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Blood Society
On the holiday Sicilians call Giorno dei Morti - "The Day of the Dead" - Attilio Augusta meets a beautiful woman while paying his respects in a crypt. She is the same woman he once met in that crypt as a young boy. She hasn't aged a day. Soon Attilio is making love with this woman. Soon, he is fighting to save himself from the jaws of a ravenous monster. In Chicago, crime lord Alphonse Capone is introduced to a new mobster in town. A man who, unthinkably, demands a share of Capone's empire. A man who was once called Attilio Augusta. A man who is no longer merely human. Blood Society follows the career of an undying mafioso from Chicago in the 1920s to Boston in the 1990s. Along his blood-splattered path he will face traitorous comrades, a dangerously obsessed priest, the same volatile woman who turned him so many years before, and ultimately an enemy band of gangsters who are beings like himself... Beings that cross at will into a mysterious alternate world. Beings that transform into hideous creatures impervious to bullets, knives and bombs... Creatures with a thirst for money, power and...blood. Blood Society is an epic supernatural horror novel by Jeffrey Thomas, author of the cult classics Letters From Hades and Punktown.
243 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
About the author
Jeffrey Thomas
250 books286 followersJeffrey Thomas is an American author of weird fiction, the creator of the acclaimed setting Punktown. Books in the Punktown universe include the short story collections Punktown, Voices from Punktown, Punktown: Shades of Grey (with his brother, Scott Thomas), and Ghosts of Punktown. Novels in that setting include Deadstock, Blue War, Monstrocity, Health Agent, Everybody Scream!, Red Cells, and The New God. Thomas’s other short story collections include The Unnamed Country, Gods of a Nameless Country, The Endless Fall, Haunted Worlds, Worship the Night, Thirteen Specimens, Nocturnal Emissions, Doomsdays, Terror Incognita, Unholy Dimensions, AAAIIIEEE!!!, Honey Is Sweeter Than Blood, Carrion Men, Voices from Hades, The Return of Enoch Coffin, and Entering Gosston. His other novels include The American, Boneland, Subject 11, Letters From Hades, The Fall of Hades, The Exploded Soul, The Nought, Thought Forms, Beyond the Door, Lost in Darkness, and A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Dealers.
His work has been reprinted in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII (editor Karl Edward Wagner), The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror #14 (editors Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling), and Year’s Best Weird Fiction #1 (editors Laird Barron and Michael Kelly). At NecronomiCon 2024 Thomas received the Robert Bloch Award for his contributions to weird fiction.
Though he considers Viet Nam his second home, Thomas lives in Massachusetts.
His work has been reprinted in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII (editor Karl Edward Wagner), The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror #14 (editors Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling), and Year’s Best Weird Fiction #1 (editors Laird Barron and Michael Kelly). At NecronomiCon 2024 Thomas received the Robert Bloch Award for his contributions to weird fiction.
Though he considers Viet Nam his second home, Thomas lives in Massachusetts.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 18, 2019
When a mobster fills a body with lead, the last thing he expects is for that body to keep moving. Immortality is, by definition, an assassin's worst adversary. In Blood Society, Jeffrey Thomas' latest release with Necro Publications, a man that just won't stay dead is at the center of the action. A truly epic supernatural horror novel, "Blood Society" mashes together two things that work so well together that a comparison to peanut butter and jelly is not out of place; I'm talking about horror and la Cosa Nostra.
You can read Gabino's full review at Horror DNA by clicking here.
You can read Gabino's full review at Horror DNA by clicking here.
December 19, 2011
“Blood Society,” by Jeffrey Thomas is a thrilling horror novel infused with an exciting subtext of gangster lore. Thomas uses this unique hybrid to narrate the fascinating story of Attilio Augusta, a man transformed in his youth in Sicily into a creature somewhat like a vampire, but an original creation with its own set of rules.
Thomas is more interested in fine character development and creating his own mythology than sticking to any tired old myths or versions of the undead. Anyone familiar with his Hades or Punktown stories and novels knows Thomas is a very capable monster maker.
Although Augusta “dies” in the novel’s Prologue that experience is only the beginning of decades-long journey in which he struggles with understanding his own nature as well as his complex relationships with humans and monsters he meets along the way.
Thomas finds the perfect balance of exploring the emotional depths of these relationships while never bringing the action to a lull.
Though he takes on several identities throughout the novel, the most commonly used moniker is Salvatore Dragna. The novel hurls Dragna into the crime worlds of three different decades, the first placing him alongside Al Capone, merging history with myth seamlessly.
As with all excellent novels I review, I do not want to provide any more plot details to spoil your fun. This novel should be read by all fans of horror and any crime fiction fans who might want to read some crossover fiction. Be prepared though—you should be ready for the frights and appropriate level of gore present in the horror genre—this is horror first and foremost.
I highly recommend this very original, exhilarating and entertaining novel. Thomas is a great writer and at the top of his game with this one.
Thomas is more interested in fine character development and creating his own mythology than sticking to any tired old myths or versions of the undead. Anyone familiar with his Hades or Punktown stories and novels knows Thomas is a very capable monster maker.
Although Augusta “dies” in the novel’s Prologue that experience is only the beginning of decades-long journey in which he struggles with understanding his own nature as well as his complex relationships with humans and monsters he meets along the way.
Thomas finds the perfect balance of exploring the emotional depths of these relationships while never bringing the action to a lull.
Though he takes on several identities throughout the novel, the most commonly used moniker is Salvatore Dragna. The novel hurls Dragna into the crime worlds of three different decades, the first placing him alongside Al Capone, merging history with myth seamlessly.
As with all excellent novels I review, I do not want to provide any more plot details to spoil your fun. This novel should be read by all fans of horror and any crime fiction fans who might want to read some crossover fiction. Be prepared though—you should be ready for the frights and appropriate level of gore present in the horror genre—this is horror first and foremost.
I highly recommend this very original, exhilarating and entertaining novel. Thomas is a great writer and at the top of his game with this one.
July 9, 2019
It's been far too long since I've sat down with a Jeffrey Thomas book. Won't make that mistake. BLOOD SOCIETY is one of his lesser known novels but it's incredibly written, with real, fleshed out characters and a very unique twist on the vampire mythos. The main character's life as a vampire (the word is rarely used, as he doesn't exactly KNOW what he is), and also - for supporting himself - one of the most notorious (fictional, of course) gangsters. The book follows him through the decades, reinventing himself, and his family, to avoid suspicion. In many ways, each "lifetime" is like an act in a play deftly woven (or weaved... no, woven... I think) by Thomas. I usually don't search out vampire stories, but was rewarded with this one, as it turned the whole thing on its head and made everything feel fresh. Well done.
January 31, 2012
This is a beautifully conceived story of a man turned into a creature similar to a vampire in 1909 and it follows his existence through to 1996.
It's a terrific read, blending real life crime from the Capone and later mafiosi eras with more conventional horror conventions.
http://opionator.wordpress.com/2012/0...
It's a terrific read, blending real life crime from the Capone and later mafiosi eras with more conventional horror conventions.
http://opionator.wordpress.com/2012/0...
March 31, 2013
Another book I reviewed in detail on Amazon.
What you need to know: Brand new vampires unlike anything you've seen before engage in well thought out action set pieces over a fifty year plus span of time.
What you need to know: Brand new vampires unlike anything you've seen before engage in well thought out action set pieces over a fifty year plus span of time.
Want to Read
April 26, 2016This is number 84 of 100 Signed Limited copies signed by Jeffrey Thomas.
August 7, 2019
Not much of a mafia/mob fan, but the supernatural elements held my interest. A bit of a dip in quality in the last third.
May 7, 2012
Al Capone meets Raziel (LEGEND OF KAIN: SOUL REAVER). Historically accurate to the detail and the characters are well-fleshed out. It is hard to find a unique vampire story of late, but BLOOD SOCIETY is just that. A fresh spin on vampires and the supernatural in general (and no they don't sparkle!). One of the most intriguing aspects of this story is the amount of metaphysical spec that Mr. Thomas puts into it. For anyone that has enjoyed the alter reality of games such as SOUL REAVER and SILENT HILL, this is a real treat. For the historian, the Part I is incredibly accurate down to the first recorded drive-by shooting that made Hymie Weiss so popular in his heyday before Capone's chopper squads finally got to him.
On the literary side, the book is very well written both grammatically and in terms of pacing. Great dialogue, a plot that maintains momentum and interest, and a once-cliche theme becomes so twisted in Jeffrey Thomas's hands that it screams for attention. He makes an already vile concept very disturbing at times. Well worth the read.
On the literary side, the book is very well written both grammatically and in terms of pacing. Great dialogue, a plot that maintains momentum and interest, and a once-cliche theme becomes so twisted in Jeffrey Thomas's hands that it screams for attention. He makes an already vile concept very disturbing at times. Well worth the read.
February 8, 2012
Elegant, sexy horror. Entranced by the opener in the catacombs of Sicily, through 1950s Capone-era Chicago to modern day Asian monster gangs. So glad I took a chance on this one. Not my usual fare - horror - and I enjoyed every minute of it.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews