Enter, Night

Feb 02, 2012 Kate O'Hanlon rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, creatures-of-the-night

Now this is how you write a book about vampires!

For the first 50 pages or so I thought I wouldn't like this book. Especially after chapter 4 when *spoilers*

(view spoiler) But then suddenly I was hooked by this gripping terrifying story.
Maybe it's because I such a city girl, or maybe it was too many dreadful holidays in remote parts of Ireland, but small rural towns utterly horrify me. Even before anything started to go wrong I was screami...more

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Mar 16, 2013 Raven rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

With shades of the masters of horror, Stephen King and Dean Koontz, `Enter, Night' is a spine-tingling tale of terror wreaking havoc in Parr's Landing, a small town in Canada. From its bloody outset, this is a chilling tale that draws heavily on the infamous Wendigo legends where men, and in this case women as well, are dehumanised and seek to drain the blood of their hapless victims spurred on by an all controlling demonic figure. Not only is this a truly terrifying read, but there is also a ve...more

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Apr 28, 2012 Hal Bodner rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wonderful first novel.

Michael Rowe's freshman novel, Enter Night, hearkens back to the modern Golden Age of horror literature of the eighties and early nineties. Though essentially an intimate story, Rowe has managed to impart a much broader scope to the book, creating an epic ambiance reminiscent of King and McCammon in their early years.

Though it opens like a serial killer novel, it soon becomes clear that Enter Night is a vampire piece. Writing in that genre in a post-Twilight world takes bot...more Wonderful first novel.

Michael Rowe's freshman novel, Enter Night, hearkens back to the modern Golden Age of horror literature of the eighties and early nineties. Though essentially an intimate story, Rowe has managed to impart a much broader scope to the book, creating an epic ambiance reminiscent of King and McCammon in their early years.

Though it opens like a serial killer novel, it soon becomes clear that Enter Night is a vampire piece. Writing in that genre in a post-Twilight world takes both courage and skill and Rowe is admirably up to the task. Rowe's vampires are evil creatures of the night and he cleverly keeps them out of focus throughout; the reader will find no sympathetic cursed ex-aristocrats or tragically handsome and sexually frustrated teeny-boppers with pointy teeth in Rowe's universe!

Perhaps the strongest indication that the reader is in the hands of a budding master novelist is Rowe's amazing prose. At times, the language can only be described as gorgeous if not downright poetic. Yet the author never once oversteps the border into pretense. He marvelously captures the isolation and back-woods mentality of Parr's Landing, the Canadian boon-dock town where the book is set, in such a way as to communicate its bleakness to the reader on an emotional level. When the main characters are forced by circumstances to return there, we share much of their despair and frustration.

Michael Rowe is emphatically not a "safe" writer. He has no compunction about drawing us in while leading us to believe he's introducing us to a main character only to kill him or her off a few pages later. It's a disturbing literary tactic, to be sure and, at first, it can be disconcerting. However, in the end it may help instill in the reader a sense of uncertainty and instability which seems to form part of Enter Night's theme.

It was lovely to figuratively sink my teeth into a good old fashioned vampire novel for a change and I enjoyed it immensely. If the book has a flaw, it is a minor one. It ends far too abruptly for my taste. I would have preferred more of a wind-down after the action's climax. Even so, if you are a fan of more traditional vampire novels, Enter Night is a must read.(less)

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Jan 24, 2012 Sara Thompson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley

This is a hard review to write. I loved the story. I do have an ARC which means there were some technical errors that I hope are resolved before publishing. With that in mind, I want to focus on the story.
The story was amazing. The language a little tough for me because the author is Canadian and I am not. Michael Rowe is a native English speaker but there was some language that left me puzzled but may not be difficult for a Canadian. However, I loved the story.
This is an ensemble cast making i...more This is a hard review to write. I loved the story. I do have an ARC which means there were some technical errors that I hope are resolved before publishing. With that in mind, I want to focus on the story.
The story was amazing. The language a little tough for me because the author is Canadian and I am not. Michael Rowe is a native English speaker but there was some language that left me puzzled but may not be difficult for a Canadian. However, I loved the story.
This is an ensemble cast making it difficult to give a clear synopsis. In 1952, an archeological dig in Parr’s Landing goes wrong when student, Richard Weal, goes mad and attacks another student. Years later, he returns to Parr’s Landing to finish what he started and that is to wake the being hidden deep in the caves. At the same time, widow Christina is forced to return to Parr’s Landing with her daughter and brother-in-law. Her departure from the small town was not a pleasant one. The town knows the gossip but they don’t understand the truth. Her late husband Jack Parr was the prince to Adeline Parr’s kingdom. Christina will always be known as the slut who drove him from home.
Jeremy Parr escape happened later after his mother tried to have him cured of his homosexuality. His first love remains in Parr’s Landing but has been convinced that it is better to be a heterosexual asshole than a happy homosexual.
Richard Weal is successful in his mission and unleashes an ancient vampire on the small town, destroying everything in its path and yet freeing those held captive by Parr’s Landing.
Take away the vampires and Enter, Night is still a wonderful and touching story. There are so many elements in this book from various prejudices (sexuality, race, class) to family relations to a touching tale of a love and the sacrifices that brings (human and animal).
The story sucked me in but I was left unfulfilled when it was over. The last chapter goes back to 1650 to explain how the creature came to Parr’s Landing and was confined in the caves. It was still interesting but I wanted to stay in the more present day (of the story) to find out what happened. There was some wrap up but not enough for my taste. I only hope this means Michael Rowe is writing a sequel because I would like that.
Visit the author at www.michaelrowefiction.com (less)

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Jan 15, 2012 Maxine McLister rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

After the death of her husband, Christine Parr is forced to return to Parr's landing, the small town she grew up in, with her daughter, Morgan. Her brother-in-law, Jeremy, has chosen to return with them in hopes of protecting them from Adeline, his domineering mother and matriarch of the town.

Unfortunately, they are not the only ones returning to Parr's Landing. Three hundred years ago, something terrible happened there. The Church believed that the native population had killed priests sent to c...more

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Dec 07, 2011 Andrew rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The pain when he bit down was incredible, but it vanished almost before it had even registered. As he felt the blood drain from his body, Richard Weal felt himself pulled up into a swirling vortex of crimson and gold light. For the briefest possible moment, Weal caught a glimpse of a glittering necropolis of souls, a dimension of pure love and endless wisdom. Its inhabitants reached out, their arms outstretched to embrace him, to join him to them, to forgive him and to guide him and beckoning hi...more The pain when he bit down was incredible, but it vanished almost before it had even registered. As he felt the blood drain from his body, Richard Weal felt himself pulled up into a swirling vortex of crimson and gold light. For the briefest possible moment, Weal caught a glimpse of a glittering necropolis of souls, a dimension of pure love and endless wisdom. Its inhabitants reached out, their arms outstretched to embrace him, to join him to them, to forgive him and to guide him and beckoning his soul to join the mass of others.

Not this! Make me like you! Make me like you! You promised! I want to live forever! This isn’t what I killed for! This isn’t what I died for! YOU PROMISED!

The crimson sky turned black and cold and violent.

***

I know what you’re thinking: a vampire novel in 2011 without glitter, shirtless-at-every-opportunity werewolves, and potentially dangerous messages about relationships and expectations for young men and women everywhere? Bullshit! But here we are with Lambda and Spectrum award-winning author Michael Rowe’s first novel, Enter, Night, and there’s not a loosely veiled Mormon abstinence tale in sight. Oh, happy day.

Enter, Night follows recently widowed Christina Parr, her daughter Morgan, and brother-in-law Jeremy as they return to the small northern Ontario town of Parr’s Landing in 1972, where Jeremy, Christina, and Christina’s late husband Jack grew up. The name Parr, as one might imagine, carries substantial weight in this small community, which is lorded over by the hate-filled, Sauron-like eye of Jeremy and Jack’s mother, Adeline. Persecuted for what Adeline perceived as unforgivable sins, Jeremy, Jack and Christina abandoned the Landing more than a decade prior to the start of the tale. However, due to Jack’s untimely death and insurmountable financial troubles that followed, Christina and Jeremy have been forced to return to Parr’s Landing and beg the help of the bitter and authoritarian Adeline.

Also returning to Parr’s Landing for the first time since 1952 are two opposing forces: Billy Lightning, a professor who seeks the answers to his father’s recent murder; and Richard Weal, a presumed-dead man with a murderous, supernatural agenda. Both men are tied to events surrounding the excavation of a Jesuit settlement in Parr’s Landing and a mysterious, malevolent entity trapped within the site.

Enter, Night isn’t a typical vampire tale. It certainly pays tributes to tropes of old—stakes through the heart, immolation via sunlight, feeding on the blood of the innocent—but injects the element of colonialism into the mix. That the vampire at the heart of the tale is in fact a 17th century Catholic priest who sought to colonize the natives of the land is a detail perfectly mirrored in the book’s many disparate threads: the way gossip spreads through a small, deeply conservative town, instilling unshakeable prejudices; the manner in which a matriarch’s oppressive worldview and homophobia bleeds into the minds of her children, infecting them with a reactionary degree of fear; the racism and subjectivity of small town law enforcement with little to no outside-the-fishbowl experience. The viral aspect of vampirism—as a plague or parasite that can decimate an area—is at the core of Rowe’s narrative. That the vampire is a supernatural being is unimportant. What matters is what the vampire represents, as a concept and as a thing to be feared.

Not everything in Enter, Night is as effective as its tone. The book begins with a rather tangential subplot that, though it introduces us to the bastard Richard Weal, feels altogether unnecessary. Similarly, the final act—the unearthed transcription of Father Alphonse Nyon’s deathbed confessional regarding his confrontation with the vampire, Father de Céligny, at the site of St. Barthélemy—feels strangely misplaced. The content of this final act is captivating and is likely the strongest aspect of the entire novel, but it feels truncated, as if this small narrative within the text should have been expanded into a separate second book. As a consequence of this, the novel feels a little stuffed to the gills, as if Rowe wasn’t sure what to cut and what to keep.

Pacing issues aside (and some tonal problems with Finn, whose voice sometimes trips between that of a young child and someone with social and/or developmental problems… which may or may not have been intentional, I can’t say for sure), Enter, Night is a welcome shot in the arm for the vampire genre—because, apparently, it is a genre unto itself these days. Considering the glut of limp-wristed horror titles that want to address vampirism through forbidden love or unfortunate farce (see: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and all zombie, werewolf, and android related titles), Enter, Night has the potential to capitalize on aspects of the genre that have been forgotten as of late.(less)

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Jan 18, 2012 Kevin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I have a lot to say about this book and at the same time nothing at all. I'm worried that exploring all my feelings will lead me to be overly critical, but I guess that's part of the point of a personalized review, isn't it? I'm going to ignore any blatant comparison to 'Salem's Lot, except for when I don't. I will point out that King wrote 'Salem's Lot as the standalone novel and the short story Jerusalem's Lot as the kind of historic precursor wherein we read someone's diary as they describe e...more

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Nov 16, 2011 Tina rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I received this book as a part of NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. It reminds me of 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King. I am a big fan of vampire books in general, but this book qualifies as so much more. The story is so lifelike that I almost believe that something like this can happen. The book supports the idea that this is a real legend with actual supporting documents at the end.

It's the story of a woman who loses her husband and is forced to move in with her mother...more

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Oct 13, 2011 Katy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: fans of horror, speculative fiction, vampires (REAL vampires)

Recommended to Katy by: NetGalley

Shelves: ebook, net-galley

Christina Parr (née Monroe) fled Parr’s Landing with her fiancé Jack Parr 16 years ago in order to escape Jack’s dominating mother and allow the two lovers to get married and have their baby in peace. Five years later, Jack’s brother Jeremy joined them after the boys’ mother sent Jeremy to an asylum where he was basically tortured for six months in an attempt to “cure” his homosexuality. Now, in 1972, with Jack having been killed in an accident, Christina, Morgan (her daughter) and Jeremy have n...more Christina Parr (née Monroe) fled Parr’s Landing with her fiancé Jack Parr 16 years ago in order to escape Jack’s dominating mother and allow the two lovers to get married and have their baby in peace. Five years later, Jack’s brother Jeremy joined them after the boys’ mother sent Jeremy to an asylum where he was basically tortured for six months in an attempt to “cure” his homosexuality. Now, in 1972, with Jack having been killed in an accident, Christina, Morgan (her daughter) and Jeremy have no choice left but to return to Parr’s Landing. The problem is that something else is already in Parr’s Landing – something has been sleeping in the caves under the town. And it’s about to wake up and fill the streets of Parr’s Landing with blood … Is it the mythical Wendigo of Native legends? Or is it something more recent – perhaps dating back to the destruction of the first Jesuit Mission in 1630?

Just after Halloween, this amazing horror novel is being released by ChiZine Publications, the leader in speculative fiction. “Enter, Night” will be available on November 1, 2011, and if you are a fan of horror books, especially those relating to vampire-type creatures, you will definitely want to be on the look-out for this terrific, creepy novel. The characters are fabulous, the plot moves with a brutal efficiency, and the writing is superb. There are a few editing problems – nothing too obtrusive, but there are a few instances of the wrong name/pronoun being used, and a few grammatical mistakes and missing words. But the story, the writing, the plot, the characters – they all make up for it. I was also well pleased with the scholarly nature of the writing – several times I had to look up words, and I have a pretty decent vocabulary. I should mention that about 80% of the book is the actual story – after the end of the story, a copy of a manuscript described in the text is provided that gives the background of the area and the genesis of the monster. I found this particularly interesting and it seems pretty well-researched. Michael Rowe is definitely a name to watch for in the horror/speculative fiction field and I hope to see some more novels by this amazing writer!
(less)

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May 13, 2012 Remittance Girl rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I enjoyed a lot of this book. I found many of the characters compelling and interesting. Rowe has created a lot of complexity in his main characters, which allowed me to engage with them emotionally. For the most part, he bypasses the often stereotypical characterization so common in a lot of horror novels. And it really IS good to come across a novel involving vampires that don't sparkle.

That being said, I had some real difficulties with both the structure and antagonist characterization. The...more

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Apr 28, 2012 Barry King rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Enter, Night is a remarkable book. Initially, it is a classic vampire tale. It has many of the required tropes, being on the surface a tale of the distant castle at the end of a desperate journey where an ancient and patient evil waits to crush our heroes' spirits for no other reason than its insatiable lust for power. On another level, it is a Canadian story, of a single-industry town dominated by a powerful family, a kind of North American fiefdom where the cruelty and greed of its nobility ex...more Enter, Night is a remarkable book. Initially, it is a classic vampire tale. It has many of the required tropes, being on the surface a tale of the distant castle at the end of a desperate journey where an ancient and patient evil waits to crush our heroes' spirits for no other reason than its insatiable lust for power. On another level, it is a Canadian story, of a single-industry town dominated by a powerful family, a kind of North American fiefdom where the cruelty and greed of its nobility exercise control over its captive workforce, and on how the misfits within it are destroyed by this weight of impunity. But at its core, and throughout its compelling narrative, it is the story of human delicacy and tenderness in the face of monstrosity brought about through perverse morality, ignorance, and prejudice.

In a classic modern horror tale, there is a kind of football-game of moral points, where failings on the part of the characters are exacted in a kind of revenge by the monsters. Points are scored, and only the few, the honest, and the human will survive to the end, if at all. There is often, also, a deep attraction between the monster and the victim, a Stockholm syndrome at best or a sparkling boyfriend at worst which resonates with some echo of the excitement and fear of discovering one's own sexuality. There is also, often, the vindication of the loner, the one person who saw the axe before it fell and either Cassandra or Noah, strove to mitigate its effects. Enter Night has all these elements, but brings them gently into the story with a fresh retelling that brings the triumph of human frailty to the centre, with all the dime-store props of modern horror serving as the setting, not the focus.

And it accomplishes this feat despite Rowe's vampires being a celebration of the luric comic-book and Christopher Lee variety: bizarre creatures that are so powerful and violent and yet are as delicate as jellied eel—easily turned aside with a crucifix, a prayer, or mason-jar of holy water. Yet in the same manner that our most vulnerable human frailties are creased by the current of societal scorn into monstrous versions of themselves, the dying heroes fight alien evil on our own terms and so succumb to its power. In the end, in a scene that is one of the most heart-wrenching I have read in or out of the genre, the acceptance of the alien and the assertion of tenderness, there is a beautiful kind of redmption, a secular statement of the nature of goodness against an ancient evil that cloaks itself in the self-rightous cassock of religious morality.

A forth tale is also offered, almost as an appendix or exhibit to the main work. Rowe uses a clever device similar to Chrichton's Eaters of the Dead, where a "modern translation" of a first-person narrative given in testimony wraps up the novel with a rich backstory which tells a second Canadian tale: one of a good-intentioned corruption of the New Land with an evil from Europe's past. The novel stands on its own without this second part, but I found it an equally well-told (though unnecessary) contrast between one moral world-view and another one both more ancient and modern in its acceptance of temporal limits.

Although affiliated in a technical way with the publisher, CZP, I speak for myself when I strongly recommend this novel, especially in the light of the tacky direction the vampire tale has taken of late. The Audible version of this book, from which this review is derived, is compelling, with a reader sensitive to and appreciative of the story's narrative qualities. Although, privately, I wish he had learned the "proper" pronunciation of Canadian place-names like Guelph and Sault-St.-Marie, but that's a tiny quibble against an excellent performance by Kevin Stillwell.(less)

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May 02, 2012 Lorina Stephens rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There is much to be said for Michael Rowe’s novel, Enter, Night. It is a refreshingly traditional vampire story. No eco-friendly, glittering, James Dean vampires here. Rowe harks back to Bram Stoker’s original vampire incarnation, which in turn borrowed heavily from ancient legends.

Overall, the novel clips along with aggressively spare and gritty prose. No poetic metaphors here. Every word, every scene, every character is crafted to make you take notice.

And therein, for me, lies part of the pro...more

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Dec 08, 2011 Shawn rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 04, 2012 Janny rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook, english-reading, netgalley, read-2011

I received this book as part of NetGalley in exchange for a review. Quite different from the kind of books I usually read. But that's all right, reading a book that makes you step out of your comfortzone. Enter, Night by Michael Rowe is that kind of a book to me. Not entirely true, because I've read Black Swan Rising by Lee Carroll as one of the books in the Transworld Book Challenge. Yet, this is a completely different, much more creepy novel. A horror-novel with vampire-type creatures. And, be...more I received this book as part of NetGalley in exchange for a review. Quite different from the kind of books I usually read. But that's all right, reading a book that makes you step out of your comfortzone. Enter, Night by Michael Rowe is that kind of a book to me. Not entirely true, because I've read Black Swan Rising by Lee Carroll as one of the books in the Transworld Book Challenge. Yet, this is a completely different, much more creepy novel. A horror-novel with vampire-type creatures. And, believe it or not, I really liked it. It's Michael Rowe's first novel and he can be proud of it.

The novel is about Christine Parr, her daughter Morgan and her brother-in-law Jeremy Parr. Christine and Jeremy left Parr's Landing years ago for different reasons but mainly to escape from Adeline, the dominating mother of Jack and Jeremy. After Jack, Christine's husband was killed in an accident, Christine and Jeremy have no other choice then to return to Parr's Landing. They're forced to beg Adeline for help, who is unfortunately still the same the unbearable, hate-filled woman she used to be. Billy Lightning is also returning to Parr's Landing. A professor who seeks answers to the recent killing of his father and believes the killing is connected with the history of murder and madness associated with the land Adeline Parr owns.

The novel is creepy, violent and terrifying. It's extremely well written with fabulous characters. My favorite character in the novel is Finn, the 12 year old boy with his dog Sadie. I really enjoyed reading Rowe's description of the relationship between Finn and his dog. Yet, it's also the part of the book that is sometimes so scary that you have to put down the book. What I like about the book is that there are a lot of characters to sympathize with, Finn and his dog, Christine, Morgan Jeremy, Billy, they're all very lovable characters.

The prose is outstanding. Consider Rowe's description of the images Finn has: "the gift of a glimpse of the world as experienced from Sadie's perspective - a mosaic of smell no human nose would ever experience; the literature of light on grass and snow; the secret language of birds and squirrels and cats; the true meaning of unconditional love, something no human being would ever truly understandl the perfect ecstasy of Finn's fingers combing through her soft black fur, the utter completion of falling asleep at the foot of his bed. Pure and uncomplicated gratitude for every affection ever shown to her. Vigilance for Finn's safety. Selfsacrifice". A quote to remember "when she was sure she could see the beauty, she allowed herself to feel hope". It's not what I expected to find in a vampire fiction novel.(less)

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Oct 23, 2011 Angela rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Horror, vampires

Shelves: ebook, fiction, horror, netgalley, urban-fantasy

I'm actually giving this book 3.5 stars. I thought it was really slow at times and filled with a couple back stories that I really didn't care about reading. There was also a lot of different point of views, I mean a lot...like 10 or 11. That being said, I really liked the idea of the book, two people who escaped their hometown (both for their own reasons) have to come crawling back 15 years later right when all hell is about to break loose. There were a couple twist I didn't see coming that rea...more

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Mar 28, 2012 Derryl Murphy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The only thing about this book that disappointed me was the ending, notes from another time that told us Who and Why and How. For me, it would have been better to leave questions unanswered, except for the answers supplied by my fevered imagination. And the rest of the novel, everything leading up to that, did much to supply that fever. Enter, Night reads like Stephen King of old, and I find myself jealous of some younger person reading his or her first (non-sparkly) vampire book and choosing th...more

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Mar 31, 2013 Bibliophile rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I like horror, I really do. I'm not a literary snob. I don't frown upon vampires or zombies or ghouls. That said, there is a lot of awful stuff being published in the genre, and I don't get it. Genre fiction can be well-written and original, it doesn't have to be clichéd and formulaic, so why is it? Finding quality horror - or supernaturalistic fiction, or speculative fiction or whatever you want to call it - is hard. When I do find it, I'm excessively excited and grateful and keep chirping abou...more

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Aug 26, 2012 Sarah Sammis rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley, read-in-2011

Enter, Night by Michael Rowe weaves a tale of a Canadian town in decline and besieged by the curse of the wendigo. All of this plays out as Christina Parr, recently widowed is forced to move back to Parr's Landing with her daughter and brother in law.

Mrs. Parr, matriarch of Parr's Landing is by far the most evil creature, far more so than the ever hungry wendigo. She can't abide the fact that her favorite son left her to marry a woman she doesn't approve of. Nor can she accept that her other son...more

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Nov 26, 2011 David Nickle rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

From my blog, The Devil's Exercise Yard:

I remember when I first read Salem's Lot. I suspect that most of you do - at least those of you in your 40s, who grew up in the 1970s and 80s and were immune to the not-so-subtle charms of disco, citizens band radios and pet rocks.

I picked up the paperback of Stephen King's early vampire novel in the lineup of a supermarket -- drawn in by its gloriously monochrome, sparkle-free, embossed cover depicting a little girl with a single red drop of blood leaking...more

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Nov 27, 2011 Paul Jr. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, glbt-characters, vampire, gay-authors

Vampire fiction. Just whisper the words and they’re likely to evoke groans from horror readers, writers and editors across the globe. Let’s face it, the vampire is a character which—pardon the expression—has been done to death. Of course, every once in a while, a King or a Rice or a Brite comes along and unexpectedly re-invents the old vamp, giving him back his teeth and his terror, but then hundreds of sub-par copycats inevitably follow, flooding the market with sparkly, erotic or just plain po...more Vampire fiction. Just whisper the words and they’re likely to evoke groans from horror readers, writers and editors across the globe. Let’s face it, the vampire is a character which—pardon the expression—has been done to death. Of course, every once in a while, a King or a Rice or a Brite comes along and unexpectedly re-invents the old vamp, giving him back his teeth and his terror, but then hundreds of sub-par copycats inevitably follow, flooding the market with sparkly, erotic or just plain pornographic vampires who lack bite as well as literary merit. Understandably, respect for vampires falls dormant and the welcome mat at publishing houses is withdrawn. Despite this cycle, there are always those authors unafraid of tackling the subject; luckily, for readers, Michael Rowe is one of them, his debut novel Enter, Night beautifully capturing a feeling and horror and dread long absent from most vampire fiction.

Built on the blood of the displaced Native population and the backs of generations of its residents, Parr’s Landing, in 1972, is a ghost of a community, its gold mines long run dry, opportunities scarce and the people wanting nothing more than to find a way out. Fifteen years earlier, Christina Parr and her husband were one of the few to escape the suffocating confines of the town, one ruled with an iron fist by matriarch Adeline Parr. Not long after, Christina’s brother-in-law Jeremy also escaped after a gruesome attempt at gay reparative therapy forced upon him by the controlling Adeline. Following the death of her husband, however, Christina, her teenage daughter Morgan, and Jeremy have no other choice but to return to the Landing to live under the roof and constant eye of the woman from whom they had once fled. But Adeline Parr isn’t the only thing Christina and her family has to fear; for far beneath the ruined mines of Parr’s landing lurks a horrific being who has just been awakened after 300 years.

Enter, Night may be Michael Rowe’s debut novel, but Rowe is far from a neophyte. A life-long devotee of all things horror, a seasoned editor, short-story writer and journalist, Rowe has numerous awards under his belt for both his fiction and non-fiction work; so it’s not surprising that Rowe’s freshman outing has a maturity and style about it that puts other first time novelists to shame. His prose is lean but at the same time lush, evoking not only a sense of time and place, but also an atmosphere of intense suspense. In his hands, Parr’s Landing and the surrounding countryside come alive, transforming into characters in their own right.

At night, Parr’s Landing breathes in its population and doesn’t exhale them until morning.

This skill isn’t limited to the setting. Rowe likewise has a deft hand when it comes to creating characters whom we understand. We may find them endearing or infuriating, but never boring or one-dimensional. And this applies evenly to all the characters, not just our “leads.” Even the most minor of characters are rich and deep; while they may be little more than vampire fodder within the plot, they are never, ever disposable in Rowe’s hands. We feel each of their “deaths” immensely because Rowe finds the details in their lives that resonate with the reader. He opens them up (sometimes literally) so that we see all of them. And it is this penchant for making the reader care about each and every character that makes the horror and tension more palpable. Because in this novel, every single character is at risk. We feel it almost from the moment we meet them and the loss of each one—even those we fear will disappear—is felt deeply. Take, for example, the following, which reveals a relatively minor character, Jordan:

Late at night, Jordan sometimes heard his parents arguing through the wall of his bedroom. His father’s voice would rise and Jordan would catch words like normal and wrong and dreamer and other boys in between his father’s raw profanity...His mother’s voice would rise in answer. Jordan heard words like someone and out of this town and success. And dreams, which sounded like a completely different word when his mother said it.

That passage tells us a lot about Jordan and while we may think we know where the author is taking the character, Rowe always manages to throw in a bit of a curve. And this extends to the major characters as well. Though matriarch Adeline may at first seem a stock horror character, Rowe imbues her with a depth and history that manages to endear even this cold-hearted bitch to the reader. Christina is a woman shrouded in grief, but hardly in a shambles or a pushover. Jeremy, who has experienced the freedom of gay life back in Toronto, is forced to confront not only the homophobia of small towns, but also the reality of a long lost love whose time may have passed. Add to the mix, young outcast, Finnegan, a comic book nerd whose strength surprises even himself, the aging but appealing Donna and her closeted “beau” Elliot, and the sadistic and insane Richard Weal and you have a brilliant mix of characters that are rich, darkly humorous at times and fascinating through and through.

Rowe also manages to work in a bit of social commentary within the novel, though he does so with a subtle hand. He expertly captures the realities of small time life: how such a life traps one but also how the residents also seem to take comfort in their captivity. He touches on bullying, homophobia, the repercussions and collateral damage of living in the closet and, with the most fascinating character (Dr. William Lightning), the treatment of the Native Canadians and the stereotypes of them that infect small-minded people. Rowe never beats us over the head with it; it’s all there, though, skimming the surface.

Rowe draws on the entire history of classic vampires, from Stoker’s Dracula to the better vampire films and, most importantly, from the amazing work of writers and illustrations like Marv Wolfman, Gene Colan and Tom Palmer—and connects it all both regionally and theoretically to the legend of the Wendigo. But perhaps what Rowe does best of all is to resist the urge so many authors who tackle vampire cannon fail to. Rowe isn’t interested in reinventing the vampire, on putting his “unique stamp” on the lore by creating new abilities or making them little more than whining, introspective gadabouts. You’ll find no vampires walking around in the daylight, or eating meals at the local malt shop, or getting married to their high school sweetheart. His vampires aren’t interested in discovering why they are they way they are, what great sins lead them to their lot in life. Rowe’s vampires still fear the symbols of Christianity, still must be invited into a house, still fall prey the slings and arrows affecting the most historic of vampires. They are fierce, brutal, enigmatic, appealing and terrifying.

In the end, Rowe manages to do what so many others writing “vampire fiction” fail to...he creates an astoundingly creepy, violent, atmospheric and frightening novel that not only pays homage to the literary and cinematic past, but also manages to restore the vampire to his former and deserving glory. Highly, highly recommended. (4.5 stars)(less)

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Feb 27, 2012 Shannon Noelle rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

modern somewhat reworked version of Dracula in the Americas. i wish that i could say i had enjoyed it more, and in some ways, it was fantastic. in others, it was so much Dracula, could have gone much farther and been so much more than what it ends up being. i wished for more, not at the end, but all throughout the book, even while he pushed the limits of some envelopes a bit, i wanted MORE. i am not entirely sure i would agree that he "skillfully brings to mind the classics such as stephen king....more

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Jul 18, 2012 Elke rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, vampires, novels, own, dusty, favorites, review

What a great novel! I had to add this one immediately to my favorites shelf.

Enter, Night is not only a story about vampires, but also a thriller and a family drama, a story about outsiders and loners, not to forget the appended historical tale. I immediately fell in love with the well-drawn characters, especially Finn and Sadie, who's fate made me swallow real hard. Parr's landing, where the story takes place, reminded me of places like Castle Rock and the early stories of Stephen King.

This nove...more

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Mar 28, 2012 Anna rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: canadian, horror

A very good book, but I was disappointed by the ending, which seemed rushed. I would've preferred the history of the vampire/wendigo to be fleshed out during the novel and not in a document after the story had ended. Despite all this, I would still love to read more from Rowe. It's nice to see genre fiction coming out of Canada.

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Feb 25, 2012 Kevin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It was a good read however it felt like it ended too early. Maybe I am just accustomed to the Hollywood finish to a story and I guess he could be setting this up for a sequel but I don't think so. The best part about it is that although it is about vampires none of them sparkle in the sun. Entertaining.

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Apr 06, 2012 Christopher Roden rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It takes a lot for a novel to grip me enough that I will devour it in a single sitting. Michael's book did, and on Good Friday, too, which I felt quite appropriate. Wholly excellent, and deserving of a World Fantasy Award Nomination . . . which it will get from me, at least.

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Mar 25, 2013 Tone rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror

Long for the days when vampires were scary? I mean beyond the fear of relationship problems. Then this is the book for you.

Part Salem's Lot, without the tidy ending, and part historical novel about uptight rich ladies set in the boondocks of Canada.

Rowe made some interesting choices, the normal info dump is largely out of the hands of the heroes and is instead provided as an addendum in the form of a centuries old manuscript. Also (view spoiler)...more

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Apr 16, 2013 Catfantastic rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I didn't think there was anything left to be done with vampires that hadn't been done before, but Rowe has managed, and I stand in awe. Mercifully, the only thing in this novel that sparkles is the prose.

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Jan 27, 2013 Brenda Seaberg rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Very quick read. Wasn't overly impressed. Kind of a Twilight Zone sort of book. Felt like it needed more meat, more character building. Seemed a little confusing to me, although I kind of liked the plot.

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Feb 10, 2012 Debbie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal-stuff

it was ok - too much like 'salem's lot' (which is a better book) -but I like my vampires scary so it was such a nice change of pace to read a scary vampire book. I would read something else by this author.

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Apr 03, 2013 Alan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Very solid horror novel, evocative of early Stephen King. Comparisons to Salem's Lot hard to escape, but quite tonally different. Oddly touching in many places, almost mystical.

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