Review: A Vampire in Whitechapel

A Vampire in Whitechapel

Scarlet Blackwell

Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone

Release Date: February 2011

Publisher: Untreed Reads

Pages: 9 (eBook)

Author Site: http://scarletblackwell.com/default.aspx

My Rating: 3.5/5

Source: Received for review from publisher

Synopsis:

[from goodreads.com]

A bloodsucker discovers he's not the only monster stalking the streets of Victorian London, when his nightly search for sustenance brings him face-to-face with the city's most notorious butcher - Jack the Ripper. A short story from our Spectres horror line.

Review:

My only prior knowledge to Jack the Ripper is from the movie From Hell with Johnny Depp and Heather Graham. I enjoyed the movie but didn’t really do any additional research on Jack the Ripper. But from the events portrayed in the movie I got a distinct sense of how horrible and graphic the killings were. A Vampire in Whitechapel features Abel, a vampire currently roaming the streets of London. He may be a vampire but he doesn’t kill unnecessarily. One night he comes across the gruesome scene of a murder victim. There’s a killer loose and murdering women in the most despicable way.

Abel finds himself questioning his own morals and actions in the face of such monstrous actions. While he is somewhat compassionate for the people of London he doesn’t know if he should interfere with the serial killer or not. He may be somewhat of a monster himself but he certainly frowns upon what Jack the Ripper is doing. In a chilling face-to-face confrontation with Jack, Abel looks into the eyes of a killer and sees what evil really looks like.

A Vampire in Whitechapel is one of the reasons I don’t enjoy short stories. However, this story was especially short, coming in at 9 pages. It wasn’t a bad story at all. I enjoyed Abel and his internal conflicts. I enjoyed the dirty and dark atmosphere that Scarlet was able to capture in her words. I just wanted more… Abel is a really great character and the entire story could have been fleshed out into a full blown novel in my opinion. Other than my personal problem with short stories,  A Vampire in Whitechapel was a quick (very quick) read that was enjoyable and engaging. I think any fan of Victorian London and Jack the Ripper will like it.

P.S. (cover talk)

It’s not dramatic or sharply done but I think it goes with the story pretty well. It has a bone-chilling type quality although the quality of work isn’t that ideal.