Synopsis:
Immortal beloveds Rebekah and Hugh are on vacation! Against a backdrop of ongoing war, this pair of chic emotional vampires from San Francisco sets off on a queer Black Sea Cruise, eager to relax, join an orgy, and feast upon their fellow passengers’ desires and sorrows. When Hugh becomes enchanted by an alluring–and possibly magical–non-binary social media influencer named Heaven, Rebekah’s reality capsizes. As she comes to terms with a future she never imagined, Rebekah begins to question her past, much of it lost to time. Ultimately, her journey becomes one of self-discovery, and acceptance of her true nature.
A smutty, super-queer horror-comedy featuring unbridled narcissism, Vampires at Sea is a hilarious and satisfying snack!
My Edition:
E-ARC provided by Net Galley
My Thoughts:
Never have I agreed so hard with a synopsis – Vampires at Sea is 100% satisfying snack. Don’t go looking for some big, serious story here, or you’re going to be disappointed. This is more like an episode of What We Do in the Shadows than Interview with the Vampire. It’s a silly little novella about a pair of energy vampires on a cruise ship in the Black Sea surrounded by queer (and very horny) humans and a few other varietal beasts.
Our “main” characters Hugh and Rebekah, ostensibly. Although really it’s just Rebekah – Hugh is a bit of a blank slate. He’s a character we only know indirectly, and only care about at all because Rebekah does. The two are married, and from the sounds of it, have been for a very long time. Hugh meets Heaven and becomes fully and immediately enamored of them. Rebekah has a much more complicated relationship with Heaven on account of them stealing her man. I don’t like Heaven. Heaven is a narcissist of the HIGHEST order. Like, obnoxious, Instagram influencer level narcissist. Awful. I hate. Heaven is also a monster.
And then Rebekah meets Misha. I wish we could have spent more time with Misha. He seemed fun and pretty chill. But, Rebekah hangs out with him only very briefly. Too bad.
Rating:
I find novellas tough to rate generally, but this one not so much. It was a fun ride for the short time it took to read. It’s a little like The Hunger, but make it much gayer, slap John and Miriam on a sex-heavy cruise ship (they would never), and add some WWDitS-style humor.
Vampires at Sea
By Lindsay Merbaum
Creature Publishing
Published: October 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781951971229
Paperback, Ebook, Audio
168 Pages
