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Sudden Death Overtime
Hockey horror with vampires.
Unknown Binding
First published February 10, 2012
8 people are currently reading
74 people want to read
About the author
Steve Vernon
247 books206 followersHi! I'm Steve Vernon and I'd love to scare you. Along the way I'll entertain you. I guarantee a giggle as well.
If I listed all of the books I've written I'd bore you - and I am allergic to boring.
Instead, let me recommend one single book of mine.
Pick up SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME for an example of true Steve Vernon storytelling. It's hockey and vampires for folks who love hockey and vampires - and for folks who don't!
For more up-to-date info please follow my blog at:
http://stevevernonstoryteller.wordpre...
And follow me at Twitter:
@StephenVernon
yours in storytelling,
Steve Vernon
If I listed all of the books I've written I'd bore you - and I am allergic to boring.
Instead, let me recommend one single book of mine.
Pick up SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME for an example of true Steve Vernon storytelling. It's hockey and vampires for folks who love hockey and vampires - and for folks who don't!
For more up-to-date info please follow my blog at:
http://stevevernonstoryteller.wordpre...
And follow me at Twitter:
@StephenVernon
yours in storytelling,
Steve Vernon
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
February 19, 2016
*3.5 Stars
Sudden Death Overtime has a great pull and concept. Northern Labrador would be an idyllic setting for vampires, especially in the winter with the reduced daylight hours and the isolation from large populations - with all of the police, cameras and media that goes along with major cities. The vampires can go from town to town taking their victims before any organized resistance could be mounted.
Now, you find yourself living in this small, isolated community in Northern Labrador, how do you fend off this undead horde? Old time hockey! The speed of steel on ice and handy dandy wood hockey sticks (perfect for staking blood-thirsty vampires). Sudden Death Overtime presented a level-ish battlefield for this battle of the ages.
Steve Vernon has done a great job of creating a horror/comedy. He has built up evil villains that have existed for generations and pitted them against a trio of grumpy old men with nothing left to lose. The gore and raw comedy were well balanced for one another.
I felt that there was a bit more that could have been done with the story. A bit more depth with the vampires would have been nice; and the ending was a little too convenient for my taste. Overall, I was entertained by the story and even found my voice lilting as I read the dialogue.
If you are looking for a light, fun read, Sudden Death Overtime could be a great goal in the five hole.
*3.5 Stars
Sudden Death Overtime has a great pull and concept. Northern Labrador would be an idyllic setting for vampires, especially in the winter with the reduced daylight hours and the isolation from large populations - with all of the police, cameras and media that goes along with major cities. The vampires can go from town to town taking their victims before any organized resistance could be mounted.
Now, you find yourself living in this small, isolated community in Northern Labrador, how do you fend off this undead horde? Old time hockey! The speed of steel on ice and handy dandy wood hockey sticks (perfect for staking blood-thirsty vampires). Sudden Death Overtime presented a level-ish battlefield for this battle of the ages.
Steve Vernon has done a great job of creating a horror/comedy. He has built up evil villains that have existed for generations and pitted them against a trio of grumpy old men with nothing left to lose. The gore and raw comedy were well balanced for one another.
I felt that there was a bit more that could have been done with the story. A bit more depth with the vampires would have been nice; and the ending was a little too convenient for my taste. Overall, I was entertained by the story and even found my voice lilting as I read the dialogue.
If you are looking for a light, fun read, Sudden Death Overtime could be a great goal in the five hole.
*3.5 Stars
December 9, 2012
Sudden Death Overtime by Steve Vernon is one of those books that scares you while making you laugh. If you haven't gotten your fill of hockey this year due to the NHL strike, this book can help. Hope's End is a tough little town on the Northern Labrador Coast of Canada. When the weather turns cold, old-time hockey player Sprague Deacon and his three elderly friends set up an ice rink and everyone in town plays hockey. So when a black painted tour bus full of vampires comes to town and people start to disappear, there is only one thing to do, challenge them to a hockey game.
Sudden Death Overtime is a horror comedy dripping with blood that has memorable characters and a lot of action. There is a lot of depth to this short story starting with the opening scene where an older woman named Judith contemplates where her life went wrong and how it's changed over the years. Judith is lonely and fears death which comes for her in the form of a black bus. Sprague and his friends are also over the hill and the vampires represent old age and death. When death comes knocking these Canadians do what you do best and play hockey and whats more fun then hockey playing vampires? If your going to have to face death you need to make it beat you at your own game.
Steve Vernon manages to create some great characters in a short amount of time. The beginning of the book is character driven but when the vampires show up on Sprague's lawn, it turns to non stop action. There is a lot going on in this book, I like how the style changes midway through and the ending is hilarious. Another thing I enjoyed about this book is the afterword called Time Out which gives you an idea of what inspired the story. Sudden Death Overtime is a lot of fun and will make you want to read more from Steve Vernon.
Sudden Death Overtime is a horror comedy dripping with blood that has memorable characters and a lot of action. There is a lot of depth to this short story starting with the opening scene where an older woman named Judith contemplates where her life went wrong and how it's changed over the years. Judith is lonely and fears death which comes for her in the form of a black bus. Sprague and his friends are also over the hill and the vampires represent old age and death. When death comes knocking these Canadians do what you do best and play hockey and whats more fun then hockey playing vampires? If your going to have to face death you need to make it beat you at your own game.
Steve Vernon manages to create some great characters in a short amount of time. The beginning of the book is character driven but when the vampires show up on Sprague's lawn, it turns to non stop action. There is a lot going on in this book, I like how the style changes midway through and the ending is hilarious. Another thing I enjoyed about this book is the afterword called Time Out which gives you an idea of what inspired the story. Sudden Death Overtime is a lot of fun and will make you want to read more from Steve Vernon.
March 17, 2012
From my blog: http://serialdistractions.com
It doesn’t take long after an ominous black tour bus full of bloodsucking denizens of the damned arrives in a sleepy coastal village in Northern Labrador for people to start dying and the local church to go up in flames. Unfortunately, these vicious fiends are about to find out the only thing the old timers of Hope’s End do better than drink rum is play old school, rough-and-tumble, hockey.
What makes this story by Steve Vernon (Long Horn, Big Shaggy and Devil Tree) such a sheer joy is the characters. The venerable old farts of Hope’s End are curmudgeonly, hard-bitten, slightly drunk–and made of 100% heart. The protagonist, Sprague Deacon, does little more than drink with his friends and maintain the homemade hockey rink in his backyard for the local kids. When trouble comes knocking on his back door, he sees no choice but to “nock his hockey stick a half a notch back, like a gunfighter cocking a notched Colt” and bang the puck home. And the reader should just hang on and go along with the ride.
Vernon sets the proper tone for a work like this, neither taking it too seriously nor letting it descend into parody. It reminded me a fair amount of Joe R. Lansdale’s “Bubba Ho-Tep“–not only for its geriatric protagonists but for playing the story straight and letting the characters enjoy in the absurdity of their situation.
This eBook also includes a short-story entitled “Time Out”: a sweet, nostalgic remembrance of street hockey and a challenge to the idea that you can never go back to where you came from. This piece isn’t as much fun as the main novella, but a fine piece of writing nonetheless.
Sudden Death Overtime is a short work (only about 60 pages) that packs in as much fun as works three times its size. It is the first work in quite some time that I can honestly say was a joy to read.
It doesn’t take long after an ominous black tour bus full of bloodsucking denizens of the damned arrives in a sleepy coastal village in Northern Labrador for people to start dying and the local church to go up in flames. Unfortunately, these vicious fiends are about to find out the only thing the old timers of Hope’s End do better than drink rum is play old school, rough-and-tumble, hockey.
What makes this story by Steve Vernon (Long Horn, Big Shaggy and Devil Tree) such a sheer joy is the characters. The venerable old farts of Hope’s End are curmudgeonly, hard-bitten, slightly drunk–and made of 100% heart. The protagonist, Sprague Deacon, does little more than drink with his friends and maintain the homemade hockey rink in his backyard for the local kids. When trouble comes knocking on his back door, he sees no choice but to “nock his hockey stick a half a notch back, like a gunfighter cocking a notched Colt” and bang the puck home. And the reader should just hang on and go along with the ride.
Vernon sets the proper tone for a work like this, neither taking it too seriously nor letting it descend into parody. It reminded me a fair amount of Joe R. Lansdale’s “Bubba Ho-Tep“–not only for its geriatric protagonists but for playing the story straight and letting the characters enjoy in the absurdity of their situation.
This eBook also includes a short-story entitled “Time Out”: a sweet, nostalgic remembrance of street hockey and a challenge to the idea that you can never go back to where you came from. This piece isn’t as much fun as the main novella, but a fine piece of writing nonetheless.
Sudden Death Overtime is a short work (only about 60 pages) that packs in as much fun as works three times its size. It is the first work in quite some time that I can honestly say was a joy to read.
May 19, 2012
This short collection includes the novella, Sudden Death Overtime, the short story, “Time Out,” and a preview of Nothing to Lose. For the purposes of the review, I will be including my ratings and responses to the former two, as I do not like to review partial works (but with that said, I did find the preview of Nothing to Lose an enjoyable read).
Sudden Death Overtime is a short work that begins very fluidly—almost literary in prose—and slowly transforms into a horror comedy with absurdist attributes. The story mainly follows a small group of geriatric men, far past their prime, and their response to what they come to realize, after a number of people go missing, is an encroachment of vampires in their sleepy town. Although I do have to admit I was disappointed when the style changed from lyrical to fast paced and abrupt, I still really enjoyed the read. I’m typically not a fan of absurdist stories, and I’m very critical of horror comedy, but the author pulled it off. I think a continuation of literary prose would have offered a neat juxtaposition against the backdrop that unfolded, but for what it was worth, it was a fun story and definitely a refreshing break from the onslaught of vampire tales currently going around. I rate Sudden Death Overtime a solid 4 stars.
“Time Out” is a lovely piece about childhood, nostalgia, and the changes that occur as we go from child to adult to older adult. Short but sweet, “Time Out” took me back to my own childhood and the reflections I have from the perspective of my own age. I rate this short story 4.5 stars.
Overall, this short collection will delight anyone looking for a unique jaunt through two different genres pieced together by their common themes of hockey and youth remembered. It’s a quick read, one I rate at 4.25 stars.
Sudden Death Overtime is a short work that begins very fluidly—almost literary in prose—and slowly transforms into a horror comedy with absurdist attributes. The story mainly follows a small group of geriatric men, far past their prime, and their response to what they come to realize, after a number of people go missing, is an encroachment of vampires in their sleepy town. Although I do have to admit I was disappointed when the style changed from lyrical to fast paced and abrupt, I still really enjoyed the read. I’m typically not a fan of absurdist stories, and I’m very critical of horror comedy, but the author pulled it off. I think a continuation of literary prose would have offered a neat juxtaposition against the backdrop that unfolded, but for what it was worth, it was a fun story and definitely a refreshing break from the onslaught of vampire tales currently going around. I rate Sudden Death Overtime a solid 4 stars.
“Time Out” is a lovely piece about childhood, nostalgia, and the changes that occur as we go from child to adult to older adult. Short but sweet, “Time Out” took me back to my own childhood and the reflections I have from the perspective of my own age. I rate this short story 4.5 stars.
Overall, this short collection will delight anyone looking for a unique jaunt through two different genres pieced together by their common themes of hockey and youth remembered. It’s a quick read, one I rate at 4.25 stars.
May 20, 2012
When a sinister black bus rolls into the sleepy town of Labrador, Canada, townsfolk start disappearing, churches mysteriously burn down, and a bunch of grumpy foulmouthed ex-hockey playing coots have to play one final game to save their town, their souls, and their sanity.
Sudden Death, Overtime by Steve Vernon’s has it all: vampires, gory deaths, comedic relief, stubborn old people who don’t know when to quit, and the perfect wintery setting for the ultimate undead showdown. Mr Vernon is a pretty prolific novella-ist and has a number of other novella's published, all available on Amazon. Vernon populates his world with believable characters, and, while the story is a marriage of both hockey and vampires, you don’t need to be an expert on either to enjoy it.
What you do have to know, however, is that this novella contains real vampires. There is no shimmering in the light, emotional angst or vampire romance to be had here. Vernon’s vampires have long teeth, stink of death, and they want to eat you and your babies. You know, like real vampires were in the days of yore before they became meterosexual nancies and worried more about their hairstyles then their next meal. These vampires don’t want to put their head on anybody’s shoulder, unless it’s to take a big tasty bite.
I wholeheartedly recommend Sudden Death, Overtime to anybody looking for a short comedy horror to read, especially fans of proper vampire fiction.
Sudden Death, Overtime earns a solid 7 / 10… and a bloody showdown you won’t forget.
July 21, 2013
I received a copy of this novella from the author in exchange for a review.
I am a huge paranormal romance fan but I also have a secret love for horror as well. So, even though it's fun to play with the nice vampires, every now and then it's also fun to step into the world of the ones that aren't so nice.
This is a great little taste of this author's writing style. And, at the end of this novella we get a small teaser of his book... Nothing to Lose - The Adventures of Captain Nothing. It is a great teaser and I feel pretty confident that I will need to read that book now.
Sudden Death Overtime is horror mixed with humor. You have a bunch of old guys who spend most of their time tending to their outdoor hockey rink, drinking and just hanging about. When they figure out that vampires have stalked into their town hiding themselves in a mysterious black bus, they decide to lure them to their outdoor hockey rink and hopefully bring down the vampires with their age old hockey skills and using some creative surprises involving garlic and holy water.
This is very short and sweet but very engaging... perfect to kill a couple of hours. If you are curious about whether or not you will like this author this is a great place to start!
Check out my blog:
www.ktbookreviews.blogspot.com
I am a huge paranormal romance fan but I also have a secret love for horror as well. So, even though it's fun to play with the nice vampires, every now and then it's also fun to step into the world of the ones that aren't so nice.
This is a great little taste of this author's writing style. And, at the end of this novella we get a small teaser of his book... Nothing to Lose - The Adventures of Captain Nothing. It is a great teaser and I feel pretty confident that I will need to read that book now.
Sudden Death Overtime is horror mixed with humor. You have a bunch of old guys who spend most of their time tending to their outdoor hockey rink, drinking and just hanging about. When they figure out that vampires have stalked into their town hiding themselves in a mysterious black bus, they decide to lure them to their outdoor hockey rink and hopefully bring down the vampires with their age old hockey skills and using some creative surprises involving garlic and holy water.
This is very short and sweet but very engaging... perfect to kill a couple of hours. If you are curious about whether or not you will like this author this is a great place to start!
Check out my blog:
www.ktbookreviews.blogspot.com
Read
July 4, 2013I grew up watching my grandfather watch hockey. Every Saturday night he'd sit there on his big black leather Lazy-Boy recliner, thumping the side of his fist against the arm of the chair, cursing and cheering at the Toronto Maple Leafs.
I grew up listening to that wonderful theme music that a pack of lawyers stole away - Ba-dum-ba-da-da-daaa!
I grew up in a small town where it was deemed more important to build a second hockey arena - rather than an indoor public swimming pool. I grew up knowing what a Gordie Howe Hat Trick was.
That's the spirit that I have tried to capture in this novella of hockey and vampires. It is a short fast and fun little read - and is available in Kindle, Kobo, Nook, and Apple format.
I'm not going to hang any stars onto this "review". I'm too old for that sort of horse-puck foolishness - but just the same I'm darned proud of this fun little yarn and hope that some of you folks see fit to give it a try.
yours in storytelling,
Steve Vernon
I grew up listening to that wonderful theme music that a pack of lawyers stole away - Ba-dum-ba-da-da-daaa!
I grew up in a small town where it was deemed more important to build a second hockey arena - rather than an indoor public swimming pool. I grew up knowing what a Gordie Howe Hat Trick was.
That's the spirit that I have tried to capture in this novella of hockey and vampires. It is a short fast and fun little read - and is available in Kindle, Kobo, Nook, and Apple format.
I'm not going to hang any stars onto this "review". I'm too old for that sort of horse-puck foolishness - but just the same I'm darned proud of this fun little yarn and hope that some of you folks see fit to give it a try.
yours in storytelling,
Steve Vernon
April 23, 2012
A group of old men, who played hockey nearly all of their lives, take on the occupants of a mysterious black bus.
This fun little novella shows just how tough hockey players are. Especially when they're armed with garlic and broken hockey sticks, as stakes.
Set in Labrador, in the province of Newfoundland - hockey country, for sure. I figured this would be fun between playoff games for Lord Stanley's cup, and I wasn't wrong. Plus, any story which mentions Gordon Lightfoot's classic, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", is OK in my book.
Available from Crossroad Press or you can get it for free for your Kindle if you have Amazon Prime and want to make it this months selection from the Kindle lending library.
This fun little novella shows just how tough hockey players are. Especially when they're armed with garlic and broken hockey sticks, as stakes.
Set in Labrador, in the province of Newfoundland - hockey country, for sure. I figured this would be fun between playoff games for Lord Stanley's cup, and I wasn't wrong. Plus, any story which mentions Gordon Lightfoot's classic, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", is OK in my book.
Available from Crossroad Press or you can get it for free for your Kindle if you have Amazon Prime and want to make it this months selection from the Kindle lending library.
July 15, 2012
Steve Vernon is a master with character descriptions. Immediately these fictional people leap of the page and transform into tangible fully formed beings in your mind, from the very first sentence. His style is extremely reminiscent of Stephen King's rich and deep character portrayal. This is a fun plot, which I enjoyed, but the characters by far steal the show. I can't wait to read more of Vernon's novellas and novels. I'm sure I'll be in great hands.
Read
March 12, 2013Some of you may have already read this story before - but there's been some changes made. Quite a few folks wanted to know just WHERE the vampires came from. So I'm telling you that it's all in here. This version tells the entire backstory to why exactly the vampires have come to town.
And it's currently available ONLY on Kobo.
And it's currently available ONLY on Kobo.
April 29, 2023
A friend of mine who is a fellow horror lover discovered this book and sent it to me. Hockey and vampires? There's no way I could pass that up.
This book is horror, yes, but it is very humor-based. The story focuses on a group of old hockey-loving men in Labrador, Canada and that is where most of the humor stems from. It has a lot of crude humor that honestly just isn't my taste and I found it really hard to get through all the nonsensical metaphors as well. That being said, those are the exact things that make the story great for other people! So it really all depends on your type of humor. I will say that the story picked up for me in the second half with the final scene that spans the last few chapters. I thought the whole bit with Reverend Leo was especially hilarious. I had to send multiple quotes from those chapters to my friends because they were too good. I do want to also acknowledge how much I appreciate that the author featured unconventional main characters. Who says old men can't fight vampires?
Overall, this one wasn't really my cup of tea BUT I appreciate what the author set out to do and I think a lot of people would appreciate this type of humor more than I did.
This book is horror, yes, but it is very humor-based. The story focuses on a group of old hockey-loving men in Labrador, Canada and that is where most of the humor stems from. It has a lot of crude humor that honestly just isn't my taste and I found it really hard to get through all the nonsensical metaphors as well. That being said, those are the exact things that make the story great for other people! So it really all depends on your type of humor. I will say that the story picked up for me in the second half with the final scene that spans the last few chapters. I thought the whole bit with Reverend Leo was especially hilarious. I had to send multiple quotes from those chapters to my friends because they were too good. I do want to also acknowledge how much I appreciate that the author featured unconventional main characters. Who says old men can't fight vampires?
Overall, this one wasn't really my cup of tea BUT I appreciate what the author set out to do and I think a lot of people would appreciate this type of humor more than I did.
April 8, 2024
3.5 stars rounded up
This was a short and fun read about grumpy old hockey buddies and vampires who show up in a small town in Newfoundland. It's as ridiculous as it sounds, but surprisingly rather thoughtful too?
This was a short and fun read about grumpy old hockey buddies and vampires who show up in a small town in Newfoundland. It's as ridiculous as it sounds, but surprisingly rather thoughtful too?
December 1, 2023
Funny short parody of vampire stories mixed with grumpy old men…but the grammar police in me just couldn’t handle the typos!
April 18, 2023
My beautiful friend found this on the kindle store and sent it to me because she thought it would be fun. This was a short story but it did not disappoint. I found the jokes funny. The idea of 80 year old men trying to fight off vampires is a silly concept anyway but it worked somehow. This wasn’t scary by any means to me but that’s fine. I did enjoy the “history” elements of how vampires came to be in this book. I would recommend if you wanted a quick read about some hockey vampires.
August 14, 2013
Review originally posted on my website, From the Mind of Tatlock
Hockey and Vampires. Who would've thought that these two could go so well together. I certainly didn't, but author Steve Vernon crafted up a wonderful, quirky, sometimes violent story with Sudden Death Overtime, about a bunch of past their prime geezers, who love hockey and the vicious band of blood thirsty vampires, that crash the small town of Hope's End, Labrador. If this sounds like something you would want to read (I can't see how it couldn't), read on to find out more...
Short nitty-gritty plot description from the back cover is as follows: Sprague Deacon is one of the toughest hockey players who ever skated upon a rink of hand-poured ice. Sprague was born and raised and he expects to die here on the Northern Labrador coast. What he did not expect was a tour bus full of vampires to pull into his town and begin lowering the population level - one corpse at a time. Sprague and his three best friends - an over-the-hill never-say quit bush league hockey team from Northern Labrador go toe-to-tooth with the vampires in a game of no-holds-barred hockey.
Sudden Death Overtime takes us on a quick journey, with a group of old Newfoundland geezers, by the names of Sprague, Fergus, Leo and Rufus. Their love of hockey is strong, even if their bodies are not. While this group of dusty old farts take part in cleaning up the rink for the kids, a mysterious black bus, full of blood thirsty vampires, rolls into town and starts luring people into the bus, never to be seen again. The vampires then precede to pick on the oldies and little do they know, they've made the worst decision in their immortal undead lives.
Look, I'm from the Maritimes and know several people from Newfoundland, so I highly enjoyed reading this story. I laughed along with the old geezers, with their quips and low opinions on the Mounties and their balls of steel, with deciding to go head to head with the vamps, the only way they know how, on the ice. Surprisingly enough, Sudden Death Overtime is also pretty damn violent at certain parts and doesn't shy away from some foul language and gory details. Colour me quite surprised and delighted.
As for any complaints, I do have a couple. Due to the length of the story, their isn't much in the way of back story (save for an interesting few chapters, dedicated to a tribe of warriors, who once fought vampires a long time ago). I think the book could've afforded a little more explanation on the vampires and the mysterious bus they drove. Also, I was let down by the rushed conclusion. I wish some more time was spent with the vamps wrecking havoc on the poor town of Hope's End, instead of hurriedly rushing to the end.These are but small complaints though, as in the end I was fixed to each page, even if it was short.
Sudden Death Overtime brings back the vampires we all love. Their vicious, deadly and don't sparkle in the damn sunlight! Thank god! The book will also have you cheering for the old guys, as they don't know the meaning of run away. If you love hockey, vampires, Canada and a story that can be read in one sitting, while you hold a Tim's coffee in your hand, Sudden Death Overtime will be the goal that will make you stand up and cheer.
Rating: 4/5 (-1 for not much in the way of back story and development on the uninvited vamps. +4 for a fun story, with some great loveable characters, a wicked sense of humor and some delightful gore.)
P.S The book also contains two short stories, titled Time Out and Smoke Signals. Both are about the allure of hockey and how ones love of the game and family will never die. Great stuff.
Hockey and Vampires. Who would've thought that these two could go so well together. I certainly didn't, but author Steve Vernon crafted up a wonderful, quirky, sometimes violent story with Sudden Death Overtime, about a bunch of past their prime geezers, who love hockey and the vicious band of blood thirsty vampires, that crash the small town of Hope's End, Labrador. If this sounds like something you would want to read (I can't see how it couldn't), read on to find out more...
Short nitty-gritty plot description from the back cover is as follows: Sprague Deacon is one of the toughest hockey players who ever skated upon a rink of hand-poured ice. Sprague was born and raised and he expects to die here on the Northern Labrador coast. What he did not expect was a tour bus full of vampires to pull into his town and begin lowering the population level - one corpse at a time. Sprague and his three best friends - an over-the-hill never-say quit bush league hockey team from Northern Labrador go toe-to-tooth with the vampires in a game of no-holds-barred hockey.
Sudden Death Overtime takes us on a quick journey, with a group of old Newfoundland geezers, by the names of Sprague, Fergus, Leo and Rufus. Their love of hockey is strong, even if their bodies are not. While this group of dusty old farts take part in cleaning up the rink for the kids, a mysterious black bus, full of blood thirsty vampires, rolls into town and starts luring people into the bus, never to be seen again. The vampires then precede to pick on the oldies and little do they know, they've made the worst decision in their immortal undead lives.
Look, I'm from the Maritimes and know several people from Newfoundland, so I highly enjoyed reading this story. I laughed along with the old geezers, with their quips and low opinions on the Mounties and their balls of steel, with deciding to go head to head with the vamps, the only way they know how, on the ice. Surprisingly enough, Sudden Death Overtime is also pretty damn violent at certain parts and doesn't shy away from some foul language and gory details. Colour me quite surprised and delighted.
As for any complaints, I do have a couple. Due to the length of the story, their isn't much in the way of back story (save for an interesting few chapters, dedicated to a tribe of warriors, who once fought vampires a long time ago). I think the book could've afforded a little more explanation on the vampires and the mysterious bus they drove. Also, I was let down by the rushed conclusion. I wish some more time was spent with the vamps wrecking havoc on the poor town of Hope's End, instead of hurriedly rushing to the end.These are but small complaints though, as in the end I was fixed to each page, even if it was short.
Sudden Death Overtime brings back the vampires we all love. Their vicious, deadly and don't sparkle in the damn sunlight! Thank god! The book will also have you cheering for the old guys, as they don't know the meaning of run away. If you love hockey, vampires, Canada and a story that can be read in one sitting, while you hold a Tim's coffee in your hand, Sudden Death Overtime will be the goal that will make you stand up and cheer.
Rating: 4/5 (-1 for not much in the way of back story and development on the uninvited vamps. +4 for a fun story, with some great loveable characters, a wicked sense of humor and some delightful gore.)
P.S The book also contains two short stories, titled Time Out and Smoke Signals. Both are about the allure of hockey and how ones love of the game and family will never die. Great stuff.
June 19, 2012
Sudden Death Overtime is fun, cinematic and the characters are engaging and quirkily slanted. Very much embracing the movie of this story in his head, Vernon writes in tight, visual scenes, and doesn't skimp on the dialogue; you could easily imagine watching the story unfold on a big screen. His tale of vampires invading an iced-in Canadian town has overtures of 30 Days of Night about it, and his very unromantic antagonists are as eerie as they are vicious, just as they are in Niles' vision. His geezer protagonists are affectionately drawn, and their language is authentic to the imagined ear, if a little inconsistent at times. The plot is straightforward, but this is a pulpy kind of tale anyway, so that's not as big a problem as it could be.
The problem with this story is that I didn't feel it was a finished draft. The writer has been indulged in the way he relishes his characters, and the fat that should have been trimmed with vigorous editing drags on the whole and makes it hard to read at times. Excessive dialogue tags, a confused sense of focalisation for the main character, the excess of similes and moments when the story is sacrificed in favour of fairly limp gags are all issues the editorial team at Crossroad Press should have addressed and challenged. From a well paced first half, the story progresses into its second and third acts with breaks in narrative logic, and over time the sense of Labrador as a living, populated place is lost. The hockey schtick is rather flat, and while Vernon asserts you don't need to be a fan to appreciate it, I found it difficult to give credence to. More than anything, the pacing of the story in the second half is uneven.
This is a good story, and would make a great movie, but I didn't feel it was completely ready for me to read yet.
The problem with this story is that I didn't feel it was a finished draft. The writer has been indulged in the way he relishes his characters, and the fat that should have been trimmed with vigorous editing drags on the whole and makes it hard to read at times. Excessive dialogue tags, a confused sense of focalisation for the main character, the excess of similes and moments when the story is sacrificed in favour of fairly limp gags are all issues the editorial team at Crossroad Press should have addressed and challenged. From a well paced first half, the story progresses into its second and third acts with breaks in narrative logic, and over time the sense of Labrador as a living, populated place is lost. The hockey schtick is rather flat, and while Vernon asserts you don't need to be a fan to appreciate it, I found it difficult to give credence to. More than anything, the pacing of the story in the second half is uneven.
This is a good story, and would make a great movie, but I didn't feel it was completely ready for me to read yet.
March 26, 2014
Hockey Saves Hope End From Vampires - if Hope End's has a newspaper, that would be the headline the day after this book takes place.
I loved the characters and how fleshed out they were. The characters immediately pulled me into the world of Hope's End. Judith Two Bear depressed the hell out of me, probably because of something that's easy for me to do with Vernon's work: I immediately begin plugging in people I know in real life as the characters starring in the movie-version that runs in my head while I read. I wound up casting myself as Judith but, once I started casting my friends in the roles of the male characters, I laughed my bum off when the characters got up to their antics.
The level of violence reminded me of many paranormal TV shows like Buffy and Supernatural. It's there but it's not the star of the show.
There may be typos in the book. Or maybe there's not. It's hard to tell what's intentional character development and what's an error. Or maybe it's the English language crossing the American-Canadian border. I don't know (and I don't care). It's the matter of pluralizing the word beer. Do you or don't you? It was easy to write off possible editorial stuff as character development so I did because, as far as I'm concerned, it's personal preference, kind of like deciding which brand of beer to drink while reading the book (I chose Harp Lager because it's brewed and bottled in Canada and this was a themed read for me).
I loved the characters and how fleshed out they were. The characters immediately pulled me into the world of Hope's End. Judith Two Bear depressed the hell out of me, probably because of something that's easy for me to do with Vernon's work: I immediately begin plugging in people I know in real life as the characters starring in the movie-version that runs in my head while I read. I wound up casting myself as Judith but, once I started casting my friends in the roles of the male characters, I laughed my bum off when the characters got up to their antics.
The level of violence reminded me of many paranormal TV shows like Buffy and Supernatural. It's there but it's not the star of the show.
There may be typos in the book. Or maybe there's not. It's hard to tell what's intentional character development and what's an error. Or maybe it's the English language crossing the American-Canadian border. I don't know (and I don't care). It's the matter of pluralizing the word beer. Do you or don't you? It was easy to write off possible editorial stuff as character development so I did because, as far as I'm concerned, it's personal preference, kind of like deciding which brand of beer to drink while reading the book (I chose Harp Lager because it's brewed and bottled in Canada and this was a themed read for me).
August 29, 2016
Steve Vernon is an author who writes like no one I have read thus far. His freedom with the written word is astonishing. It’s as if every thought he has spills out onto paper and has to be shared. Every dark thought, as applies here.
Sudden Death Overtime does not fit my usual reading, because horror is not a genre I particularly enjoy, but I expect this is a dark fantasy unlike most others. This book (novelette because it is short) is sure to satisfy readers who like this genre, but it is not for young readers.
Steve Vernon writes well. His capturing of human nature and the could-care-less attitudes in conversation are true to life, including the coarse and vulgar language between men who are less than etiquette conscious. His imagination is spooky, in this case, horrific!
There is a totally black tour bus that shows up in odd places in a northern Canadian community and people start disappearing. There are four old men who still love hockey enough to clear the ice every Saturday for the kids in the community. There are vampires … and those determined old men … and hockey … and gore. And a twist at the end.
If you like hockey, vampires, horror, dark humour, and you don’t mind coarse language, then you will like this book. Steve Vernon has them all in Sudden Death Overtime. It is a short read that packs a wallop.
Sudden Death Overtime does not fit my usual reading, because horror is not a genre I particularly enjoy, but I expect this is a dark fantasy unlike most others. This book (novelette because it is short) is sure to satisfy readers who like this genre, but it is not for young readers.
Steve Vernon writes well. His capturing of human nature and the could-care-less attitudes in conversation are true to life, including the coarse and vulgar language between men who are less than etiquette conscious. His imagination is spooky, in this case, horrific!
There is a totally black tour bus that shows up in odd places in a northern Canadian community and people start disappearing. There are four old men who still love hockey enough to clear the ice every Saturday for the kids in the community. There are vampires … and those determined old men … and hockey … and gore. And a twist at the end.
If you like hockey, vampires, horror, dark humour, and you don’t mind coarse language, then you will like this book. Steve Vernon has them all in Sudden Death Overtime. It is a short read that packs a wallop.
October 24, 2013
How could I not? Hockey and horror, it's such a logical fit yet there is so little of it. Steve Vernon's SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME blends the two themes perfectly. Vernon is able to weave ice hockey, vampires, old legends and creepy moods into a seamless, descriptive story. If you are a fan of hockey, or sports or a good old fashioned horror monster story this is a must read.
The most striking part of reading SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME is the authors apparent lust and respect for the game of hockey. It is obvious this writer has hockey in his veins and he pays the sport and it's traditions sacred and pays it all the homage one could expect from a man who holds the sport so dear. Yet, Steve Vernon is not just a hockey nut, he is a writer and his prose is descriptive, scenic and poetic. Don't let the cover or the price fool you, this a an extremely well written story that will not disappoint.
Hockey not your thing you say? Don't worry, your going to like this just as long as you like classic horror. There is tons more going on in this story besides hockey and when there is hockey, the writer's passion for the sport makes it so easily understandable. This is a great horror story and a breath of fresh air as I've not read horror this good in awhile.
The most striking part of reading SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME is the authors apparent lust and respect for the game of hockey. It is obvious this writer has hockey in his veins and he pays the sport and it's traditions sacred and pays it all the homage one could expect from a man who holds the sport so dear. Yet, Steve Vernon is not just a hockey nut, he is a writer and his prose is descriptive, scenic and poetic. Don't let the cover or the price fool you, this a an extremely well written story that will not disappoint.
Hockey not your thing you say? Don't worry, your going to like this just as long as you like classic horror. There is tons more going on in this story besides hockey and when there is hockey, the writer's passion for the sport makes it so easily understandable. This is a great horror story and a breath of fresh air as I've not read horror this good in awhile.
September 7, 2013
What do you get when quirky Canadian humor, hockey, and vampires are combined?
In the case of author Steve Vernon's(Devil Tree) "Sudden Death Overtime" you get a fun bloody ballet on ice. Well, okay it's no ballet.. more like goriest high stakes hockey game ever witnessed. Yeah, that's it!
Wielding razor sharp rows of teeth, these vampires are not sissies, but I feel the author could have developed them more. I never felt fear when these vile beasts were on the loose. Sure they do what all vamps do; kill and drain people, but they lacked oomph or a tenacity that I expected them to have.
The writing is crafted well blending humor and horror. The humor may not be to everyone's liking, but I found it fit the characters and tone of the story.
Final Word: Coming in at around 123 pages, this novelette is a good way to lighten the mood with good characters and laughs, but it doesn't bring the scares I'm usually looking for. It's worth a read for sure. Check it out along with the author's other works.
In the case of author Steve Vernon's(Devil Tree) "Sudden Death Overtime" you get a fun bloody ballet on ice. Well, okay it's no ballet.. more like goriest high stakes hockey game ever witnessed. Yeah, that's it!
Wielding razor sharp rows of teeth, these vampires are not sissies, but I feel the author could have developed them more. I never felt fear when these vile beasts were on the loose. Sure they do what all vamps do; kill and drain people, but they lacked oomph or a tenacity that I expected them to have.
The writing is crafted well blending humor and horror. The humor may not be to everyone's liking, but I found it fit the characters and tone of the story.
Final Word: Coming in at around 123 pages, this novelette is a good way to lighten the mood with good characters and laughs, but it doesn't bring the scares I'm usually looking for. It's worth a read for sure. Check it out along with the author's other works.
April 4, 2015
Sudden Death Overtime. That is one impressive title for a Canadian hockey horror novella.
The story is riff with east coast charm and humor. It surrounds a group of older men who've seen their fair share of life, and fair share of hockey. With the little time that Vernon had to shape these men he didn't waste a word. You knew these fellows. Their own uniqueness would boomerang through the story and gave me several laugh out loud moments.
It was a fast read that I easily devoured in an evening. I kind of wish it were a bit longer. I'd like to have seen more of these fellows and have a few more questions answered, but for the length he was given, he did very well. All in all, I'd recommend this book to horror lovers and non-horror lovers alike.
For a full review: http://thereadershollow.com
The story is riff with east coast charm and humor. It surrounds a group of older men who've seen their fair share of life, and fair share of hockey. With the little time that Vernon had to shape these men he didn't waste a word. You knew these fellows. Their own uniqueness would boomerang through the story and gave me several laugh out loud moments.
It was a fast read that I easily devoured in an evening. I kind of wish it were a bit longer. I'd like to have seen more of these fellows and have a few more questions answered, but for the length he was given, he did very well. All in all, I'd recommend this book to horror lovers and non-horror lovers alike.
For a full review: http://thereadershollow.com
July 25, 2013
"I'll curdle your guts and give you a permanent case of funk-fangs."
What do you get when you mix backyard hockey, old men, and vampires? That's right - "Sudden Death Overtime."
An evil living black bus full of nasty vampires comes to Hopes End, Labrador and finds that the old men of the town feel their way of life is worth fighting for.
I love the characterization of the old guys in the novella, keeping their homemade hockey rink ready for the kids in their little town, bantering back and forth, figuring out ways to battle the evil that has come into their midst. I could visualize Sprague, Fergus and Leo very clearly and wish I knew any of them in real life, crusty old codgers that they are.
This is a unique spin on the vampire tale and storytelling at its best. I also loved the cover art.
The short tale "Time Out" was well worth reading, too. Nostalgic and just right.
What do you get when you mix backyard hockey, old men, and vampires? That's right - "Sudden Death Overtime."
An evil living black bus full of nasty vampires comes to Hopes End, Labrador and finds that the old men of the town feel their way of life is worth fighting for.
I love the characterization of the old guys in the novella, keeping their homemade hockey rink ready for the kids in their little town, bantering back and forth, figuring out ways to battle the evil that has come into their midst. I could visualize Sprague, Fergus and Leo very clearly and wish I knew any of them in real life, crusty old codgers that they are.
This is a unique spin on the vampire tale and storytelling at its best. I also loved the cover art.
The short tale "Time Out" was well worth reading, too. Nostalgic and just right.
September 24, 2012
This is not my typical genre, so I thought it would be a nice break for me to pick up this book. What a wonderful surprise to have a few laughs thrown in and not just have a gross-out apocolyptic slaughter book. Vernon does a fantastic job of painting a rich character picture for this small, icy town. It was so easy to see these townspeople in my mind. This was a good, scary, creepy story, and the dialogue was so well written with some humor intermixed to make these people even more lifelike. And the ending was incredibly brilliant! Just perfect! Not my normal fare, but I am really glad I gave Vernon a go. I will be checking out his other books.
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