Old Blood (Experiment in Terror, #5.5)

by Karina Halle

From her harrowing introduction in Darkhouse, the spectre known as 'Creepy Clown Lady' has been a constant fixture in Perry Palomino's life. But beyond the horrid makeup and piercing stare lies Pippa, a woman just like everyone else. Well, not quite.

When Perry discovered Pippa's message to her and Dex on the EVP recordings, she thought she'd heard the last of the old woman's mes­sage. She was wrong. In the novella Old Blood, Pippa relays the tale of her troubled and tortured past, revealing how an aspiring actress and loving mother fell into madness and how an unfathomable betrayal led to her untimely death. For Perry, the repercussions of her message are life-shattering.

• ISBN10: 0349402523
• ISBN13: 9780349402529
• Publish Date: 2 December 2013
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
• Imprint: Piatkus Books
• Edition: Digital original
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 20000
• Language: English

Reviews

[Amanda]

Old Blood satisfies my inner (or not so inner?) information whore. Though this story is about Pippa, it sheds a lot of light on what happened/is happening/will likely happen to Perry. And Dex! We get a little information on Dex--information that he would probably not willingly share otherwise. This novella ties up some remaining threads in both Lying Season and On Demon Wings. Which was good. I like the tying of threads and this answered some questions I've had rolling around in my head about Perry and her abilities throughout the entire series thus far. *thumbs up*

[littleread1]

This is the story of the Creepy Clown Lady, later known as Pippa. I really can't tell you much about this novella without spoiling it, so I will just say, this helps brings several pieces together. You find out how Pippa is connected to both Dex and Perry. And how tragic her life was.

I did find myself feeling sorry for her and getting angry at her simultaneously. I suppose it is the whole "Hind sight is 20/20" but knowing some of the things I did, and some of the things she did, she continuously made terrible choices. But like I have said before, I don't always have to agree with characters decisions, as long as they are in character. So, she makes decisions that ultimately lead to her death. That is not a spoiler, you should know going into this she is dead. If you don't know that you should not read this yet.

While this story does answer several questions, it leaves me with new ones; Did Dex's mom see ghosts? What happened to his dad/mom/brother? Did Dex and Perry actually listen to this story on the tapes? Did they hear it together? What were their reactions?

I also want to know what happened to Dex between The Lying Season and On Demon Wings. Hopefully we get to find out in The Dex Files this summer. And maybe Miss Halle will be nice to us and release it early, like she did with Old Blood. :-)

OH! And it includes the first two chapters of Into The Hollows. GOOD LORD I cannot wait for that book. Get over yourselves and get together already!!! Ok, better now.