Acheron Midnight Book Release Party

It's unlikely that many of Sherrilyn Kenyon's legion of fans (Kenyon's Minions, as they're known) were familiar with Hammer Films before discovering the author's Dark-Hunter series. But Kenyon, a Middle Tennessean, readily admits a debt to 1960s Hammer Horror titles like Dracula: Prince of Darkness, a UK film featuring veteran actors Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, along with a decidedly unselfconscious sense of camp. The best-selling Dark-Hunter series does Hammer one better. More romance than classic horror, Kenyon's world of demon bloodsuckers and those who hunt them wears its vampire-camp on its sleeve, its characters dripping with sarcasm and hot sex. Since they lack the self-importance of their contemporaries (Anne Rice's Lestat, for example), her creatures hold up well over the long haul. To celebrate the launch of Acheron, the latest of Dark-Hunter's 24 titles, Kenyon's publisher St. Martins Press is planning a huge Nashville blowout. Expect the Minions to appear in their Goth finery, as Acheron—which has been embargoed to prevent early release—will first see moonlight at the conclusion of the event.
Mon., Aug. 4, 7 p.m.-midnight, 2008