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Bridgett Bishop has the candy laid out for the local children on Halloween, but instead of gratitude, all she receives is a vicious assault of eggs and rocks by rowdy kids who believe she is a witch. In fact, Bridgett is a witch, descended from a long line of witches who had been subjected to persecution and torment by the townspeople. Bridgett had been saved by the kindness of a priest, only to be found and beaten by a band of vigilantes on Christmas Eve while the priest and his family stood by. This latest indignity only stirs Bridgett's desire for revenge, and she plans to take it out on the people of Killington, Vermont. As the holiday season gets rolling, Bridgett wants fear and chaos to roam the streets more than any festive cheer.
Aoife and her husband are refugees from Eastern Europe who seek a place to lie low and live a peaceful existence. However, they have a history that would render them as targets in any town, as Aoife is a werewolf, and her paramour is Dracula. Their love has been built on devotion and on self-preservation. Aoife and Dracula are often able to shelter at the homes of fellow outcasts or in more accommodating locations, such as in one of the refrigerated storage units at the morgue. The murderous conspiracy waged by Bridgett and her minions against the citizenry threatens Aoife and Dracula's peaceful existence, and they look for ways to put an end to the witches' sinister machinations.
Saul Frankenstein is an imposing emergency services technician who walks through fire to save the mayor's two children from the blaze. Frankenstein does his job with little desire for accolades. He wants to show that he's just a normal person like everybody else. Saul may be considered different, but he is self-deprecating and a good person. When Killington dissolves into hostilities, Saul refuses to take sides with the witch and her homicidal henchmen like Erich Raeder, a scarred and embittered son of a Nazi war criminal bent on making others suffer for his pain. With Bridgett calling the shots and Mr. Hyde, mummies, and aquatic creatures doing her bidding, Frankenstein will team with his good friends Aoife and Dracula to thwart Killington from being destroyed.
The town of Killington, Vermont, is beset by a litany of murderous events inflicted by a vindictive witch in this macabre but rollicking tale featuring a cast of monstrous literary characters. The town's intolerance towards a few of its eccentric citizens leads to catastrophic blowback as the homicidal plotting of Bridgett Bishop yields blood and human misery in the streets. This is a riveting, spine-chilling story about monsters, both real and mythical, misunderstood and malevolent, engaged in a battle of survival. The breakdown of a picturesque small town into hell on earth possesses the hallmark of a Stephen King story, but DeGuire's novel throws more than enough bloodcurdling surprises along with hints of allegorical social commentary to distinguish itself in fine fashion.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review