It wasn’t long ago that I pined for The Good Vampire. Christian publishers have a notoriously knee-jerk reaction to those nocturnal archetypes. Well, now “good 
vampires” seem to be everywhere and one author (and publisher) is finally attempting to meld the genres.
I signed on to Kiss of Night blog tour for one reason: I am interested in seeing Christian fiction tackle the vampire genre. Is Kiss of Night a good step in that direction? Read on.
Novelist Debbie Viguie is not shy about her religious aims in this book, to the point that each chapter begins with a verse of Scripture.In a nutshell, the story centers around Susan Lambert who’s in the city of Prague for her beloved grandmother’s funeral when she is inexplicably drawn to a mysterious hunk, er, stranger. Chalk one up for “mesmerism.” Turns out Raphael, said stranger, is a vampire. But not just any vampire, and — hallelujah chorus — not the least bit sparkly. It seems Raphael was “a blasphemous knight” who fought in the Crusades. Now, condemned for his evil and hypocrisy, he wanders the earth as a vampire. Think of it as a divine time-out. But apparently Raphael’s got a good streak. And he enlists Susan in a sure-to-be epic battle between ascetic revenants and the good, old-fashioned bad kind.
I found Kiss of Night to be a blending of Christian Fiction and Paranormal Romance. An unholy union? Some will think so. It’s interesting to me that most of the bloggers involved in this blog tour appear to be romance reviewers. Clearly, FaithWords (the publisher) is targeting the Paranormal Romance crowd. So it’s no wonder that the book’s religious themes are repeatedly addressed in the reviews. On the other hand, Christian reviewers, like myself, will most likely mull the possibility of “vampire redemption,” which is the pivot of this tale.
To her credit, Viguie puts different spin on the vampire mythology. In her world, some people become vampires because they are so inherently evil as to be cursed as vampires, a type of karmic retribution affording them time to repent and accept God. Apparently, after 900 years of introspection, Raphael regrets his bloodthirsty ways.
Hardcore vampire lit folks may have a hard time with this. I don’t. Christian fiction readers may have a hard time with this. I don’t. Vampires are fictional constructs, so why not construct (and re-construct) them? These hellions seem like the perfect vehicle to explore the redemptive lengths of grace. Props to Debbie Viguie for stretching her creative legs.
The downside of Kiss of Night for me was the Paranormal Romance elements. For the record, I am not a fan of most Paranormal Romance. It used to be that the undead were known for their appetite, now it’s their abs. Today our vampires come trimmed and tanned, sporting six packs and swarthy good looks. Our werewolves are more like Chippendale strippers than feral night creatures. But these wusses aren’t real monsters. And when your target is romance readers, they don’t have to be. Thankfully, Viguie does not overly indulge the romance elements. There are no throbbing loins in this novel, but there is a healthy(?) sense of “forbidden love.”
Is that enough for hardcore Paranormal Romance readers? Perhaps a bigger question: Are the “faith” elements enough for Christian Fiction readers? It will be interesting to see.
Props to Debbie Viguie for exploring the question and not shying away from religious themes. And also I have to give FaithWords a shoutout for attempting this crossover.
My stop on the tour is this Friday so I need to read it by tonight! I read a review from a non Christian fiction reader and they were complaining about too many Christian/Biblical references throughout the book. So it will be interesting to see if there are review from Christian readers who complain there are too few.
My daughter Mary has also taken on the question of “can a vampire be redeemed?” Her novel, REDEFINING EVIL has no romance — paranormal or mononormal — her vampires drip blood and some are downright…well, EVIL. The roots of her story owe more to Bram Stoker than Stephanie Meyer. It will be out in 2012 from Port Yonder Press. Here’s her website if anyone is interested in vampires related to Dracula:
http://www.o-my-soul.net/
EXCELLENT review and insights!
You said, “Hardcore vampire lit folks may have a hard time with this. I don’t. Christian fiction readers may have a hard time with this. I don’t. Vampires are fictional constructs, so why not construct (and re-construct) them? These hellions seem like the perfect vehicle to explore the redemptive lengths of grace. Props to Debbie Viguie for stretching her creative legs.” I totally agree!
Thanks, Julie!
Let The Right One In (aka: Let Me In), is the best I’ve seen modern society do with the vampire romance tale. It was truly a fantastic film. And I think it’s because they refrained from turning the vampire into a gimmick. It was plot focused rather than vampire focused.
Most vampire stories rely on the concept of the vampire more than a solid plot. And so you get all these stories about vampires instead of stories with vampires in them. This novel doesn’t sound so different. But I wouldn’t know, since I haven’t read it.
But I don’t think adding a few Christian themes makes the subject matter any less cliche. Girl meets scary vampire. Scary vampire turns out to be a good guy, fighting his desire for blood. Girl falls for vampire. Romance insues. Add a dash of violence as an afterthought. Blah, blah, blah.
Loved both versions, Tony. Let Me In / Let the Right One In. Have the soundtrack to the American film.
Chippendale strippers…..that funny
I however would like to see some vampire stories without redemption. Sort of like Let the Right One.
SPOILER: At the end of the film, Eli doesn’t really go through some sort of redemptive stage where she choose between her blood lust and her affection for Oscar. Arguably, an sharp viewer could argue that Eli is just setting Oscar up to become the next Hakan. Within that ending lies no redemption. Eli is quite possibly using Oscar if she is not in love in him and Oscar willing follows Eli, and Oscar starts off pretty much worse by the end than he was in the beginning of the film. He’s no longer stabbing trees but now he lets his “female” vampiric friend rip bullies apart without so much as batting eye toward what the hell just happened.
This kind of story is what the vampire genre needs. I am interested in stories of redemption, but not all the time. Sometimes we can learn from stories by watching the characters grow more and more numb to any sort of morality (which happens all the time in the Bible).
I think “faith” elements certainly are enough if Christians are willing to put a vampiric tale beyond them and observe the themes and motifs that emcompasses the story.
Exactly. Sometimes a vampire should just be a vampire. No gimmicks. The young lady in Let Me In was as much an animal as a person, and there was little effort to humanize her. They told the truth about what it might be like if vampires really existed. They didn’t pull any punches to make us like her character. To help us relate. You either liked her, or you didn’t.
Anyone else get the feeling that most vampire tales work too hard to make us like the vamp?
Hey, that book sounds like I might like it. It depends on how they handle the entire “cursed to muse over your sins” aspect, as well as the reasoning behind the timing of the repentance.
I always thought whoever cursed Angel in Buffy was an idiot; you’re torturing the poor soul whose body was taken over by a demon? Why? What did he ever do to you?
And your blog post title gave me a plot tribble. Thanks. Like I didn’t already have enough of them propagating up here. :-p
Okay, you’ve sold me. I’m not sure when I became a fan of vampire romances, but I have to accept that about myself- I am a fan. 🙂 And a Christian theme to boot? Yes, please. I’ll be checking this one out. However, her concept of humans doomed to an eternity of vampirism because of their inner evil was done in the movie Dracula 2000. It turns out that Judas was the original vamp, cursed to that life because of his betrayal of Christ. A genius take on it, in my opinion.
Thanks for letting me know about this book!
Good and pithy (not to be confused with Good’n’Plenty) blog post, Mike. Doubly so as I blogged today on AuthorCulture about speculative fiction and the Christian worldview.
Great minds and all that! *G*
I may or may not read this. It depends on how much I can handle when I start my horror jag in another week or so.
But here’s my question, and it goes back to an earlier discussion hosted here about whether or not we Christian readers are more or less exacting when reading Christianesque stories.
Since the story plays about in the pool of Christian Doctrine I’m one who is a lot more exacting about paradoctrinal issues. I can’t turn my mind off and “just read for the fun of it” because that is how bad ideas take root. And in this story what I have to wonder about is this:
If Vampirism in Vigue’s world is a time-out, then God seems to have established some sort of purgatorial existence where a sinful person is forced to live on earth for an unnaturally long time and survive solely by victimising other people. In short, God is CREATING murderous monsters.
This? I have a problem with.
I’m not a fan of vampires. I’m definitely not a fan of hunky vampires. I don’t get it. Not in the slightest. However, your review makes the book sound a little interesting, so that’s saying something.