherokee magic, but only annoys the spirit he calls up.
• Charlaine Harris 'An Evening with Al Gore': the dark side of going green
• Jim Butcher 'Day Off': when it comes to tracking deadly paranormal doings, there's no such thing for Harry Dresden
• Sherrilyn Kenyon 'Where Angels Fear to Tread': a cubicle-dwelling MBA with no life turns into a demon-fighting seraph with one hell of an afterlife
• Kelley Armstrong 'The Ungrateful Dead': Celebrity necromancer Jaime Vegas is headlining a sold-out séance tour
• Joe Lansdale 'Mr. Bear': The unnerving true story of a celebrity bear gone bad.
• Lucien Soulban 'Hell in a Handbasket': A surprise delivery to the infernal gates winds up more than the nether regions can handle
• Christopher Welch 'The Eldritch Pastiche from Beyond the Shadow of Horror': Part tongue-in-cheek parody of H.P. Lovecraft's works, part shivery meta-fiction.
• Matt Venne 'Elvis Presley and the Bloodsucker Blues': What happens when the King of Rock and Roll becomes a king of the night.
• Don D'Ammassa 'No Problem': A mad scientist's descendant discovers his heritage and starts to experiment with his findings with disastrous results.
• Mark Onspaugh 'Old School' -- A ritual gone wrong when the practitioners failed to read the fine print.
• JA Konrath & F Paul Wilson 'A Sound of Blunder' -- A gleefully splatter-laden parody of Ray Bradbury's 'A Sound of Thunder' featuring two inept gangster-wannabes' attempts to make a bad deal go away.
• Steven Saville 'Dear Prudence' -- A blackly witty tale in letters as a man contemplates offing his shrewish wife...
• Will Ludwigson 'A Good Psycho is Hard to Find' -- A spoof on chainsaw murderer flicks -- and a rip on who the real psychos might be..
• Janet Berliner 'High Kicks and Misdemeanors' -- A skeezy talent scout finds a strange use for a gift left to him by his Native American uncle.
• Eric James Stone 'PR Problems' -- A ghoul gives us a look into the sorry lot he has in being overshadowed by other, cooler preternatural beings.
• Mike Resnik 'A Very Special Girl' -- A group of Damon Runyon-esque paranormal gangsters juggle a sticky bit of bookmaking with a dame you don't want to mess with.
• DL Snell 'Love Seat Solitaire' -- A shivery duel between a group of slackers and an angry old poltergeist.
• Nancy Holder 'I Know Who You Ate Last Summer' -- A pair of washed-up rock stars' foray into the Other white meat comes up to bite them.
• 'Bitches of the Night' -- Ever wondered what it must really be like for Dracula and his brides? Here's a sneak peek into the other side of the coffin lid...
• Nancy Kilpatrick 'The Bell... FROM HELL!' -- A nerve-jangler featuring a man with a shockingly simple demonic artifact... and where the real horrors lurk.
• Sharyn McCrumb 'Dead Hand' -- A car-racing crew member tries to get his team ahead by resorting to Cherokee magic, but only annoys the spirit he calls up.