Midnight Mass by F. Paul Wilson

If vampires are real, and their bite spreads the infection, then how come they haven’t taken over the world? I used to hear this question all the time when I was younger, my little brother always tossing it my way whenever I tried to talk to him about a possible vampire novel or series that I wanted to write (still want to write). It is a legitimate question, yet one that I never had a satisfactory answer for at the time, and rather than trying to reason it out with him, I usually just switched topics to something more easily discussed -- something like UFOs or Bigfoot. Later I realized my brother wasn’t the only one asking this question and that it has actually been a topic of debate in the horror community for decades, one that is often ‘explained’ to us time and time again through the visions of horror writers and filmmakers. Sometimes these visions are pretty good and the reasons given for the lack of a vampire ruled world seems legit, other times it is just silly (vampires are just troubled humans who don’t really want to hurt anyone and therefore keep their desires in check until the need for blood is unbearable -- come on, they are ‘creatures’ of the night, not ‘delicate troubled youths’ of the night!). And then sometimes an explanation is not needed because the vision presented gives us a world ruled by vampires.

F. Paul Wilson gives us just such a vision in his novel Midnight Mass, a semi-apocalyptic tale that pits the last remnants of humanity against the vampires who, realizing an opportunity for world domination after the fall of the Soviet Union, have taken over all of Europe and Asia, their spread rapid due to the ability to create vampires with each kill. Now, however, wanting to keep the spread of vampires in check so that they don’t become too many for the limited human blood supply, the vampires move slowly in conquering North America, the goal being to round up all the humans into ‘cattle camps’ while taking over the major cities. Using human counterparts known as ‘cowboys’ to do most of the dirty work, the vampires are well on their way to accomplishing their goal of ruling the world. In New Jersey, however, a small group of humans have decided they would rather fight to the death than give in to being cattle, and have barricaded themselves inside a church. Hunting down and killing cowboys by day, and then hunkering down and protecting themselves against the vampires at night, these humans have pretty much accepted the idea that they will eventually be destroyed and just want to cause as much trouble for the vampires as they can. While doing this they make a chance discovery, one which just might give humanity an opportunity for survival. At the same time their continual destruction has caught the eye of New York’s Vampire King, one who views these humans as a thorn that must be plucked free. Will the small band of humans be able to survive the Vampire King, and spread hope for humanity, or will they too succumb to the overwhelming power of the vampire threat?

Originally intended as a novella for a vampire themed publication in the early nineties, one which was then added to over the years as opportunities arose to revisit the compelling vampire landscape by publishers looking for new stories, F. Paul Wilson slowly but surely managed to create a vampire novel that is considered by many to be one of the best of the genera -- something which I won’t argue against because I believe it to be true as well. A big part of this success was due to F. Paul Wilson’s desire to use the well known basic vampire myths in creating this novel rather than twisting them around or creating his own like so writers have done over the years (Stephen King made this decision as well when writing ‘Salem’s Lot, which in turn created a ‘best of the vampire genera’ book as well, something which Wilson praises in his introduction to Midnight Mass). Another important factor was the writing talent used to produce this story, talent that many readers have discovered over the years and desperately crave. One doesn’t have to be a vampire fan to enjoy Midnight Mass, but, like the infectious bite of the vampire, one may be turned into a fan of such tales once this book grabs hold. If nothing else it will make one a F. Paul Wilson fan, assuming of course that one isn’t already a fan of this author’s wonderful story telling abilities.