BIglehart’s Review of Gil’s All Fright Diner
Submitted by: BIglehart
(Written by A. Lee Martinez)
Unless you take your werewolves awfully seriously, I don’t think anyone who comes to The Werewolf Café can dislike Gil’s All Fright Diner too much. I mean, this is a book that has zombie cows, an evil sorceress who controls her single minion with heavy petting, and an evil spirit that’s trapped in a Magic Eight Ball. And best of all (for us werewolf enthusiasts), one of the main characters is a good old boy werewolf named Duke (along with his vampire buddy, Earl).
Duke is a big man and a bigger werewolf. Cursed to be a werewolf after he killed a werewolf (by hitting it with his 18 wheeler), he’s made the best of an awkward situation. No angst here, no chains during the full moon, no fear of the beast lurking within… Duke’s got control and a fine appreciation of the pluses to being a lycanthrope. He’s damn hard to kill. He’s phenomenally strong. He is, basically, the supernatural world’s finest killing machine.
(It should be noted, for werewolf fans particularly, that this is NOT one of those books where vampires are at the top of some supernatural pecking order. Frankly, werewolves in this book ROCK! Earl’s vampire skills are handy and the downsides aren’t so bad, but weres are clearly the powerhouses here. Reference is made to a past fight in which Duke destroyed five vamps. Sure, he lost an arm, but it grew back later that night…)
Duke and Earl are traveling men (er… traveling beings). Their friendship began soon after Duke’s first change. Frightened, confused and out of control, he savagely attacked and mutilated a stranger. That stranger was Earl. Luckily (for both of them) Earl was a vampire. And after explanations and apologies were made, Earl explained the facts of supernatural life to Duke. Firstly, just because you’re a werewolf, doesn’t mean you have to always act like one.
Duke and Earl are a great pair. Earl is kind of a loser, a bit of a sad sack. Not a bad guy, but kind of irritating. Duke is a big, big man, in girth as well as strength. Duke is a laid back kind of guy. You know the old joke “Where does a 400 pound gorilla sit? Anywhere it wants to!”? Duke’s got the kind of calm that comes from knowing that gorilla wouldn’t last long if it took his seat. They play off each other in a traditional comic way, joking like old friends do, falling into routines and patterns, getting under each others skin. About the biggest problem they have is that supernatural weirdness tends to attract supernatural weirdness. And that’s how they end up helping a tough as nails lady protect her diner from zombies, curses and the things that go bump in the dark spaces between the universes.
Speaking of tough-as-nails Loretta; the supporting characters are almost as engaging as the Duke and Earl. There’s Loretta, who is ready to stand down zombie attacks with a shotgun and a mop (and a big repeat business discount at the local cemetery). And the sheriff, who has worked for years in a small town where supernatural phenomena are the norm, and who greets a werewolf and vampire stopping in town with a cautious welcome on his way to the next possession or chupacabra attack. The naive guardian ghost who lives in the nearest graveyard and her little ghost dog (who was hit by a car while chasing a rabbit and decided to follow the rabbit instead of the white light. And the villains; seventeen-going-on-eighteen Terri (who prefers Mistress Terri, which more befits a worshipper of the dark gods) and Chad, her easily led teenage follower (who doesn’t particularly want to do evil, but is willing to look the other way about it, since most dark rituals have to be performed in the nude…).
If you like your horror with a sizable helping of comedy (or possibly the other way around), there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy this book. My biggest complaint is that it was such a quick and easy read. When I finished I still wanted to hear more about Duke and Earl’s adventures, so I’ll be keeping an eye out for a sequel.
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