House of Night

Last updated
House of Night
Author P. C. Cast & Kristin Cast
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre Romance, fantasy, young adult fiction
Publisher St. Martin's Press, Atom/Little Brown
Published2007–2014; 2017–present
Media typePrint

House of Night is a series of young adult vampire-themed fantasy novels by American author P. C. Cast and her daughter Kristin Cast. It follows the adventures of Zoey Redbird, a 16-year-old girl who is "marked", becomes a fledgling vampyre and is required to attend the House of Night boarding school in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Books in the series have been on the New York Times Best Seller list for 63 weeks [1] and have sold over seven million copies in North America, [2] and more than ten million books worldwide, in 39 countries. [3] [4]

Contents

Plot

Zoey and her friends face the usual teenage issues. Zoey keeps some secrets from her friends and gets in trouble with them, forcing her to consider the nature of friendship. Kristin Cast said that these moral dilemmas were included because "those are issues teenagers deal with... We're not afraid to discuss things that are actually happening." [5] As with many contemporary vampire novels, exploration of human nature and social commentary forms a subtext. [6] and Tsi Sgili [7] are taken from real Cherokee legends. [lower-alpha 1]

St. Joseph Monastery, Tulsa, the basis for the Benedictine Abbey in the series HouseofNight3.JPG
St. Joseph Monastery, Tulsa, the basis for the Benedictine Abbey in the series

The setting

The Vampyre World

Instead of "vampire", the authors use the variant spelling "vampyre" throughout the series. This convention is also applied to the words "vampyric" and "vampyrism".

In the fictional world of House of Night, a small percentage of the world's teenagers are changed into vampyres when adolescent hormones trigger a strand of what is otherwise junk DNA. [8] Fledglings are "marked" by a Tracker vampyre with a blue crescent-shaped tattoo on their foreheads; when they become full-fledged adult vampyres, this mark becomes solid blue, and is eventually elaborated upon with the addition of further blue 'tattoos', which extend over their forehead and cheeks, typically taking designs related to some aspect of their personality. Fledglings that die and then are later resurrected have their crescent tattoos turn red in place of the usual blue. Red fledglings appear to complete the change once they have made a choice to side with either good or evil, and their expanded tattoos are the same red. [lower-alpha 2] The marking of a fledgling, and the consequent gifts received as part of being a vampyre, are considered to be gifts from the goddess Nyx, the Greek personification of the night.

The change from human to vampyre takes four years, during which the vampyre teenagers, known as "fledglings", must attend one of the "House of Night" boarding schools, [9] and must remain in constant proximity to adult vampyres, as otherwise the fledgling will die. As a result, fledglings rarely leave the schools in which they live. While at the House of Night boarding school, fledglings are required to take lessons in vampyre history, sociology, and in the powers gifted to them as part of their transition into an adult vampyre. However, one in ten fledglings die before completing the transition into adult vampyre, as their bodies reject the Change. Fledglings who do survive the Change into adulthood are physically stronger than most adult humans, with accelerated reflexes, enhanced dexterity, a heavily extended lifespan, and heightened senses, including night vision. [10]

The House of Night, Tulsa (in real life, Cascia Hall) HouseofNight2.JPG
The House of Night, Tulsa (in real life, Cascia Hall)

Older fledglings and adult vampyres need to drink small quantities of human blood, but vampyres at the House of Night do not attack humans to get this, instead receiving donations from blood banks. The taking of blood is pleasurable for both human and vampyre, comparable to and described as better than sex or a drug rush within the series, and may lead to a strong emotional bond between the human and the vampyre, known as "Imprinting". An Imprint can be broken through death, the vampyre Imprinting upon another, or through mystical means; when an Imprint is broken, it causes considerable anguish for both the vampyre and the human.

The series has a strong religious setting, with both Christianity and the beliefs of the vampyres a common thread throughout. In the human world within the series, various faiths exist in opposition to or in support of the vampyres; the "People of Faith", a fictional Protestant Christian denomination, is highly intolerant of those they perceive to be in opposition to their beliefs, including the vampyres. [lower-alpha 3] Catholicism also plays an important role later in the series, with the fledglings joining forces with Catholic nuns against Kalona. The religious setting of the series gives it a strong moral perspective, [12] as it is often enforced that Nyx gives vampyres and humans free will. [13] Throughout the series, Zoey faces difficult decisions and commonly questions whether or not she has made the right choices, with one character dying as a result of her actions in Tempted. [14] In Burned, a Manichaen view of the Universe is presented, in which Good battles Evil, and characters must choose which side to be on, with the black and white bulls, known as Light and Darkness respectively, introduced as representatives of these forces.

The Human World

The series is set in Tulsa, in a small and reclusive part of Midtown, with many locations in the series taken from real-life Tulsa itself. The House of Night campus is in the real life campus of Cascia Hall Preparatory School, and the climactic scene of the first book in the series takes place in the extensive gardens of the Philbrook Museum of Art. In the series, Zoey also sometimes travels off-campus to the real-life shops of nearby Utica Square, and several important confrontations take place in Utica Square's Starbucks coffee shop. Some of the novels' most dramatic scenes take place in a catacomb-like network of tunnels under downtown Tulsa, built by bootleggers during Prohibition; though a few such tunnels do indeed exist, [15] and can be visited, [16] they are far less extensive than the tunnels described in the series. The abandoned Art Deco train depot where the tunnels begin, however, is real, [17] and is slated to become a concert hall. [18]

The location of Aphrodite's parents' mansion, South 27th Place, is a real street, though the mansion itself is fictional. Though Aphrodite's father, Mr. LaFont, shares a similar name to former mayor of Tulsa Bill LaFortune, his character is not based on LaFortune himself. [19] The Benedictine monastery to which Zoey and her friends flee in the series [20] is real, known as St. Joseph Monastery. [21] The devastating ice storm through which they flee was based on a real ice storm that hit Tulsa in December 2007. [22] The climactic scene in Tempted takes place far from Tulsa, on San Clemente Island near Venice, called Isola di San Clemente in real life. The church at which the Vampyre High Council meets was built in 1131. [23]

Much of Burned takes place on the Inner Hebrides island of Skye, in the palace of Sgiach, the vampyre queen. According to Scottish tradition, Sgiach (usually spelled Sgathach) was a princess many centuries ago, who ran the best warrior training school in Scotland. [24] Princess Sgathach lived in Dunscaith Castle, which is today a ruin.

Characters

The following lists a number of the characters in House of Night. [25]

Novels

House of Night

  1. Marked (May 2007) - ISBN   9780312360269
  2. Betrayed (October 2007) - ISBN   9780312360283
  3. Chosen (March 2008) - ISBN   9780312360306
  4. Untamed (September 2008) - ISBN   9780312379834
  5. Hunted (March 2009) - ISBN   9780312577995
  6. Tempted (October 2009) - ISBN   9780312609382
  7. Burned (April 2010) - ISBN   9780312387969
  8. Awakened (January 2011) - ISBN   9780312650247
  9. Destined (October 2011) - ISBN   9780312387983
  10. Hidden (October 2012) - ISBN   9781250041746
  11. Revealed (October 2013) - ISBN   9780312594435
  12. Redeemed (October 2014) - ISBN   9780312594442

House of Night: Other World

  1. Loved (October 2017) - ISBN   9781538431122
  2. Lost (July 2018) - ISBN   9781538440742
  3. Forgotten (October 2019) - ISBN   9781982548056 [26]
  4. Found (July 2020) - ISBN   9781982548100 [27]

Novellas

Adaptations

Film adaptation

In November 2011, it was announced that the film rights to House of Night had been acquired by producer Samuel Hadida's production company, Davis Films, with Lionsgate having the distribution rights, with plans for five movies created, and an outline of the screenplay written. However, as of 2009, there were no known future plans for the movies; [28] the contract for the rights to the movies expired in the fall of 2020. [29]

Comic book adaptation

P.C. Cast announced on her website that a graphic book adaptation of the House of Night series, titled House of Night: Legacy, would be published in monthly issues by Dark Horse Comics starting the November 9, 2011. The comic book spanned five issues, each relating to a different element. The action takes place between Marked and Betrayed concerning Zoey's struggle to become a good leader for the Dark Daughters. To help her learn, Nyx places five tests in her way, each dealing with a story from The Fledgling Handbook 101. The drawings were done by Joëlle Jones, cover by Jenny Frison. [30]

Reception

The series has received generally good reviews, reaching 5th in the New York Times Children's Bestsellers list. [31]

Accolades

The sixth novel in the series, Tempted, went on sale in October, 2009 with a first printing of a million copies, [35] entered the USA Today bestseller list that week at #1. [36] In January, 2010, Gezeichnet, a German translation of Marked, reached the #1 spot on the Der Spiegel bestseller list. [37] The seventh novel, Burned, was released on April 27, 2010, [38] and like Tempted, entered the USA Today bestseller list at #1. [39] Awakened, released in January, 2011, also entered the list at #1. [40]

Bans and Challenges

In 2014, pastor Phillip Missick of King of Saints Tabernacle created a petition to ban the House of Night series as well as the Twilight series, and other vampire themed books aimed at teen audiences. He stated that he wanted the books "purged from the shelves" of the Austin Memorial Library in Cleveland, TX. [41]

In 2009 Henderson Junior High School in Stephenville, Texas, banned the entire series from its libraries, including the books that had yet to be written for "sexual content and nudity". [42]

Notes

  1. ↑ Much of the Kalona myth was apparently made up by the authors, since it refers to events a thousand years ago in Oklahoma, and until 1830, the Cherokee lived not in Oklahoma but in the region of New Echota, Georgia
  2. ↑ Zoey is the only fledgling to be "marked" with a filled-in mark; as the series progresses, she receives further tattoo-like designs around her cheeks, over her shoulders and across much of the rest of her body.
  3. ↑ In an interview, Cast stated that she modelled the People of Faith on "the worst fanatics of all religions", and not exclusively Protestantism. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hypnos</span> Personification of sleep in Greek mythology

In Greek mythology, Hypnos also spelled Hypnus is the personification of sleep; the Roman equivalent is known as Somnus. His name is the origin of the word hypnosis. Pausanias wrote that Hypnos was the dearest friend of the Muses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vampire literature</span> Speculative literary genre

Vampire literature covers the spectrum of literary work concerned principally with the subject of vampires. The literary vampire first appeared in 18th-century poetry, before becoming one of the stock figures of gothic fiction with the publication of Polidori's The Vampyre (1819), which was inspired by the life and legend of Lord Byron. Later influential works include the penny dreadful Varney the Vampire (1847); Sheridan Le Fanu's tale of a lesbian vampire, Carmilla (1872), and the most well known: Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897). Some authors created a more "sympathetic vampire", with Varney being the first, and more recent examples such as Moto Hagio's series The Poe Clan (1972-1976) and Anne Rice's novel Interview with the Vampire (1976) proving influential.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kristin Herrera</span> American former actress (born 1989)

Kristin Lisa Herrera is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Dana Cruz on the first season of the Nickelodeon series Zoey 101 and as Lourdes Del Torro on General Hospital.

Phyllis Christine Cast is an American romance/fantasy author, known for the House of Night series she writes and her daughter Kristin Cast edits, as well as her own Goddess Summoning and Partholon book series.

<i>Vampyres</i> (film) 1974 erotic horror film by José Ramón Larraz

Vampyres is a 1974 British horror film directed by José Ramón Larraz and starring Anulka Dziubinska, Marianne Morris, and Murray Brown. Its plot follows two female lovers who, having been resurrected as vampires, lure unsuspecting travelers to their dilapidated estate to feed on their blood.

The Raven Mocker, or Kâ'lanû Ahkyeli'skï,, is an evil spirit and the most feared of Cherokee witches. According to Cherokee spiritual beliefs it robs the sick and dying of their heart. Normally appearing as old, withered men and women, or turning completely invisible except to certain medicine men, who work to stop the evil Raven Mockers do, they take to the air in a fiery shape, with the sounds of a raven's cry and a strong wind as they hunt for their next victim. After tormenting and killing their victim by slitting the victim's head they consume his heart, and add a year to their life for every year that the slain would have still lived. The sound of a raven mocker means that someone in the area will soon die.

<i>Untamed</i> (Cast novel)

Untamed is the fourth novel of the House of Night fantasy series written by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast. The book was published on September 23, 2008, by St. Martin's Press, an extension of Macmillan Publishers, reaching #8 in ALA Teens Top 10 in 2009. Subsequently, it has been translated in over 20 different languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eros</span> Greek god of love and sex

In Greek mythology, Eros is the Greek god of love and sex. His Roman counterpart was Cupid ('desire'). In the earliest account, he is a primordial god, while in later accounts he is described as one of the children of Aphrodite and Ares and, with some of his siblings, was one of the Erotes, a group of winged love gods.

Monte Cassino School is a Catholic elementary and middle school located in midtown Tulsa, Oklahoma. The school also included a girls' junior college until 1945 and a high school until 1986.

<i>Tempted</i> (Cast novel)

Tempted is the sixth volume of the House of Night fantasy series, written by American P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast. It was published in October 23, 2009 by St. Martin's Press, an extension of Macmillan Publishers. By February 2010, according to Publishers Weekly, it had already sold 1.1 million copies. The book has been translated in more than 20 different languages.

<i>Hunted</i> (Cast novel) 2009 novel by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast

Hunted is the fifth novel of the House of Night fantasy series written by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast. The book was published on March 10, 2009, by St. Martin's Press, an extension of Macmillan Publishers. By February 2010, according to Publishers Weekly it had already sold 950.000 copies. Since, it was translated in more than 20 languages.

<i>Burned</i> (Cast novel) Book by P. C. Cast

Burned is the seventh volume of the House of Night fantasy series written by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast.

Kristin F. Cast is an American author of young adult books. She is the editor for the House of Night series for young adults with her mother, P.C. Cast, and the author of The Escaped series.

<i>Dragons Oath</i>

Dragon's Oath is the first of the House of Night novellas spin-off series, written by American authors P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast. It was published on July 12, 2011 by St. Martin's Press an extension of Macmillan Publishers.

<i>Marked</i> (novel)

Marked is the first novel of the House of Night fantasy series written by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast.

<i>Betrayed</i> (Cast novel)

Betrayed is the second novel of the House of Night fantasy series, written by American authors P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast. The book was released on October 2, 2007 by St. Martin's Press, an extension of Macmillan Publishers. Since, it has been translated in more than 20 other languages, including Chinese, Portuguese and Romanian.

<i>Chosen</i> (Cast novel)

Chosen is the third novel of the House of Night fantasy series, written by American authors P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast. The book was released on March 2, 2008 by St. Martin's Press, an extension of Macmillan Publishers. The book has been since translated into more than 20 other languages including French, Spanish, German and Chinese.

<i>Awakened</i> (novel) 2011 novel

Awakened is the eighth volume of the House of Night fantasy series written by American authors P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast. The novel was published on January 1, 2011, by St. Martin's Press, an extension of Macmillan Publishers.

<i>Destined</i> (Cast novel) 2011 novel by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast

Destined is the ninth volume of the House of Night fantasy series written by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast. The book was published on October 25, 2011 by St. Martin's Press, an extension of Macmillan Publishers.

John Edgar Browning is an American author, editor, and scholar known for his nonfiction works about the horror genre and vampires in film, literature, and culture. Previously a visiting lecturer at the Georgia Institute of Technology, he is now a professor of liberal arts at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta, Georgia.

References

  1. ↑ "San Francisco Chronicle article". The San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on July 20, 2009.
  2. ↑ House of Night Shines for SMP, article in Publishers Weekly
  3. ↑ "Tulsa's Casts share roles as writers". newsok.com. 29 April 2010. Archived from the original on 14 June 2011. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  4. ↑ "P.C.Cast interview at OSU Tulsa". Archived from the original on 2010-06-15. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
  5. ↑ Wagner, Vit (March 29, 2009). "Toronto Star article". The Star.
  6. ↑ "Prajznerová, Cultural Intermarriage, p.63".{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  7. ↑ Jones, David E. (September 2001). Jones, Evil in our Midst p. 219. ISBN   9780757000096.
  8. ↑ Cast, Marked, p. 23
  9. ↑ Cast, Marked, p. 6
  10. ↑ "P.C. Cast interview". Archived from the original on 2012-04-19. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
  11. ↑ "P.C. Cast interview May 3, 2010". 3 May 2010.
  12. ↑ P.C. Cast; Kristin Cast (2007). Marked . St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN   9780312360269. Help me know the right thing to do and then give me the courage to do it.
  13. ↑ P.C. Cast; Kristin Cast (2008). Untamed . p.  72. We all have bad things inside us, and we all choose either to give in to those bad things or to fight them.
  14. ↑ Tempted, page 316
  15. ↑ "map of tunnels". 12 November 2005.
  16. ↑ "Tasha Does Tulsa" blog [ permanent dead link ]
  17. ↑ "P.C.Cast's blog with photos of Tulsa Depot".
  18. ↑ "Tulsa Symphony website". Archived from the original on 2011-07-23. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
  19. ↑ "P.C.Cast interview".
  20. ↑ Cast, Hunted, p.289
  21. ↑ "St. Joseph Monastery website".
  22. ↑ P.C. Cast Blog, 6:08 p.m. comment
  23. ↑ "Venice tourist website about the island".
  24. ↑ Macinnes, John (1899). The Brave Sons of Skye. p. 1.
  25. ↑ "Characters | House of Night Series". Archived from the original on 2014-04-05. Retrieved 2014-04-26.
  26. ↑ Cast, P.C.; Cast, Kristin (29 October 2019). Forgotten (House of Night Other World Series, Book 3) (A House of Night Other World). Blackstone Publishing. ISBN   978-1982548056.
  27. ↑ Cast, P.C.; Cast, Kristin (7 July 2020). Found. Blackstone Publishing. ISBN   978-1982548100.
  28. ↑ "P.C. Cast's Website: Latest News". Archived from the original on 2009-11-16. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  29. ↑ "Movie Update - Infinitely Interesting" . Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  30. ↑ Comic book Archived 2011-09-12 at the Wayback Machine
  31. ↑ New York Times "Children's Bestseller" list
  32. ↑ Marked on Romantic Times
  33. ↑ Tempted Archived 2011-08-24 at the Wayback Machine on Romantic Times
  34. ↑ "Burned (House of Night, #7)". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  35. ↑ "Tulsa World article".
  36. ↑ "USA Today lists, search archive for Nov 5".
  37. ↑ "Der Spiegel list for 2/1/10".
  38. ↑ "P.C. Cast official blog for Feb. 2010".
  39. ↑ "Bestseller list retrieved May 10, 2010". USA Today.
  40. ↑ "USA Today Bestseller List 1/16/11".[ dead link ]
  41. ↑ BRASHIER, VANESA (2014-08-21). "Church leader pushing petition to ban certain books at Austin Memorial Library". Chron. Retrieved 2022-03-25.
  42. ↑ "ALA Banned Books Week" (PDF). ala.org. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.