Vessel

by John Tigges

Elizabeth Bathony, the vampire countess from the seventeenth century, and her followers set up a mysterious house in Sioux Falls, Iowa, where they keep kidnapped teenage girls

Genres: Horror, Vampires

362 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 1, 1988

About the author

Tigges began his career as an author and writer in 1973. He wrote more than thirty-eight books under his own name and pen names "Ned Stone" and "William Essex."

In 1976 Tigges was commissioned to write Jean Marie Cardinal, an historical novel. Teaming with James Shaffer, he wrote Dubuque: The 19th Century, Dubuque: The 20th Century, Iowa’s Last Narrow-Gauge Railroad, and Railroads of Dubuque, Iowa. Tigges wrote such novels as Garden of the Incubus, Unto the Altar, Kiss Not the Child, Evil Dreams, The Immortal, Hand of Lucifer, As Evil Does, Vessel, Comes the Wraith, Venom, and Book of the Dead. Under the pen name William Essex he wrote The Pack, Slime, and From Below. He wrote Mountain Massacre, and Rails to Hades using the name Ned Stone. Tigges founded the Sinipee Writers Workshop and taught writing seminars in Iowa and Wisconsin.

Tigges made many contributions locally to the field of music. He established the Dubuque "Pops" orchestra and co-founded the DUBUQUE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA in 1956. Tigges served as business manager of the symphony for ten years and played violin with it from 1958 to 1968 and again from 1971 to 1973. In 1972 Tigges founded the Julien Strings, a society string orchestra. He led the group and played violin.

Reviews

[Grady Hendrix · Rating 2 out of 5]

The must have accessory for all your coven gatherings! The Pimp Chalice of Satan! Whether it’s just a simple little something in silver and onyx or the Holy Grail itself, where Satan walks there walks too his bejeweled sippie cup. If you’re Countess Elizabeth Bathory, famed 17th century serial killer who bathed in the blood of virgins, you could really use a Satan’s pimp chalice of your very own. You may have traveled in time from ancient Hungary to Sioux Falls, South Dakota where your stretch limo with tinted windows allows you to abduct hitchhikers with names like Daun and Coral and keep them locked in a dark room, but how are you going to pour their blood all over your face to gain eternal youth once they’ve been drained into your death jacuzzi? With Satan’s Pimp Chalice of course.

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A modern take on Elizabeth Bathory in the 1980s. Excellent read.

[Matt Kight · Rating 4 out of 5]

I decided to give this 4 stars based on my enjoyment reading it but definitely not for the quality of the writing. I don’t mean that to sound overly critical and I’m guessing his target audience wouldn’t expect much else. This reminded me of the sleazy-ish style of Richard Laymon and I’d recommend this to fans of him or just fans of 1980s campy and B-movie horror. It looks like Mr. Tigges pumped out a lot of horror under multiple pen names during this time and I’m sure I’ll try another one of his again soon. I also appreciated his effort to weave a fictional story from the historical account of Countess Bathory.

[Ethan’s Books · Rating 1 out of 5]

As a John Tigges fan. I can say... just skip this one.

[Juliette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually a pretty good plot for a semi-trashy semi-gothic horror novel. It kept my interest. Nuff said.

[Karen Phelps · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a quick read. Just your run of the mill dark arts book, but with a new twist!