VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE: WALK AMONG US is the first and possibly last World of Darkness novel we’re likely to see since the end of the Old World of Darkness in 2004. The premise for Vampire: The Masquerade is that the world is secretly ruled from the shadows by a variety of supernatural beings (chiefly vampires) and they are constantly feuding for power like mafia bosses. It was an immensely fun premise if you were a counterculture Goth kid or just a guy who enjoyed playing edgy antiheroes, both of which described me. In 2018, the Old World of Darkness was revived with Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition and the results have been controversial ever since.
Walk Among Us, in it’s own way, is the perfect encapsulation of why the design philosophy of 5th Edition has been hit or miss. The book is three novellas by Genevieve Gornichec, Caitlin Starling, and Cassandra Khaw (the latter of mine is a personal favorite). The authors are each incredibly talented, create a believable World of Darkness, and write stories that are excellent pieces of horror each. This out of the way, no shade upon their writing abilities, I kind of hate this book. Walk Among Us is something that represents pretty much everything I don’t want out of the New-New World of Darkness.
The Old World of Darkness was, in simple, a comic book. Specifically, it was a very Nineties comic book. You were a dark and brooding antihero who sat on rooftops next to gargoyles and surveyed the corrupt city full of rival supernaturals as you pondered your lost humanity. There’s a reason that Underworld is a guilty pleasure and Blade is probably closer to Vampire: The Masquerade than it ever was the character from Tomb of Dracula. Yes, you feasted upon blood, but the power fantasy was also present as was the romance.
Walk Among Us reflects the 5th Edition mindset that being a vampire is not just awful. You aren’t just tormented with generic angst and tragic backstory. No, worse, being a vampire is not cool. The protagonists of these three stories are some of the whiniest most unlikable vampires in fiction. So much so that Louis of Interview with a Vampire would say they’re a bunch of losers. This is perhaps the ultimate in unforgivable sins and why I cannot endorse these three disgraces to Caine.
It’d be alright if these vampires whined because they didn’t want to be murderers, they lost their families, or even mourned the loss of the Sun in some tragic Gothic way. No, they’re all scumbags with no morality to offend against. It’s the fact that being a vampire doesn’t make them any less annoying than the kind of jerks they were in life.
“A Sheep Among Wolves” protagonist, Clea, starts sympathetically enough but her primary concern once she’s joined a radical student activist group is to make sure the leader continues to like her even when she’s committing arson/murder for no apparent reward. She doesn’t even have any politics, she just feels really lonely on campus. Being a vampire just is another label to her and not one that invokes any curiosity. My wife shares some of Clea’s issues but found her equally frustrating.
“Fine Print” follows the world’s dumbest Ventrue. Duke negotiates a contract with his sire before his Embrace, apparently assuming this is legally enforceable, and is obnoxious the entire way through. He also doesn’t bother to learn that he can’t eat food beforehand, that sunlight forces him to sleep, or that vampires like him need special kinds of blood to drink. This probably my favorite of the stories and Duke really should have been staked for the Sun on his first night.
“The Land of Milk and Honey” follows a vegan Toreador Anarch who runs a commune of blood harvesters that raise their own food as well as animals. Leigh is among the absolute worst kind of lifestyle advocates who basically keeps her subordinates as animals to harvest but insists on it being the more humane alternative. Its blackly funny that other Kindred seem to think of her as an extreme pro-vegan type in-universe but listening to her ramble on about her ideology the entire time just makes me want to see the Sabbat arrive.
This is the heart of perhaps 5th Edition’s biggest flaw as there’s nothing particularly fun about being a vampire. Walk Among Us‘ vampires are not sexy, cool, or particularly powerful. They have no torment from the fact they’re good people forced to be evil by hunger or circumstance. Christof may have been a somewhat cliche example of a reluctant vampire, but he was interesting as a Crusader turned monster. Lucita may be evil, but she had tragedy, pathos, and sex appeal. These guys are like the obnoxious lady at the supermarket being turned into Kindred.
by CT_Phipps