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Blood County
Blood was what they called that mountain town and the forbidding land around it—and the name was significant. Folks there knew a secret that would have shocked the world...but nobody was ever going to get out of Blood to tell. Not even when Portia Clark arrived, hot on a news story for a national magazine. Especially, not her...
Clint Breen, who had once been in the outside world, tried to save her. But he had to fight a tradition that drove men and women to unspeakable lusts and that ruled secretly the lives and afterlives of every being in the county. Blood was the place where more men and women walked the night than ever were seen by day. Horror was their heritage, for they were the people that the census dared not count!
Clint Breen, who had once been in the outside world, tried to save her. But he had to fight a tradition that drove men and women to unspeakable lusts and that ruled secretly the lives and afterlives of every being in the county. Blood was the place where more men and women walked the night than ever were seen by day. Horror was their heritage, for they were the people that the census dared not count!
176 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 2, 1981
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 6, 2008
Not quite as good as Doris Piserchia's other books, but still a fine read. Her love for the south and southern people really comes through in the book; you can really feel how deeply she loves the mountains of the south. That's the best part. In most of Piserchia's books you don't see much of the writer coming through; in Blood County you can see her very clearly behind it.
The book is about Clint and Jared, the two sons of the local vampire lord in the town of Blood, nestled deep in the Appalachian mountains. Clint left as a young man and had to come back because Jared died and is about to become a Lamprou. When he gets back everything goes to hell. The book hits all the points you want it to, up to and including a mob of enraged villagers with torches and pitchforks. As usual with Doris, there's no points made or lessons to be learned; it's just a fun romp. Read it and enjoy it and don't expect too much or you'll be disappointed.
The book is about Clint and Jared, the two sons of the local vampire lord in the town of Blood, nestled deep in the Appalachian mountains. Clint left as a young man and had to come back because Jared died and is about to become a Lamprou. When he gets back everything goes to hell. The book hits all the points you want it to, up to and including a mob of enraged villagers with torches and pitchforks. As usual with Doris, there's no points made or lessons to be learned; it's just a fun romp. Read it and enjoy it and don't expect too much or you'll be disappointed.
May 21, 2021
Doris Piserchia published two books under the pen name Curt Selby, oddly enough representing her at her best and her worst. The other, "I, Zombie," is the greatest novel she ever wrote. This one is the worst (that I have read so far). A generic, dull, unimaginative vampire story that just reeks indifference. She's never sounded more like an amateur. Granted, I don't read horror fiction in general but I still think I have the capacity to judge something belonging to that genre, especially if it was written by an author with whom I'm quite familiar. Don't go out of your way to track down a copy unless you're a completist.
April 3, 2011
Funny at times, gory at times, poorly written at times. This is a tale of a secluded mountain community who worships a local vampire to keep the crops growing.
August 27, 2025
"It took too much strength to climb such mountains just to see what was up there. Only those who fell in love with the place felt an incentive to climb back into the hills once they went down out of them."
I got this book for a few bucks after a vague reddit recommendation that this fills the niche of 'Appalachian folk horror'. Which, in a weird way, sure. It's more of a vampire family/small town tale, novella-sized, probably a bit generic and dated in terms of the writing, but I enjoyed the read. Definitely more of a vampire story than folk horror though.
Blood County focuses on a small Appalachian town in Virginia, outside the reach of cars and modern life, called Blood(What a horrible name for a town, no surprise that they're under bloodthirsty, supernatural clutches lol). Our main protagonist is Clinton, a former resident of Blood, who is shipped back in a casket after being a casualty of war...until he wakes up. Clinton and Jared are both the bastard sons of the resident vampire lord of Blood, Duqueiu who rules over the town, blessing their crops with unnaturally vigorous growth, and demanding a tribute of bottles of blood to sustain himself. Clinton returns to town, reawakened as a vampire of sorts, determined to destroy Duquieu and free the townspeople. Jared, Clint's brother, has congruent aims, he wants to kill Duquieu and rule over the shantytown with an iron fist. Dash in a reporter from the big city who came up the hill(and is conveniently a champion archer), and the colorful, backwater residents of Blood, and you've got Blood County!
I enjoy the isolated nature of books like this, and we definitely get that feeling of being cut off from the wider surrounding world, and the old-timey, country dialog between residents was charming, if not a bit overdone. The setting, a 10-mile walk from the buttcrack of nowhere, and spread-out, shanty-style houses, was exactly what I was looking for, although I wouldn't really describe the writing style as atmospheric, although I think that is a product of the time the book was written as much as anything else.
The plot, while a bit contrived and predictable, was enjoyable, and kept things chugging along. Not a lot of out-and-out terror/horror, but I enjoyed reading a vampire novel with zero teen angst and longing gazes. Maybe you could say this was a slight influence on the True Blood/Southern Vampire series? Seems like a stretch, outside of some broad strokes similarities. The non-Duquieu bloodline vampies end up behaving like traditional vampires in other works of fiction, and are hunted by townsfolk and Clint alike.
Overall, a fun, not-too-serious read, a town of simple Appalachian folk being terrorized by a crew of vampires until their savior rises from the dead to settle the score. Not the greatest, most original writing in the world, but not terrible either. 3.5/5, rounded up to 4 because GoodReads
I got this book for a few bucks after a vague reddit recommendation that this fills the niche of 'Appalachian folk horror'. Which, in a weird way, sure. It's more of a vampire family/small town tale, novella-sized, probably a bit generic and dated in terms of the writing, but I enjoyed the read. Definitely more of a vampire story than folk horror though.
Blood County focuses on a small Appalachian town in Virginia, outside the reach of cars and modern life, called Blood(What a horrible name for a town, no surprise that they're under bloodthirsty, supernatural clutches lol). Our main protagonist is Clinton, a former resident of Blood, who is shipped back in a casket after being a casualty of war...until he wakes up. Clinton and Jared are both the bastard sons of the resident vampire lord of Blood, Duqueiu who rules over the town, blessing their crops with unnaturally vigorous growth, and demanding a tribute of bottles of blood to sustain himself. Clinton returns to town, reawakened as a vampire of sorts, determined to destroy Duquieu and free the townspeople. Jared, Clint's brother, has congruent aims, he wants to kill Duquieu and rule over the shantytown with an iron fist. Dash in a reporter from the big city who came up the hill(and is conveniently a champion archer), and the colorful, backwater residents of Blood, and you've got Blood County!
I enjoy the isolated nature of books like this, and we definitely get that feeling of being cut off from the wider surrounding world, and the old-timey, country dialog between residents was charming, if not a bit overdone. The setting, a 10-mile walk from the buttcrack of nowhere, and spread-out, shanty-style houses, was exactly what I was looking for, although I wouldn't really describe the writing style as atmospheric, although I think that is a product of the time the book was written as much as anything else.
The plot, while a bit contrived and predictable, was enjoyable, and kept things chugging along. Not a lot of out-and-out terror/horror, but I enjoyed reading a vampire novel with zero teen angst and longing gazes. Maybe you could say this was a slight influence on the True Blood/Southern Vampire series? Seems like a stretch, outside of some broad strokes similarities. The non-Duquieu bloodline vampies end up behaving like traditional vampires in other works of fiction, and are hunted by townsfolk and Clint alike.
Overall, a fun, not-too-serious read, a town of simple Appalachian folk being terrorized by a crew of vampires until their savior rises from the dead to settle the score. Not the greatest, most original writing in the world, but not terrible either. 3.5/5, rounded up to 4 because GoodReads
July 25, 2023
West Virginian Appalachian vampires in a small hill village. What's not to like
A good quick read
A good quick read
wish-list
April 13, 2024[Doris Piserchia, writing as...]
August 5, 2011
As I read this novel I often found myself wondering just how often Vampires were treated this way in other contemporary fiction, and how much of a precedent was set by Doris' work. how much of blood county made it to 'Interview With a Vampire', how much to' Twilight'.
August 18, 2012
I loved this! I read it years before True Blood was ever on. It had to have had some influence on the original author Charlene Harris I think is her name. Any one know if her books are worth checking out? Anyway Blood County had some great hillbilly Dracula stuff going on!
October 16, 2015
This was a 3.5 but I bumped it to 4 just for the fact that it was a fun, straightforward vampire story that wasn't neurotic middle-aged goth wish-fulfillment/fap fuel.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews