Review of Wolfsbane and Mistletoe
July 14th, 2009
Like rum in your eggnog, these delightful and frighteningly entertaining tales are sure to warm you up on a cold winter evening. Fifteen bestselling authors, including Charlaine Harris, Patricia Briggs, Keri Arthur and Carrie Vaughn, have contributed a raucous collection of short stories that were bound by two rules: they had to be set during the Christmas season, and they had to contain werewolves. Authors Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner edited the collection, with offerings from the wickedly funny to the truly horrifying. Following is a short peek at some of the fifteen tempting holiday tales.
Gift Wrap, by Charlaine Harris, finds Sookie Stackhouse alone at Christmas, that is, until she discovers an ailing werewolf outside her home. Not one to abandon a creature in trouble, Sookie swings into action. For those who don’t follow the series, this story takes place just after the latest novel.
Although the ending may be clear from the beginning in “Lucy, at Christmastime” by Simon R. Green, it doesn’t deter from this great story of lost love and Christmas memories. It’s an interesting night at the Nightside bar when a werewolf takes a walk down memory lane.
In “The Night Things Changed” by Dana Cameron, the magical creatures of the Fangborn are the good guys; they fight evil and capture the wrongdoers. In this interesting tale the brother and sister team of werewolf and vampire have to find a serial killer who, much to their dismay, is one of them.
Kat Richardson incorporates twisted humor in her story The Werewolf before Christmas. Matthias is a werewolf who has found himself in an unlikely predicament in the North Pole. After having munched on Rudolph the Reindeer, he is forced by St. Nick to be his replacement. How will this mighty werewolf handle being tied to a sleigh?
In true Christmas spirit, Carrie Vaughn writes an uplifting story with her “II Est Ne” contribution. An unlikely encounter in a Waffle House finds Kitty and her new friend, a recently turned werewolf, hunting down a serial killer and changing both their dismal outlooks.
What happens when Soviet vampires discover that Santa is one of their own and has been using Christmas as a way to satisfy his bloodthirsty desires? They want in, of course! But somehow they end up in Africa after being bamboozled by a werewolf. Nancy Pickard writes an amusing tale of vampires-gone-wild with her story, You’d Better Not Pyout.
With “Rogue Elements”, Karen Chance, the author of the Cassandra Palmer series writes a Christmas story that takes place in the heart of Las Vegas. Lia is a member of the War Mage Corps who refuses to accept her werewolf heritage or even believe in it. What follows is a story of politics and intrigue.
Wolfsbane and Mistletoe showcases short stories from the finest authors in the fantasy/horror genre. Although the tales are tall and sometimes full of gore, they definitely offer something different for fantasy fans.
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