WANTED: UNDEAD OR ALIVE Vampire Hunters and Other Kick-Ass Enemies Of Evil , (Citadel Press), by Jonathan Maberry and Janice Gable Bashman

Stoker Award-winning author Jonathan Maberry along with International Thriller Writer member Janice Gable Bashman have joined forces to create WANTED: UNDEAD OR ALIVE, a book which focuses on the endless struggle between good and evil. Concentrating on both the mythical evil of vampires and werewolves and those who hunt them to the real evil of serial killers and their nemeses, FBI profilers, this book is a fascinating mixture of everything from superheroes to pulp horror to current day ghostbusters.

With chapter titles ranging from "It Didn't Start with Van Helsing" (covering vampire legends prior to Bram Stoker's famous creation) and "Who You Gonna Call?" (the ghost-hunting trade) to "The Roots of Good and Evil" (a brief overview of the nature of good and evil and why we are so fascinated by it) and "Spandex to the Rescue"(comic book heroes and villains), Maberry and Bashman have managed to cover nearly ever "monster" of legend as well as the heroes (or superheroes) who try and defeat them.

And every chapter has commentary from such luminaries as director John Carpenter, actor Doug Jones, author Peter Straub and the legendary Stan Lee. The chapter covering "Real Evil" was particularly chilling with its Serial Killer Hall of Fame. There are also chapters covering "Skin Art" (former "Rue Morgue" editor-in-chief Jovanka Vuckovic's tattoos are prominently covered here), role-playing games, horror games that became films such as "Resident Evil" series, the "Bloodrayne" series and "Silent Hill". There are even appendices covering the Top 100 Villains of All Time (care to guess who is Number One), Spirit Superstitions and the Top 40 Genre Movies of All Time (with categories of Top Ten Vampire, Werewolf, Demon and Ghost Films).

This is a great reference for all horror-lovers. Maberry and Bashman have done a commendable job trying, in 366 pages, to explain the eternal battle of good versus evil and in a way modern day readers can understand. The book also includes 40 illustrations and an 8-page color insert with art from, among others, David Leri, the covers of Marvel Horror Comics, Patrick Don Maitz and Peter Mihaichuk.

Definitely check this book out.

Visit http://jonathanmaberry.com/. Buy it today.

Growing up in the Gothic South, Elaine has been obsessed with horror in almost all of its formats since she was a young child. She has contributed movie reviews, interviews and book reviews to such websites as Bloody-Disgusting, Severed Cinema, Icons of Fright, Horror Movies.ca, Really Scary, Fatally-Yours, HorrorReanimated and “Rue Morgue” magazine. Today she is the main literary critic for Dread Central and loves all of the amazing books she receives to review.