Copyright © 2009 by William Malmborg - All Right Reserved.
As stated several times I am not really a fan of vampire fiction, though only because I think the image of the vampire has been treated unfairly by certain writers who feel the need to turn them into a sexual romantic icon rather than a frightening, blood thirty, human flesh craving monster. Also, as a historian, I hate it when people mix up the fictional character of Dracula with the real life Dracula, or worse,
Book Reviews - F. Paul Wilson - Midnight Mass
don’t even realize there was a real life Dracula, who many feel was instrumental in protecting the Christian world from the Turkish invaders, though doing so in ways that are often criticized today. That said, if I find a novel or series of novels that portray the vampire properly, I won’t hesitate to read it or them, which of course, is why I now list several vampire novels as my all time favorite books, Midnight Mass by F. Paul Wilson being one of them.
I bought Midnight Mass during one of my visits to St. Louis in 2007 where my wife was living. She was down there waiting for a double lung transplant and had decided early on that she didn’t want me waiting with her (at the time the decision really confused me, but then everything made sense once the divorce papers arrived right after her transplant because it made me realize the only reason she married me was so she could have a fairytale wedding just in case the transplant never happened and didn’t actually want a husband). Anyway, I bought Midnight Mass during my Thanksgiving visit but didn’t actually start reading it until I went back home to our apartment in Chicago, often staying up till the early morning hours by the Christmas tree, my mind wondering if the humans were going to be able to stop the vampires from taking over, or would succumb to the armies of the night.
Somewhat of an apocalyptic novel, one which pits the last remnants of humanity against the vampires who have taken over most of the world, Midnight Mass tells the story of a group of humans who have barricaded themselves within a New Jersey church and would rather die fighting than be taken and put into the human cattle camps. While fending off these vampires and their human counterparts who work by day in return for the promise of being given the gift of vampirism, this group soon realizes that humanity might not be doomed after all, but that in order to cement its survival they must first destroy the vampire King who has turned New York City into a stronghold, one which seems impregnable.
As stated in the forward of Midnight Mass F. Paul Wilson wanted to dismiss all the new theories of vampires and go back to the old myths and legends, similar to what Stephen King did with Salem’s Lot, therefore turning the vampire back into the creature people have feared for centuries By doing this he successfully created an incredibly horrific novel, one which has the ability to keep a reader up until the morning hours, a cross and wooden stake nearby just in case something is lurking out there beyond the darkened windows, one which makes us hope that vampires are just a myth and that they aren’t organizing an attack, because if they are, well then, as laid out in this novel, humanity would probably be doomed.
I bought Midnight Mass during one of my visits to St. Louis in 2007 where my wife was living. She was down there waiting for a double lung transplant and had decided early on that she didn’t want me waiting with her (at the time the decision really confused me, but then everything made sense once the divorce papers arrived right after her transplant because it made me realize the only reason she married me was so she could have a fairytale wedding just in case the transplant never happened and didn’t actually want a husband). Anyway, I bought Midnight Mass during my Thanksgiving visit but didn’t actually start reading it until I went back home to our apartment in Chicago, often staying up till the early morning hours by the Christmas tree, my mind wondering if the humans were going to be able to stop the vampires from taking over, or would succumb to the armies of the night.
Somewhat of an apocalyptic novel, one which pits the last remnants of humanity against the vampires who have taken over most of the world, Midnight Mass tells the story of a group of humans who have barricaded themselves within a New Jersey church and would rather die fighting than be taken and put into the human cattle camps. While fending off these vampires and their human counterparts who work by day in return for the promise of being given the gift of vampirism, this group soon realizes that humanity might not be doomed after all, but that in order to cement its survival they must first destroy the vampire King who has turned New York City into a stronghold, one which seems impregnable.
As stated in the forward of Midnight Mass F. Paul Wilson wanted to dismiss all the new theories of vampires and go back to the old myths and legends, similar to what Stephen King did with Salem’s Lot, therefore turning the vampire back into the creature people have feared for centuries By doing this he successfully created an incredibly horrific novel, one which has the ability to keep a reader up until the morning hours, a cross and wooden stake nearby just in case something is lurking out there beyond the darkened windows, one which makes us hope that vampires are just a myth and that they aren’t organizing an attack, because if they are, well then, as laid out in this novel, humanity would probably be doomed.
