Blood Games is a brand-new anthology by newcomer Nightshade Publications which features
“the world of the undead and the twisted games they play, not only with their prey, but with each
other.” It features an engaging introduction by Dacre Stoker, great-nephew of Bram Stoker, in
which he nicely summarizes Stoker’s career and opines on some of the various “revisions” of the
vampire story over the centuries.
As you might expect, this anthology is a mixed bag, but I am pleased to be able to report that
none of the entries are bad. All are effectively-written and entertaining, but there are a few
entries that stand out from the rest. “Things That Live In Cages” by Jonathan Maberry was a nice
character piece that really showed off some serious knowledge of the subject matter. Readers
familiar with Maberry’s work in the genre likely won’t be surprised and I have to wonder if this
story is a seed for a longer work (it certainly reads that way). “The Games Monsters Play” by
Roh Morgon struck a special chord with me because I love vampire politics and courtly intrigue.
Finally, “Bonesong” by Rain Graves impressed me with its historical detail and mythic style.
In summary, if you’re a fan of vampire short stories, this is a good one to pick up. The artwork
that accompanies the various stories should also be mentioned as being beautiful. They appear to
all be digital creations, but they reminded me of the style of artwork I used to love in White
Wolf’s game books back in the day. For transparency, I was given a copy of this anthology on
PDF by the publisher in order to write this review. Blood Games is available in hardcover and
paperback in both physical bookstores and online retailers like Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Games-Anthology-Jonathan-Maberry-ebook/dp/B0CW5YGXCY
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