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Review
Adapted from a SpringThing25 Review
Played: 4/11/25
Playtime: 30m, two endings
There is a fundamental problem with “good vampire” narratives. It is all that gosh-darn subtext. In some ways that subtext is helpful - the exotic ‘other’ both feared and desired, a tailor-made receptacle for bigotry and bias. The problem is, in the text of vampire lore, that bigotry and bias turn out to be COMPLETELY CORRECT. They SHOULD be feared. They ARE a menace to the living.
“Some good, some bad” have it worse. If we posit an “all good” vampire tale, we might at least subvert cultural expectations with story-specific lore refuting the mythic presuppositions, expose them as true prejudices. With the “some” narrative we are into much greyer, much more human space. Yes, some illegal immigrants commit crimes. Does this give us permission to villify them all, as a monolith? Does that fact cancel all imperatives for empathy? That’s rich soil to work. I don’t feel that was really RI’s aim, however, to its tonal detriment.
The antagonists of this story, a religious order of vampire hunters, are positioned as cruel and implacable. But, they are not obviously WRONG to be so. Yes, we want our hero to live, but we come from a starting position closer to the bad guys than good. Worse, by our glimpse into the protagonist, we have seen that he is (and presumably all of his kind are) prey to dark vectors pushing them in murderous directions. Resisting, so far, but forever? All of this dilutes the inciting conflict, I think, muddies it in ways that detract from the drama. Immigrants deserve empathy because they are just as human as we are. Vampires are, textually, ACTUALLY BIOLOGICALLY PREDISPOSED TO MURDER.
Fortunately, this is NOT a good vamp v bad religion story. Well, it is, but it’s not PRIMARILY that. This is a character study of a vampire coming to grips with his undead afterlife, the sacrifices it demands, and the pressures it presents. Ultimately asking questions about the value of free will when a decision’s stakes are not and cannot be really understood. This tension I found much better realized than world lore. The details of his turn were nicely grounded, the tactile struggle to escape his trap visceral, and oh that encounter with the transition Demon(?). This last was the showpiece scene of the work. Kembrael (said demon) was delightfully witty, wry and charismatic. That scene alone is worth the price of admission. All these pieces fed a much more personal story of change (only vaguely understood at first) and ongoing struggle.
Before I could embrace the character study though, there was another aspect of the work that pushed at me. The language is formal and flowery, hearkening to a Victorian or Gothic setting in its sentence construction. Any work that uses this much ‘twixt’ and ‘yet’ instead of ‘between’ and ‘still’ is trying my patience, making me think of the dreaded ‘P’ word. And it did for sure, but it also had some real bangers in there:
“Paladins and fiend-flayers and their growing hordes of frothing zealots punished ever more obscure sins.”
“enough of his blood still lingered brainward”
“To consign that much silver to a vampire death trap required hatred with extravagant funding.”
In the end, these were the phrases I grabbed to remember, not that other stuff, so bullet dodged!
I played through twice. There was a weird artifact where one playthrough skipped part 6? Jumped straight from 5 to 7? I think? That was weird, but undamaging to the narrative. The varied endings did have something to say about the value of trust in a climate that discourages it which, while heartening, didn’t really coalesce with other elements in any kind of thematic unity.
And maybe that is the biggest danger vampires pose to a narrative. Their archetypal status, encapsulating so many themes and subtexts, immediately cue certain readers to madly scramble for messages and metaphor. Certain maybe-trying-too-hard readers like me. Maybe I should just settle down, stop trying so hard, and enjoy a more personal, character-based story?
Horror Icon: Babadook
Vibe: Vampires But Good
Polish: Gleaming
Gimme the Wheel!: If it were my project, I would be unable to resist taking an editing knife the more flowery passages. Sharpen those up just a little to really let the strong lines shine.
Polish scale: Gleaming, Smooth, Textured, Rough, Distressed
Gimme the Wheel: What I would do next, if it were my project.
