My review of Baltimore, or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire.
Text of the review:
(May contain spoilers--you've been warned.)
If you have read any of Mignola's _Hellboy_ comics, then you have a good idea of the kind of adventure you're in for. If not ...
Baltimore is a delightfully creepy illustrated horror novel, a fantastic old-time pulpy weird story by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden. The creators manage to craft a near-perfect blend of pulp action, ghost stories, horror, fairy tale, and folklore, spiced with allusions to Melville's classic Moby Dick and an allegory of war.
In the world of Baltimore, a dark mirror of our own, WWI was never decided conclusively. A plague has spread across Europe, stripping the land and people of joy, hope, and life. The primary conceit is the gathering of three men who have been summoned by a mutual friend, Lord Baltimore, to a lonely inn during the years after the first World War: Dr. Rose, a former surgeon and opium addict; Demetrius Aischros, a sailor; and Childress, Baltimore's childhood companion. As the men await Baltimore's arrival they share stories with one another concerning their enigmatic friend, their own experiences during the war, and the hellish nightmares they have suffered. As they tell their tales, the reader learns that each of these men has had horrific encounters with dark powers and the unnatural. More, the friends' tales inform the reader of Baltimore's evolution from family man and soldier to a hunter of evil and crusader of light.
Baltimore's nemesis, a vampire whose ilk fed off of dead and dying soldiers during the war, and whom Baltimore mutilated, is particularly creepy, cunning, and menacing. No wispy sexually ambiguous Anne Rice "lonely ones" here; these vampires are hungry and vengeful, vicious predators waging a genocidal war on humanity, and enjoying every moment.
If you're the kind of reader who enjoys Poe, Lovecraft, Hellboy, and weird tales in general, this book is a winner. Go buy it, get reading, and savor Baltimore this Halloween season.
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