Roberta Writes – Book review: Vampire of the Midnight Sun by Priscilla Bettis #horror #readingcommunity

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Click on the cover for the Amazon US purchase link:

Picture caption: Cover of Vampire of the Midnight Sun featuring the sun rising over a desolate landscape

What Amazon says

Priscilla Bettis draws on real life experiences in the Alaska wilderness (grizzlies) and the Texas plains (wildfires) to pen these two short stories.

A vampire in Alaska.
In ‘Vampire of the Midnight Sun,’ Frasier and his best friend, Billy, are stranded in the Alaskan wilderness after a rafting accident: grizzlies, arctic water, frozen nights, soggy tundra, no food, no matches, no civilization. And no one is coming to rescue them.

Plus Billy is convinced he’s a vampire. It’s a five-day hike to civilization. Billy claims he can only go three days without human blood.

Will the men survive the harsh Alaskan elements? If so, can Frasier survive Billy’s vampiric delusions, or will Frasier have to take his best friend’s life in order to save his own?

A showdown between an Old West cowboy and a fire witch.
In ‘The Fire Witch and the Cowboy,’ Henderson is the yellow-bellied coward of Dusty Bend, Texas. His wife is ashamed of him. Kids tease him. And he’s terrified of wildfires.

But when a wildfire threatens Dusty Bend, it is Henderson who brokers a deal between the townfolk and the wealthy but formidable Widow Vandermeer, to use her resources in order to fight the fire.

“There will be sacrifices,” she says. If the widow learns Henderson’s decades-old secret, he might be the sacrifice.

Will Henderson grab his wife and run, leaving town while he can? Or will he stay and risk falling into Widow Vandermeer’s clutches?

Meanwhile, the wildfire grows closer…

(cover by Adrian Baldwin)

My review

This book comprises of two stories, both with unusual and deliciously creepy plots.

The first story is about two men, born and raised in Alaska, who like to hike in the wilderness. A series of unfortunate events result in their being stranded in a location that differs from their logged trail. With nearly all of their possessions lost, the friends must hike on until they reach the closest village. The larger and stronger of the pair, Billy or Vlad as he calls himself, claims that he is a vampire and can’t go for an extended period without human blood, a discussion that his companion, Frasier, who is suffering from an infection, finds highly improbable and annoying. The friends must find a way to work together if they want to survive the ordeal.

I really enjoyed the realistic descriptions of two men lost in the Alaskan wilderness and the difficulties they experience in hiking across the adverse terrain without their equipment. Frasier is the narrator and the combination of his deteriorating health and mental well being make him an unreliable narrator. As a result, the I was left uncertain as to whether the facts as reported by Frasier were entirely true.

The second story is about a pioneer with an unfortunate family connection and a terrible secret and a vengeful woman who has sold her soul to the devil. This story had an eerie and frightening tone so I knew terrible and ungodly events were going to occur early on in the story. The tone and foreshadowing did not disappoint and I thought this was an excellent piece of paranormal fiction.

People who enjoy clever paranormal stories with dark and foreboding tones will enjoy this book.

About Priscilla Bettis

Picture caption: Author picture of Priscilla Bettis. She has short hair, brown eyes and shows the smallest hint of a smile.

Priscilla Bettis read her first horror story, The Exorcist, when she was a little kid. She snuck the book from her parents’ den. The Exorcist scared Priscilla silly, and she was hooked on the power of the horror genre from that moment on.

Priscilla is an excellent swimmer, which is good because vampires are terrible swimmers.

Priscilla shares a home in the Northern Plains of Texas with her two-legged and four-legged family members.

Find Priscilla online at https://priscillabettisauthor.com.

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Published by robertawrites235681907

I am a writer of young adult fiction and poetry

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46 thoughts on “Roberta Writes – Book review: Vampire of the Midnight Sun by Priscilla Bettis #horror #readingcommunity”

  4. Robbie, what a wonderful surprise! Thank you for reading and reviewing my short book.:-) I pulled from memories of hypothermia, grizzlies, and tundra for the first story, and the surreal nature of the fire that passed through here last year for the second story.

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  12. Great review, Robbie. I don’t usually read horror, but I read Vampire of the Midnight Sun and loved it. Priscilla is a wonderful writer, and her unique skill kept me reading through my fears. Congratulations, Priscilla, for another great review. 😊

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