A Vampire’s Christmas Carol by Karen McCullough-a review

A Vampire’s Christmas Carol by Karen McCullough

Decatur, AL is where Carol Prescott WANTS to be on Christmas Eve; at mom and dad’s celebrating with family. Due to bad weather, forcing the freeway shut, Carol braves the unfamiliar roads and her car ends up in a ditch having slid across an ice patch. Trusting her survival skills, Carol walks toward a lighted house, a beacon to save her from freezing to death. Ironically, the home owner is a very hungry vampire. I never said she’d survive the night.

“Tomorrow I’ll die for good. At sunrise.”

“For good. You mean, like, finally? But how do you know?”

“My hundred years of grace are up tonight. If I don’t drink human blood by tomorrow morning, I’ll die at dawn. And I don’t plan on drinking any, which is why your presence is so dangerous.”

“I don’t – Oh. Temptation?”

He nodded.

A bit of self-preservation is healthy at this point. Instead, Carol abides by her inner voice and considers her odds of surviving the inclement conditions outside or remain alongside the ravenous bloodlust that Michael assures her will consume him and threaten her very life. SHE STAYS.

Michael tries, more than once, to try to get Carol to leave. He warns her of the agony he will face by denying the monster inside, but he is resigned to end his life. She can stay and watch (a little on the morbid side), but Carol reminds him of his previous life, his former love, and it brings him comfort to have her there; something he’s denied himself for too long. How very charming, if not romantic. What ensues is an all-nighter of history and camaraderie. HA – you thought I was going to say SEX, didn’t you? Not one bit, but the story wasn’t lacking in any way. Michael recruits Carol to draft his story in the hopes that it could help another vampire in the future. Am I not supposed to swoon?

To pass the time, Michael tells Carol how he became one of the “Risen”. At the age of 29, on his way to propose to his lady love on Christmas Eve, Michael was the victim of the Good Samaritan rule gone bad. After defending a woman from an attack in an alley, the assailant turned on him, perturbed by the interruption, and proceeded to drain Michael. The former lawyer, used to being inquisitive and even ambitious enough to try politics, was now in self-exile; hating the day his life was stolen.

How in the world is this remotely a Christmas story? Is December 24th its only identifier? For a few chapters, I pondered the same myself. Karen McCullough, the author, pummels Michael with exhaustive levels of pain while staving off his body’s instincts to succumb. Convulsions, prey-predator moments and sheer fear for Michael’s last minutes have Carol contemplating just staking the poor dude herself! But just as Carol closes the door behind her…leaving Michael to fry in the sun…**his choice, not hers**…Michael’s wishes for her future usurp her promise…

“I wish…You did say there might be a way—“

He shook his head. “No. Too dangerous. You’ve already risked…too much just staying here. Wouldn’t want that on my…conscience.”

“Michael, I—“”

“No. Make me happy, if you go. Have a good life. Find that hero. He’s out there somewhere for you.”

A Vampire’s Christmas was a sweet, short story full of perseverance and heart. I know I believe in Christmas miracles…will Michael?
I’d LOVE a Vampire for Christmas!

ORDER LINKS: Barnes and Noble / KOBO / Amazon

Reviewed by Carmen