Black As Blood

by Rob Chilson

It began with Bernie McKay and his not-too-reliable wife, Angie. Uncle Albert was laid out in his coffin, dead as a doornail, and things were on a reasonably even keel. But then Uncle Albert sat up and accused Bernie of stealing his gold, and first of all Bernie didn't know what he was talking about, and second it took a considerable tussle to get Uncle Albert to lie down again, get his casket-lid fastened, and the coffin buried. But that wasn't the end of it--far from it.

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 1998

About the author

I was born at home in Oklahoma, after my mother spent part of the morning hoeing in the garden. It was a pretty old-fashioned family even for that time (1945) and place. My father was a scarecrow. We subsequently moved to California, where my memories begin. I remember the first flake of snow I ever saw. (It disappeared before I got a good look at it.) Since then I've lost track of snowflakes; we moved back to Missouri (my mother's natal state) when I was eight, and I have been a confirmed Midwesterner ever since.

I decided, about age six, that I wanted to be a writer. I even wrote a couple of stories. I concluded that I was not yet ready to be a writer, so postponed it until I was grown up. At age eleven, I concluded that I now knew enough to be a writer; for instance, I now understood improper fractions. I knew, of course, that I would rarely have occasion to mention improper fractions in my stories, but I argued that my knowledge of them indicated that I had acquired a great deal of other knowledge which I could use. A sophisticated argument for an eleven-year-old. (To this day I have never mentioned improper fractions in a story.)

Reviews

[Ralph Carlson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny horror novel. A fun read.

[Pam Bales · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uncle Albert won't stay in his coffin. What a way to start a book. There are flashes of a really good tale, but as a fan of this kind of story and this publishing company I was expecting better.
The characters are good and have potential, but it just lacks a little something.
I'd read another one by the author if it goes into more detail. It's Missouri and vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and the walking dead are supposedly commonplace. I'd like an explanation of that since I don't think that's so commonplace in Missouri.
It's billed as "tongue in cheek horror" and I guess I was expecting more suspense and enjoyment.
Also, I've come to enjoy a brief biography of the author. That would have been nice to see here.