Review: Woodhead takes on vampire story with usual style
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 3, 2013
Nobody does horror like Ian Woodhead. Complain that one of his stories made you want to lose your lunch and he'll say "You do realize I write HORROR?" And he certainly does. His zombie stories will haunt you, because his zombies don't just shamble around harmlessly. They get in there and eat intestines and feast on human flesh like it's going out of style. And the humans are often hard people themselves, hardened  by life and able to face those awful zombies toe-to-toe.In Woven in Blood, Woodhead takes the same gory, all-out, blood-drenched take on vampires that he uses so well in his zombie stories. If this was an experiment to see if the man can write vamps, it was a complete success!A great plot, lots of little fascinating subplots, twists and turns and spurting blood vessels, blood-drenched faces, fresh from feeding. Great gory horror.Woodhead has a way of taking the average, dysfunctional family and making their lives a nightmare. You think your daddy's neglectful? How about he turns into a vampire and drains your sister of blood? You think Mummy doesn't love you? Wait till you see her lovely new fangs. mwahahaha. He writes powerful characters and leaves out the cliches and brings out the reality of what a torn out throat would look like. Not two neat puncture holes, but a gaping, bloody mess. No pretty little vampires here. Lots of aggressive, blood thirsty beasts.If you like it gory and bloody and harsh, this book's a treat! Woodhead's usual fine writing combined with a new take on vampires? What could be better?