Eleanor Bourg Nicholson’s novel, A Bloody Habit, is set in the early 1900s, directly after Bram Stoker published Dracula. In the novel, Londoners are talking about the Stoker book, and the main character, John Kemp, is currently reading it. Kemp is a lawyer and above such foolishness as vampires, but he reads it on a favor from his girlfriend. At the start of the novel, John encounters something he can’t explain away. And then, London is besieged by another vicious killer in the style of Jack the Ripper. Or is it a vampire?
Unlike other historical speculative stories, A Bloody Habit involves a large dose of spirituality into its narrative. Modern vampire stories sympathize with the bloodsucker or make the undead villain into a victim. A Bloody Habit contemplates vampires as people willing to make deals with devilish forces and become undead as a result. To make this work, the novel has a skeptic in John, and a believer in Father Thomas Edmund Gilroy who must join forces to overcome the plague invading London.
The novel is attempting to be many things at once. A Bloody Habit plays off Dracula quite well with its lawyers (Kemp/Harker), believers (Gilroy/Van Helsing), and gunmen (Inspector Harris/Quincy Morris). Parallels are established, yet the novel is unique in that the narrative is not a retelling. As a horror novel, it’s less satisfying (the same is true with Dracula, it turns out). Events never turn as oppressive to ratchet up the suspense. As a ghoulish romp through a graveyard, the novel hits its mark. Scenes of vampire ambushes and madmen abound. Lastly, as a treatise of good versus evil, it succeeds admirably. The moral lessons don’t bog the story down, and Father Thomas Edmund is appropriately wise about the chaotic events unfolding around him.
The writing hearkens back to a past age and largely succeeds. I found myself enjoying the style of a main character not actively speaking but explaining his sentiment. This stylistic choice actually drew me closer to John than put me off. London is appropriately described, and the fate of the vampire’s victims create imaginative scenes not found in Dracula. The prose, despite its older style, flows along the page.
Overall, A Bloody Habit is an exciting read that pairs dance partners of vampires and moral lessons. If you’re tired of blood diseases and sullen vampires, you’ll enjoy this gem of a novel.