CONSIDERING "THE LOVE/HAIGHT CASE FILES" BY RABE AND BINGLE

Horror seems to be a popular genre these days. In novels. In film entertainment. In videogames. In the January 6th Congressional Committee Hearings. I’ve never quite understood why. All those monsters and creatures, zombies; creepy crawlers; ghosts; irradiated mutants; vampires, and stitched-together, re-animated, inarticulate, ungraceful stompers over the landscape never held much of an appeal for me, if “appeal” is the proper word. But then, as I’ve previously written, my mother never let me watch monster movies when I was a kid. So I was not inculcated in my tender years with what many have told me is delicious fright. But, no matter how delicious, fear does not seem to me to be that appetizing.

All that said, I did write a horror novel, Creature Feature: A Horrid Comedy. Albeit, as the subtitle suggests, a satiric and comic one—which is the only excuse I can offer.

Given the above, imagine my dismay when I learned that Jean Rabe and Donald J. Bingle, two authors I admire, have brought forth from their fertile and creative minds The Love/Haight Case Files, currently contained in two books. Book 1: Seeking Supernatural Justice and Book 2 Fighting for Other-Than-Human Rights.

Supernatural? Other-than-human? This did not bode well for me.

But I had nothing to fear. The books are generously populated with ghosts (including one who is a lead character), vampires, werewolves, zombies, living stone gargoyles, not to mention more obscure (to me, at least) waterborne creatures. But the interconnected tales (four in each book) that are the Love/Haight case files do not frighten you with their supernatural characters. But instead, with the oppression, discrimination, and injustice these characters suffer at the hands of bigots, haters, and monied interests, all of whom are the real monsters in these tales.

The premise of the two books is simple. Magic has returned to the world, and supernatural creatures—once thought only the stuff of legend and myth-making—are now quite natural. For some reason, many of them have congregated in the Bay Area around San Francisco. Well, it is a lovely city. And being immigrants and refugees, they are facing a barrier of prejudice and discrimination put up by some of the locals.

Who you going to call? Well, obviously, not the Ghostbusters. But rather lawyers Thomas Brock and Evelyn Love. Thomas starts out living but quickly becomes a ghost in the first book. Evelyn is a newly-minted but brilliant attorney. Although they are both humans (even if one is dead), they are appalled by the injustices thrown upon the backs of the prejudicially dubbed Other-Than-Humans or OTs.

So, if these are not horror stories, what are they? Why, legal procedural/urban fantasies, of course. And within these stories, you will find fine points of the law, danger, excitement, sadness, humor, and hints of romance among what may become a most unusual mixed couple. And wonderful people—or possibly better said, personalities—to spend time with. All of which combine into two excellent reads, indeed.

The Love/Haight Case Files are, of course, big metaphors for the world as it is. Prejudice and hate endeavor to make monsters out of a host of “others” but only succeed in making monsters out of those who spew it out. Rabe and Bingle humanize the non-humans in these fantasies. And thereby implicitly exposing the horror of dehumanizing humans in reality.

You can often find the truth about authors in their work. But, for the facts, let’s turn to Jean’s and Don’s official bios from their websites.

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ABOUT JEAN RABE

I write with dogs wrapped around my feet. I get to wear sandals or bedroom slippers to work and old, comfortable clothes. When the weather is fine I get to write on my back porch. I love summer.

I write mysteries and fantasies because life is too short to be limited to one genre.

I started getting published when I was 12, studied journalism at Northern Illinois University, then went to work as a news reporter…eventually for Scripps Howard, where I managed their Western Kentucky bureau. Getting itchy feet, I moved to Wisconsin and went to work for TSR, Inc., the then-producers of the Dungeons & Dragons game. I dipped my itchy feet into the fiction pool and wrote Dragonlance novels for several years. Now I’m back in Illinois, my land surrounded by train tracks that offer music to write by. And there are plenty of dogs in the neighborhood to provide an accompaniment.

I am a recipient of the Faust, the grand master award of the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers, and the Illinois Author Project’s Soon-to-be Famous Award. I’ve been on the USA Today’s Bestseller list a few times … ah, I’ve never hit the Times.

I’ve written more than forty SF, fantasy, mystery, and adventure novels (including a couple of ghosted projects), more short stories than I care to count, and I’ve edited magazines and anthologies.

When I’m writing I listen to classical guitar and 60s rock … depending on my subject matter. And at every good opportunity I toss tennis balls for my cadre of dogs.

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ABOUT DONALD J. BINGLE

Donald J. Bingle is the author of six books and more than sixty shorter tales in the science fiction, fantasy, thriller, horror, mystery, steampunk, romance, comedy, and memoir genres.

Random true facts about Donald J. Bingle:

· He was the Keeper of the World’s Largest Kazoo.

· He made up the science of Neo-PsychoPhysics for a time travel roleplaying game.

· He is a member of The International Thriller Writers.

· He once successfully limboed under a pole only nineteen inches off the ground.

· He has written short stories about killer bunnies, civil war soldiers, detectives, Renaissance Faire orcs, giant battling robots, demons, cats, werewolves, time travelers, ghosts, time-traveling ghosts, spies, barbarians, a husband accused of murdering his wife, dogs, horses, gamers, soldiers, Neanderthals, commuters, kender, Victorian adventurers, lawyers, and serial killers (note the serial comma). Of those subjects, he has occasional contact in real life only with dogs, cats, gamers, lawyers, and commuters (unless some of those are, unknown to him, really time travelers, ghosts, demons, serial killers, spies, or murder suspects).

· He prefers gamers to commuters.

· He prefers dogs to cats.

· He is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

· He was once hit by lightning.

· He was the world’s top-ranked tournament player of classic roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons for more than fifteen years.

· He is a member of the Horror Writers Association.

· He was an Eagle Scout.

· He is a member of the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers.

· He used to write movie reviews for Knights of the Dinner Table, a comic book about gamers.

· He is a retired attorney.

· He has likely attended GenCon for more years than you have been alive.

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