The Cutest Ghouls in the World

by Tony Fonseca

05/15/2007

Kenner, Julie. California Demon. New York: Berkley Books, 2006. 342 p.

She may be destined to be called the female Christopher Moore, and those words would be high praise indeed.

Granted, there might not be a huge audience out there for novels about an ex-demon hunter turned soccer mom turned reactivated demon hunter, but for fans of comic horror, Kenner will be a much welcome new voice. Like Moore, she sets her novels in the strangest of strange lands, modern day California; what she adds to the subgenre is a more gentile sarcasm. While Moore’s stories seem to be over-the-top, chock full of assorted nuts and surfer lingo, Kenner’s heroine is domestic in every sense of the word. Because her demon huntress Kate Connor pretends to be a stay-at-home PTA mom, Kenner’s humor takes the form of old Roseanne Barr “domestic goddess” routines, with nearly every punch line pointing out how much easier it is to fight and slay a demon—even a really big one—than it is to raise a teenaged daughter or watch over a toddler. Her characters don’t tend to be of the weirdo variety; rather, they are recognizable wife types: trophy brides, know-it-alls, miniature dictators. Any of us who have dealt with parent groups know these people.

This domesticity is, in general, the strength of California Demon. As far back as 1993, research published in a Publishers’ Weekly demographics report (by Robert K. J. Killheffer) verified what an often cited 1988 Gallup study found, that there are at least two dominant segments in the horror literature audience, young males and older, usually educated females. This information was later made popular by horror editor David G. Hartwell in his Dark Descent anthology (Doherty, 1997). So in essence fiction such as Kenner’s may have a ready made audience, one that can be tapped by just the right writer. A female author who specializes in humorously presenting horror themes and motifs from the viewpoint of a mother may be just the person who can appeal to this demographic. The domesticity of her novels also makes them better crossover fodder, garnering mention in even The New York Times. Kenner is already getting good reviews from Booklist (a major librarian-based publication), and according to a 2005 Hollywood Reporter item, her novel Carpe Demon is being adapted by brothers Kevin and Dan Hageman for Warner Bros. Pictures, with Chris Columbus, Michael Barnathan and Mark Radcliffe producing. In other words, she seems to have stumbled onto the perfect combination of horror, comedy, and femininity.

Of course, the problem with such a narrow emphasis is diversity. One does not have to get fifty pages into California Demon to realize that the snide asides become rather predictable. Any mention of a fight with a demon is going to be compared to something about raising a child, and found lacking. While this may be funny the first two or three times, it loses it’s ability to amuse after that, and simply becomes irritating. Every now and then Kenner manages to balance domestic humor with jokes about relationships, pseudo office humor (if one can imagine an office of demon hunters), and action-packed fight scenes which showcase her heroine’s martial arts abilities and knowledge of how to turn almost any household item—including high heels—into a lethal weapon. Kenner also includes the requisite mystery for the reader to unravel: just who is a demon in disguise, and who is fighting for the forces of good.

Despite these various techniques, perhaps the most enjoyable part of Kenner’s fiction is her discursive, vernacular writing style. California Demon is filtered entirely through the consciousness of Connor, and because she is witty, down-to-earth, and likable, so is Kenner’s prose style. Kenner seems fond of dialogue, both interior and exterior (i.e., characters talking to themselves and conversing with others); the bulk of the novel takes that form, which makes it read quickly. I cannot think of a more fitting writing style for this type of fiction, because, to put it bluntly, the writing does not get in the way of the reading fun. It is surprising how many writers of comic fiction fail to realize the simple fact that if the reader has to labor too hard to decipher the text, there is a very good chance that the humor will either be lost or will simply go unappreciated.

It’s too early to say whether or not Kenner will become a major voice in the genre or will simply be a flash in the pan. Certainly, at some point she will have to branch out and leave Connor behind if she is to deserve a reputation similar to Moore’s or even Charlaine Harris’s or Laurell K. Hamilton’s. However, it would be entirely understandable if she were to ride the coattails of Carpe Demon and California Demon just a little longer. After all, Buffy did run for 145 episodes, and one could do much worse than develop a cult following.