Booknote: Vampire State Building

Ange, Patrick Renault, and Charlie Adlard (artist), Vampire State Building. Rock Hill, SC: Ablaze Publishing, 2020. ISBN: 978-1-950912-04-9. (Worldcat lacked proper record at time of this post, so linking to the publisher.)

 

Genre: graphic novels and comics

Subgenre: horror, vampires

Format: e-book galley

Source: NetGalley

 

Terry Fisher, a young soldier about to be deployed overseas, is having a farewell party with his friends atop the Empire State Building. Suddenly, vampires appear and take over the tower and kill anyone in their path. Now Terry and his friends need to find a way to survive and get out. 

The vampire outbreak starts pretty much right away. Once the friends gather the terror starts, and we are soon in the middle of horror survival. The comic gets you into the action right away. As we keep reading, the vampires are identified and we gradually get details on their backstory and lore. We do not get a lot of backstory, just enough to keep the story going. 

The story is good overall though it feels a bit rushed at the end. While there is not much depth here, the story moves at a quick pace. I did find the lore of Native American vampires interesting. It is interesting to note that, unlike other horror stories where the authorities are fairly useless, this story takes place in post-9/11 New York City. Once they figure out the situation, they get whatever resources they need to deal with the vampires. These New Yorkers are not messing around. I found the story to be a quick and entertaining read, and the art suits it well with just enough gruesome elements. While this is a pretty light read, I think fans of the vampire horror genre will like it. Folks who like works like 30 Days of Night may like this one too. I liked it. 

3 out of 5 stars. 

 

This book qualifies for the following 2020 Reading Challenges: 

 

 

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