THE BEAUTY OF BEING DEAD : ALISTAIR CROSS

To coincide with the release of his latest novel The Crimson Corset Alistair Cross has compiled his top five reasons why we can't get enough of vampires.  What are your favourite reasons for your vampire cravings, leave a comment in the comment section for a chance to win a copy of the book.  

Welcome to Crimson Cove 

Sheltered by ancient redwoods overlooking the California coast, the cozy village of Crimson Cove has it all: sophisticated retreats, fine dining, and a notorious nightclub, The Crimson Corset. It seems like a perfect place to relax and get close to nature. But not everything in Crimson Cove is natural. 

When Cade Colter moves to town, he expects it to be peaceful to the point of boredom. But he quickly learns that after the sun sets and the fog rolls in, the little tourist town takes on a whole new kind of life – and death. 

Darkness at the Edge of Town 

Renowned for its wild parties and history of debauchery, The Crimson Corset looms on the edge of town, inviting patrons to sate their most depraved desires and slake their darkest thirsts. Proprietor Gretchen VanTreese has waited centuries to annihilate the Old World vampires on the other side of town and create a new race – a race that she alone will rule. When she realizes Cade Colter has the key that will unlock her plan, she begins laying an elaborate trap that will put everyone around him in mortal danger. 
Purchase a copy here 

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The Beauty of Being Dead

After decades at the drive-in and centuries spent on the bestseller lists, it’s pretty amazing that vampires haven’t gone the way of floppy disks, Windows 95, and the Spice Girls. But somehow, these fanged fiends have retained their popularity. In fact, not only have they tapped the commercial vein of each generation, they’ve managed to turn even more beautiful, more powerful, and arguably, more fascinating than their pale-faced predecessors.

When I began writing The Crimson Corset, I didn’t think about what makes vampires so interesting. I had a story to tell, and vampires served as a perfect means of, er, execution. But as I researched these beasts to better understand them, I was thrust into a world so expansive, so intriguing that the question - What makes vampires so fascinating? - was answered for me before I had the chance to ask. The truth is, there isn’t a single reason we can’t get enough vampires - there are many, many reasons. Here are a few of them.

1. Vampires are sexy as hell. While this wasn’t the case in the early days of the damned, modern-day vampires have evolved to become not only sexual, but physically beautiful as well. Today’s most popular vampires are in equal parts deadly and delectable - the kind of folks we wouldn't mind going under the fang for.

2. Vampires never die. Okay, this one is pretty obvious, but vampires have something all of us want to one degree or another - immortality. In much the same way they refuse to perish on the bestseller lists, vampires live forever, and with enough persuasion, they might give us eternal life, too - a claim only vitamin companies and televangelists dare to make! In fact, vampires aren’t really so different from many religions in their promises of everlasting existence, and the cool part about the vampy version of eternity is that you don’t even have to go to church to earn it! 

3. There’s a vampire for everyone. While I was developing my vampires for The Crimson Corset, the hardest part was deciding what qualities I wanted them to possess and which ones I preferred to forego. Needless to say, my research showed the list of vampire qualities is as long as their lifespan. There is, quite literally, an all-you-can-bite buffet of bloodsuckers out there, and if you don’t like the kind that can kill you, you can always hang out with the ones that sparkle and go to high school. 

4. Vampires get to sleep all day. Seriously. What’s not to love about this? 

5. Vampires get all the girls. While Edward Cullen might not be your cup o’ hemoglobin, it’s not surprising that he won the hearts of girls and women worldwide with his bronze hair, broody-moodiness, and marble-like firmness - but to understand the real sex appeal of vampires, we must go beyond the undead dreamboats of modern fiction and look at some of the less savory types. Take Dracula, the daddy of the damned himself. He had hairy palms, long yellowed fingernails, and bad breath - and yet, Mina couldn’t keep her hands off of him. Obviously, on top of having the power of twenty men and being able to turn to mist, vampires are hung like horses, too - which is an as yet unexplored vampiric trait that, yes, I do address in The Crimson Corset. 

IT WOULD EXPLAIN A LOT

As you can see, there is much to love about vampires. Whether you like them pretty and peace-loving, or dark and dangerous, they’re seductive. And they’re immortal, so they won’t be going away anytime soon. Vampires are more than monsters. They’re everything from murderous to misunderstood, but no matter what kind of package they come in, they fascinate us. They’re powerful, they’re beautiful, and they’re dead. What’s not to love? 

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Alistair Cross was born in the western United States and began penning his own stories by the age of eight. First published by Damnation Books in 2012, Alistair has since published several more novels. In 2012, he joined forces with international bestselling author, Tamara Thorne, and as Thorne & Cross, they write the successful Gothic series, The Ghosts of Ravencrest. Their newest novel, The Cliffhouse Haunting, is an Amazon Best Seller, and this summer also sees the release of Alistair’s solo novel, The Crimson Corset.

In 2014, Alistair and Tamara began the internet radio show, Thorne & Cross: Haunted Nights LIVE! Haunted Nights LIVE! premiered to great acclaim and has featured such guests as Chelsea Quinn Yarbro of the Saint-Germain vampire series, Charlaine Harris of the Southern Vampire Mysteries and basis of the HBO series True Blood, Jeff Lindsay, author of the Dexter novels that inspired the hit television series, Jay Bonansinga of the Walking Dead series, Laurell K. Hamilton of the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter novels, and New York Times best sellers Christopher Rice, Jonathan Maberry, and Christopher Moore.

Alistair is currently at work on several projects including a solo novel and a new Thorne & Cross collaboration. His influences include the works of Stephen King, Dean Koontz, John Saul, Ira Levin, and William Peter Blatty.

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