Tales of the Slayer
Encyclopedia
Pocket Books
Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books.- History :Pocket produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in America in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing industry...
. Each contains a number of short stories surrounding the mythology of past Slayers
Slayer (Buffyverse)
A Slayer, in the fictional Buffyverse established by Buffy and Angel, is a young female bestowed with mystical powers that originate from the essence of a pure-demon, which gives her superhuman senses, strength, agility, resilience and speed in the fight against forces of darkness...
Tales within Buffyverse chronology
These are ordered by chronology rather than by their appearance in the books.A Good Run
- Author: Greg Rucka
- Collected in: Vol. I
- Setting: Greece, 490 BCE
It's 490 BC in Greece and Thessily is the current Slayer. In order to protect an important messenger
Pheidippides
Pheidippides , hero of Ancient Greece, is the central figure in a story which was the inspiration for a modern sporting event, the marathon.-The story:...
, she must run 300 miles in 3 days while fending off countless vampires. In the end, this 29 year old Slayer just wants to be remembered for something great that she herself did.
Lady Shobu
- Author: Kara Dalkey
- Collected in: Vol. II
- Setting: Sagami Province, Japan, 980
Kishi Minomoto is a brave girl born into a warrior clan who is suddenly called to serve as a lady in waiting for the Great Lady Ankimon-in. Her summoner, Bennin, claims to be her Watcher and informs her of her duty as a Slayer. He teaches her precious information concerning the demons around her as well as her predecessor before sending her to wait on the Great Lady. Kishi does her best to locate the demons which have been surrounding the Palace only to find out that Bennin is not who he says he is; nor is the Great Lady who was originally the Watcher of the past Slayer. Bennin, is actually Migoto, Bennin's brother, who has been sacrificing Slayers to a dragon in order to maintain his immortal life.
Dark of the Moon
- Author: Yvonne NavarroYvonne NavarroYvonne Navarro is an American author who has published over twenty books. Of those twenty, the titles AfterAge, deadrush, Final Impact, Red Shadows, DeadTimes, That's Not My Name and Mirror Me were solo novels, or fiction created solely by her...
- Collected in: Vol. III
- Setting: 1229 and 1250
The story of a Slayer who was trained but did not know what her calling was. Her angst and frustration come through when she failed to fulfill her duty through no fault of her own.
Abomination
- Author: Laura J. BurnsLaura J. BurnsLaura J. Burns is a Californian author originally from Long Island, New York. Starting in publishing, she now specializes in novels based on television shows or movies. She often collaborates with fellow author Melinda Metz, with whom she writes the book series based on the Everwood TV show, and...
and Melinda MetzMelinda MetzMelinda Metz is an American author of young adult books. Her series Roswell High, about teenage aliens, is the basis of The WB television series Roswell. Another series, Fingerprints, is about a psychic girl who reads thoughts from fingerprints... - Collected in: Vol. II
- Setting: Beauport, Brittany, France, 1320
Eliane and her Watcher have spent years training together, but as the years go by and Eliane becomes older they begin to suspect that she will never be called as a Slayer. Eventually she and her Watcher fall in love, get married and form a family. When she finally reaches the age of 20, she is abruptly called to her duty and her husband is taken away from her for violating codes of conduct with his charge. Eliane refuses to accept her duty until her husband has returned to her even though Tatoul, a particularly vicious vampire plagues her city. When the demon finally steals her five year old child and turns him into a vampire, she begins to fight back. At the end, she allows her son to drink her blood, slaying him at the same time. Because they are connected when this happens, the son is slayed but then she herself starts to light on fire. At the end the only thing left remaining is her daughter, who is called to be the next Slayer, even though an infant. She is given to her father.
The Rule of Silence
- Author: Kara Dalkey
- Collected in: Vol. IV
- Setting: Seville, Spain, 1481
The Slayer, Esperanza de la Vega, is a Marrano
Marrano
Marranos were Jews living in the Iberian peninsula who converted to Christianity rather than be expelled but continued to observe rabbinic Judaism in secret...
and this makes her a heretic. Reading about demons does not help her standing at all.
The White Doe
- Author: Christie GoldenChristie GoldenChristie Golden is an award-winning author who lives in Loveland, Colorado, United States. She has written over thirty novels and several short stories in fantasy, horror and science fiction.-Career:...
- Collected in: Vol. I
- Setting: London, 1586
A Slayer named White Doe was adopted by Croatoans despite her English breeding and trained as the men were. She grew to be beautiful and agile. A particular wizard of the people fell in love with her but she did not return his lust. He then turned her into a white doe because if he could not have her then he did not wish anyone else have her heart. But Seal of the Ocean loves her and eventually finds her, only to end up killing her because he believes she is a wild animal. This story is based on myths built around the real life disappearance of the Roanoke Colony
Roanoke Colony
The Roanoke Colony on Roanoke Island in Dare County, present-day North Carolina, United States was a late 16th-century attempt to establish a permanent English settlement in what later became the Virginia Colony. The enterprise was financed and organized by Sir Walter Raleigh and carried out by...
and Virginia Dare
Virginia Dare
Virginia Dare was the first child born in the Americas to English parents, Eleanor and Ananias Dare. She was born into the short-lived Roanoke Colony in what is now North Carolina, USA. What became of Virginia and the other colonists remains a mystery...
, the first child of English colonists born on American soil.
Die Blutgrafin
- Author: Yvonne NavarroYvonne NavarroYvonne Navarro is an American author who has published over twenty books. Of those twenty, the titles AfterAge, deadrush, Final Impact, Red Shadows, DeadTimes, That's Not My Name and Mirror Me were solo novels, or fiction created solely by her...
- Collected in: Vol. I
- Setting: Hungary, 1609
Countesse Elizabeth Bathory
Elizabeth Báthory
Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed was a countess from the renowned Báthory family of Hungarian nobility. Although in modern times she has been labelled the most prolific serial killer in history, the number of murders has been debated...
(die Blutgrafin) aka the Blood Countess is a wicked woman that lives in a castle in Hungary. It is rumoured that she bathes in the blood of young virgins in order to stay youthful. Ildikó is the current Slayer, who lives isolated with her Watcher. He trains her in the ways of a lady and she successfully infiltrates the castle, in an effort to stop the deaths that are seemingly always occurring there. Though she finds out how she kills the girls, she is eventually drugged and killed by Elizabeth Bathory, never finding out if she was a vampire or not.
Blood and Brine
- Author: Greg Cox
- Collected in: Vol. II
- Setting: The Caribbean 1661
Robin Whitby is the captain of a schooner titled Neptune's Lady. She has been passing herself off as a man in order to be accepted by her crew. While sailing the seas, they come about a boat called the El Dorado which is strangely free of any crew members, save for a young Spanish girl. The boat is loaded with gold and treasures and in particular, an ugly little idol. After a brief mutiny on board her ship as soon as the crew realizes that she's female, half the members take the other boat and set off. However, the boat becomes plagued by the kraken, a water monster with fangs and squid-like arms, and Robin heads back to fight for the crew that once betrayed her. In a fight with the kraken, Robin loses her right forearm to the beast, losing a part of herself, yet still not defeating the hideous monster.
Unholy Madness
- Author: Nancy HolderNancy HolderNancy Holder is an American writer and the author of several novels, including numerous tie-in books based on the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She's also written fiction related to several other science fiction and fantasy shows, including Angel and Smallville.Holder is a four-time winner...
- Collected in: Vol. I
- Setting: France, 1789
Marie-Christina is a Slayer of royal blood who lives in Marie-Antoinette's royal palace at Versailles. Unfortunately, the royals have become displeased with her work, as has her Watcher. Originally Marie despises the poor of France, an attitude shared by her Watcher and most of the court. Her attitude slowly changes upon meeting a young, innocent girl who lives on the street. Marie tries to confront L'Hero, a vampire who is causing rebellion among the poor. They know he is a vampire but do not care, as the situation he creates for them is better than what the royals ever did for them. Marie's life falls apart as the rebellion erupts around her. At the end, she herself finds out she was born a peasant, and her watcher doesn't care. As he is about to be guillotined, he says to her, "Once a peasant...." The story ends with the little girl grabbing Marie-Christina's hand, and having her hand feel like ice, probably a result of being turned into a vampire herself.
The Ghosts of Slayers Past
- Author: Scott AllieScott AllieScott Allie is an American comics writer and editor, currently the Senior Managing Editor for Dark Horse Comics.-Career:Scott Allie is the author of The Devil's Footprints and the editor of the Hellboy, Conan, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Serenity comics, as well as the founding editor of Dark...
- Collected in: Vol. II
- Setting: England, 1843
The current Watcher of the current Slayer (who is from the run down east end of London) has absolutely no sympathy for his charge until he is visited by two Slayers from the past who show him what he is doing wrong, but it isn't until one Slayer from the future makes an appearance that the Watcher learns the error of his ways.
Ch'ing Shih
- Author: Mel Odom
- Collected in: Vol. III
- Setting: June 10, 1856
After the Slayer's Watcher died, she ran away from the monastery where he trained her. Posing as a man she survived on her own in the city. When her new Watcher finds her they join forces to battle an extremely dangerous vampire.
The New Watcher
- Author: Kristine Kathryn RuschKristine Kathryn RuschKristine Kathryn Rusch is an American writer. She writes under various pseudonyms in multiple genres, including science fiction, fantasy, mystery, romance, and mainstream....
- Collected in: Vol. II
- Setting: Atlanta, 1864
Pauline Francis Bernard is passing herself off as a man under the name of Frankie Massey in order to enlist in the Union army. Her Watcher is long dead and a new Watcher arrives in her division in search of a woman. Her general has secretly known that Frankie is in fact a female, but wants her on his side. He devises a plan to exterminate the vampires plaguing the war-torn South, and allows the Watcher and Frankie to go their own way.
Alone
- Author: Scott AllieScott AllieScott Allie is an American comics writer and editor, currently the Senior Managing Editor for Dark Horse Comics.-Career:Scott Allie is the author of The Devil's Footprints and the editor of the Hellboy, Conan, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Serenity comics, as well as the founding editor of Dark...
- Collected in: Vol. IV
- Setting: 1876 Ireland
Around the time of her Cruciamentum, the Slayer, Catherine Callan of Ulster, must tolerate both her father and prejudice from the largely English Watchers Council. She teases the council, pretending to be married to Mr. Spelling, her Watcher.
Mornglom Dreaming
- Author: Doranna DurginDoranna DurginDoranna Durgin is an American author. In 1995 she won the Compton Crook Award for the novel Dun Lady's Jess.Durgin's works feature suspense elements and distinctive descriptions of animals and their behavior.-Buffyverse:...
- Collected in: Vol. I
- Setting: KentuckyKentuckyThe Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, 1886
Mollie Prater is a simple 15 year old girl living in Kentucky in 1886. Next week she's to be married to Harly. Around this time, a Watcher named Ethan arrives in search for her, as she is the new Slayer. Many people in her town have been attacked by demons and she's the only one that's faced them and lived to tell the tale. Mollie's wedding day is interrupted by these demons and Ethan's appearance. He briefly tells her that she is the Slayer and she kills the demons. But after Mollie slays the demons attacking her wedding, Harly walks out on her and she knows her life won't ever be the same.
House of the Vampire
- Author: Michael Reaves
- Collected in: Vol. II
- Setting: London 1897
Dracula
Dracula
Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
has come to England, even after his supposed death many years ago. Angelique Hawthorne, the current Slayer, must determine if she's under the thrall of Dracula herself and how to defeat him. She also learns a hard lesson about keeping friends in her field.
Sideshow Slayer
- Author: Greg Cox
- Collected in: Vol. IV
- Setting: Duluth, Minnesota, 1911
The Slayer, Millicent "Millie" Rose Gresham is approaching her eighteenth birthday and therefore the Cruciamentum awaits. Millie is a travelling Slayer, covering within a carnival side show. The plans go wrong, leading to death and destruction.
Survivors
- Author: Kristine Kathryn RuschKristine Kathryn RuschKristine Kathryn Rusch is an American writer. She writes under various pseudonyms in multiple genres, including science fiction, fantasy, mystery, romance, and mainstream....
- Collected in: Vol. IV
- Setting: Chicago 1919
The Slayer, Dorothy "Dot" Singers is approaching her eighteenth birthday and therefore the Cruciamentum awaits her. Her Watcher, Reginald Hill, is suffering from a very severe mental illness.
The War Between the States
- Author: Rebecca Rand KirshnerRebecca Rand KirshnerRebecca Sinclair is a writer and producer for American television. Currently, she is the showrunner for the television series 90210. She served as co-executive producer on the CW series Gilmore Girls and as a writer on Freaks and Geeks, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Las Vegas. She lives in Los...
- Collected in: Vol. II
- Setting: New York, 1922
A young woman named Sally Jean comes to New York and becomes awed by a flapper
Flapper
Flapper in the 1920s was a term applied to a "new breed" of young Western women who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior...
named Ardita O'Reilly who is in fact the current Slayer. Sally Jean becomes completely enthralled by everything that Ardita possesses, until she learns what exactly Ardita is and what she does.
Silent Screams
- Author: Mel Odom
- Collected in: Vol. I
- Setting: Germany, 1923
Herr Lichtermann is the Watcher of the new official Slayer, Britta. He trains her but never once encounters a vampire or demon. One night, the Slayer and Watcher attend a screening of a new movie, only to find out that the creators are vampires who plan to kill their audience. Herr Lichtermann runs away, leaving Britta to die alone, breaking his promise to her. But Lichtermann is captured and put into a cell with the newly vamped Britta who wants nothing more than to kill the Watcher that betrayed her.
Voodoo Lounge
- Author: Christopher GoldenChristopher GoldenChristopher Golden is an American author of horror, fantasy, and suspense novels for adults, teens, and young readers.Golden was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his family. He is a graduate of Tufts University...
- Collected in: Vol. III
- Setting: December 12, 1940
Sequel to Spike and Dru: Pretty Maids All in a Row. The Slayer and her Watcher try to find a Watcher who has gone missing in 1940's United States.
Stakeout on Rush Street
- Author: Max Allan CollinsMax Allan CollinsMax Allan Collins is an American mystery writer. He has written novels, screenplays, comic books, comic strips, trading cards, short stories, movie novelizations and historical fiction. He wrote the graphic novel Road to Perdition , created the comic book private eye Ms...
with Matthew V. Clemens - Collected in: Vol. II
- Setting: Chicago, Illinois, 1943
The current Slayer is a private eye who goes by the name Betty. She has ties to the mob currently in Chicago and has helped them out on several occasions. When she learns that one of their current employees is in fact a vampire, she informs the mob boss who agrees to pay her a large sum of money in exchange for her killing the vampire.
Undeadsville
- Author: Michael Reaves
- Collected in: Vol. IV
- Setting: New York, 1952
The Slayer is a 'beatnik
Beatnik
Beatnik was a media stereotype of the 1950s and early 1960s that displayed the more superficial aspects of the Beat Generation literary movement of the 1950s and violent film images, along with a cartoonish depiction of the real-life people and the spiritual quest in Jack Kerouac's autobiographical...
' named Zoe, is turning eighteen, and therefore would soon be having her Cruciamentum. Zoe's Watcher, Ian Sykes, is so alienated from her lifestyle that he conspires to see that his Slayer does not survive her Cruciamentum.
And White Splits the Night
- Author: Yvonne NavarroYvonne NavarroYvonne Navarro is an American author who has published over twenty books. Of those twenty, the titles AfterAge, deadrush, Final Impact, Red Shadows, DeadTimes, That's Not My Name and Mirror Me were solo novels, or fiction created solely by her...
- Collected in: Vol. I
- Setting: Florida, 1956
17 year old Asha is a dark-skinned Slayer in an extremely racist society. While hunting, she discovers a vampire's plan to kill a church group in a couple of days and bomb the place to the ground. She and her Watcher rush to the church to prevent the attack from happening. Asha manages to save the people in the church but ends up being killed herself.
Back to the Garden
- Author: Robert Joseph Levy
- Collected in: Vol. IV
- Setting: 1969
A pacifist Slayer, Beryl MacKenzie, approaches her eighteenth birthday and therefore her Cruciamentum awaits her. She joins a commune in Nova Scotia in just before coming into her power. So she must face the Cruciamentum as an initiation into being a Slayer.
It's All About the Mission
- Author: Nancy HolderNancy HolderNancy Holder is an American writer and the author of several novels, including numerous tie-in books based on the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She's also written fiction related to several other science fiction and fantasy shows, including Angel and Smallville.Holder is a four-time winner...
- Collected in: Vol. IV
- Setting: Harlem, New York, 1973
Nikki Wood
Nikki Wood
Nikki Wood is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon in the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, portrayed originally by April Weeden-Washington and later by K.D. Aubert.-Biography:...
is turning eighteen and pregnant. Nikki's Watcher, Bernard Crowley, knows that her Cruciamentum is a very terrible idea.
Two Teenage Girls at the Mall
- Author: Jane EspensonJane EspensonJane Espenson is an American script writer and television producer who has worked on both situation comedies and serial dramas. She had a five-year stint as a writer and producer on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and shared a Hugo Award for her writing on the episode "Conversations with Dead People"...
- Collected in: Vol. IV
- Setting: Keller, Nebraska, 1981
This story is told from the perspective of a sixteen year old newly-turned vampire, Julie Lemmer. Her sire starves her then locks her in a mall. The second girl locked in the mall is a Slayer who has just turned eighteen and is therefore facing her Cruciamentum. Unfortunately Julie has unplanned-for advantages on the Slayer.
The Code of the Samurai
- Author: Nancy HolderNancy HolderNancy Holder is an American writer and the author of several novels, including numerous tie-in books based on the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She's also written fiction related to several other science fiction and fantasy shows, including Angel and Smallville.Holder is a four-time winner...
- Collected in: Vol. III
- Setting: Tokyo, 1993
India Cohen, Buffy's immediate predecessor, patrols freely around Tokyo. She fancies her handsome, young watcher, Kit. The pair are asked to help a clan dust their vampire-ancestor, along with 50 other warriors. India Cohen also appears in The Book of Fours.
Again, Sunnydale
- Author: Jane EspensonJane EspensonJane Espenson is an American script writer and television producer who has worked on both situation comedies and serial dramas. She had a five-year stint as a writer and producer on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and shared a Hugo Award for her writing on the episode "Conversations with Dead People"...
- Collected in: Vol. II
- Setting: California, 2001 with flashbacks to 1999
Buffy, Willow and Xander are sent back into their 1999 bodies back in high school. They have all the knowledge of what is to come because they are actually from the year 2001. Willow and Xander are both disturbed and want to go back to the present time but Buffy is determined to stay in the past where her mother still lives and her life isn't nearly as complicated as it had become in the future.
Rumor has it this story was originally conceived as a possible episode for the sixth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but for whatever reasons, wasn't used.
All That You Do Comes Back Unto Thee
- Author: Todd A. McIntosh
- Collected in: Vol. II
- Setting: California, 2000
A fellow student of Buffy Summers at UC Sunnydale named Josh decides to stand up for himself against the mean jocks and summons an ancient Egyptian spirit to do his bidding. Only the spirit doesn't want to play along and is in search of his mummified body which is currently located in Sunnydale's museum. It's up to Buffy to stop this spirit from inhabiting his old body, but it turns out that Xander, despite his mummy fears, saves the day.
Canonical issues
Buffy novels are not usually considered to be canonical. However, overviews summarising their story, written early in the writing process, were 'approved' by both Fox and Joss WhedonJoss Whedon
Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon is an American screenwriter, executive producer, director, comic book writer, occasional composer and actor, founder of Mutant Enemy Productions and co-creator of Bellwether Pictures...
(or his office), and the books were therefore later published as official Buffy merchandise.
The one major departure from the canon was started in Christopher Golden's Spike and Dru: Pretty Maids All in a Row
Spike and Dru: Pretty Maids All in a Row
Spike and Dru: Pretty Maids All in a Row is an original novel based on the U.S. television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Voodoo Lounge, found in Tales of the Slayer Volume III, is a companion to this story.-Plot summary:...
and then continued in his story Voodoo Lounge from vol.III. This story centres around the fact that Spike kills the Slayer Sophie Carstensen, and the remaining narrative details the death of her immediate successor, Isabel Cortes, then the adventures of the next girl, Eleanor Boudreau. However, in the canon of the TV show, a large point is made of the fact that the two Slayers that Spike is able to kill are Xin Rong and Nikki Wood
Nikki Wood
Nikki Wood is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon in the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, portrayed originally by April Weeden-Washington and later by K.D. Aubert.-Biography:...
, Robin Wood's mother.
Volume I
- Litefoot1969.bravepages.com - Review of this Volume 1
- Teen-books.com - Reviews of Volume 1
- Nika-summers.com - Reviews of Volume 1 by Nika Summers
- Shadowcat.name - Review of Volume 1
Volume II
- Litefoot1969.bravepages.com - Review of this Volume 2
- Teen-books.com - Reviews of Volume 2
- Nika-summers.com - Reviews of Volume 2 by Nika Summers
- Shadowcat.name - Review of Volume 2
Volume III
- Litefoot1969.bravepages.com - Review of this Volume 3
- Teen-books.com - Reviews of Volume 3
- Shadowcat.name - Review of Volume 3