This Is My Blood

by David Niall Wilson

This is My Blood is David Niall Wilson’s first and most important novel. It is a retelling of the gospel from a very different perspective. When Jesus goes into the desert and is tempted by the devil, there is one temptation added. One of the fallen is raised as a woman to tempt him with the flesh. Instead, the woman, named Mary of Magdalene, falls in love with Jesus and his promise of returning her to Heaven.

Cursed to follow him and drink the blood of his followers, Mary walks a fine line between her desire to love and support the Christ, and her burning need to return to Heaven. This novel takes the world of faith, which was the world of men, and of the apostles, and shows it through the eyes of a fallen angel – one who has, in her own words, walked the roads of both Heaven, and Hell. She doesn’t believe there is a God…she knows.

Faithful to the storyline of the original gospels, only weaving in new things when there are gaps in the old, this is a novel of faith, redemption, and ultimate sacrifice.

Genres: Vampires, Horror, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Audiobook, Religion, Fiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published February 21, 1999

About the author

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David Niall Wilson has been writing and publishing horror, dark fantasy, and science fiction since the mid-eighties. An ordained minister, once President of the Horror Writer 's Association and multiple recipient of the Bram Stoker Award. He lives outside Hertford, NC with the love of his life, Patricia Lee Macomber, His children Zane and Katie, occasionally their older siblings, Stephanie, who is in college, and Bill and Zach who are in the Navy, and an ever-changing assortment of pets.

David is CEO and founder of Crossroad Press, a cutting edge digital publishing company specializing in electronic novels, collections, and nonfiction, as well as unabridged audiobooks and print titles.

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Niall Wilson creates a new gospel (The Book of Judas), turns one of the pivotal characters in the Bible into a vampire, and puts an entirely new spin on the life of Christ, all with a stylistic flair that leads one to believe that maybe the author knows something we don't, but that we should. With vampire tales being a dime a dozen, and few of them worth the dime, THIS IS MY BLOOD stands out as one of the most thoughtful and creative takes on the legend one might hope to find. I suspect that even devout Christians will hardly find much to quibble with in regard to Wilson's interpretation of Biblical history and the existing gospels. The book explores personal faith with real thoughtfulness, wrapped in a witty and exciting package. Highest recommendation.

[Michele Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is My Blood is a sneaky, beautifully written Christian horror tale of supernatural damnation and love. In this hard-to-put-down book a vampire turned by Lucifer himself to punish humanity becomes enamored with the mythos of The Christ and finds the love and power radiating from the man himself to be more than she expected. Taking on the role of Mary Magdalene she finds herself drawn to him, despite Lucifer's promise that she's bound to damn him.
Wilson's tale is enchanting, deeply religious without being judgmental or hypocritical. Beautifully written it's definitely worth the cost and the time to read. Highly recommended for budding digital collections.
Contains: violence, religious themes

[Nona · Rating 4 out of 5]

""Those who hunger remain"

For much of my youth I was a devout Christian, and while my beliefs have changed, much of that stays with me in one form or another. Also, when all my friends were reading science fiction and fantasy, I was reading horror. It's not the only thing I read, but it's still very much My Genre. Not surprisingly, I have quite a weak spot for religious horror, and had been looking forward to reading David Niall Wilson's novel of a vampiric Mary Magdalene, The Temptation of Blood for quite some time. I ended up being sorry I hadn't bought the book sooner. Wow.

In this novel Mary of Magdalene was one of the Fallen, sent to Earth by Lucifer as a snare for Jesus. Not as a sexual temptress - this is no Last Temptation of Christ - but a danger to Jesus nonetheless. Because no matter how great Jesus's compassion, the damned and the holy just can not mix. The portrayal of Jesus here is one that many Christians would have difficulty finding fault with, an ultimate representation of unconditional love in both divine and human form. Certainly there are other parts of the book they might not think so kindly of; besides the Lesbian Sex of the Damned (actually much less titillating than it sounds), God the Father comes off looking like kind of a jerk at times, His compassion falling short of His wish to stick to the rules. Of course without that it would eliminate much of the dramatic conflict here. There's also a change to the story of the loaves and the fishes that gives it some negative connotations; I'm not sure of the author's reasons for telling the story as he did, and it sat oddly with me.

The story is told from Mary's point of view, and the situation she finds herself in is heartbreaking, yet at the same time it is her perspective that makes this novel one of the most Christian things I've read in a long time. How can we not be affected by being in presence of such great love? However her own divine origins mean that she never has to question Jesus's divinity, and her lack of understanding and sympathy towards those who find it harder to believe without such certainties is an uncomfortable reminder of some of the more negative representatives of Christianity. I may be overemphasizing those aspects of the novel because of my personal issues, because much more than anything this is a novel about love and both the anguish and the hope of redemption that can come with love. Besides the desire to smack the publisher upside the head for a few grievous errors, this is a book I can heartily recommend, and one I know I can look forward to rereading in the future.

(This review was originally posted in a slightly altered version at http://hangedwoman.livejournal.com/26... on April 1, 2007)"

[Remittance Girl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many years ago, Howard Jacobson wrote a brave retelling of Genesis called "The Very Model of a Man". This book is in the same spirit, if leaning a little more towards the paranormal. This is unique and compelling reinterpretation of the story of Christ takes place through the eyes of Mary Magdalen, who is decidedly not what she seems.

It helps if you're fairly well versed in the New Testament - especially the Gospels - because it's only then you truly appreciate how clever the author has been with his retelling. But you certainly don't need to be a biblical scholar or religious to appreciate this lateral take on the story.

Although a little short for my taste in audiobooks, it is the right length for the story and the narration is excellent.

[J. Goodman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first book I read by Mr. Wilson and I've been hooked from that day. He is a master with plotting, pacing and believable characters.

[C.T. Phipps · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer: Serious subject matter (religion) with a very unconventional method of looking at it (vampirism).

THIS IS MY BLOOD
By. David Niall Wilson
265 pages
5 chalices of blood out of 5

Jesus gets a lot of vampire jokes made about him. I say this with dead seriousness. "JESUS THE VAMPIRE: Jesus gave his blood, now he wants it back - coming to a theater near you" is a T-shirt I've seen before. This is a in part because the 19th century vampire (and later Hammer Horror's depictions) is a creature which incorporates many elements designed to exist in blasphemous opposition to God. They rise three days after death, they are repulsed by the cross, they drink and share blood to provide immortality, and so on. The vampire is the ultimate enemy of Christ beyond sin itself because it is living death versus eternal life.

The video game Castlevania, of all things, touched upon such themes:

Richter Belmont: Die, monster! You don't belong in this world!
Dracula: It is not by my hand that I am once again given flesh. I was brought here by humans who wish to pay me tribute.
Richter Belmont: Tribute? You steal mens' souls and make them your slaves!
Dracula: Perhaps the same could be said of all religions...
Richter Belmont: Your words are as empty as your soul. Mankind ill needs a savior such as you.

Dracula: How? How--How is it that I've been so defeated?
Alucard: You have been doomed ever since you lost the ability to love.
Dracula: Ha--Ah... Sarcasm. "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the world, and loses his own soul?" Matthew 16:26, I believe.

Anne Rice also dealt with the subject matter of vampires and Christianity in her most controversial work, Memnoch the Devil. Vampire: The Masquerade linked the Biblical First Murderer Caine with the undead and created an entire vampire religion around it (two, in fact, with the Lancea Sanctum being the vampire Catholic Church and Sabbat being vampire ISIS).

I, myself, am a Christian apologist and come at the subject matter from the perspective of a theist who is also a horror fan, a recovering fundamentalist, and a huge Vampire: The Masquerade zealot. Like David Niall Wilson (former HWA President and Stoker Award winning) I considered studying the ministry before events changed my vocational calling to writing. I maintain a belief in the Judaeo-Christian supernatural but became influenced by the many questions, ideas, and miracles I'd researched. David Wilson writes he doesn't share my faith in his opening to the book but writes an excellent story discussing issues of it.

Now after the longest introduction ever, I should mention that this book doesn't make Jesus a vampire. It's about Mary Magdalen being revealed as a succubi created during the Temptation of Chist by Satan and then cursed by the Devil to thirst for the blood of the living. Our first vampiress thus hangs at the margins of the New Testament until the death as well as resurrection of Rabbi Joshua Ben Joseph.

In many respects, it's a straight vampire story as our antiheroine wanders from the desert and starts feeding on humans. At first, she plans to kill those who are "guilty" but this being a novel set during the New Testament, her choices are less than satisfactory from a redemption standpoint. Mary can read the sins of human beings and know their thoughts but this doesn't give her any sense of "humanity" that would allow her to understand nuance or judgement. Killing an adulterer is the same as killing a murderer or a thief.

Much like the film version of THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST (I didn't read the book) this is about Jesus' relationship to the religion he leaves behind. Instead of Peter vs. Paul like in that work, it's Peter vs. Judas here with the idea of a lost "Book of Judas" that provides the vampire-related subject matter of the Bible with poor Peter getting possessed during events. Basically, if you haven't run screaming from the book so far, you'll be fine. It's a book about our characters' deeply conflicted relationship between faith, Jesus, Christianity, hypocrisy, and the rules generated from both.

The real benefit of David Wilson's work here is his florid prose which is full of all the Gothic melodrama and big ideas which made INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE and THE VAMPIRE LESTAT entertaining. Early on, King Herod's daughter is made into a vampire and pretty much laughs at Jesus' offer of salvation, finding being undead far more entertaining than the idea of immortal salvation. It's a great moment simply because in a book about the literal divine presence of God in the world, we have a teenage girl preferring being a sexy monster.

Personally, I loved this book and think it's great for people who want to deal with vampires in non-traditional situations. Throwing out all the religious symbolism and meaning (which is a bit like saying, "Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"), it's still a good Goth horror novel. Mary is an interesting character in the fact she is a blank slate stumbling around through a world she was never a part of to begin with as well as trying to make sense of the bizarre situation she's found herself.

So, if you're feeling in the mood for something artsy and love Christian mythology as a sufficiently open-minded believer or as a jaded but fascinated by religion disbeliever then I suspect this will definitely appeal to you. It definitely has inspired me to read David Niall Wilson's Ashen Grail trilogy about an order of vampire Templars--though that is set in the World of Darkness.

[Mika · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wanted more vampires. Started off as like a 3 because it was interesting but then the book bored me.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing book. It tells the last days of Christ on earth from the viewpoint of Mary Magdalene who is...not human (no spoiler here). There is a central premise which is both brilliant and executed amazingly well. The insights into the character of Jesus and his apostles is extremely well written.

Highly recommended.

[Pamela Gibson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was privileged to read the short story, then a proof copy of the book David wrote. I sat in the writers' group of which David was a member, and listened as he refined, and redrew, and honed his skill. It's eerie to read a book, having watched the idea as the writer 'grew' it. And it still raises the hair on my neck.

[Geoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty good read of an alternative telling of the time Christ walked the earth. In this case Mary Magdalen is a fallen angel made into a vampire by Lucifer. And the story is told through her perspective, and she comes to love Jesus even though she is damned. This was an interesting supernatural take, and I thought if was done well.

[Michael Brookes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this a lot, what we have here is a different and interesting take on the gospel, a secret history of Judas and Mary Magdelene. It's told through two mediums, the first is the Gospel of Judas which offers an alternative viewpoint to the more traditional gospels. The other viewpoint is that of Mary Magdelene, she joins the story as one of the fallen, a minion of Lucifer's tasked with tempting Jesus.

When the temptation fails she is cursed to exist as a vampire, but Jesus promises her that she can be saved. The story continues to tell of his ministry and the interaction between him and Mary. The story is told in a way that is very evocative of the biblical tradition and so transports the reader easily into the time.

It also does a very good job of portraying Christ not only as a man, but also as the son of God. Some readers may be offended by the portrayal, but this doesn't poke fun at his existence, but simply tells the story from a different and more personal viewpoint. Controversially this is also a love story between Christ and Mary, although not really in the conventional sense.

While the story and the writing are both excellent, unfortunately there is a small flaw, the Kindle edition appears to have a strange formatting issue where many spaces are missing. While it wasn't enough to put me off reading the book, it was enough to provide a distraction, which is a shame as otherwise this is a fantastic read.

[Matt Arthur · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book held promise. I enjoy spiritual books, books with a focus on some of the Bible's more minor players, and the urban fantasy/horror as well. The book should have been a decent distractive romp - not something to go for a different view of the Bible to affect my spiritual life but a fun "What would Jesus do" that never really will come into play. Besides, I got it for a steal and I had a buck to burn. While the book is obviously nothing that would fall into the orthodox camp it is an artful tie of "what if," the gospels, Jewish folklore and vampires. I have to say that I read the book more out of curiosity than getting lost in the narrative. Finishing it did feel a bit like I was put on a bus for a ride and then abandoned in the woods where I may get beaten to death with a sock full of quarters...or maybe nothing would happen.

[Joseph Allocca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book.

The book is a pretty good story. The way the author wrote it was very effective and I believed in Mary’s passionate love of Jesus almost as if it were my own (I’m an atheist, so that’s saying something). As a side note, I think this book could make an interesting read for fans of Wes Cravens Dracula 2000. Think of it almost as a prequel to that movie.

[Salvatore Fazio · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poteva essere un buon libro, ma non lo è.
Sul tema, molto meglio "La Gloria" di Giuseppe Berto.

[Nolan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read about 60 pages. DNF. Just not really what I was looking for. Jesus is white and perfect, and Mary's self-deprecation and guilt was repetitive. Thought it would be a little more critical of Catholicism, but feels more like bizarre Biblical fanfiction.

[Kimberly-Dawn Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great concept which I honestly have had mulling around my head as a story. I thought the ideas were fictionally fascinating. I’m going to be honest, I think this may have been a better book to read rather than listen to. With that said the Narrator was very good. The main issue I dealt with was going back to re-listen to a number parts because of the multiple voices/POV of used. The author has a good grasp of both the Bible and vampire lore.
I would definitely recommend you read this book if those concepts interest you. I’m probably going to order the book to read it and will edit the review to reflect that.

** I was given a free copy of this book in lieu of an honest review.

[Maracujia · Rating 2 out of 5]

In genere le storie di vampiri (fatto salvo "Dracula") non mi piacciono, non riescono ad appassionarmi, magari sarà anche un effetto della mia folle paura del sangue :-) eppure questo libro è riuscito a coinvolgermi.
All'inizio l'idea di una Maddalena angelo caduto e vampiro mi ha quasi fatto abbandonare la lettura, però poi, parola dopo parola, mi sono trovata coinvolta, avviluppata nel racconto di una grande storia d’Amore, quella di Gesù per ogni creatura in cerca di pace e speranza.
Bella la figura di Giuda, diversa e fuori dagli schemi, che diventa qui un uomo che ama al punto di perdere se stesso.
Nel complesso una piacevole lettura d’evasione.

[Zee1 · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 3 and 3/4 stars.