The first collaborative effort by authors Matthew Heilman and Ryan Henry, Come Forth in Blood, is now available for the first time in print by specialty independent publisher Stygian Press. Previously released in 2014 as an ebook only, the novel has been updated and revised in new formats including paperback, jacketed case laminate hardcover, and an all new revised ebook edition.
Come Forth in Blood is a modern vampire novel that draws on classic Gothic horror but with an eye toward stark and gritty realism.
The story opens in Belgium, 1944. A young German soldier is gunned down in a mass execution by American riflemen. Left for dead among the frozen corpses of his comrades, Matthias Bartsch is attacked by a pair of sinister creatures and undergoes a horrid transformation. As a fledgling vampire, he crosses the Atlantic to hunt down each of his executioners. Over the course of seventy years, he methodically dispatches his victims. Yet when revenge fails to pacify him, Matthias is tormented by the memories of his past and carelessly attempts to recreate the life and love he lost.
The timeline then shifts readers to Virginia, 2014. Edison Raymer is an anthropology professor at a small college in the riverside town of Williamsport. His arrogant demeanor and unorthodox lectures on the occult have ostracized him from students and faculty alike. Yet Raymer is willing to risk his career and the lives of those closest to him in order to prove the existence of vampires once and for all.
Two hunters — one human, one undead — are nearly driven mad by their obsessions. As the lines between man and monster become increasingly blurred, only one can survive their inevitable and violent showdown.
Authors Ryan Henry and Matthew Heilman offer a morally ambiguous alternative to the sentimental and romanticized vampire trends of the twenty-first century. Come Forth in Blood does not seek to dilute or reinvent the vampire myth. Instead, its authors have attempted to honor tradition with a tale of genuine horror and character-driven psychological drama.
Includes an appendix with foreign language translations and three character portraits.
