Bump In the Night…With Special Guest Sherrill Quinn Back to Blog
Update!!! Sherrill’s winner is…Edie! Congrats, Edie! But wait…there’s more! Sherrill decided to pick two additional folks to receive bookmarks, pens, and other goodies. (Very cool, Sherrill!) These runners-up are Mel K and Carol.
My sister-in-law doesn’t understand my fascination (or her youngest daughter’s for that matter) with creatures that go bump in the night. I’ve loved them since I was a kid, not withstanding the Frankenstein monster who goosed me as I entered into a haunted house when I was 16. As a teenager I watched all those old Hammer Dracula films starring Christopher Lee–still by far one of my favorite Draculas. Although I think Leslie Nielsen did a credible job in Dracula: Dead and Loving It. LOL
The historical vampire was a reanimated corpse that crawled out of its grave each night to feast on the blood of nearby villages, usually family members. It wasn’t until Bram Stoker created Count Dracula that we ended up with the sexy villain (or hero, as in most paranormal romances) of today. We love them tall, dark and brooding, and if they’re fangy, too…well, all the better!
When people ask me what my favorite horror/vampire movie is, I have a hard time answering that question. Because my favorite vampire/horror movie has horror icons–Lon Chaney, Jr. as the Wolfman, Bela Lugosi as Dracula and, at the end, the voice of Vincent Price as the Invisible Man–but it’s not really a horror movie. It’s Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.
So, do you like horror comedies? (Would that be a hormedy?) Or do you like your horror unadulterated and dark?
I have a copy of Belong to the Night, the anthology I’m in with Cynthia Eden and Shelley Laurenston up for grabs to one random commenter. So let me know your thoughts. Dark and brooding? Or not-so-dark and funny? Or somewhere in between?
Just to whet your appetite for what you have a chance to win, here’s the blurb and a short excerpt from my story, City of the Dead:
Dori Falcon is a witch with a plan: get to New Orleans, locate her missing brother, and recover the Eye of Bastet, a mysterious and powerful amulet. Her plan never included falling for sexy Cajun cop Jake Boudreau; but without his help, she may never find the demon who has her brother, and the key to her family’s survival.
Dori sighed and stared at Jake Boudreau’s implacable face. Dark brows were drawn down over eyes that held a look of concern sparked with a small amount of irritation.
Not just because of the way she’d left things between them six months ago, but also because here she was again, trying to encourage him to help her find her wayward younger brother.
Arthur Falcon had come to the Big Easy to meet a very dangerous and unpredictable witch named Alex Sabin. Art planned something that Dori had tried and tried to talk him out of. As much as she’d loved her father, trying to bring him back to life was not a good idea.
In fact, it was a very bad idea.
Now Art was missing. According to Sabin, her brother never shown at their rendezvous point. At least, that’s what he’d said. But Sabin was enigmatic. Why he’d agreed to let Art use the Eye of Bastet in the ritual resurrection was still a mystery to her. The Eye was dangerous, coveted by all those who served the cause of evil and wished to see witches destroyed.
Though if anyone could control the amulet’s power and protect them, it was Sabin. His power was scary, even to someone like her. He had stronger magick than any witch she knew, than any she’d ever known of. And no one knew why.
Others of her kind didn’t trust him. But she knew from his clear, clean aura that he was good and decent, even if there was a shadow in his aura that she’d never seen before.
But now she couldn’t find Sabin, either. He’d gone to ground after informing her of her brother’s disappearance.
Which left her with Boudreau. The one man she should stay away from. The one man hadn’t been able to forget.
If she told him why Art had come back to New Orleans he’d never believe her. And the reason wasn’t important, anyway. She needed Boudreau’s help.
Copyright 2009 Sherrill Quinn. All Rights Reserved.
Let the games begin!
Sherrill Quinn
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Definitely something in between. I like “cool” action scenes, but I also appreciate seeing the less serious side of things. I mean, c’mon, monsters living in this world open up a whole new can of ridiculous. lol
I like something in between.
I love the dark sexy villians who bcome heroes. While they have their dark side, I love it when a little humor is thrown in that is totally unexpected to lighten the mood.
Paula, that’s the thing, right? I mean, imagine biting into someone’s neck with just two teeth and then trying to suck out their blood. Only the most suave and debonair could pull that off… LOL
Hey there, Minna. Thanks for stopping by.
Shari, dark sexy is good. Toss in a little humor and it’s gold. 🙂
Hi Sherrill 🙂
Thanks for the guest post.
I enjoyed your excellent excerpt.
I Follow you on Twitter, but you haven’t Tweeted in a couple weeks. Have you given Twitter up?
I like campy Horror, and dark Horror, and suspense Horror.
I love all Horror!
🙂
All the best,
RKCharron
xoxo
I like both but prefer a darker slant….I like to be scared!!! It gets the blood pumpin’ which could be bad if someone bites you on the neck!!! lol
Hey, RK! No, I haven’t given up on Twitter. I’m just a very bad Tweet. Tweeter? See, I don’t even know what to call myself! LOL And thanks for following me. 🙂
About the only horror I really don’t like is slasher stuff. But give me a good vampire, werewolf, etc., and I’m there! LOL
Cara, I think the last place I’d want my blood to be pumpin’ would be around a vamp. Yeah?
I like something in between. Great excerpt. Sounds good. 🙂
It depends on the movie. I remember watching old reruns on TV of the Abbott and Costello monster/ghost movies. Those were fun. On the other hand, ‘serious’ monster movies, like the latest Frankenstein or Twilight (but please don’t get me started on Bella’s character) were good as well. As long as they are well done, I’ll take either.
Thanks, Crystal. And thanks for stopping by!
Susan, I loved DeNiro as the Frankenstein monster. And Gerard Butler as Dracula in Dracula 2000. Whoo! Haven’t seen Twilight. I love my vamps, just not…sparkly and teenager. LOL
Ladies, your antho looks positively yum. I’ve already ordered it! And I have to say that I’ve always loved dark heroes. Let him have something bad in him, and something good, and I’m undone. 🙂 Humor and darkness make a great cocktail, too.
I like something in between…i like the drama of dark characters but i love a good, unexpected laugh.
Red!! Thanks so much. A hero with some angst (but not too much) is, ah, to die for!
Stacy, I think the laughs that are unexpected are the best, don’t you? 🙂
I’m heading off to work in a few. I’ll check back in with y’all later this afternoon.
I love that blurb. Sounds great. My preference is something that makes me laugh, makes me scared, makes me want the hero and heroine to have their HEA. I want it all! LOL
I’d love to see Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein. I can’t remember that movie. I’ll have to see if one of the area libraries has it.
Hey Sherrill!
I loooove tall, dark, handsome, brooding, yes, all of those things. While the modern day vamps are cool and all, I dig Werewolves! Even better, Wolverine from the X-Men. Maybe he isn’t the traditional monster, but I think he is pretty close and so emotionally driven. Love him, love him, love him. Hugh Jackman is so perfect in this part, I don’t think they could have picked a better person to play him. 🙂
BUT for humor, I have to say, Once Bitten is so funny! I have loved that one since it came out!
Have a great day! 🙂
C~
Great excerpt!! I am really not into funny. I guess I like the dark and gloomy side of horror. I guess you could say I like being scared also:)
I prefer the dark and mysterious myself. The handsome, debonnair….is he really, really bad, or is there a possibility he could be a hero?
Having said that, I don’t mind some comedy. I absolutely love, Dance of the Vampires!!! Fantastic stuff, funny and dark.
Valerie
in Germany
Somewhere in between or it depends upon the story and/or the movie. Sometimes funny works in scary movies/books sometimes I just like it dark and dangerous.
I think it depends on the mood you are in.
I like both kinds of movies and will switch my viewing between the varieties. As long as there’s good characters with an interesting storyline then I’ll definitely watch.
Hi Sherrill!
I think I lean more towards the not so dark and funny. I have totally fallen in love with Lynsay Sands Argeneau series and let me tell ya her vamps are sexy but I just love the humor that intermingles the story 🙂
I like my heros more dark and brooding. I love the complexity of the character, love that added depth. Gena Showalter’s Lords of the Underworld to me depict exactly that 😀
Thanks for stopping by Sherrill 😀
I have to say I’m in between too. Generally it all comes down to my mood at the time.
I like both, but I think I prefer horror comedies because they’re less scarier. I think I would enjoy Zombieland.
It all depends on my mood. Some days I want to be scared silly to forget my EDJ, other times I really need silly monsters and evil doers to perk me up. Both have their place, and I can enjoy both at a given time.
Wow. I was just talking to my neighbor about this. I like gory stuff and funny stuff. There are some movies that have bothered me (Amityville Horror) but then there are some I can watch with no problem (The SAW movies).
I love older movies. They leave more to the imagination.
I also enjoyed the Abbott and Costello movies. Great for laffs. *chortle*
City of the Dead sounds intriguing, Sherrill! Ahem – everyone knows I’m no horror fan. Anything that goes bump in the night makes me run very, very far away, LOL. But, speaking of “hormedies”, I used to love the movie Young Frankenstein. Gene Wilder and his crazy hair and “Abby-Normal.” hehehe – still makes me giggle 🙂
I like both as far as heroes are concerned but I need my horror with a touch of humour or I get too scared by it (can one say ‘chicken’ and nightmares for life?)
I can’t stand campy horror ilie dark sexy with a liitle humor.
Horror movies and Paranormals are my favorite reads, love them all!
I like my heroes dark and broody, but the movies can be something in between.
I like both types of horror reads. I enjoy about any type of read and I like to switch around.
I don’t mind moments of dark and dreamy, oops, I mean brooding. However, I like it with a bit of comedy as well to add a touch of levity. I recently had to stop reading a book because I knew, KNEW if I kept reading I was going to have nightmares. As for movies. I like the funny ones, or at least the ones that are B grade so that I KNOW it’s not real. *G*
I love horror comedies, the normal ones are just creepy or I just know what happens. But then funny ones are too cool. I love stupid 😀
I like it somewhere in between too. Dark, not too gory, with some humor and great dialogue. One of my favorite’s is From Dawn To Dusk.
If I’m going to watch a horror movie it may as well be unadulterated and dark and make a very interesting evening. I do not enjoy fake horror (comedy) you may as well be scared for the real scary rather than a poor substitute.
Edie, if you like A&C, and you like humor mixed with your monsters, I think you’d really like Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein.
Colleen, Love At First Bite is still one of my favorites. “Children of the night…shut up!” LOL
Judy, I don’t mind being scared, but I prefer the psychological/suspense thriller versus the slash and gore type.
Hey, Valerie! Hope things are well for you over in Germany. I’ve never seen Dance of the Vampires. Will have to add it to my list.
Roxanne and Danny, when you combine humor and horror it has to be done in the right mix (obviously). But as ya’ll have said, sometimes it all depends on your mood.
Jody, that’s the hook, right? Characters who fit the story.
Amy, I really like Lyndsay Sands’ books, too. Great mix of humor among the fangs.
Hey, Michele. Thank you for stopping by. 🙂 Dark and brooding works, too.
I like horror with comedy, i think it relieves the scary parts if they are funny. I’m not talking about the Scary Movies those we’re just stupid. But if i like scary if i can laugh also.
Raonaid, you’re not the first one to say so. LOL
Jane, the first time I read Amityville Horror, I ended up sleeping with one eye open. Kept looking at the window expecting to see red pig eyes…
Nancy, that’s a hard choice. Scared silly or silly monsters? 😉
Mel, some of the A&C didn’t make me laugh so much as just roll my eyes, but Meet Frankenstein is one of their best ones. “I saw what I saw when I saw it!” LOL
Amber, thanks! And I love Young Frankenstein, too. Marty Feldman and his roving eye (and hump)!
Ilona, the movies/books I won’t watch/read are the ones that have some lunatic running around killing people. I can see that on the news, thanks. Those I just can’t do. But things that aren’t real? No problem.
Audra, have you been watching the SyFy channel horror movies? LOL Talk about campy…
Well, you’re easy to please, aren’t ya, Teresa?
Thanks for stopping by, Eva!
Quilt Lady, sounds like it depends on your mood.
Brandy, that’s what I say. As long as I know it’s not real (and so far I’m NOT convinced that vampires, werewolves and the like are real LOL), then I can watch the movie/read the book.
blodeuedd, there’s stupid and then there’s stoooopid. I can do the first, just not the second. LOL
Cathy, I enjoyed From Dawn to Dusk. Of course, it didn’t hurt that gorgeous George was in it. 😉
Diane, you’re a braver woman than I. LOL
Taylor, I’m with you. I like Dracula 2000–it has some suspensful moments (I wouldn’t classify any of it as scary, but that could just be me), and I like Dracula: Dead and Loving It which is pure comedy.
Phew! I think I’ve caught up now. 🙂
LOL! I agree, Sherrill.
Ya’know I had an advance screening pass to ZOMBIELAND but I couldn’t go. I’m looking forward to that movie!
Nobody…and I mean nobody….could out do Lon Chaney or Bela Lagosi. I had a friend who met Vincent Price years ago in Texas. I wish I could have met him. I was all set to meet Anthnoy Perkins and his wife in Orlando when they filmed Psycho 4 but I left town instead. *sigh*
I love horror movies of all kinds, whether they scare the crap out of me of make me laugh so hard I cry!
Love the tortured hero. Sometimes though, I want them not so dark and funny and blond and brooding. Then sometimes any combination works.
Definitely dark and brooding, but with just the slightest bit of humor thrown in. Yum!
Deidre
I defintely love the dark and brooding hero. And if they’ve got long hair and an accent, so much the better!
I can’t wait to see Johnny Depp as Barnabas Collins when Tim Burton does Dark Shadows in 2011!
Mel, another of my all-time favorite movies is “A Comedy of Terrors”–stars Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff and Basil Rathbone. OMG, too funny!!
Hey, Darkreader. Would have guessed that by your screenname. LOL
Janet, it’s the nurturer in us, I guess, that has us wanting to stroke their furrowed brows. 😉
Hey, Deidre. Dark, brooding but still with the ability to laugh at himself. I agree. 🙂
Carol, JD is playing BC?!? I had no idea. Should be interesting! 🙂