Travelogues of Hell

In keeping with my San Francisco-themed reading and at the suggestion of a trusted blog-pal, I dove into the horror/humor oeuvre of Christopher Moore (not to be confused with Christopher G. Moore.) Mr. Moore’s snarky/sexy/silly stories of the undead and their acquaintances are found in five books: a trilogy of Vampire novels (Bloodsucking Fiends, You Suck, Bite Me) and a pair of “underworld of the dead” tomes (A Dirty Job and Secondhand Souls). All of the books are set in modern San Francisco. The characters and story lines flow between them, it would be possible to make a mammoth mash-up of all of them.

        

The vampire “love stories”, as they are called, center on Jody, a recently “turned” vampire and her minion/lover Tommy, as they try to adjust to life in a city where their bizarre appearance and behavior goes almost unnoticed among its other strange inhabitants. I didn’t read the first book but I found the latter two quite amusing in a very dark way. Bite Me features “Abby Normal”, a 16 year-old vampire “wannabee” whose diary entries elevate the madness to another level.

               

The two “Death Merchant” books feature various “soul collectors” who are entrusted with the task of transferring the souls of recently departed to vessels and then to other people. I think. Much in the same ”vein” as the others, but these two also have a more serious side that touches upon families, dying and grieving.

All the books have a liberal seasoning of observations of life in San Francisco, the relationships between the sexes, and modern life in general. The supporting characters (some of whom are truly bizarre) are well developed and establish a continuity between the two series.

For humor, I liked Bite Me the best. For substance, I found Secondhand Souls to be the most satisfying. I read them out of order but found that it didn’t matter too much. Moore has written several other books, mostly literary parodies.

See all the FITK San Francisco posts here.