What do you think?
Rate this book
Danse Macabre
Spencer Mason has discovered a secret spell that will raise the dead, and as a funeral home director, there is no short supply of bodies. As Spencer builds a legion of undead soldiers, he plans to get revenge for the torment he endured during his childhood years - until Raven Anderson moves into town.
Blind since birth, Raven struggles to adapt with her new surroundings after the death of her mother. She finds a sympathetic shoulder to lean on when she meets Spencer, and the two find out that they have a lot in common.
Raven senses that Spencer is troubled by something that he isn’t sharing, but the thing that tortures Spencer the most is something Raven cannot see.
Blind since birth, Raven struggles to adapt with her new surroundings after the death of her mother. She finds a sympathetic shoulder to lean on when she meets Spencer, and the two find out that they have a lot in common.
Raven senses that Spencer is troubled by something that he isn’t sharing, but the thing that tortures Spencer the most is something Raven cannot see.
110 pages, Paperback
First published December 31, 2011
150 people want to read
About the author
C.V. Hunt
36 books592 followersC.V. Hunt lives in Yellow Springs, Ohio, is the owner of Grindhouse Press, and writes unpopular fiction.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 19, 2012
I couldn’t even finish this god awful book. I cannot stand it when an author claims they have written something different when they have written a campy-horror-story that has been done to death (no pun intended.) A mortician who knows how to raise the dead? No can’t be I have never heard or seen a story that has done that, except for the hundreds and hundreds of zombie Grindhouse films that were made in the 70’s or the hack writers who spew Halloween stories on cable for a quick dollar.
What’s this; the mortician is angry at the world and will use this new found power to get vengeance on the world? I have never heard anything like it, except for in the pages of pretty much every old school zombie comic ever written.
I might have been able to look pass this blatant lie by the author if this story was written with the smallest shred of talent. These stories annoy me, it what makes people talk badly about the horror genre. These stock standard, poorly written stories that take attention away from the likes of Clive Barker or Stephen King shouldn’t be published.
Even if you enjoy these kinds of campy stories, there are far better ones out there. Save yourself sometime and don't even bother with this one.
What’s this; the mortician is angry at the world and will use this new found power to get vengeance on the world? I have never heard anything like it, except for in the pages of pretty much every old school zombie comic ever written.
I might have been able to look pass this blatant lie by the author if this story was written with the smallest shred of talent. These stories annoy me, it what makes people talk badly about the horror genre. These stock standard, poorly written stories that take attention away from the likes of Clive Barker or Stephen King shouldn’t be published.
Even if you enjoy these kinds of campy stories, there are far better ones out there. Save yourself sometime and don't even bother with this one.
March 4, 2012
Ms Hunt has written a tight and entertaining story about a few twisted people and the twisted way in which they solve their problems.
I would have to disagree with the author when she points out this is something new. From a concept point of view (mortician can raise the dead, issues with the people who wronged him, girl he meets that makes him question his plans) it isn't that new, but the author does take this story into an unexpected direction and it was well done. So to me it was not 'new' so much as a novel approach {or is this case novella approach... :)}
I do caution the fan of zombie fiction that this isn't your typical zombie tale. Why the caution? Well, zombie afficianadoes are a tight lot with certain expectations of a novella with zombie as a key-word. This is not a dawn of the dead/zombie apocolypse remix, or a typical riff on the 'legion of slathering undead'. It is something different from that, keep an open mind and I think you'll like it.
I would have to disagree with the author when she points out this is something new. From a concept point of view (mortician can raise the dead, issues with the people who wronged him, girl he meets that makes him question his plans) it isn't that new, but the author does take this story into an unexpected direction and it was well done. So to me it was not 'new' so much as a novel approach {or is this case novella approach... :)}
I do caution the fan of zombie fiction that this isn't your typical zombie tale. Why the caution? Well, zombie afficianadoes are a tight lot with certain expectations of a novella with zombie as a key-word. This is not a dawn of the dead/zombie apocolypse remix, or a typical riff on the 'legion of slathering undead'. It is something different from that, keep an open mind and I think you'll like it.
February 24, 2012
What a great little story this is! The main characters - Spencer, Chris, and Raven - are each so strong, yet so wronged, that the reader feels stretched out from a three-way-tug-of-war on his/her heartstrings. The feeling of impending doom is so pervasive it's claustrophobic, yet Hunt has infused enough dark humor into the story that it makes the claustrophobia bearable. There's also an underlying feeling of magic; enough to make the reader wonder if all will somehow work out in the end... and it might, depending on your perspective. For my part, I kept wishing Danse Macabre was longer, all the while knowing that the story's fleeting sensation only heightened my enjoyment.
December 8, 2013
I first became a fan of author C.V. Hunt after reading and reviewing her Endlessly vampire series. I was delighted to read her new novella, Danse Macabre, when she inquired. The description above leads you to believe it would fall in the genre of zombie fiction, of which I know C.V. reads a lot of so it's easy to guess she would be inspired by such. I myself am not a big fan, though I love watching AMC's The Walking Dead, but I was willing to give her new book a try since I was already familiar with her writing style.
Instead of a cookie cutter undead novella, Hunt treats her readers to an almost whimsical and frightening little story with characters as fragile as Tennessee Williams' own Glass Menagerie but with a twisted plot right out of the mind of Tim Burton. When I wasn't thinking about how much this made me want to reread Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, I was wanting to watch Edward Scissorhands or the Nightmare Before Christmas again.
We start by meeting Raven, a thirty-something young woman who has just lost her mother. Raven has been blind since birth and has now had to relocate to Ohio to live with her aunt and uncle. She feels out of place and thinks she is a burden on her aunt's family. When Raven befriends Spencer, the local funeral home director, things start to look up for her. Spencer takes Raven out for regular walks to get her out of the house and the two become close.
But Spencer has a dark secret. He's discovered a way to keep the dead alive, starting with his very own brother Chris who he keeps locked in the funeral home basement. Chris is kept alive by eating road kill or the entrails of the deceased who come into the funeral home. His soul still inhabits his body thanks to Spencer's practice of VooDoo, but his heartbeat is fed by the pulsing beat of indie rock bands like Blink 182. He moves to the bass like a puppet on a string doing a dance of death, hence where the novella gets its name.
The story switches between Spencer, Chris, and Raven's point of view, evenly presenting each of their story lines. The most surprising was Chris's chapters as he reveals the sad childhood that he and Spencer shared at the hands of an abusive aunt and suffering from bullying in school. Chris was always quick to defend his brother whose Norman Bates-like timidity was often caused by a massive birthmark on his face, which of course Raven cannot see now.
It is these such character nuances, and their severe emotional prostrations, that give Hunt's novella the type of sagacity I haven't read since Faulkner's own short "A Rose For Emily." She reels you in with a heartfelt story, only to punch you hard in the face, making you wonder if you yourself are sick and twisted just for reading it! Pure brilliance at best!
Instead of a cookie cutter undead novella, Hunt treats her readers to an almost whimsical and frightening little story with characters as fragile as Tennessee Williams' own Glass Menagerie but with a twisted plot right out of the mind of Tim Burton. When I wasn't thinking about how much this made me want to reread Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, I was wanting to watch Edward Scissorhands or the Nightmare Before Christmas again.
We start by meeting Raven, a thirty-something young woman who has just lost her mother. Raven has been blind since birth and has now had to relocate to Ohio to live with her aunt and uncle. She feels out of place and thinks she is a burden on her aunt's family. When Raven befriends Spencer, the local funeral home director, things start to look up for her. Spencer takes Raven out for regular walks to get her out of the house and the two become close.
But Spencer has a dark secret. He's discovered a way to keep the dead alive, starting with his very own brother Chris who he keeps locked in the funeral home basement. Chris is kept alive by eating road kill or the entrails of the deceased who come into the funeral home. His soul still inhabits his body thanks to Spencer's practice of VooDoo, but his heartbeat is fed by the pulsing beat of indie rock bands like Blink 182. He moves to the bass like a puppet on a string doing a dance of death, hence where the novella gets its name.
The story switches between Spencer, Chris, and Raven's point of view, evenly presenting each of their story lines. The most surprising was Chris's chapters as he reveals the sad childhood that he and Spencer shared at the hands of an abusive aunt and suffering from bullying in school. Chris was always quick to defend his brother whose Norman Bates-like timidity was often caused by a massive birthmark on his face, which of course Raven cannot see now.
It is these such character nuances, and their severe emotional prostrations, that give Hunt's novella the type of sagacity I haven't read since Faulkner's own short "A Rose For Emily." She reels you in with a heartfelt story, only to punch you hard in the face, making you wonder if you yourself are sick and twisted just for reading it! Pure brilliance at best!
Read
February 6, 2012I wouldn’t feel right rating this because I have only read the sample. This may make me sound a little petty and I don’t normally go out of my way to slam authors but for this story I have to make an exception.
I have always been a fan of the Walking Undead as opposed to The Infected, so I was really excited when I read the author’s note on her own review. But I was quickly disappointed. The writing style is vague and uninspired, reading far more like a screenplay than a novella, which is something I cannot stand.
The words were very flat and did nothing to spark my imagination. Beyond that however this story isn’t original at all. To newer readers who grew up on the Resident Evil zombies this may seem different, but trust me it isn’t. These sort of stories about demented morticians and souls trapped in the world of the living is about as original as vampire romance.
I got to be honest it really annoyed me that this author claimed to be doing something different. It is fine to make that claim when you actually have, but not when you have written a story that is the exact opposite of original.
Does this story have potential? Possibly, if the author was willing to describe this story more accurately as one who is a dime a dozen. Furthermore, if the author was willing to take the time to flesh out the world and actually take the time to describe what is happening better and in more depth than this may be a decent read. But for the moment it comes off as flat as it is forgettable.
I have always been a fan of the Walking Undead as opposed to The Infected, so I was really excited when I read the author’s note on her own review. But I was quickly disappointed. The writing style is vague and uninspired, reading far more like a screenplay than a novella, which is something I cannot stand.
The words were very flat and did nothing to spark my imagination. Beyond that however this story isn’t original at all. To newer readers who grew up on the Resident Evil zombies this may seem different, but trust me it isn’t. These sort of stories about demented morticians and souls trapped in the world of the living is about as original as vampire romance.
I got to be honest it really annoyed me that this author claimed to be doing something different. It is fine to make that claim when you actually have, but not when you have written a story that is the exact opposite of original.
Does this story have potential? Possibly, if the author was willing to describe this story more accurately as one who is a dime a dozen. Furthermore, if the author was willing to take the time to flesh out the world and actually take the time to describe what is happening better and in more depth than this may be a decent read. But for the moment it comes off as flat as it is forgettable.
March 5, 2012
great short story...
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews