House of Night

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 fifteen-year-old girl who has just become 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]

Novels

The Vampyre World

Instead of vampire, the authors use the variant spelling vampyre throughout the book 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 vampires when adolescent hormones trigger a strand of what is otherwise junk DNA.^[5] The change from human to vampyre takes four years, during which time the adolescents, known as "fledglings," must attend one of the "House of Night" boarding schools.^[6] While there, they are required to take the Vampyre Sociology 101 course to learn the dangers they face.^[7] If a fledgling is not in constant proximity to adult vampyres, the fledgling will die; so the fledglings rarely leave the school. About one in ten fledglings die anyway, since their bodies cannot tolerate the Change. For those who survive, there's a big reward: in the words of one of the authors, "Vampires are like Superman. They’re super-gorgeous. They’re super-talented. They’re super-men."^[8] Vampyres are physically stronger than most adult humans, with accelerated reflexes, enhanced dexterity, life of more than five centuries, as well as heightened senses such as night vision.

The House of Night, Tulsa (In real life, Cascia Hall.)

Only vampyres and fledglings that have blue tattoos are not destroyed by sunlight, as in many vampire novels, but it is painful to them, so classes at the House of Night are held at night.^[9] Fledglings are marked by a sapphire blue crescent-shaped outline on their foreheads; when they become full-fledged vampires, this mark becomes solid and they receive more 'tattoos' which extend over their cheeks (these usually represent some personality aspect; for instance, Zoey's equestrian teacher, Lenobia, has tattoos that look like horses.) Zoey is the only fledgling to receive a filled-in mark and tattoos. As she defeats evil, her tattoos extend over her shoulders, down to her lower back, around her waist, down her arms and palms, and across her chest. Older fledglings and adult vampires need to drink small quantities of human blood, but House of Night vampires do not attack humans to get it, instead getting it from blood banks. The taking of blood is pleasurable for both human and vampire, comparable to (and better than) sex and a drug rush, and may lead to a strong emotional bond, called "Imprinting" between the two. When an imprint is broken, either through death, Imprinting of another, or mystical means, it causes major anguish between the vampire and human. Like with Zoey and Heath.

Zoey and her friends also 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."^[10] As with many contemporary vampire novels, exploration of human nature and social commentary forms a subtext.^[11] and Tsi Sgili^[12] are taken from real Cherokee legends.^[13]

Outside in the human world, the "People of Faith" is a fictional Protestant religion that is highly intolerant of anything else but their own beliefs. (In an interview, P.C. Cast said that she modeled the People of Faith on the worst fanatics of all religions, not just Protestantism.^[14]) Catholicism also plays an important role in the later novels, with the fledglings joining forces with Catholic nuns against Kalona.

The religious ambiance gives House of Night a strong moral perspective^[15] as it is often enforced that Nyx gives vampyres and humans free will.^[16] This theme takes special prominence in Tempted, where Zoey discovers that, although she is the reincarnation of a woman created to love Kalona, she has the power to choose whether she will follow her previous incarnation's path or reject it.^[17] One of the characters dies because Zoey makes the wrong choice.^[18] Also, in Burned, a Manichaen view of the Universe is presented, in which Good battles Evil: forces of Light combat forces of Darkness and characters must choose which side to be on. Also, the black and white bull are presented.^[19] In Awakened, the theme of love is presented, in which love must battle Darkness, and life is really only, always, about love.

The Benedictine Abbey, Tulsa (In real life, St. Joseph Monastery.)

The setting

In a blizzard similar to that described in Hunted, 14 inches of snow fell on Tulsa.^[21] This photo was taken about 100 yards from the route Zoey used to flee the House of Night.

The series is set in Tulsa, in a small and reclusive part of Midtown. The House of Night campus is in the real life campus of Cascia Hall, and the climactic scene of the first book in the series takes place in the extensive gardens of the Philbrook Museum. Zoey sometimes sneaks off-campus to the elegant 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,^[22] and can be visited,^[23] they are far less extensive than the tunnels described by Cast. The abandoned Art Deco train depot where the tunnels begin, however, is real^[24] and is slated to become a concert hall.^[25] 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, the very rich and old mayor of Tulsa, has a name similar to the former, very rich, mayor of Tulsa Bill LaFortune, his character is very different, and the author has stressed that her fictional mayor is indeed fictional.^[26] The Benedictine convent to which Zoey and her friends flee.^[27] is real; it is called St. Joseph Monastery.^[28] And the devastating ice storm through which they flee was based on a real ice storm that hit Tulsa in December 2007.^[29] The climactic scene in Tempted takes place far from Tulsa, on San Clemente Island near Venice, which in real life called Isola di San Clemente and is part of the small island around Venice. The church at which the Vampyre High Council meets was built in 1131.^[30]

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.^[31] Princess Sgathach lived in Dunscaith Castle, which is today a ruin. (Seoras Wallace, the doughty Scottish historian who provided P.C. Cast with a background on Scottish mythology, became her boyfriend, and the Burned character of Sgiach's consort is modelled on him.^[32])

Characters

The following lists a number of the characters in House of Night.^[33]

• Zoey Redbird: the main protagonist of the series. She has an affinity for all five elements (air, fire, water, earth and spirit), and is the only High Priestess to have ever been given that magnitude of power by the Goddess Nyx. Zoey is also the youngest High Priestess in vampyre history.
• Neferet: Main antagonist and former High Priestess, now immortal Consort of Darkness and witch Queen of the Tsi Sgili. Neferet is initially introduced as a kind, loving mentor to Zoey, but is gradually revealed to be on the side of Darkness.
• Aphrodite LaFont: Former "hag from hell" and Zoey's enemy in the first book. An Oracle and Prophetess, she gradually grows to trust Zoey and the rest of the nerd herd.
• Stevie Rae Johnson: Zoey's best friend, and the first red vampyre High Priestess in history. She also has an affinity for earth, and is Rephaim's girlfriend later in the series.
• Erin Bates: A fledgling and member of the nerd herd with an affinity for water before she left to be with the evil red fledgling Dallas. Her body eventually rejects the Change and she dies.
• Shaunee Cole: A fledgling and member of the nerd herd with an affinity for fire. Girlfriend of Erik Night in Redeemed.
• Damien Maslin: A fledgling, member of the nerd herd with an affinity for air and Jack's boyfriend.
• Heath Luck: Zoey's human " almost boyfriend", who can't seem to stay away despite her best efforts. Their Imprint breaks twice: once when Zoey Imprints with Loren Blake, and again when Heath is killed by Kalona. Part of Heath's soul later returns in Aurox, the Vessel created by Neferet.
• Nyx: The Goddess of the vampyres and former love of Kalona. Erebus is her Consort.
• Erik Night: A former fledgling and Zoey's ex-boyfriend, now the vampyre Tracker for Tulsa's House of Night. Erik has a talent for acting, and once won an international House of Night monologue competition. He and Shaunee later start seeing each other.
• Kalona: Erebus's brother and the fallen immortal Guardian of Nyx. Father of Rephaim and the Raven Mockers. He was once a glorious winged immortal of Nyx as well as her warrior and lover, but he grew jealous of his brother and was eventually deceived by Darkness, and was thus cast from the Otherworld by Nyx, an act that broke her heart. His wings turned black after this, reflecting the taint of Darkness in his soul.
• Darius: A Son of Erebus tasked with guarding Zoey. He later becomes Aphrodite's Warrior.
• Loren Blake: The vampyre Poet Laureate and a professor at the House of Night, he flirts with Zoey and later Imprints with her, but is revealed to be Neferet's lover and puppet. Neferet kills him in Chosen when he begins to show real concern for Zoey.
• Kramisha: A red fledgling with a gift for poetry who is named Zoey's Poet Laureate.
• Dragon Lankford: Anastasia's husband, the fencing instructor.
• Anastasia Lankford: Dragon's wife, the Spells and Rituals professor.
• Sylvia Redbird: Zoey's grandmother, a Cherokee Wise Woman. She owns a lavender farm and is often on hand to give Zoey advice and reassurance in the fight against Darkness.
• James Stark: A red vampyre who becomes Zoey's Warrior and Guardian and also has an affinity for archery (he can't miss what he aims at).
• Jack Twist: Damien's boyfriend and a member of the nerd herd, who has an unofficial affinity for technology. In Awakened, Neferet, needing a sacrifice for the white bull, chose Jack because he refused to revoke Nyx in favor of evil, and killed him, making it seem like an accident.
• Rephaim: Kalona's eldest and favorite Raven Mocker son. Later he becomes Stevie Rae's boyfriend and in Awakened he gets a normal body, but because of the mistakes he made in the past, is he only normal by night. By day he is a raven.
• Shaylin Ruede: A blind girl who is the first fledgling to be Marked red. When Erik Marks her, she is gifted with an affinity for True Sight, and later for water.
• Nisroc: Kalona's second eldest son and second most evolved, took care of his brothers while Kalona and Rephaim were away.

Adaptations

Reception

The series has received generally good reviews, reaching 5th in the New York Times Children's Bestsellers list.^[36]

External links

• Official website

Notes