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The Master of Rampling Gate: A Graphic Tale of Unspeakable Horror by the Author of the Vampire
  
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The Master of Rampling Gate: A Graphic Tale of Unspeakable Horror by the Author of the Vampire [Paperback]

Anne Rice (Author)
2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

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2.0 out of 5 stars Anne Rice: The Short Story, Aug 26 2011
By 
E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME)    (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Master of Rampling Gate: A Graphic Tale of Unspeakable Horror by the Author of the Vampire (Paperback)
Remember when Anne Rice wrote vampire stories? Yeah, she wrote twelve books focusing on fey, beautiful, angsty immortals with gothic sensibilities.

But between her first two vampire novels, she also published a short story called "The Master of Rampling Gate" about (surprise!) a fey, beautiful, angsty immortal. It's graced with lush prose, but the dialogue is painfully stilted, the characters are undeveloped, and the romance has as much emotional depth as Twilight. Yes, I went there.

After their dad dies, Julie and Richard inherit the ancestral castle of Rampling Gate. Their father made Richard promise to tear it down before he died, which is apparently connected to a beautiful young man that Julie saw years ago. When that man reappears, he and Julie fall madly in love, and he shows her the reason why he doesn't want Rampling Gate torn down.

"The Master of Rampling Gate" really shows why Anne Rice should avoid writing short stories. If it had been expanded to a full-length novel, this story might have actually been a very compelling gothic romance -- especially since this was Rice approaching the height of her skill. Instead, it feels like a teenage girl's fanfiction written in her style.

Admittedly there are a lot of really beautiful descriptions in this story, and Rice does conjure up a feeling of haunted, history-soaked atmosphere. However, her old-timey dialogue is painfully clunky ("And yet you suffer so, and it is as if you can love!"), she misuses the word "innocent" about a dozen times, and she careens through the thin plot like a drunk driver.

To make matters worse, the love story is HORRIBLE. Julie falls for the vampire because he's pretty, and he falls for her because... apparently her mind is so wonderful and special. They literally fall in love at first sight, without exchanging a single word, and immediately decide to be together forever. Stephenie Meyer would be proud of a romance like that.

"The Master of Rampling Gate" is a painfully immature work that might have been okay if it had been a full-length novel. But with only a short space to work in, the love story and characters are as thin as paper.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com: 4.0 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)

68 of 70 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars A rehashed ghost story, Oct 17 2003
By J. Hitchcock "A real author" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Master of Rampling Gate: A Graphic Tale of Unspeakable Horror by the Author of the Vampire (Paperback)
A short story that Rice wrote a few years back, this is the first time it's been published in audio
format. It's a lot like something a writer from the 19th century would have written, old-fashioned,
yet oddly compelling.

A woman and her brother inherit an estate when their father dies, but are given a stern order in
his will: Burn Rampling Gate to the ground; destroy it! Curious, the siblings travel to the estate
and instantly fall in love with it. They can't figure out why in the world no one has lived in the
400-year-old mansion except for the housekeeper. They begin to think their father was a bit nuts
when he went on about some unspeakable horror that lived in the house - that was why it needed
to be destroyed.

But neither of them find any horrors and thoroughly enjoy themselves in the mansion and on the
grounds. They can't bear to tear the building down. They even visited the nearby village to ask if
there were any ghost stories or legends associated with the estate and no one has heard of any and
say nothing but good things about the mansion - to the villagers, it's a part of their lives and they
love it as much as the siblings.

Then one night, the sister awakens in the middle of the night after an odd dream. She wanders
downstairs and sees the fire is still going in the drawing room. As she enters, she realizes there is
a man in the chair, and he's not her brother. When he notices her and stands, papers fall from his
hands - a story she was writing. She recognizes him as the horror her father spoke of, the
mysterious thing that haunts the mansion and she screams. He disappears and of course, her
brother think she's as nuts at their father supposedly was.

She is determined to prove this man is real and instead becomes spellbound, not by the house,
but by this mysterious man. And he's not alive. Nor is he dead.

(The Master of Rampling Gate was originally published in Redbook magazine in 1984.)


37 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Master of Rampling Gate, Mar 14 2003
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Master of Rampling Gate: A Graphic Tale of Unspeakable Horror by the Author of the Vampire (Paperback)
Loved the book. Glad I found it for less then the price here. 131. used when new it was 6.95???
Do yourself a favor if you are seeking this very hard to find peice by Ms. Rice don't spend so much for it here. It is true it is in limited print and also that it is hard to find, yet I had no trouble purchasing it through another book store, well known and online. I paid Retail price for the book or 6.95
The book fantastic, the price here outragous!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Master Of Rampling Gate, Mar 30 2002
By "gevaudian" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Master of Rampling Gate: A Graphic Tale of Unspeakable Horror by the Author of the Vampire (Paperback)
If you are an Anne Rice fan this is a must have. Originally signed and numbered up to 850 as well as released on a small scale to comic book retailers. this is also now available for the first time in 11 years on a Book On Tape. This is a short story about a vampire (of course) who dwells in the home of the remaining Rampling family. Mystery and intrigue lead the young Ms. Julie Rampling to this man of darkness who is afraid his home will be torn down. It's a nice tale of Romance and old fashioned Anne Rice. Very rare and a true collector's item who has to read everything by this author.
› Go to Amazon.com to see all 13 reviews  4.0 out of 5 stars 
 
 
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