What do you think?
Rate this book
Fr. Thomas Edmund Gilroy #1
Un hábito sangriento
Londres, primeros meses del siglo XX. Cuando John Kemp, un joven y escéptico abogado, conoce en un tren a un fraile dominico de aspecto apacible, no puede imaginar que bajo el hábito blanco y negro se esconde un implacable cazador de vampiros. Pronto necesitará de su ayuda: una serie de sanguinarios asesinatos sacude el Londres victoriano y obliga a la improbable pareja a combatir juntos la amenaza de los no muertos.
Aderezada con una dosis generosa de reflexión teológica y de humor, esta novela de terror se aproxima al abismo del mal sin mojigaterías y con una visión netamente católica. La trama, en un curioso juego literario, dialoga con el Drácula de Bram Stoker y, siempre desde la admiración, se atreve a corregir algunos de sus planteamientos.
“Una mezcla entre Drácula y El exorcista, escrita con el talento literario de la primera y la sensibilidad católica de la segunda”.
Joseph Pearce, escritor y periodista.
“Nicholson nos introduce en el lenguaje, los modales y los escenarios del Londres victoriano sin esfuerzo y de forma muy convincente, gracias a una profunda investigación y a un magistral dominio de la escritura”.
Karen Ullo, novelista
“Me encantó el estilo de la autora [...] En ningún momento subraya, predica ni pretende educar”.
Dwight Longenecker, sacerdote y escritor.
Aderezada con una dosis generosa de reflexión teológica y de humor, esta novela de terror se aproxima al abismo del mal sin mojigaterías y con una visión netamente católica. La trama, en un curioso juego literario, dialoga con el Drácula de Bram Stoker y, siempre desde la admiración, se atreve a corregir algunos de sus planteamientos.
“Una mezcla entre Drácula y El exorcista, escrita con el talento literario de la primera y la sensibilidad católica de la segunda”.
Joseph Pearce, escritor y periodista.
“Nicholson nos introduce en el lenguaje, los modales y los escenarios del Londres victoriano sin esfuerzo y de forma muy convincente, gracias a una profunda investigación y a un magistral dominio de la escritura”.
Karen Ullo, novelista
“Me encantó el estilo de la autora [...] En ningún momento subraya, predica ni pretende educar”.
Dwight Longenecker, sacerdote y escritor.
343 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 8, 2018
56 people are currently reading
613 people want to read
About the author
Eleanor Bourg Nicholson
8 books68 followersIn addition to scholarly pursuits, Eleanor Bourg Nicholson occasionally strays into fiction, including her epistolary novella, The Letters of Magdalen Montague, and her Gothic novels, A Bloody Habit, Brother Wolf, and Wake of Malice. For the sake of her children, who eagerly requested a book they too could read, she wrote The Hound of the Lord, a children’s biography of St. Dominic (Ignatius Press, 2023). She is a Lay Dominican, which may partly explain the frequency with which OPs gaily trip through her writing. (She also formally apologized to the friars for throwing them into the Gothic atmosphere. Honestly, though, it makes a lot of sense.)
A former assistant executive editor for Dappled Things, she is assistant editor for the Saint Austin Review (StAR), as well as the editor of several Ignatius Critical Editions of the classics and has collaborated with other editors to provide footnotes for numerous other works. Her work has appeared in the National Catholic Register and Touchstone, as well as with First Things and The Catholic Thing.
The resident Victorian literature instructor at Homeschool Connections, Eleanor, with her husband, homeschools their five children. By night, she reads the Victorians, writes Gothic novels, and cares for small children.
Fun facts: She has an extremely low tolerance for scary books and movies. She’s still petrified of “The Speckled Band”, and won’t sleep in a room where the bed is under a vent.
A former assistant executive editor for Dappled Things, she is assistant editor for the Saint Austin Review (StAR), as well as the editor of several Ignatius Critical Editions of the classics and has collaborated with other editors to provide footnotes for numerous other works. Her work has appeared in the National Catholic Register and Touchstone, as well as with First Things and The Catholic Thing.
The resident Victorian literature instructor at Homeschool Connections, Eleanor, with her husband, homeschools their five children. By night, she reads the Victorians, writes Gothic novels, and cares for small children.
Fun facts: She has an extremely low tolerance for scary books and movies. She’s still petrified of “The Speckled Band”, and won’t sleep in a room where the bed is under a vent.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
November 4, 2019
NOT NOT NOT a vampire fan. Decent enough writing, but I was confused at times; could be because of my lack of familiarity with vampire lore. Although I will be the first to admit, I am not the best one to judge, it felt to me like Catholic vestments laid over a vampire. This book was given to the 15 yo who was living with us, which is mostly why I read it. Even though it is written by a Catholic author, I will tell her Mom I do not recommend it. However, knowing this young adult as I do, I doubt the book will appeal to her. Very little action in the beginning and the central character, John Kemp, an antagonistic narrator who left me cold, is not likely to charm her either.
Keep going back and forth between one and two stars. Settling on two because it did hold my interest. I cannot say I did NOT like it. I was just that ... okay.
Keep going back and forth between one and two stars. Settling on two because it did hold my interest. I cannot say I did NOT like it. I was just that ... okay.
September 12, 2018
When I was in middle and high school, I was obsessed with scary movies and novels, though my reading list tended to be more modern. I loved to read Stephen King's books and to watch horror movies. I'd have sleepovers with my friends, and we'd stay up late into the night watching Dracula and Carrie and Nightmare on Elm Street (is there a scarier movie than the one that takes place in a dream?) and An American Werewolf in London. The sleepless nights, to me, were worth the thrill and adrenaline rush as we watched Kiefer Sutherland being a vampire in The Lost Boys.
But the one thing I missed in my readings was the original Dracula by Brahm Stoker.
Then I wind up learning that fellow Lay Dominican Eleanor Bourg Nicholson has written a book based on Stoker's Dracula, except with vampire-slaying Dominican friars!
Talk about a hook!
Each chapter of A Bloody Habit begins with a selection from Stoker's Dracula, which Nicholson ties to the happenings of the chapter. Her familiarity with Stoker's work has helped her weave the original story into her own, which takes place just a few years after the publication of Stoker's book. The little snippets that open the chapter not only give us a bit of foreshadowing, but also draw us further into the story that unfolds in London of 1900 and that involves a rash of supernatural attacks. (Vampires in London!)
One of the most interesting things about Nicholson's novel is her weaving of Catholic theology throughout – and it's done without that feeling of being hit over the head with it. As a matter of fact, the book is told completely from the point-of-view of John Kemp, an agnostic, slightly anti-Catholic London lawyer who winds up meeting Father Thomas Edmond Gilroy, OP. Father Thomas provides any light catechesis that would counter misunderstandings that Kemp might gain from Stoker's book (which figures into the story itself, as well as a foreshadowing tool for each chapter).
I found myself yearning to pick this book up any time I had to lay it aside for work or homeschooling or whatever other activities were keeping me from delving into it. By the end, I was staying up late, ignoring Bobby Flay on the TV, and even dreaming about the plot lines.
Since finishing this fascinating novel, I've started listening to a podcast of Dracula so that I might go back and re-read it with the original story in mind. (Oh, yes! This novel definitely deserves a second reading!)
In other words, I highly recommend A Bloody Habit! You can purchase it straight from Ignatius Press or through Amazon for Kindle or in paperback. I would recommend it for mature teens and adults, due to the nature of the story.
Note: I was given a galley copy of the book for the purposes of reviewing it, but purchased my own copy in paperback before I even got through the first chapter.
But the one thing I missed in my readings was the original Dracula by Brahm Stoker.
Then I wind up learning that fellow Lay Dominican Eleanor Bourg Nicholson has written a book based on Stoker's Dracula, except with vampire-slaying Dominican friars!
Talk about a hook!
Each chapter of A Bloody Habit begins with a selection from Stoker's Dracula, which Nicholson ties to the happenings of the chapter. Her familiarity with Stoker's work has helped her weave the original story into her own, which takes place just a few years after the publication of Stoker's book. The little snippets that open the chapter not only give us a bit of foreshadowing, but also draw us further into the story that unfolds in London of 1900 and that involves a rash of supernatural attacks. (Vampires in London!)
One of the most interesting things about Nicholson's novel is her weaving of Catholic theology throughout – and it's done without that feeling of being hit over the head with it. As a matter of fact, the book is told completely from the point-of-view of John Kemp, an agnostic, slightly anti-Catholic London lawyer who winds up meeting Father Thomas Edmond Gilroy, OP. Father Thomas provides any light catechesis that would counter misunderstandings that Kemp might gain from Stoker's book (which figures into the story itself, as well as a foreshadowing tool for each chapter).
I found myself yearning to pick this book up any time I had to lay it aside for work or homeschooling or whatever other activities were keeping me from delving into it. By the end, I was staying up late, ignoring Bobby Flay on the TV, and even dreaming about the plot lines.
Since finishing this fascinating novel, I've started listening to a podcast of Dracula so that I might go back and re-read it with the original story in mind. (Oh, yes! This novel definitely deserves a second reading!)
In other words, I highly recommend A Bloody Habit! You can purchase it straight from Ignatius Press or through Amazon for Kindle or in paperback. I would recommend it for mature teens and adults, due to the nature of the story.
Note: I was given a galley copy of the book for the purposes of reviewing it, but purchased my own copy in paperback before I even got through the first chapter.
August 3, 2018
I had never heard of this author before finding this on sale at Ignatius Press (of all places!). It is thoroughly enjoyable, and written very much in the style of the time in which it is set.
It begins in 1900. John Kemp, an English barrister, having finished some business in Hungary, is taking the train back to the coast on his way home to London. To while away the time, he is reading a popular novel, written by an Irishman named Bram Stoker.
On the train, he meets an odd little Dominican priest (the horror! a Papist!). Whose business card, he finds when he finally looks at it much later, reads:
Rev. Thomas Edmund Gilroy, O.P., D.C.L.
Vampire Slayer
Adventures ensue.
It begins in 1900. John Kemp, an English barrister, having finished some business in Hungary, is taking the train back to the coast on his way home to London. To while away the time, he is reading a popular novel, written by an Irishman named Bram Stoker.
On the train, he meets an odd little Dominican priest (the horror! a Papist!). Whose business card, he finds when he finally looks at it much later, reads:
Rev. Thomas Edmund Gilroy, O.P., D.C.L.
Vampire Slayer
Adventures ensue.
November 7, 2019
As a clarifying point to booklady & SiSapis’ comments: ‘A Bloody Habit’ absolutely and unequivocally presents the vampiric as pure evil that only the graces found within the Catholic Church are adequate to combat. There is nothing “misunderstood” about the vampire characters within this book. In fact, the book makes the case for secular humanism giving rise to the vampire’s power.
What I enjoyed about this book was both its deep and solid grounding in Catholic truth (so, the good, true and beautiful) and it’s enjoyability and accessibility to a modern audience. It’s a rollicking read and genuinely frightening — everything a vampire book should be. Stoker would approve! It is a worthy antidote to the ridiculous YA vampire ”antihero” novels produced within the last decade or so.
What could be a more worthy goal than to reclaim vampire lore from its anemic modern manifestation and restore it to its proper province: within a battle of absolute good (Christ working through the Church) and absolute evil (the vampire understood in his ancient manifestation as an anti-Eucharistic boogeyman)? There is a trend growing among Catholic authors to reclaim this genre. I encourage the above commentators to seek out the Nicholson’s scholarly essays on the place of vampires within western literature and the place of such fiction within the Catholic literary tradition.
What I enjoyed about this book was both its deep and solid grounding in Catholic truth (so, the good, true and beautiful) and it’s enjoyability and accessibility to a modern audience. It’s a rollicking read and genuinely frightening — everything a vampire book should be. Stoker would approve! It is a worthy antidote to the ridiculous YA vampire ”antihero” novels produced within the last decade or so.
What could be a more worthy goal than to reclaim vampire lore from its anemic modern manifestation and restore it to its proper province: within a battle of absolute good (Christ working through the Church) and absolute evil (the vampire understood in his ancient manifestation as an anti-Eucharistic boogeyman)? There is a trend growing among Catholic authors to reclaim this genre. I encourage the above commentators to seek out the Nicholson’s scholarly essays on the place of vampires within western literature and the place of such fiction within the Catholic literary tradition.
September 17, 2018
I’m not sure how this book came on my radar, but I’m glad it did.
Nicholson’s version of the gothic vampire story tries to fix the flaws in Stoker’s Dracula while still paying homage to the original tale.
As a work of Christian literature, I found her examination of doubt, faith, agnosticism, and belief quite compelling.
If you like gothic literature or the Victorian supernatural but were put off by Stokers “stodginess”, give Nicholson a try.
Nicholson’s version of the gothic vampire story tries to fix the flaws in Stoker’s Dracula while still paying homage to the original tale.
As a work of Christian literature, I found her examination of doubt, faith, agnosticism, and belief quite compelling.
If you like gothic literature or the Victorian supernatural but were put off by Stokers “stodginess”, give Nicholson a try.
October 7, 2019
dedicated with affection to Krisi Keley https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... https://www.goodreads.com/series/6385... https://www.goodreads.com/series/1051... .
Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize for continually postponing my review of James Sallis'Drive https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... (although I admit, I don't feel like writing it), and it seems to me that it will be postponed for longer, because I admit, that after this review I will write the critique of Anthony Esolen's poetic anthology"The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4... yet grounds of greater urgency led me to write this review. The first thing I have to say about this book is that it has history, and this book more than usual (I apologize for telling the reason, which leads me to read the books, and for telling the reason that leads me to read them, being able to write a review of it , but he deemed it necessary) is that it is a small miracle his translation into Spanish. We were commenting on my friend at Goodreads Werner A. Lind https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
and I, following his criticism of the writer Rusell Kirk's horror stories https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... that the best writers were not published in my country Spain, and we were very critical of some publishers, which they were only looking for two things (money sacrificing the edition of good books) and not punblicarizing books, which could harm, or the dictatorship of politically correct, that governs us now, and which it does in the words of Arturo Pérez Reverte (the author of the saga of Alatriste, Falco, the Queen of the South and other books) https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... us to live in one of the least free moments in our history. The editorial system depends and is the heir to at least in Europe the system that André Marlraux https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... I raise President Charles de Gaulle so he depends very much on the power, and the dominant ideology to which they submit. It is a clear reflection of the fifties, and the sixties of the last century. With regard to this book there were two capital events on the one hand I confess that I have a dream to read the best Catholic writers in the world, and collect them. So post some posts on Facebook to the author of this book, and she confessed to me her wish that she wanted her novel "A Bloody Habit" to be edited in Spain. I commented with a lot of humor, the author if she knew any publishers who were interested in publishing "A Vampire and Dominican Novel" and told her that the first thing was very feasible, but the second thing not so much. Because Spain as my favorite writer Juan Manuel de Prada holds https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... that Spain is like a doormat, and that it is one of the countries that has most easily chlorinated in the face of progressiveism and the ideologies of the 1960s in consensus of social democrats and liberals (it can be said that the conservatives all they do is preserve the achievements of the revolution) who seek the abotgonment of religion. Spain is a country where you believe in anything but God with 22% religious observance, and going down. Catholics, although we are not persecuted, are seen as hostile, and we are not appreciated, but quite the opposite. However, I was looking forward to reading the best and as a friend of mine said I loved very much I wanted to share it with others. At the same time I am a reader of a Catholic weekly, whose name I will not reveal so as not to harm them. It seemed to me that he was becoming very politically correct, and I no longer had any tune with him. The displeasure was manifested in the readings they recommended, since they were books or very arid, boring, or very politically correct. Even fiction books did not speak of Catholic fiction, but rather showed the editorial news. That's what I'd have bought the newspaper on duty, or a literary magazine. Following an unfortunate expression of a book of batu with the person in charge of the literature section on that supplement on Twitter, and I proposed to that person to write a review of that book in question. I did, but let's say, I told him, that if I did, he'd have to do me a favor and I told him not to worry that it had nothing to do with money. This one must have thought I was a stalker, or something, and it blocked me. Something, which hurt me, and i was very offended, since he's the only person who has. It's true, I'm very heavy, but my Twitter behavior has always been delicious and I haven't engaged in trolling, or harassing other Twitter users. So I felt very hurt. So I wrote the review of that book, and I published a list (which I later increased) of writers, who would have guided me to see edited in Spain (if you want a reduced part of that list is found in my review of the "King Receives" by Mendoza https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... my goal is to have these writers edited, and then in return those writers would help me edit certain Spanish writers in the United States. For the two reasons I talked about previously, and I sent that list to a series of Spanish publishers without any success :-(. I wasn't going to send it to Catholic publishers, because What I wanted was for those books to reach most people, and not to those who were going to buy it, so I didn't send them to those publishers. I'm convinced of one thing. It's very cruel what I'm going to say, but I'm going to say it. It may happen, but it's not usual for a book to succeed in its quality, but it's not the case anymore. Now a book triumphs, because it is promoted by a powerful and average publisher, and the population only gets what the establishment wants to reach it. Something I reaffirmed and empowered the new world order. Hence, it is promoted to certain authors, and certain books. Some of course are a guarantee of success, and write well, but above all now literature has become a vehicle of indoctrination so elites, and oligarchs promote those they want. I disagree with a friend of mine, who say, this is a matter of money to what I say yes, but no. It's an attempt to maintain a system. So books are either uncomfortable or unedited, or have to be published in small, marginal, publishers. Interested controversies are sometimes invented, so that the population feels reject ed by a writer, and a book, which expresses a dissenting idea as has happened with the New Home Publishing, and with books by Constanza Miriano https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... However, my dear friends. There are miracles and providence acts as in this case, and some book manages to circumvent this block, as in this case. The publishing house Bibliotheca Homolegens, of which I went by a certain partner, until it went bankrupt by the crisis of Intereconomy, which phoenix was reborn from its ashes https://homolegens.com/ and is republishing quality authors such as Fabrice Hadjadj https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... , Miguel Aranguren https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... Gabriele Kuby https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... or Michael D. O'Brien (I already take the opportunity to reiterate my wish that Mr. D. O'Brien writes a fantasy novel to compensate readers for the books he discourages in his book "A Landscape With Dragons: The Battle for Your Child's Mind" book that I want to read with desire https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... Mr. D O'Brien has already crossed the line of how wonderful with his that I believe, which is very interesting his novel "Voyage to Alpha Centauri" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... I am sure, that both he and Juan Manuel de Prada could write a wonderful fantasy novel in which they could better convey their ideas, that with a hundred thousand essays as my friend Manuel Alfonseca has already done with his wonderful The Magic Puzzle https://www.goodreads.com/series/1836... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... ) but we're straying from the subject back to "A Bloody Habit." It seems that there was a kind of agreement between Bibliotheca Homolegens, and Ignatius Press https://www.ignatius.com/ (about Ignatius Press read my future review of Anthony Esolen's poetic anthology, which I'm going to write after this) to do an edition of Eleanor Bourg Nicholson's novel that works on Dappled Things so both the writer, me, and some friends were very pleasantly surprised Ndiddos for the news (Aside from that Mrs. Nicholson is one of the creators of the Catholic Vampires group together with her friends Karen Ullo https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... Gabriel Blanchard https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... J.B. Toner https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... https://www.facebook.com/CatholicVamp... although I also know some more interesting writer like Jerry Guern https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... Ellen C. Maze https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... Werner Lynd, or my own friend Krisi Keley https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... who would be delighted with with this initiative, if you were in good health. Actually the edition, which I have read is this https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4... I can only rate Antonio Colina's edition and translation of excellent in his prologue seems to follow Thomas' current Edmund Gilroy and making brilliant humorous observations especially about the similarities between the Dominicans and Jesuits. I'm going to be a little vulgar, and I'm going to ask for Apologies for this unpleasant comparison, but with this novel it has happened to me as Marisa Tomei with Mel Gibson in the Nora Ephron film that women think. Mel Gibson thanks to an accident has a gift to know what women think, and how she wants to sleep with Marisa Tomei uses her skills to achieve it, and when she succeeds it seems that at first she will fail, but thanks to her gift and because she knows what she thinks she h h ace as much as possible. I must admit, something very similar has happened to me with Eleanor Bourg Nicholson's novel. After a good start in the train car between the narrator John Kemp (at least it is the name that this gentleman gives himself) and Father Thomas Edmund Gilroy (who together with Vern the fictional dragon created by Karina Fabian https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... ) that encounter reminded me a lot of Father Brown's with Detective Aristid Valentine in the mythical Manchester story "The Blue Cross" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3... the novel was the character of John Kemp. To put it mildly, he was a very irritable, very abrupt character, and variable of character. He wasn't someone I could empathize with. It was the way to behave with the people next to Carstairs, Charles Sydney (a decadentist dandi, who reminded me a little of Oscar Wilde, Aubrey Beardsley, Verlaine, Baudelaire, or Joris Karl Huysmans) Adeleon, or his own butler Jenson. Anyway, I didn't exactly look like the person I'd go to have a few drinks with. Another thing, which frustrated me, is that in the novel despite alleged vampiric apparitions (which I didn't know at first if they were real or Kemp's delusion) is the apparent lack of action. I just felt very incomome . It is true that Mrs Nicholson had to introduce us to the characters, but I was frustrated that they were all social events, and conversations, apart from the bitterness of their protagonist. (oT be continued)
Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize for continually postponing my review of James Sallis'Drive https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... (although I admit, I don't feel like writing it), and it seems to me that it will be postponed for longer, because I admit, that after this review I will write the critique of Anthony Esolen's poetic anthology"The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4... yet grounds of greater urgency led me to write this review. The first thing I have to say about this book is that it has history, and this book more than usual (I apologize for telling the reason, which leads me to read the books, and for telling the reason that leads me to read them, being able to write a review of it , but he deemed it necessary) is that it is a small miracle his translation into Spanish. We were commenting on my friend at Goodreads Werner A. Lind https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
and I, following his criticism of the writer Rusell Kirk's horror stories https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... that the best writers were not published in my country Spain, and we were very critical of some publishers, which they were only looking for two things (money sacrificing the edition of good books) and not punblicarizing books, which could harm, or the dictatorship of politically correct, that governs us now, and which it does in the words of Arturo Pérez Reverte (the author of the saga of Alatriste, Falco, the Queen of the South and other books) https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... us to live in one of the least free moments in our history. The editorial system depends and is the heir to at least in Europe the system that André Marlraux https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... I raise President Charles de Gaulle so he depends very much on the power, and the dominant ideology to which they submit. It is a clear reflection of the fifties, and the sixties of the last century. With regard to this book there were two capital events on the one hand I confess that I have a dream to read the best Catholic writers in the world, and collect them. So post some posts on Facebook to the author of this book, and she confessed to me her wish that she wanted her novel "A Bloody Habit" to be edited in Spain. I commented with a lot of humor, the author if she knew any publishers who were interested in publishing "A Vampire and Dominican Novel" and told her that the first thing was very feasible, but the second thing not so much. Because Spain as my favorite writer Juan Manuel de Prada holds https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... that Spain is like a doormat, and that it is one of the countries that has most easily chlorinated in the face of progressiveism and the ideologies of the 1960s in consensus of social democrats and liberals (it can be said that the conservatives all they do is preserve the achievements of the revolution) who seek the abotgonment of religion. Spain is a country where you believe in anything but God with 22% religious observance, and going down. Catholics, although we are not persecuted, are seen as hostile, and we are not appreciated, but quite the opposite. However, I was looking forward to reading the best and as a friend of mine said I loved very much I wanted to share it with others. At the same time I am a reader of a Catholic weekly, whose name I will not reveal so as not to harm them. It seemed to me that he was becoming very politically correct, and I no longer had any tune with him. The displeasure was manifested in the readings they recommended, since they were books or very arid, boring, or very politically correct. Even fiction books did not speak of Catholic fiction, but rather showed the editorial news. That's what I'd have bought the newspaper on duty, or a literary magazine. Following an unfortunate expression of a book of batu with the person in charge of the literature section on that supplement on Twitter, and I proposed to that person to write a review of that book in question. I did, but let's say, I told him, that if I did, he'd have to do me a favor and I told him not to worry that it had nothing to do with money. This one must have thought I was a stalker, or something, and it blocked me. Something, which hurt me, and i was very offended, since he's the only person who has. It's true, I'm very heavy, but my Twitter behavior has always been delicious and I haven't engaged in trolling, or harassing other Twitter users. So I felt very hurt. So I wrote the review of that book, and I published a list (which I later increased) of writers, who would have guided me to see edited in Spain (if you want a reduced part of that list is found in my review of the "King Receives" by Mendoza https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... my goal is to have these writers edited, and then in return those writers would help me edit certain Spanish writers in the United States. For the two reasons I talked about previously, and I sent that list to a series of Spanish publishers without any success :-(. I wasn't going to send it to Catholic publishers, because What I wanted was for those books to reach most people, and not to those who were going to buy it, so I didn't send them to those publishers. I'm convinced of one thing. It's very cruel what I'm going to say, but I'm going to say it. It may happen, but it's not usual for a book to succeed in its quality, but it's not the case anymore. Now a book triumphs, because it is promoted by a powerful and average publisher, and the population only gets what the establishment wants to reach it. Something I reaffirmed and empowered the new world order. Hence, it is promoted to certain authors, and certain books. Some of course are a guarantee of success, and write well, but above all now literature has become a vehicle of indoctrination so elites, and oligarchs promote those they want. I disagree with a friend of mine, who say, this is a matter of money to what I say yes, but no. It's an attempt to maintain a system. So books are either uncomfortable or unedited, or have to be published in small, marginal, publishers. Interested controversies are sometimes invented, so that the population feels reject ed by a writer, and a book, which expresses a dissenting idea as has happened with the New Home Publishing, and with books by Constanza Miriano https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... However, my dear friends. There are miracles and providence acts as in this case, and some book manages to circumvent this block, as in this case. The publishing house Bibliotheca Homolegens, of which I went by a certain partner, until it went bankrupt by the crisis of Intereconomy, which phoenix was reborn from its ashes https://homolegens.com/ and is republishing quality authors such as Fabrice Hadjadj https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... , Miguel Aranguren https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... Gabriele Kuby https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... or Michael D. O'Brien (I already take the opportunity to reiterate my wish that Mr. D. O'Brien writes a fantasy novel to compensate readers for the books he discourages in his book "A Landscape With Dragons: The Battle for Your Child's Mind" book that I want to read with desire https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... Mr. D O'Brien has already crossed the line of how wonderful with his that I believe, which is very interesting his novel "Voyage to Alpha Centauri" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... I am sure, that both he and Juan Manuel de Prada could write a wonderful fantasy novel in which they could better convey their ideas, that with a hundred thousand essays as my friend Manuel Alfonseca has already done with his wonderful The Magic Puzzle https://www.goodreads.com/series/1836... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... ) but we're straying from the subject back to "A Bloody Habit." It seems that there was a kind of agreement between Bibliotheca Homolegens, and Ignatius Press https://www.ignatius.com/ (about Ignatius Press read my future review of Anthony Esolen's poetic anthology, which I'm going to write after this) to do an edition of Eleanor Bourg Nicholson's novel that works on Dappled Things so both the writer, me, and some friends were very pleasantly surprised Ndiddos for the news (Aside from that Mrs. Nicholson is one of the creators of the Catholic Vampires group together with her friends Karen Ullo https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... Gabriel Blanchard https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... J.B. Toner https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... https://www.facebook.com/CatholicVamp... although I also know some more interesting writer like Jerry Guern https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... Ellen C. Maze https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... Werner Lynd, or my own friend Krisi Keley https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... who would be delighted with with this initiative, if you were in good health. Actually the edition, which I have read is this https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4... I can only rate Antonio Colina's edition and translation of excellent in his prologue seems to follow Thomas' current Edmund Gilroy and making brilliant humorous observations especially about the similarities between the Dominicans and Jesuits. I'm going to be a little vulgar, and I'm going to ask for Apologies for this unpleasant comparison, but with this novel it has happened to me as Marisa Tomei with Mel Gibson in the Nora Ephron film that women think. Mel Gibson thanks to an accident has a gift to know what women think, and how she wants to sleep with Marisa Tomei uses her skills to achieve it, and when she succeeds it seems that at first she will fail, but thanks to her gift and because she knows what she thinks she h h ace as much as possible. I must admit, something very similar has happened to me with Eleanor Bourg Nicholson's novel. After a good start in the train car between the narrator John Kemp (at least it is the name that this gentleman gives himself) and Father Thomas Edmund Gilroy (who together with Vern the fictional dragon created by Karina Fabian https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... ) that encounter reminded me a lot of Father Brown's with Detective Aristid Valentine in the mythical Manchester story "The Blue Cross" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3... the novel was the character of John Kemp. To put it mildly, he was a very irritable, very abrupt character, and variable of character. He wasn't someone I could empathize with. It was the way to behave with the people next to Carstairs, Charles Sydney (a decadentist dandi, who reminded me a little of Oscar Wilde, Aubrey Beardsley, Verlaine, Baudelaire, or Joris Karl Huysmans) Adeleon, or his own butler Jenson. Anyway, I didn't exactly look like the person I'd go to have a few drinks with. Another thing, which frustrated me, is that in the novel despite alleged vampiric apparitions (which I didn't know at first if they were real or Kemp's delusion) is the apparent lack of action. I just felt very incomome . It is true that Mrs Nicholson had to introduce us to the characters, but I was frustrated that they were all social events, and conversations, apart from the bitterness of their protagonist. (oT be continued)
March 14, 2023
As my start and end dates would suggest, it took me a hot minute to get through this beguiling novel. Was it worth it? Absolutely. Did I enjoy it as much as its companion, Brother Wolf? I would say no. I thoroughly enjoy this author’s style of writing, her expansive vocabulary, and interesting manipulation of sound Catholic theology to make the existence of vampires plausible. That being said, it did take me a long time to get into this book. Once I was hooked, I was HOOKED. You truly never know what’s going to happen next. For a good, Catholic adventure sans saccharine tropes, look no further.
(This review is dedicated to Nicole, Chandler, and Jefferson.)
(This review is dedicated to Nicole, Chandler, and Jefferson.)
December 20, 2018
(Nota bene: I strove to avoid spoilers, mainly revealing elements found on the novel's cover-jacket, but it is possible that some references reveal too much of the story, so caveat lector.)
A Bloody Habit is an obvious love letter to Bram Stoker's Dracula: the narrator is reading it throughout the story, each chapter begins with an epigraph from Stoker's work, and the author even edited an edition of it for the same publisher. It's been too long since I read Dracula to be able to compare the two, but A Bloody Habit certainly tries to follow the general course, with strange events and killings leading to entanglement with Romanian vampires. (Poor Romanians: many Americans probably know them as only vampires or Communist dictators like Ceaușescu.) Nicholson's work is solely derivative of Stoker, though, as she also expands on the Catholic elements of Dracula with the introduction of a Dominican priest who often feels like Chesterton's Father Brown if he were also a paranormal investigator.
The novel's writing certainly feels like English Gothic, without overdoing it; I never felt like Nicholson was purposely trying to be archaic. The work includes a number of different plotlines surrounding the narrator, the somewhat-skeptical lawyer John Kemp: romance, legal work, estate management, horrific killings, and, of course, supernatural (or, as Father Gilroy corrects, preternatural) events. Instead of going with Stoker's route in Dracula, where the story is told via numerous journals, as well as letters and newspaper clippings, Nicholson takes the simpler route of a single narrator's report. That certainly makes the work easier to follow, and it keeps the focus on one character, amidst the various plotlines. Kemp's circumscribed voice also keeps the tone from going into any baroquely horrific Gothic prose, though whether that is positive or negative will depend on the reader.
Seeing as the book was published by Ignatius Press, there is an obvious Catholic focus, but Nicholson is not preachy; Kemp--an, if I recall correctly, agnostic, in some revolt against his father, a strict Calvinist minister--does, as one would expect, come to rethink his stereotypically English prejudice against Papists, but it does not feel overdone. The Dominicans do end up as heroes, yet it never felt too triumphalistic: certainly Kemp's more detached, skeptic view helps with that.
A somewhat surprising aspect is how Nicholson keeps the focus of the book on the events at hand. It is an easy temptation in such works to delve for long, long, long passages into the history of paranormal phenomena or secret societies--think of the works of Dan Brown--but the author is very circumspect here; it seems she strives to err on the side of reticence rather than excessive exposition.
Despite all these ways Nicholson avoids common pitfalls, in the end, I can't say the novel struck me greatly. I like poetic passages in fiction, so Kemp's voice was too dry for my tastes. The reticence in explaining backstory seems to lessen the horror of the undead enemies: what leads someone to join their ranks? What is attractive about them? I also felt Kemp's restricted tone made it harder to connect with the characters or, at times, feel enough horror at what he witnesses. Overall, it is well-written, and certainly not a waste of time to read; someone more interested in the Gothic genre may like it more than me. If I rate based on my own feelings toward the book, though, I simply have to say: it was not my cup of tea.
A Bloody Habit is an obvious love letter to Bram Stoker's Dracula: the narrator is reading it throughout the story, each chapter begins with an epigraph from Stoker's work, and the author even edited an edition of it for the same publisher. It's been too long since I read Dracula to be able to compare the two, but A Bloody Habit certainly tries to follow the general course, with strange events and killings leading to entanglement with Romanian vampires. (Poor Romanians: many Americans probably know them as only vampires or Communist dictators like Ceaușescu.) Nicholson's work is solely derivative of Stoker, though, as she also expands on the Catholic elements of Dracula with the introduction of a Dominican priest who often feels like Chesterton's Father Brown if he were also a paranormal investigator.
The novel's writing certainly feels like English Gothic, without overdoing it; I never felt like Nicholson was purposely trying to be archaic. The work includes a number of different plotlines surrounding the narrator, the somewhat-skeptical lawyer John Kemp: romance, legal work, estate management, horrific killings, and, of course, supernatural (or, as Father Gilroy corrects, preternatural) events. Instead of going with Stoker's route in Dracula, where the story is told via numerous journals, as well as letters and newspaper clippings, Nicholson takes the simpler route of a single narrator's report. That certainly makes the work easier to follow, and it keeps the focus on one character, amidst the various plotlines. Kemp's circumscribed voice also keeps the tone from going into any baroquely horrific Gothic prose, though whether that is positive or negative will depend on the reader.
Seeing as the book was published by Ignatius Press, there is an obvious Catholic focus, but Nicholson is not preachy; Kemp--an, if I recall correctly, agnostic, in some revolt against his father, a strict Calvinist minister--does, as one would expect, come to rethink his stereotypically English prejudice against Papists, but it does not feel overdone. The Dominicans do end up as heroes, yet it never felt too triumphalistic: certainly Kemp's more detached, skeptic view helps with that.
A somewhat surprising aspect is how Nicholson keeps the focus of the book on the events at hand. It is an easy temptation in such works to delve for long, long, long passages into the history of paranormal phenomena or secret societies--think of the works of Dan Brown--but the author is very circumspect here; it seems she strives to err on the side of reticence rather than excessive exposition.
Despite all these ways Nicholson avoids common pitfalls, in the end, I can't say the novel struck me greatly. I like poetic passages in fiction, so Kemp's voice was too dry for my tastes. The reticence in explaining backstory seems to lessen the horror of the undead enemies: what leads someone to join their ranks? What is attractive about them? I also felt Kemp's restricted tone made it harder to connect with the characters or, at times, feel enough horror at what he witnesses. Overall, it is well-written, and certainly not a waste of time to read; someone more interested in the Gothic genre may like it more than me. If I rate based on my own feelings toward the book, though, I simply have to say: it was not my cup of tea.
August 10, 2018
On first glance I wasn't sure I wanted to read this book. It is written in the style of the great masters of writing including Bram Stoker who is visited in the book. I resisted my first inclination and started reading. I was quickly drawn in by the characters and the plot. The storyline is similar to Dracula even using the book to track their vampire. The addition of the Catholic monks was an exciting edition to the search. Underlying the vampire hunting we have a story of a man who doubts the existence of God. The search leads him to question his beliefs.
Join Eleanor Bourg Nicholson as she leads you on an exciting journey through a 19th century gothic novel full of vampires, mysterious deaths and an unwitting lawyer.
Join Eleanor Bourg Nicholson as she leads you on an exciting journey through a 19th century gothic novel full of vampires, mysterious deaths and an unwitting lawyer.
October 25, 2018
Very entertaining! It's got a lot of smart details as far as British history, Catholicism, vampires...and a hopelessly introverted narrator whose descriptions made me laugh, especially as characters were introduced. Many of the flourishes went over my head because it's a retelling of Dracula, and I haven't read Dracula. However, I enjoyed it. I'm not sure how to recommend it to people...Is it part almost-conversion story, part vampire-slaying adventure? I think, it's rather odd, but good fun.
January 27, 2019
The cover caught my eye, tis true. And then I couldn’t help but be transfixed by the title. And the blurbs. And this gem in the author bio: “Eleanor Bourg Nicholson … yearns to correct Count Dracula’s strategic errors.”
I mean…how could I not attack this book with all the vigor and enthusiasm that my fiction-loving self holds dear?
Granted, I haven’t read Dracula, and I know that I don’t know the full story. Even so — EVEN SO — this book is a masterpiece. Joseph Pearce said that it’s “a cross between Dracula and The Exorcist,” and having read neither (though now that’s on my to-do, trust me), I can only say that’s great.
What I have read is the first in the Twilight series and a load of other popular fiction (along with some not-so-popular indie stuff that’s just as good if not better).
I can tell you this: You’ll laugh. You’ll gasp. You’ll be unsure what to do next except turn the page and keep on reading.
A Bloody Habit is set in 19th century London, and the main character is reading Dracula as the story unfolds. There’s this great Dominican priest involved, a lot of head-scratching incidents, and more than one unanswered question.
My hope is that Nicholson releases her next novel super soon. Until then, I’ll be sharing this one and plotting when I’ll actually dive into Dracula for myself.
I mean…how could I not attack this book with all the vigor and enthusiasm that my fiction-loving self holds dear?
Granted, I haven’t read Dracula, and I know that I don’t know the full story. Even so — EVEN SO — this book is a masterpiece. Joseph Pearce said that it’s “a cross between Dracula and The Exorcist,” and having read neither (though now that’s on my to-do, trust me), I can only say that’s great.
What I have read is the first in the Twilight series and a load of other popular fiction (along with some not-so-popular indie stuff that’s just as good if not better).
I can tell you this: You’ll laugh. You’ll gasp. You’ll be unsure what to do next except turn the page and keep on reading.
A Bloody Habit is set in 19th century London, and the main character is reading Dracula as the story unfolds. There’s this great Dominican priest involved, a lot of head-scratching incidents, and more than one unanswered question.
My hope is that Nicholson releases her next novel super soon. Until then, I’ll be sharing this one and plotting when I’ll actually dive into Dracula for myself.
March 15, 2022
Delightful Catholic response to ‘Dracula’ and the Gothic genre. A really fun, light read, yet still quite dark (as might be expected). The great thing is that the darkness is vanquished and it is ultimately hopeful.
November 20, 2025
Not the type of book I generally read, but around Halloween I was looking for a scary book to read and my dad recommended this one. It isn’t really scary but there are vampires so it met my criteria for a Halloween book. Thanks, dad!
October 29, 2020
It took me 3/4 of the book to begin to follow what was going on. I guess I am not a vampire fan. I did, however, feel the author did a good job of representing the slippery slope that sin presents in our lives and presenting the Eucharist as the antidote.
February 27, 2022
I am not a big fan of vampire literature, but I enjoyed this novel. It had a deja vu like quality, almost like Dr. Watson relating to Sherlock Holmes.
October 21, 2021
I expected this to be a more silly, pulpy story than it was. It turned out to be a more serious book with a constant undercurrent of a sarcastic, deadpan sense of humor. (And I appreciate when I have to stop and reread a line and think, "Wait, that was a joke right? Yep, that was a joke.")
The story follows John Kemp who is a really introverted lawyer who really just wants to be left alone but this vampire keeps getting up to shenanigans (corrupting the innocent, conquering England, eating people, you know, vampire things) around him. So he doesn't want to be involved but he is so he's getting these glimpses of the plotting going on around him and, to an extent, the whole picture but never the details. It feels like watching a story through a foggy window.
And that's where I'm feeling confused. I enjoyed reading the book and the ending was satisfying but I'm left wondering about the details. And I ain't sure if this is the intrigued, picking at the hints kind of wondering or if I'm annoyed. Might be a little of both, to be honest.
The story follows John Kemp who is a really introverted lawyer who really just wants to be left alone but this vampire keeps getting up to shenanigans (corrupting the innocent, conquering England, eating people, you know, vampire things) around him. So he doesn't want to be involved but he is so he's getting these glimpses of the plotting going on around him and, to an extent, the whole picture but never the details. It feels like watching a story through a foggy window.
And that's where I'm feeling confused. I enjoyed reading the book and the ending was satisfying but I'm left wondering about the details. And I ain't sure if this is the intrigued, picking at the hints kind of wondering or if I'm annoyed. Might be a little of both, to be honest.
December 24, 2019
Excellent! Beautiful writing, an engaging story written in the style of Stoker's Dracula. Not rushed with too much action like so much modern literature, but a lovely, methodical build which you can enjoy reading rather than rushing, to an appropriate climax at the end with questions answered and plenty of movement at the end. Father Thomas Edmund Gilroy was rather enjoyable throughout in his unflappable manner, reminding me of Brother Cadfael. I hope to see more of Nicholson's fiction in the future. My only complaint is of a few errors near the end that a more thorough editing could quickly clean up. Highly recommended!
October 21, 2018
Excellent! An intelligent vampire story for grown-ups. I especially appreciated the well-developed spiritual aspect of the story, something that is usually ignored or distorted in most supernatural thrillers.
April 3, 2025
The idea of this novel as I understood it before reading it was that it would present a vampire story very much in the style of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, but with a certain Catholic sensibility or perspective on the undead, even featuring a vampire-slaying Dominican friar, of all things! And now that I’ve read it, that’s pretty accurate. But, fortunately, it’s first and foremost a good and entertaining novel. Yes, it’s very Catholic in its approach, but not in a way that it seems intended only for Catholic readers. In fact, though much of the action does center on a rather amusing Dominican vampire hunter, the narrator is a skeptical agnostic attorney, so it does a good job of balancing its Papist perspective with a strong outsider’s perspective.
And indeed, it is also very much in line with Stoker’s approach to the vampire novel. It takes place at around the same time and even features both Bram Stoker and his novel as characters in the action, and follows many similar plot points. But the writing style does a good job of mimicking Stoker’s epistolary style while also coming across as more standard for modern readers. Clearly, the author knows and respects the work she used as inspiration. In fact, I understand she also edited or provided commentary for a critical edition of Dracula in the past for the same Catholic press that published this book.
But despite all the Catholic themes and history behind the book, it doesn’t just read like shameless popery page after page, either. Yes, the book’s theological interpretation of vampirism is quite Catholic, but it reads very much just like any other horror novel.
I admit it took me a short while to get into it. The first chapter sets it up to look like an almost comic book, or at least a light-hearted one, but it then takes a turn and becomes a very serious slow burn of a horror story. Don’t expect frights and gore on every page here. Much like Dracula itself, this book does take its time. I actually like that; I think the reason it threw me off a little bit was just because that opening scene set different expectations than the novel ultimately delivered. But once it does get going, it’s quite an exciting book that deals with matters of mystery, faith, grief, science, skepticism…and yes, vampires and the band of Dominicans who hunt them. And once it heads toward a climax, it picks up the pace substantially and rewards in grand style the reader who stuck with it through a few moments that might have dragged just a bit earlier on.
I don’t hear a lot of people talking about this book—or indeed this author—in horror circles, but I for one will certainly be back to read more of her works in the future.
And indeed, it is also very much in line with Stoker’s approach to the vampire novel. It takes place at around the same time and even features both Bram Stoker and his novel as characters in the action, and follows many similar plot points. But the writing style does a good job of mimicking Stoker’s epistolary style while also coming across as more standard for modern readers. Clearly, the author knows and respects the work she used as inspiration. In fact, I understand she also edited or provided commentary for a critical edition of Dracula in the past for the same Catholic press that published this book.
But despite all the Catholic themes and history behind the book, it doesn’t just read like shameless popery page after page, either. Yes, the book’s theological interpretation of vampirism is quite Catholic, but it reads very much just like any other horror novel.
I admit it took me a short while to get into it. The first chapter sets it up to look like an almost comic book, or at least a light-hearted one, but it then takes a turn and becomes a very serious slow burn of a horror story. Don’t expect frights and gore on every page here. Much like Dracula itself, this book does take its time. I actually like that; I think the reason it threw me off a little bit was just because that opening scene set different expectations than the novel ultimately delivered. But once it does get going, it’s quite an exciting book that deals with matters of mystery, faith, grief, science, skepticism…and yes, vampires and the band of Dominicans who hunt them. And once it heads toward a climax, it picks up the pace substantially and rewards in grand style the reader who stuck with it through a few moments that might have dragged just a bit earlier on.
I don’t hear a lot of people talking about this book—or indeed this author—in horror circles, but I for one will certainly be back to read more of her works in the future.
July 1, 2019
Note: I have been part of The Catholic Register’s Youth Speak News (YSN) team for the past two years. In preparation for Summer 2019, the members of YSN all received review copies of titles ranging from Christian non-fiction to fiction. I was tasked with writing a book review for Eleanor Nicholson’s novel, A Bloody Habit, published by Ignatius Press. Below is a copy of the review, originally published in the June 30, 2019 copy of The Catholic Register.
A Bloody Habit by Eleanor Bourg Nicholson. (Ignatius Press, 435 pages, $18.95)
If you love vampire stories, horror novels and vampire-hunting Dominicans, A Bloody Habit is a novel you should invest in this summer. Mysterious, bloody deaths are recurring in the city of London in the in the early 1900s. John Kemp, a lawyer, encounters Fr. Thomas Edmund Gilroy, a Dominican priest who also happens to be a “vampire slayer.” People are being torn apart as if attacked by an animal and both Mr. Kemp and Fr. Thomas go on quest to find the root of the problem.
Author Eleanor Nicholson does a fine job of giving a Catholic twist to the infamous 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. Each chapter of A Bloody Habit opens with an excerpt from this novel. Scattered throughout the dialogue, the characters also make frequent references to Dracula.
While the first chapter of the novel seems dry, it sets up the plot very well for the reader, giving them the essential “tools” when the events start picking up.
A Blood Habit is a great read for those who want to read a horror novel from a unique Catholic perspective while maintaining the suspense and thrill — and laughter — you’d expected from a horror novel.
(This review could be found on The Catholic Register’s website.)
A Bloody Habit by Eleanor Bourg Nicholson. (Ignatius Press, 435 pages, $18.95)
If you love vampire stories, horror novels and vampire-hunting Dominicans, A Bloody Habit is a novel you should invest in this summer. Mysterious, bloody deaths are recurring in the city of London in the in the early 1900s. John Kemp, a lawyer, encounters Fr. Thomas Edmund Gilroy, a Dominican priest who also happens to be a “vampire slayer.” People are being torn apart as if attacked by an animal and both Mr. Kemp and Fr. Thomas go on quest to find the root of the problem.
Author Eleanor Nicholson does a fine job of giving a Catholic twist to the infamous 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. Each chapter of A Bloody Habit opens with an excerpt from this novel. Scattered throughout the dialogue, the characters also make frequent references to Dracula.
While the first chapter of the novel seems dry, it sets up the plot very well for the reader, giving them the essential “tools” when the events start picking up.
A Blood Habit is a great read for those who want to read a horror novel from a unique Catholic perspective while maintaining the suspense and thrill — and laughter — you’d expected from a horror novel.
(This review could be found on The Catholic Register’s website.)
December 22, 2025
Mea culpa
I wanted to like this book. I’m a Roman Catholic, I love vampire novels (this makes, like, the third or fourth one I’ve read this year), and I’m a massive fan of the Dominican Order (the Order of Preachers/Order of St. Dominic).
Without spoilers, I’ll list as succinctly as possible the issues I took with this novel.
First—the plot and the pacing is off. If you’re familiar with Stoker’s original plot, then this is condensed and repackaged into a somewhat more digestible version. Anyway, the pacing is the true issue. The beginning is promising, the long middle sags, and the conclusion wraps up fairly quickly (and unsatisfyingly, in my opinion). What’s even more ironic is that the author mentions the trope of authors summing all the loose threads up in one final chapter—and then does it.
Second, there were some typos. I won’t cite the page numbers because they weren’t that distracting—mostly in names—but otherwise I suppose that isn’t entirely the author’s fault. Also, I could tell when the author found a new word she liked, “inchoate” specifically, because it would show up every other paragraph. Some words were exotic enough to be used too frequently.
Third, and finally: most of the action seemingly takes place off-stage or in highly confusing circumstances. The author doesn’t really allow scenes to “breathe,” unless we’re in a sitting room with Esther Raveland (whom I was not a fan of, honestly) or meandering through London at nighttime. There really isn’t a satisfying conclusion to the matter; even more so, despite the crumbs we get when Father Thomas Edmund Gilroy describes the vampiric, undead hierarchies, there really isn’t much in the way of elaborating or elucidating Stokers’ original material like the dust jacket purports.
As much as I hate to say it, my hopes were very high with this novel and it just did not deliver on them. The ingredients were there. Not to say the author wrote slop, because it is a coherent work, but it just didn’t speak to me, I suppose.
I wanted to like this book. I’m a Roman Catholic, I love vampire novels (this makes, like, the third or fourth one I’ve read this year), and I’m a massive fan of the Dominican Order (the Order of Preachers/Order of St. Dominic).
Without spoilers, I’ll list as succinctly as possible the issues I took with this novel.
First—the plot and the pacing is off. If you’re familiar with Stoker’s original plot, then this is condensed and repackaged into a somewhat more digestible version. Anyway, the pacing is the true issue. The beginning is promising, the long middle sags, and the conclusion wraps up fairly quickly (and unsatisfyingly, in my opinion). What’s even more ironic is that the author mentions the trope of authors summing all the loose threads up in one final chapter—and then does it.
Second, there were some typos. I won’t cite the page numbers because they weren’t that distracting—mostly in names—but otherwise I suppose that isn’t entirely the author’s fault. Also, I could tell when the author found a new word she liked, “inchoate” specifically, because it would show up every other paragraph. Some words were exotic enough to be used too frequently.
Third, and finally: most of the action seemingly takes place off-stage or in highly confusing circumstances. The author doesn’t really allow scenes to “breathe,” unless we’re in a sitting room with Esther Raveland (whom I was not a fan of, honestly) or meandering through London at nighttime. There really isn’t a satisfying conclusion to the matter; even more so, despite the crumbs we get when Father Thomas Edmund Gilroy describes the vampiric, undead hierarchies, there really isn’t much in the way of elaborating or elucidating Stokers’ original material like the dust jacket purports.
As much as I hate to say it, my hopes were very high with this novel and it just did not deliver on them. The ingredients were there. Not to say the author wrote slop, because it is a coherent work, but it just didn’t speak to me, I suppose.
January 23, 2025
First half of the book was really slow, but the second half I couldn't get through fast enough. I kind of wish that I could read a collection of short stories of adventures or various cases of the Dominican order in the same style as Sherlock Holmes. Like the painting with the priest drawing in the sand while an axe is in his head something or other is way too cool to just be casual. Context to the little stories and things alluded to throughout the book behind the lore would be lovely. Like where did brother James learn how to make bombs so fast? Why does he have such accurate shooting skills for handheld bows? Did he learn it on the job? What happens to rehabilite people before they are full vampire in the Asylum? What happened the first time Fr G went to meet Stoker?
I do agree with the ideas of the author, from a Catholic stand point, that there was much left to be wanting from the book of Dracula. I do think that the logic behind the reasons for her vampire's existing was a little bit of a stretch, but what else can you do since they aren't really real.
She didn't say it outright, but I thought it very clever that basically Vampires are the antithesis of the sacrament of Last rights -- strengthening both mind and body before death.
I do agree with the ideas of the author, from a Catholic stand point, that there was much left to be wanting from the book of Dracula. I do think that the logic behind the reasons for her vampire's existing was a little bit of a stretch, but what else can you do since they aren't really real.
She didn't say it outright, but I thought it very clever that basically Vampires are the antithesis of the sacrament of Last rights -- strengthening both mind and body before death.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 18, 2022
This is a fun book. Eleanor Bourg Nicholson edited the Ignatius Critical Edition of Dracula, which I highly recommend because her footnotes are absolutely worth it, so she has a great familiarity with the vampire genre and Dracula in particular.
In keeping with that familiarity, the first half of the book is a lot like The Hours in that it is a clear homage to Dracula, but Mrs. Nicholson is not afraid to make full use of her knowledge of Theology to craft what is quite probably the most spiritually consistent vampire tale I've ever read, and I love vampire novels. There is a tendency in modern days to cast vampires as tragic figures or some type of being which exists in our reality, but hidden. Mrs. Nicholson's treatment reminds us that the vampire is a fiend, in the literal sense of the term. It is a creature of evil, and it is one that she as an author treats seriously. If you, like me, are occasionally annoyed by tragic vampires and a cheapening of the horror element, give this a read and enjoy.
In keeping with that familiarity, the first half of the book is a lot like The Hours in that it is a clear homage to Dracula, but Mrs. Nicholson is not afraid to make full use of her knowledge of Theology to craft what is quite probably the most spiritually consistent vampire tale I've ever read, and I love vampire novels. There is a tendency in modern days to cast vampires as tragic figures or some type of being which exists in our reality, but hidden. Mrs. Nicholson's treatment reminds us that the vampire is a fiend, in the literal sense of the term. It is a creature of evil, and it is one that she as an author treats seriously. If you, like me, are occasionally annoyed by tragic vampires and a cheapening of the horror element, give this a read and enjoy.
December 13, 2023
A Bloody Habit by Eleanor Bourg Nicholson is a vampire story. If you love that gender and/or if you love stories about Dominicans, you'll love this novel. It takes place in London around the turn of the twentieth century. Dracula had just been written and their are connections made between Dracula and the characters in A Bloddy Habit. In fact, each chapter of the book begins with a quote from Dracula.
The main character is a lawyer, John Kemp. He becomes involved by being the solicitor for some men who turn out to be vampires. Along the way, he is befriended by a Dominican priest, Father Thomas Edmund Gilroy. The two become involved in murders that are too gruesome to describe. They are torn apart viciously and inhumanely. The only sensible answer although crazy, is the fact that there are vampires in London.
If you love vampire stories, this is a good one. I found it hard to get involved in the beginning. The characters were too many and I didn't see how they were tied to each other. But once the action began, I was on board. I did enjoy it.
The main character is a lawyer, John Kemp. He becomes involved by being the solicitor for some men who turn out to be vampires. Along the way, he is befriended by a Dominican priest, Father Thomas Edmund Gilroy. The two become involved in murders that are too gruesome to describe. They are torn apart viciously and inhumanely. The only sensible answer although crazy, is the fact that there are vampires in London.
If you love vampire stories, this is a good one. I found it hard to get involved in the beginning. The characters were too many and I didn't see how they were tied to each other. But once the action began, I was on board. I did enjoy it.
February 13, 2023
This was an excellent book! Genuinely chilling, full of bloody-good vampire lore, and a deeply Catholic viewpoint that was never oppressive or detrimental to the story. In fact, I think that most readers won't even "notice"it, as it were. It's seamlessly blended into the narrative.
But, despite being Catholic, this is not a cozy read. In fact, it's raw, and scary, and tackles that hideous elephant in the room: the nature of evil and the state of men's souls.
If you're looking for a juicy vampire drama in the same vein as Stoker, then you'll find a lot to love here. I almost wish, now that it's over, that I could pick it up again and start from the beginning. But, I have too many books wasting away on my TBR list to do that. I will say, though, that I'm looking forward to reading it again when the time is right.
But, despite being Catholic, this is not a cozy read. In fact, it's raw, and scary, and tackles that hideous elephant in the room: the nature of evil and the state of men's souls.
If you're looking for a juicy vampire drama in the same vein as Stoker, then you'll find a lot to love here. I almost wish, now that it's over, that I could pick it up again and start from the beginning. But, I have too many books wasting away on my TBR list to do that. I will say, though, that I'm looking forward to reading it again when the time is right.
November 24, 2019
I liked the book okay, but not as much as I wanted and could have if it’s potential had been better realized.
Many almost interesting elements - such as the nature of vampires and their minions in the book’s world - were left largely unexplored. Early on, a Catholic priest claims that Stoker gets a few things wrong in Dracula, but we don’t get enough of what he thinks is right.
The narrator, John Kemp, a lawyer inexplicably contemptuous of many people, seems a detached from the goings on around him, deflating the story’s force, intruding on the narrative with a great deal of odd and petty commentary. He doesn’t exhibit much agency while the story happens to and around him, but we don’t get enough of the actually interesting characters to make up for him.
A great deal of Kemp’s inane thoughts could have been trimmed to make room for the more compelling aspects of this tale.
Many almost interesting elements - such as the nature of vampires and their minions in the book’s world - were left largely unexplored. Early on, a Catholic priest claims that Stoker gets a few things wrong in Dracula, but we don’t get enough of what he thinks is right.
The narrator, John Kemp, a lawyer inexplicably contemptuous of many people, seems a detached from the goings on around him, deflating the story’s force, intruding on the narrative with a great deal of odd and petty commentary. He doesn’t exhibit much agency while the story happens to and around him, but we don’t get enough of the actually interesting characters to make up for him.
A great deal of Kemp’s inane thoughts could have been trimmed to make room for the more compelling aspects of this tale.
December 20, 2021
Such an unusual book. I don’t read many vampire stories, and I certainly haven’t read any Christian vampire thrillers, so this was full of surprises.
The “vampire slayer,” a quirky Dominican brother, is endearing. If you enjoy Chesterton, Lewis, or Tolkien’s’ discussions on evil and good in the world, you would enjoy the character of Father Thomas Edmond Gilroy. There were a few chapters in the middle that I had to push through, but the ending was remarkable.
“For weeks, our one topic of conversation has been evil. It’s varieties, it’s cunning…But the real strength, and power, and thrilling creativity comes, not from evil, but from goodness…the captivating of evil is on par with a cheap parlor trick in compact with the awesome, fascinating wonderment of the Good. For the Goodness is Love.”
The “vampire slayer,” a quirky Dominican brother, is endearing. If you enjoy Chesterton, Lewis, or Tolkien’s’ discussions on evil and good in the world, you would enjoy the character of Father Thomas Edmond Gilroy. There were a few chapters in the middle that I had to push through, but the ending was remarkable.
“For weeks, our one topic of conversation has been evil. It’s varieties, it’s cunning…But the real strength, and power, and thrilling creativity comes, not from evil, but from goodness…the captivating of evil is on par with a cheap parlor trick in compact with the awesome, fascinating wonderment of the Good. For the Goodness is Love.”
October 25, 2025
4 🌟
I advise the reader to read this book on a cloudy afternoon with a hot cup of tea and a good snack ! This is the perfect read for the spooky Hallowtide and the autumnal season.
After a thrilling opening scene, I only regret the fact that most of the book was spent on the main character’s internal musings and not nearly enough on our vampire slaying monks. After all, the Dominican order having in their credentials the hunt of nocturnal creatures is a brilliant idea.
Dear Mr. Kemp is quite an unlikable fellow : arrogant, skeptic, misanthropic, superficial, judgmental, immature ….And yet following him was interesting (even if I found his loyal butler, Jenson, to be far more charming).
Lastly, I have to say that the book’s ambience was spotless, the prose very pleasing and that I will of course be reading more from this serie !
I advise the reader to read this book on a cloudy afternoon with a hot cup of tea and a good snack ! This is the perfect read for the spooky Hallowtide and the autumnal season.
After a thrilling opening scene, I only regret the fact that most of the book was spent on the main character’s internal musings and not nearly enough on our vampire slaying monks. After all, the Dominican order having in their credentials the hunt of nocturnal creatures is a brilliant idea.
Dear Mr. Kemp is quite an unlikable fellow : arrogant, skeptic, misanthropic, superficial, judgmental, immature ….And yet following him was interesting (even if I found his loyal butler, Jenson, to be far more charming).
Lastly, I have to say that the book’s ambience was spotless, the prose very pleasing and that I will of course be reading more from this serie !
April 28, 2022
For the two weeks or so that it took me to read this, it was an urgent read. Had to find out what was next. The dialogue and Engish setting in the 1890's were terrific and sounded authentic. To me, the Reverend T.E. Gilroy who started out to be socially awkward and qwirky, began to slide into a hobbit like maybe Frodo or Gandalf, or somebody. On the other hand, Count Popescu, Secretary Anghelescu, Radu Vadas, and even Esther Raveland were excellent. They, of Romanian descent, were vivid, with, I thought, convincing dialogue and mannerisms.
On the downside, the gruesome scenes early in the book, in my opinion, were overdone, so as to preclude any mystery or suspense, and making it difficult to build toward an effective climax, especially vis a vis the final scene--which I felt was even anti-climactic. But perhaps I'm too critical. I thoroughly enjoyed The Bloody Habit!
On the downside, the gruesome scenes early in the book, in my opinion, were overdone, so as to preclude any mystery or suspense, and making it difficult to build toward an effective climax, especially vis a vis the final scene--which I felt was even anti-climactic. But perhaps I'm too critical. I thoroughly enjoyed The Bloody Habit!
November 26, 2021
La historia me parece entretenida. La traducción carece de precisión y hay unos cuantos errores de ortografía que, aunque menores, no se pueden tolerar en una obra así. Un hábito sangriento narra la historia de un hombre escéptico, que lucha contra lo que le parece absurdo. Una historia, reflejo de una reflexión profunda de la vida religiosa en Londres. Hasta hace no mucho, ser papista (católico romano) era mal visto en la «tolerante» vida social inglesa. Además es una reflexión sobre la incredulidad que aveces inunda nuestra sociedad secularizada, que ha dejado de creer en lo sobrenatural, dando cabida, como decía el gran Chesterton, a lo antinatural.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews