City of Day Demonstrates Human Connection Among The Dead in the Dark

What can we find when we choose to investigate hostile shadows?

I met October Santerelli when moderating him and several other writers on a panel about sensitivity reading. When I found out that he was releasing a new book this month, I offered to review it since he’s an eloquent speaker. He sent me a copy for an honest review. Fittingly, after we became friends, he allowed me to review a copy about emotional connection in dark times.

City of Day blends the horror of Castlevania (the Netflix series, not the game franchise) with the fantasy world-building of Diana Wynne Jones’s Howl’s Moving Castle trilogy, with a bit of Garth Nix suspense tossed into the mix. I finished the book over two nights and was entranced by this world.

City of Day By October Santerelli

Astera as a place is not friendly to the living. A lifetime ago, the undead called Vaim came at night following a plague. Staying after dark is a death sentence, as the Vaim will grab you, drain the life out of you, and turn you into one of them. They’re less fun than zombies, and the local Ruling Council took advantage of the position to start a coup. The cities are safer than the countryside, as you are more likely to find a boat…