Anna Dressed in Blood/Kendare Blake

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake; young adult, horror; 320 pages

I can't say enough good things about this book. It's got everything you could want in a classic scary story: a haunted house, the ghost in the blood-stained prom dress, the hitchhiking ghost, and even a touch of voodoo. The text is even printed in a reddish/sepia-colored ink (like dried blood???). But what really sold me on this book was the story: at first I thought it was just a knock-off of two of my favorite shows, Buffy and Supernatural. The more I read, however, the more I felt like Blake was just as big a fan as I was--this wasn't a knock-off; it's an homage.

Cas (no, not that Cas) travels around the country, tracking down ghosts and other Big Bads, and sending them to the great beyond. His father was killed by something really scary when he was kid, so Cas has taken it upon himself to track down the demon that killed him, and make it pay. Of course, Cas is also 16, so he also travels with his mom, but that didn't stop me from imagining a teenaged Jensen Ackles playing his role, especially in the opening scene, where Cas is cruising in a classic muscle car. For this book, Cas tackles a local legend: Anna Dressed in Blood, who was killed on the way to prom back in the 1950's, and has haunted her small Canadian town ever since. Of course, once Cas actually meets Anna, he has to rethink whether he will be able to kill the strongest spirit he's ever encountered.

I had a ton of fun with this story, and am psyched for the sequel, due out later this year. I could have done without the romance, really, but it wasn't the central theme of the book, so it was easy to overlook. The core characters were very scooby-ish: Cas takes direction from his British mentor Gilbert; he has two best friends to help him out, and one of them is a witch; and his love interest is both dead, and the thing he's meant to slay. Sound familiar, anyone? I kept thinking that maybe this series would introduce a new generation of teens to the wonders of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but that might be wishful thinking on my part. Overall, this was fun, scary, and well-written. I think this is going on my best of 2012 list...