Vampire Hunter - The Laughing Corpse Book 1 - Anita Blake

I read mysteries and horror/fantasy only occasionally because I can usually guess whodunit or whydunit (as I did here) or because I find the fantasy too unconvincing (Tolkien being an exception), so why bother. However, I am enjoying this series, despite some sloppy writing/editing and holes in the plots, because Hamilton does create a convincing alternate reality and her chracterizations are, on the whole, very good. And Jean-Claude is just a great character, as is Anita. However, [SPOILERS AHEAD], Hamilton needs more attentive editing than she's currently receiving: in the final scene Jean-Claude claims to have witnessed the deaths of two minor characters whose deaths resulted in Anita being able to wield a massive amount of power that could be felt throughout the City and to have been drawn to Anita that night by sensing that power (which is self contradictory -- how could he have arrived before the act that caused the "power surge" if he was drawn by the power surge itself?). And Anita claims at the end that the police never figure out her connection to any of the deaths that occur that night, despite the fact that (presumably) her fingerprints were left on a machete and bullets from her gun were in two corpses. But other than these ridiculous loose ends, it was a fun book, but a weaker effort than many others inthe series.

The Laughing Corpse Submitted 6/16/01
Zombies. Those undead, mindless, soulless creatures of nightmares are at the core of the second book in the "Anita Blake, Vampire Slayer" series.
Anita Blake has an affinity with the dead, and is a professional Animator. That is, she can raise the recently dead from the grave as zombies. This is an employable talent in a futuristic world where the dead can be called up to do everything from testify in court to act as grisly house servants. Anita's second job, executing renegade vampires who are otherwise protected by law, is downplayed much more in this work than in the first. Still, the short, plucky animator who has been dubbed "The Executioner" by the vampires of St. Louis will need all her talents to stay alive in this second work.
Blake is called upon by a rich business owner to animate a 200-year-old corpse. Blake refuses, because to raise something that old will require far more than just the blood of a goat or a chicken: a human being must be sacrificed. Blake may not have a problem doing away with dangerous vampires, but murdering humans to raise a two-century-old zombie is neither in her job or ethical contract.
However, true to the first book, this is far from the only thing going on in the story. In addition to the rich man's offer to make Anita rich as well by raising the dead (although, making her a murderer in the process) and her defending herself against his goons who are, ah, *encouraging* her to take the job, there is the much more pressing problem of a renegade zombie that is literally tearing families to pieces. Anita's attempts to enlist the help of the country's most powerful voodoo priestess seems only to complicate matters, and Anita's suspicions about the priestess's involvement in the possible rogue zombie murders only manages to get Anita into deeper trouble yet. Reviewers note: don't make one of the world's most powerful voodoo priests angry at you!!
Meanwhile, there is also the not-so-small matter of the master vampire of the city who is trying to entice Anita to become his human servant (with The Executioner as his servant, his reputation would be powerful beyond words; vampires are SUCH political creatures!).
This is the second Anita Blake novel I've read after finishing "Guilty Pleasures", the first in the Blake series. As in the first book, the story is gritty, dark and wholly enticing. In a futuristic world, vampires are protected by law (unless they go on a rampage, in which case warrants for their destruction can be issued), and they have taken on a creepshow sort of attraction. The Laughing Corpse is the name of a vampire comedy club that young, mostly hip urban folk flock to because of the oddity and possible danger. Blake herself has seen too much of these undead creatures to be fooled by witty repartee, however.
Part detective story, part police investigation and part horror, the Anita Blake novels are gearing up to be the sort of stories that will hook even casual readers. There is a good deal of action, mystery, investigation and-- in the case of this story-- gore to keep the attention of most adult readers. Indeed, this story has more than it's share of gore than the previous novel as whole families are quite literally ripped to shreds by the zombie and... ahem... eaten.
Still, Hamilton has a masterful grasp of the language and describes the horror of a post-zombie attack police investigation without allowing the narrative to become "spatterpunk"-- rivers of gore and buckets of blood-- and she allows much of the visuals to be left up to the reader's imagination. Hence, those with weak stomachs and vivid imaginations may wish to reconsider whether or not they want to read this work.
Blake herself is a believable character; a mixture of tough-as-nails slayer of the undead who nonetheless secretly collects stuffed toy penguins. If YOUR job was to decapitate chickens to raise rotting corpses and crawl through filthy crypts to destroy dangerous vampires, you would need a childlike connection to innocence as well. This is a nice touch that allows us to more fully believe in both Blake as a person and the weird place the world has become with it's frank and open dealings with the supernatural.
True to the first book, there are sudden plot twists that fly at you from nowhere, and just when you think everything is neatly solved and we can go home now and take a long, hot shower, WHAM! we're blindsided by something else even more horrifying. The climax of "Laughing Corpse" is as surprising and tense as any grand work of suspense fiction and will make it impossible to put the book down.
More thrilling than horrifying (I had no trouble sleeping, nor was I tempted to peek in my closet and under the bed after reading this book), readers who are looking for a fast-paced thriller would do well to turn their attentions to this series. It is not necessary to read the first to read the second, but I would recommend it-- there are some subtle references that would be lost if one did not first start with "Guilty Pleasures", which is a fine read in itself.
Hats off, Ms. Hamilton. Fine work and my thanks to you.

"The Laughing Corpse" is the second book in Laurell Hamilton's "Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter" series, about a young woman who has a full time job raising zombies form the dead, and a part time job killing vampires. It follows "Guilty Pleasures" and focuses on a runaway zombie that is terrorizing the city.

I have read the first and third Anita Blake novels and was somewhat intrigued, so I picked this book up. I am not much of a vampire fiction fan, and Anita Blake was my first foray into the genre. After reading my third Laurell Hamilton book, I will probably move on to another author.

The difference between this book and "Guilty Pleasures," is that there is no focus on vampires. The book does go into some of Anita's relationship with Jean Claude, the master vampire of the city, but spends maybe 10 pages on their relationship. Hamilton could have easily removed every bit of story involving vampires from this book and it would not have changed the plot one bit. It is 95% about zombies and voodoo. Unless you're into that, the only good thing about that is the male readers are thankfully spared all of the "vampire erotica" that fills her other books. "The Laughing Corpse" has only one mention of a vampire's nipple in the entire book, which is a surprise if you're familiar with the other books in the series.

I have to give it three stars because the story was pretty enjoyable, but I won't be reading anymore of Hamilton's novels due to the writing. It's not too bad if you can get over the incredibly annoying use of the first person narrator. I got so sick of Anita's comments and having her every thought vocalized. How many times does she have to say "Bully for me," "gag me with a spoon," and "point for him?" It gets real old after the third or fourth chapter. My other big complaint was that this book needs a new editor. It wasn't loaded with mistakes, but I found at least 6 or 7 pretty glaring grammatical or spelling errors. There is no reason why a published novel that has an editor should misspell "too" as "to" or leave out entire words in sentences by mistake. I've also started to notice that Hamilton reuses many things from other books. Of the three Blake novels I've read, all three have very similar crime scene stories. We hear the same comments about how bloody they are, and how sick she gets at them. It's hard to describe, but if you read several of these novels you will get an eerie sense of deja vu.

For those that enjoyed Guilty Pleasures but aren't into the zombie scene, I would recommend skipping this book and jumping straight into book 3, "Circus of the Damned."

I enjoyed The Laughing Corpse, although, at times, the blood and guts crime scenes nearly turned my stomach. Way, way too many comparisons between bodies and hunks of meat. What was possibly more horrifying is Anita's taste in clothing . . . just a note to all you writers out there . . . unless you are writing a period piece . . . clothing descriptions are not really necessary. I screamed with horror when I read "acid wash jeans" !!!!! Nearly as annoying are Anita's comments: Ri-ight. Yippee, ect. ect. But these are really just petty problems that I had with the book. Overall, I think that this plot exceeded that of Guilty Pleasures, much more twists and turns, and the characters, both the evil, the good, and those like Jean-Claude (evil or good-who knows?). There was very little vampire action - but I didn't think that it took away from the book. Remember, Anita is an animator first, vampire executioner second. So it makes sense that she would deal with zombies more . . .at least in the earlier books, I haven't read the rest of the series yet. Overall, I would recommend reading this, its a fun and quick read.

This was the first Anita Blake Vampire Hunter story I read, and I am pleasantly surprised. The mood and the storyline are brilliant.

The inspirations for the Anita Hill series seem to be Buffy, obvious, White Wolf's game series The World of Darkness, where our ancient nightmares rule us from nightopen office buildings and glitzy nightclubs. The final touches are a bit of hardboiled detective dialogue and hardboiled feminism. It works.

So I like the storytelling, and I like the idea and the result. I have some problem with the character of Anita Blake; on the whole the characterization of Ms. Blake and the other role figures is good. However, I find her just a tad bit to aggressive and arrogant towards people she does not like. In her business, dealing with extremely powerful supernatural beings, it pays off being a bit diplomatic - especially when in their lair. I suppose that the main target group of the books, young wonen, like that, and who am I to argue that?

On the whole, a really good read, and I look forward reading more of the books in this series.

This is the first Laurell Hamilton book I've read and WOW, it was an eye-opener. What a gutsy heroine, who is funny and resourceful! Her encounters with vampires and zombies kept me on the edge of my chair. I knew she must survive the attack by two zombies since it was early in the book, but was amazed at the action packed description of that fight scene.

I could handle the first murdered family and appreciated how hard it was for her to view the gore. When it moved to the second horrifying crime scene, her attempt to be one of the boys (trying to out-tough one of the police detectives) was a bit much. Realizing that those dealing with crime scenes must distance themselves didn't help me accept the disrespectful, gross-out contest. It made me wonder if I really wanted to read any other Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter books.

Now that a few days have passed, I remember the non-stop action and witty dialogue and want to read another. I hope I won't be sorry. Maybe they should put out a version for the squeamish that would warn you when the gore is getting too much.

Anita Blake is quite a busy girl in this second installment of the series. Gaynor, a sadistic millionaire, has offered Anita a million dollars to raise a very old corpse. Anita is an expert in raising the dead, but there's a catch in this particular request. Human sacrifice is required in order to raise the three-hundred-year-old corpse -- something Anita isn't prepared to do. However, Gaynor won't take no for an answer. To make matters worse, a powerful zombie has killed various families and Anita has sought out help from one of the most powerful and evil voodoo priestesses she's ever met. It is up to Anita to find the monster and the person who had raised it.

The Laughing Corpse is action-packed and suspenseful from beginning to end. Just when you think Anita is out of the woods something else comes along. This novel is as entertaining and riveting as Guilty Pleasures. There is a lot of gore and gruesome descriptions in this one, but said descriptions aren't gratuitous -- except for the police murder scenes involving slaughtered children. That was a bit too much. I also wish that Jean-Claude had been in more scenes. He is one sexy vampire! I look forward to reading the third installment with gusto. I can see why so many people swear by this series. It's as addicting as chocolate! Highly recommended...

"The Laughing Corpse" is the second in the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series by Laurell K. Hamilton, although the focus is much more on her job as an Animator than as the person the vampires call The Executioner. Once again the title is taken the name of a St. Louis hangout for those who like to visit the dark side, in this case a comedy club (helpful hint: zombies do not like to be the butt of jokes). This time around Anita is in way over her head with a whole bunch of serious problems. A lord of the underworld wants to pay her big time bucks to raise someone who has been dead for a couple of hundred years and does not like it that Anita has refused because the only way to do so required a human sacrifice. Her friend Catharine is getting married and wants Anita to be a bridesmaid, which involves wearing a pink gown that has to be altered to cover all of her scars. The voodoo priestess for the entire Midwest has learned how to put a person's soul back in their dead body, which stops the zombies from decaying, and Anita refuses to help her raise more zombies for profit. Meanwhile, Jean-Claude, the Master Vampire of St. Louis who has already put two of his marks upon our heroine, demands Anita start acting like his human servant. But the case Anita is trying to focus regards a savage zombie that is going around murdering families in their home, making her problems with three powerful people who refuse to take "No" for an answer rather inconsequential. Like it says on the coffee mug her boss would not let her have at the office, "It's a dirty job and I get to do it."
I was surprised to decide at the end of "The Laughing Corpse" that it was not only an improvement over the first book in the series, but one of the best horror stories I have ever read (and I read a lot of horror novels). There is a lot going on her, but Hamilton weaves the various cases, most of which would have sustained an entire novel, into a coherent narrative. I really was surprised when everything came together in the end. Hamilton has a much surer sense of her character this time around and I have every reason to believe that future novels in the series will be at least as good as this way. These books deserve their reputation and popularity if the rest are any where near as good as "The Laughing Corpse."
Big Time Warning: this is a gruesome book. Younger readers of "The Laughing Corpse" are going to be upset by several of the scenes, especially when Anita investigates the bloody crime scenes and the climatic encounter. I read these sections in the light of day and they were still disturbing. Those who come to this series because of their love for Buffy the Vampire Slayer need to be told that this is a much darker world where the violence is brutally horrific and not beautifully choreographed. These books are much more intense. If they made this into a film it would give "The Exorcist" a run for its money. Remember, you were given fair warning.

Zombies make awesome murder weapons. And when your anti-heroine is able to raise zombies, they make an excellent source for a horror/mystery plot. Laurell K. Hamilton's "The Laughing Corpse" has plenty of grotesque horror and zombie-related nastiness, as well as some clever social questions. But she fails somewhat in creating a convincing mystery story -- not to mention a tolerable heroine.

After rejecting psycho-millionaire client Harold Gaynor (who wants a very old zombie raised, requiring a human sacrifice), Anita is called out to look at the scene of a crime that seems to have been committed by zombies. So she starts investigating possible suspects -- including Dominga Salvador, a malevolent old vaudun priestess who has found a way to keep a zombie ensouled.

Unfortunately some very nasty things -- both living and dead -- are trying to stop Anita's investigations, both into the zombie murders and Harold Gaynor. With the solicitous assistance of Jean Claude and a fellow animator, Anita is able to find more and more information on the zombie-related murders -- and it turns out that Salvador and Gaynor may be working together.

Laurell K. Hamilton was pretty clearly shooting for an "old pulp noir mystery" feel in "The Laughing Corpse" -- acid-tongued anti-hero, grimy urban atmosphere, nasty big-shots, and a series of mysterious deaths. So she fills it with many descriptions of guns, dismembered bodies and creepy-crawly scenes (such as Anita holding a moving bird foot).

Her dialogue-heavy writing does tend to be lean and mildly hard-boiled, with a distinctly horrific vibe (prostitute Wheelchair Wanda tells Anita about Gaynor's sex games). But Hamilton has a rather clumsy style: endless sentence fragments ("Not resurrection. I'm not that good. I mean zombies. The shambling dead. Rotting corpses. Night of the living dead. That kind of zombie"), horrendous dialogue (""F**k you." "I have already offered that." "Damn you, Jean-Claude, damn you") and random rants about whatever bothers Anita at the moment.

In fact, her choppy stripped down style is all the more apparent when Jean-Claude enters the scene , inspiring odes to his vaguely effeminate clothing, hair, "glittering, dark jewel" eyes and "the perfection of his body." It's almost funny to see Hamilton go so completely gaga over a fictional vampire -- and despite Jean-Claude's spooky behavior, she' too in love for him for him to come across as truly scary.

It's too bad, because his manipulative cleverness would make him a brilliant anti-hero, and the question of ensouled zombies is a truly ghastly, thought-provoking one. Unfortunately, we have Anita -- a twenty-four-year-old woman whose seething bitterness is never explained.

It feels like Hamilton wanted to create a Raymond Chandleresque anti-heroine, but tried too hard. Instead Anita is obnoxious, rude, bitter, whiny and despises anyone/anything feminine ("The thought that I had actually spent money on anything pink was more than I could bear"), believing that this makes her "one of the boys." Hamilton uses "zombie rights" to try to make Anita seem compassionate, but her raving, inexplicable hatred of all vampires negates it.

"The Laughing Corpse" has a good story buried somewhere under the sentence fragments and cliche dialogue -- not to mention an awesome vampire and horrific zombies. -- but the heroine is simply too unpleasant.

Started this series and for the most part enjoy it. Like all movies and books where the main character gets beaten, shot and abused regularly it's hard to believe they keep in going no matter what. Still I read....

I'm not generally a fan of the detective, or "noir" genre. So I find it a continually pleasant surprise that I am as fond of the character of Anita Blake as I am; she is, in many ways, typical of the "tough as nails Private Investigator" character. (Except, of course, that she is 5'3" tall, weighs maybe 110 pounds, and is female. Oh, yeah, and she can animate corpses into zombies and make them obey her; other than that, she's typical.)
This is the second book of the series; I had previously read the first and the third (long story). This book is a bit better than the first, and much better than the third, but the difference is in the internal plausibility of the plot, and in characterization of the villains. Anita is just as much fun in the others as she is here, which is quite a bit, and the writing style is the same (narrative from Anita's point of view, in her voice.)
Word of warning: do not read this book (or any book in this series) if you have a weak stomach, or are easily nauseated. There are graphic descriptions of all-too-realistic crime scenes, scenes in which Anita, as a consultant for the police, is forced to examine the scenes of gruesome murders. Definitely not for the squeamish.

I recently wrote a review of Guilty Pleasures, the first volume in this Anita Blake series. I said it was great while waiting for the next Harry Dresden volume by Jim Butcher, or that of the Angel (tv vampire detective--#3 on--Not Forgotten (#2) by Holder is harder to read and should be saved for when you are out of other books) paperbacks. I thought nothing would be as breath-taking as Fool Moon by Butcher (Harry Dresden is like a grown up Harry Potter in a setting similar to Anita Blake's).
But Laughing Corpse was a real roller-coaster ride-- Some series are not to be read late at night alone because they are too frightening. This series is also not to be read then because you'll stay up all night and maybe ruin your work day the next day. I still cannot say anything is greater than Fool Moon but this series is now WAY UP there. And don't miss Naked Came the Sasquatch by John Boston, Virtual Girl by Amy Thomson, Shadows Fall by Simon Green, or the works of Jefferson Swycaffer!

The necromancer extraordinaire goes against the evil voodoo practitioner, the romance with the vampire continues and there's lots of mysteries to solve. Action, paranormal, dash of forbidden...will keep you reading.

I can go back and forth on this one. I'm not going to say I loved it, it was nowhere as good as Guilty Pleasures was... I'm glad I read it, because it is a LONG series of books, and I want to like them and I want to not miss something.
And truth be told, the book wasn't bad. It just wasn't... great.

Ug. I'm going to go with indifferent. Read it if you plan on sticking with the series, because why would you skip a book? Read it if you want something that doesn't suck. Don't read it if you want a mind blowing or moving or touching or deep or amazing book to add to your collection. Does that makes sense?

Would I read it again? Probably not. Am I glad I read it? Yes, I sure am. Now I can happily go on to the next book in the Anita Blake series.

While helping the St. Louis Spook Squad investigate the brutal murder of a family, a wealthy businessman offers Animators, Inc. an exorbitant sum for Anita Blake to raise a zombie via human sacrifice. That's where Anita draws the line, of course...but this would-be client can't seem to take "no" for an answer. The mystery element in this second installment of the Anita Blake series is a lot more effective than its predecessor, Guilty Pleasures, though graphic description of crime scenes makes it considerably more gruesome. If you've got a strong stomach, though, you'll definitely enjoy this volume just as much (perhaps even more so) than the first.

Who did the author have to b*o* to get these reviews? Anita ain't no Scarlet O'Hara, much less fascinating. Anita IS one of the most irritating characters I have run across in a long time. She has to make crass observations at least four times on the page about everything she observes, and it gets real old real fast.

Also, the idea that vampires are out of the closet and everyone knows about animators (Anita is not a necromancer, necromancers talk to the SPIRITS of the dead for divination purposes) is just plain silly. Zombie rights? The mythology of the series (which I guess that is what you call it) is inane. Also the fact that Anita kills vampires AND raises the dead is a bit much. Isn't one super supernatural talent enough? But I forget this anitheroine is crafty and uber observant. As Anita would say, yipee!

I was really disappointed with this book because I had always heard so much about Anita's vampire hunting. And I wanted to read and learn more about vampire fiction. However, all this book contained was crap about zombies. The one vampire, Jean-Claude (and who can think of a more cliqued name for a head vampire?) only makes what, two appearances? I can just hear his Euro-trash French accent now ma petite... Where's the vampires in a vampire series? Maybe they are prominent in her other books, but I was hoping for more.

Hamilton really disappointed me. I had always heard so much about her, and how she had created Anita Blake, vampire hunter extraordinaire. And the guns, always the guns - I mean pistols. But Anita comes across as a gum snapping smart mouth. Was Hamilton responsible for the snarky writing that is so popular today (especially in chick lit)? Please let's trash it and do something better.

As far as the plot of this book, if you were looking for a zombie book it was ok. As for the complaints of the gruesomeness of the crime scenes and violence, it's really no worse that what happens in movies. I guess if you have a weak stomach, this book may not be for you. Also, I'm not really sure about Hamilton's knowledge of voodoo. It's a legitimate religion, and she makes it look rather evil. I know it's fiction, but in Haiti they don't do zombies like the world of the Laughing Corpse. And speaking of the Laughing Corpse, it was a bar or comedy club and was mentioned twice or she went to it once in the book, and it was the title of the book? I think she just had an idea for a cool title and used it even though it had nothing to do with the plot.

Another thing that didn't make sense if I recall, she said that when a body was brought to the morgue under suspicious circumstances, it couldn't be staked even though it was likely it would turn into a vampire. Why wouldn't they stake those bodies when they knew the bodies would rise up and feed on humans? Logically they would be exterminated. That's the confusing thing about her mythology. Why would vampires live openly among humans if they feed on humans? I didn't read her first book so maybe she addresses this, but it wasn't made clear in The Laughing Corpse, which wasn't funny.

I guess the Laughing Corpse is a good argument for starting out with the first book in a series so you understand the author's set up. But I just don't think I could take more of Anita Blake. She's just too mouthy.

Much different tale than the first book, Guilty Pleasures. Like the first book, The Laughing Corpse is the name of a bar owned and operated by the Master Vampire of the city, Jean Claude. In the first book we learned that Jean made Anita Blake a human servant. This is all very interesting but that's not the crux of the book.

What drives this book is the Executioner, Anita Blake, who until this novel had no idea what power she possesses. The book centers around the power of voodoo and raising zombies. In fact, there is an unusual zombie that is running around town eating families alive. Anita investigating the murders is quite grisly in explanation and Anita, tough animator that she is, has nightmares and vomiting reactions!

Laurell's book delves deeply into the power of Dominga Salvador, a powerful voodoo priest, the prostitute in a wheelchair, Wheelchair Wanda, and the bizarre Henry Gaynor, the rich man who thinks nothing can stop the power of money.

Anita's exploration into the occult is further explored. The character discovers new power for herself. I heard that Hamilton's books delve further into sex. Well for now, we got an exciting tale of the undead, the love of a vampire and the defeat of the zombie raiser, Dominga.

A few fun scenes: A zombie is being used as part of a comedy act, but he gets tired of being made fun of and starts choking the comedian. Everyone thinks it's part of the act and start laughing.

Anita getting fit for a bridesmaid dress and has a hard time hiding her vampire scars.

Her werewolf friend is a reporter and her new vampire friend is a bartender. Funny team.

Quite enjoyable, puts Twilight to shame. Can't wait for Circus of the Damned!

A couple of months ago I began Laurell Hamilton's "Guilty Pleasures". At first it was a bit of a turnoff. It seemed immensely dark and the sexual overtones seemed almost perverted. However, I picked it back up later and began to get further involved. I found that I enjoyed the book and really became involved in the "adventure" of it all. My opinion slowly began to change until I was fully caught up in the dangers the heroine, "Anita Blake" constantly faced. It was such a relief to find a heroine who was not constantly screaming and hoping for rescue but who rescued herself. I enjoyed the book enough to pick up several more books in the series. I have enjoyed getting acquainted with the continuing cast of characters. Ms Blake has a very imaginative approach to the supernatural, just a bit different than most, and all of the "supernaturas" are not entirely evil. A good book to read with a cup of hot chocolate while it rains outside.

Laurell K. Hamilton's second book in the series takes off nicely where the first left off. The book opens with Anita in the mansion of an eccentric millionaire who needs her to sacrifice a human (in order to raise a 300 year-old zombie) and is willing to pay richly for it.
The more Anita Blake novels I read, the better I see Laurell getting as a writer, for it seems she has a hard job - she has to create the rules for this "alternate universe" where vampires and zombies live among us. The problem comes with the issue of "convenience". Instead of letting the reader in on the solution to the puzzle one piece at a time, she does this huge revealing TA-DA! at the end, and it leaves you feeling a little cheated.
The best part of the book has to be the growing "lust" between Anita and Jean-Claude. I found myself blushing from the sexual tension and innuendo - they're quite effective and keep you reading.
I definitely recommend the series - just don't expect anything groundbreaking. With each book you read, the picture gets a little clearer and Hamilton gets much better.

Anita Blake can raise the dead, and is usually willing to pay the price (killing a chicken). However, the older the zombie, the higher the cost, and to meet overtly wealthy Harold Gaynor's requirements she'll have to make a human sacrifice. Anita may be known as the Executioner, but there are some things a self-respecting animator won't do, no matter how many millions are offered to her. And no matter how much she's tortured.

There's a good reason readers have fond memories of these early Anita books - they're bloody good. This, the second in the series, may be fifteen years old, but it's aged rather well. The content is fascinating, the characters are suitably annoying and/or creepy, and Anita has toy penguins. Not a shag in the novel, though she admits her lust for an emopire who wears a really hideous shirt, Jean-Claude, but he declares her lust is "desire". Vampires are habitually up themselves, so this should come as a surprise to no one.

And it's nice to see Anita strike up a new friendship-of-convenience of sorts. Private investigator Veronica Sims may not be good enough for her, but prostitute Wheelchair Wanda is more than just someone from whom to get dirt on Gaynor. Speaking of Harold, he is one sick bastard, but still not the scariest character in the story. That honour is reserved for Dominga Salvador, for whom with much power comes...well, that woman is seriously effed in the head, and not in a "diagnosed mental illness" way, but rather "she's totally sane and gets her jollies off these horrible things". Just wait 'til you meet the monster - some broken pieces should never be put together...

THE LAUGHING CORPSE does seem somewhat slow, but so do all the other LKH books I've read. Still, I pretty much read the last half in one sitting, and it's an absolute cracker. Quality novels like this make me feel all the more disappointed that the series later jumped the shark.

The Laughing Corpse is good in that second book sort of way, not nearly as good as the first, but good enough to keep you coming back for a third. This time around, Anita goes head to head with a voodoo priestess and the suspense is damn good. The best part of this book is the developing relationship between Anita and Jean-Claude. Vampires are not a big part of this book, which is more like a supernatural mystery than a horror novel, but that allows the author to build upon the relationship between these polar opposites. Laurell K. Hamilton has created a fantastic heroine in which one can become extremely invested. By the time you get to the end, you both surprised and clamoring for the next one.

Here's an interesting question: how can a series that has zombies, vampires, werewolves and all manner of supernatural threats be so BORING?

While "Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: The Laughing Corpse Book 1 - Animator" has plenty of promise at the beginning, it quickly degenerates into an endless stream of boring conversations, whining, and Anita pretending to be tough even as people save her from the bad guys. Laurell K. Hamilton's urban fantasy is poorly translated with too much rambling dialogue and Anita pouting and posing. All that and it ends on a cliffhanger too.

Anita accompanies her boss Bert to a rich potential client, Harold Gaynor, but is already determined not to take the case (apparently because it would involve being civil). And she's even less inclined to cooperate when she A) sees his blonde trophy girlfriend, and B) finds out the zombie he wants raised would require a human sacrifice. The she gets a call from Dolph -- there's been a gruesome murder, and it seems that whatever did it wasn't human.

Unfortunately the search for the guilty party takes her to the evil voudon priestess Dominga Salvador, who puts Anita through a series of tests -- and reveals a nasty little basement biz she has. To figure out what's going on with Salvador and Gaynor, Anita must call on some of her connections -- such as balding werewolf Irving and the rock-abbed vampire Jean-Claude -- for help, but her nosing around leads to some very grotesque visitors...

You can cram a lot of action, exposition and character development into even a slender graphic novel, especially when it's a part of a larger story. Unfortunately "Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: The Laughing Corpse" doesn't take advantage of that -- it just sort of oozes along, leaving a sticky trail of bickering and endless conversation, with the occasional spurt of action or zombie attacks... none of which last long enough.

In fact, the endless dialogue slows everything to a crawl -- one entire issue is devoted to Anita having three long rambling conversations with three dudes, with the result that nothing actually gets done. Everybody has long, drawn-out conversations full of stilted dialogue ("I am not your servant!" "Yes, ma petite, you are." "Dammit Jean-Claude, leave me alone!"), and the entire plot is overshadowed by Anita's boring internal musings ("I like this shirt. It hides the gun").

Additonally, it's pretty obvious that Hamilton hasn't caught on to how graphic novels work. If there's a picture of a tall thin blonde in a micromini, why do we have to hear that "the tall leggy blonde wore a dress made to cover what decency demanded, but not a stitch more"? We can see it. Why tell? Nor, sadly, does she know much about Mexicans, who are portrayed as sinister evil people who inexplicably practice voudon instead of Santeria.

It doesn't help that Anita is a pretty obnoxious heroine, and Hamilton seems to think that being rude, antisocial and not very bright equals being strong. While there are a few moments of humanity for her (her fear of Dominga), too often she's busy sneering at others and telling cops how to do their jobs. And of course, there's her insistence that she's "one of the boys" and has a big phallic gun to prove it -- despite having to be saved by Big Strong Men whenever something really bad happens.

Ron Lim's artwork is the proverbial icing -- shiny red noses, big linebacker men, and lots of crazy curly black hair. Anita's appearance is the among the worst, since her massive lips appear to be trying to eat her chin, and her rapidly inflating breasts are matched only by the waspiness of her waist. And the supposedly sexy Jean-Claude's freakish abs, pecs and groin make him look as sexually alluring as a cobblestone driveway.

"Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: The Laughing Corpse" crawls by at a starving zombie's pace, without even any chills to show for it -- just endless leaden quips and conversations.

I love the Anita Blake series! I've read about 5 so far. Anita Blake is a vampire hunter and more! She's also a reanimator (she can raise the dead!), member of the St. Louis "spook squad" (licensed to slay!), weapons expert (the real and supernatural ones), and - in this book - a zombie slayer! This book is great. There's plenty of blood & guts, voodoo, slaying, and plot for any vampire fan. She's Buffy the Vampire Slayer but more violent and dark. I recommend this book to any vampire fan. The book is so tight you can almost read this one first. It will have you checking to make sure your windows are locked. What an AWESOME SERIES!

LewisHenry

I've only just begun reading this series of novels, and therefore, as expected, this is the second book I've read. I burned through the book in about a week, reading a little bit each night before bedtime. The character of Anita Blake is developed more and she becomes even more bad-@$$ than in the first book, but she takes her licks as well. The plot involves a few parallel sub-plots that eventually and surprisingly make right-angles and collide nicely to a great climax. A little bit predictable perhaps, but pleasing nonetheless.

A few reviews here seem to think the book 'boring' and writing 'poor.' I'll humbly disagree. Though you won't find the author to be pulling out her thesaurus to toss impressive vocabulary at you, you won't miss keeping your dictionary elsewhere as you plunge in. The story is well told, far from boring, and the writing was 'just right' by me.

On to book three.

This is the first Laurell Hamilton book I've read and WOW, it was an eye-opener. What a gutsy heroine, who is funny and resourceful! Her encounters with vampires and zombies kept me on the edge of my chair. I knew she must survive the attack by two zombies since it was early in the book, but was amazed at the action packed description of that fight scene.

I could handle the first murdered family and appreciated how hard it was for her to view the gore. When it moved to the second horrifying crime scene, her attempt to be one of the boys (trying to out-tough one of the police detectives) was a bit much. Realizing that those dealing with crime scenes must distance themselves didn't help me accept the disrespectful, gross-out contest. It made me wonder if I really wanted to read any other Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter books.

Now that a few days have passed, I remember the non-stop action and witty dialogue and want to read another. I hope I won't be sorry. Maybe they should put out a version for the squeamish that would warn you when the gore is getting too much.

This is the first book I've read of the Anita Blake series so I can't compare it to the others. Initially I found, that with one gory or menacing scene following another in rapid succession, I didn't have time to develop much empathy for the characters, and became ho-hum about rotting body parts and scowling bad guys. It's all very much `in your face'. I found the humor to be of the `insults tossed back and forth' type, which is as tiresome to read about as it is to listen to in real life, rather than that of character wit or originality, for which I was hoping. But when the author backed off and gave me space I did get a chance to feel her power and potential as a writer and a story-teller. Some of the characterizations were nicely done, and Jean-Claude was mesmerizing. I'd have liked it better if I'd not felt that the author was simply trying to gross me out.

Animator and vampire hunter Anita Blake is back. And everyone wants a piece of her. Master vampire Jean-Claude wants her for his own. Millionaire Harold Gaynor threatens her life unless she agrees to raise a three-hundred-year-old corpse from the grave. The catch? Only a human sacrifice will raise a zombie that old. Voodoo priestess Dominga Salvador wants her to go in to business with her, raising zombies with souls. Is nothing sacred? Necromancer John Burke wants her to help him find his brother's murderer. However, he's a murder suspect himself. To make matters worse, a killer zombie is on a rampage, murdering and eating whole families. It's just an ordinary day for the Executioner.
THE LAUGHING CORPSE is the second novel in the Anita Blake series. The action is nonstop. The humor is sharp as a wooden stake. The vampires are (...). The romance is as hot as a date in Hell. And Anita is the girl of my dreams. My next date with her is in CIRCUS OF THE DAMNED. Can't wait!

The death scenes in this one was more graphic than the first. Jean-Claude scenes were limited. Anita actually admitted she lusted after him. So that mixes in just enough tension between the two. They argue about her not acting like a human servant and how she just wants to be left alone. She threatens to kill Jean-Claude if he forces anything else on her. He always seems to be surprised during these conversations. I found the vandun priestess a very interesting character. She shed a nice light to the bad/good side of the practice. I still love the sarcastic humor and the human side of Anita. She needs to constantly remind herself that she's a tough-as-nails vampire hunter but still has heart enough to cry at a murder scene. It makes her character more believable that she would toss her cookies during the investigations.

Murder, mystery, a slight bit of romance. Another great story. I'm glad there's more of Anita past in this novel. You get to find out some stuff about her roots.

I am hooked. I love Anita Blake. The character is so much fun to follow along with. This series is just great fun. I read the first in the series and enjoyed the book. But this second entry I felt was much better.
Hamilton keeps the twists and surprises coming. and she makes the unbelievable setting, believable.
Anita Blake is sexy and tough, and her adventures are pure excitement. I love they way Hamilton writes. This is pure escapist fun. Hamilton transports you to another world, and once you start reading this series you will be hooked. I have already ordered the third in the series. I highly recommend.

It takes a LOT for me to give a book 4 or 5 stars - so 3 stars still is a worth while read.

Story had potential to be great - but the author is redundant. As other reviewers point out - you quickly tire of the main character repeatedly saying 'Ri ight' - gets old very fast.

The blood and gore is very overdone and not needed. The intrigue is much better. The possibility of relationship between the main character and the Master Vampire is great - always wondering what will happen. Also the main character isn't a saint - which is refreshing.

I enjoy the series - and will continue to read more of it. Not the best book I've ever read - but far from the worst. I recommend it.

With a paranormal novel of my own being published next year, I felt it was time I read through the work of the master--er, mistress of that genre. After starting and stopping Guilty Pleasures a number of times before I could finally finish it, however, I began to dread the prospect of dragging my way through what seemed to be a plodding series.

Not so here. There is still very little of the charming Jean-Claude, but we do start to see their relationship grow a little more intense. Anita gets entangled in a number of different conflicts here, including: dodging a businessman who wants her to commit human sacrifice, finding a killer zombie, and incurring the wrath of a lethal voodoo priestess. Anita manages it all with her normal hardcore nature and attitude--though I could have done with a few less references to "goody," "yippee," and "bully for me."

Still, this was an awesome book. I wanted to keep reading the whole time and encountered no slow parts or downtime anywhere. Hamilton kept the pace up and did a great job of not only creating these self-contained plotlines but also enriching the overarching development of Anita's power and her relationship with Jean-Claude. Can't wait to read the next one.

I enjoyed this book, I liked it better than the first book. It is a lot more gory than I expected and rather dark. In this book, a Zombie is killing entire families and it isn't pretty. Anita comes up against a Voodoo Queen, she asked Anita to join her in raising Zombies and when Anita declines, she sends a couple of zombies to kill Anita. The Master Vampire of the City keeps reminding Anita that she is his human servant, she has been marked by him twice, Anita doesn't want any part of him, but she does lust after him. This book is fast paced and I found it to be a quick read.

First of all, what in the world was that monster made out of limbs and mouths and eyes omg gross....
But this book was great, Anita is the most courageous woman ever!
I find Jean Claude a bit pathetic, but I don't want to judge him until I further investigate what his deal with Anita is. But right now master of the city chasing after young stubborn necromancer? Not so sexy....
And good lord it was so hard for me to keep up with so many body guards and cops.
Any way, I liked the book a lot.

Anita Blake wakes the dead, actually she works for a company that pays her to do it. A client might want to say goodbye or find out where the will is or even have the dead person tell their dirty little secrets. In this book someone is raising the dead for a more deadlier purpose and Anita has to venture into the lair of Senora Dominga. Although Hamilton fills her books with a bucket load of naughty she also manages to create a fascinating world of shifters and vampires. There are always an interesting read

this has to be the best series that i have ever read. anita blake is this kick ass chick who has her own rules and answers to no one. she is short and sexy and legally get to kill vampires and anything that goes bump in the nite. i love dangerous women as main characters and this is the best ive ever read you will not be disappointed....

"Cerulean Sins" was the first book by Hamilton that I had ever read. While reading it, I kept asking myself how she could have possibly gotten on the best seller list. Her writing was weak, as was much of the stories action. I had purchased what I thought to be a supernatural mystery and found myself in the midst of a lust fest. But, with all that said, the characters were enticing enough to call me back for more. This time, I started at the beginning. Now, I know how she got to the best seller list. Her earlier works have the energy, the raw talent that her later works seem to lack. I hope she finds that special something again.

Anita Blake has refused to raise a two hundred year old zombie for a wealthy man. It would require a human sacrifice and she is unwilling to do that. Apparently, the man has found someone else with less scruples. A man eating zombie is terrorizing St. Louis and Anita has to face down a voodoo queen to stop it.
This second of the Anita Blake series is just as exciting as the first. She takes on the Senora, a very powerful voodoo queen and ex lover of her mentor Manny. There are many bizarre twists and turns. Anita has to look to her past and her mother's side of the family for answers to this crisis. Very hard to put down.

I really like this author. She has a way of describing things right down to the nitty gritty. She can give you a real sense of being right there and seeing, smelling, feeling and tasting whatever is going on. She is one of the best authors I have read in a while. The only reason that I gave this book four stars is because of the GORE!! I read the first book in this series and didn't think it was that bad....but this one....OH MY! I am not a sensitive person....at least I thought I wasn't....so all I can tell you is if you want nightmares read this book. The author is good, the story is good....but I could of kind of done without the gore. This book gave me nightmares.

The Laughing Corpse is a comedy club run by vampires. Anita Blake is a vampire hunter. Why is she hanging out there? Oh so may reason, she has found herself linked psychically to the head vampire of St. Louis, she's not happy, but she's coping, more or less. She finds herself in way over her head when she refuses to raise a long dead family member of a wealthy, but disturbing man, who may be connected to the mob. With his enforcers following her around, a murderous zombie on the loose and Jean-Claude demanding she act as his human servant, Anita is running in circles and getting nowhere fast. But she finds the zombie and continues to defy the Master of the City, without losing either her life or her humanity, for now.

[

With a paranormal novel of my own being published next year, I felt it was time I read through the work of the master--er, mistress of that genre. After starting and stopping Guilty Pleasures a number of times before I could finally finish it, however, I began to dread the prospect of dragging my way through what seemed to be a plodding series.

Not so here. There is still very little of the charming Jean-Claude, but we do start to see their relationship grow a little more intense. Anita gets entangled in a number of different conflicts here, including: dodging a businessman who wants her to commit human sacrifice, finding a killer zombie, and incurring the wrath of a lethal voodoo priestess. Anita manages it all with her normal hardcore nature and attitude--though I could have done with a few less references to "goody," "yippee," and "bully for me."

Still, this was an awesome book. I wanted to keep reading the whole time and encountered no slow parts or downtime anywhere. Hamilton kept the pace up and did a great job of not only creating these self-contained plotlines but also enriching the overarching development of Anita's power and her relationship with Jean-Claude. Can't wait to read the next one.

I enjoyed this book, I liked it better than the first book. It is a lot more gory than I expected and rather dark. In this book, a Zombie is killing entire families and it isn't pretty. Anita comes up against a Voodoo Queen, she asked Anita to join her in raising Zombies and when Anita declines, she sends a couple of zombies to kill Anita. The Master Vampire of the City keeps reminding Anita that she is his human servant, she has been marked by him twice, Anita doesn't want any part of him, but she does lust after him. This book is fast paced and I found it to be a quick read.

First of all, what in the world was that monster made out of limbs and mouths and eyes omg gross....
But this book was great, Anita is the most courageous woman ever!
I find Jean Claude a bit pathetic, but I don't want to judge him until I further investigate what his deal with Anita is. But right now master of the city chasing after young stubborn necromancer? Not so sexy....
And good lord it was so hard for me to keep up with so many body guards and cops.
Any way, I liked the book a lot.

Anita Blake wakes the dead, actually she works for a company that pays her to do it. A client might want to say goodbye or find out where the will is or even have the dead person tell their dirty little secrets. In this book someone is raising the dead for a more deadlier purpose and Anita has to venture into the lair of Senora Dominga. Although Hamilton fills her books with a bucket load of naughty she also manages to create a fascinating world of shifters and vampires. There are always an interesting read

"Cerulean Sins" was the first book by Hamilton that I had ever read. While reading it, I kept asking myself how she could have possibly gotten on the best seller list. Her writing was weak, as was much of the stories action. I had purchased what I thought to be a supernatural mystery and found myself in the midst of a lust fest. But, with all that said, the characters were enticing enough to call me back for more. This time, I started at the beginning. Now, I know how she got to the best seller list. Her earlier works have the energy, the raw talent that her later works seem to lack. I hope she finds that special something again.

Anita Blake has refused to raise a two hundred year old zombie for a wealthy man. It would require a human sacrifice and she is unwilling to do that. Apparently, the man has found someone else with less scruples. A man eating zombie is terrorizing St. Louis and Anita has to face down a voodoo queen to stop it.
This second of the Anita Blake series is just as exciting as the first. She takes on the Senora, a very powerful voodoo queen and ex lover of her mentor Manny. There are many bizarre twists and turns. Anita has to look to her past and her mother's side of the family for answers to this crisis. Very hard to put down.

I really like this author. She has a way of describing things right down to the nitty gritty. She can give you a real sense of being right there and seeing, smelling, feeling and tasting whatever is going on. She is one of the best authors I have read in a while. The only reason that I gave this book four stars is because of the GORE!! I read the first book in this series and didn't think it was that bad....but this one....OH MY! I am not a sensitive person....at least I thought I wasn't....so all I can tell you is if you want nightmares read this book. The author is good, the story is good....but I could of kind of done without the gore. This book gave me nightmares.

The Laughing Corpse is a comedy club run by vampires. Anita Blake is a vampire hunter. Why is she hanging out there? Oh so may reason, she has found herself linked psychically to the head vampire of St. Louis, she's not happy, but she's coping, more or less. She finds herself in way over her head when she refuses to raise a long dead family member of a wealthy, but disturbing man, who may be connected to the mob. With his enforcers following her around, a murderous zombie on the loose and Jean-Claude demanding she act as his human servant, Anita is running in circles and getting nowhere fast. But she finds the zombie and continues to defy the Master of the City, without losing either her life or her humanity, for now.

[

Wow, this one was a wild ride! This is the second book in Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series and she really kicks things into high gear! This novel has everything you've come to expect from vampires and zombies to a voodoo high priestess. The action comes fast and furious, and the author does a great job of building her characters, particularly Anita and Jean-Claude. That's a relationship I'm sure we'll see more of in future volumes. One word of warning, there's a good deal of gore and graphic descriptions in this one. Those with a weak stomach may want to take caution. Any way, The Laughing Corpse gets 5 stars from me! Highly recommended!

I started late with the Anita Blake series. While I've read everything from "The Harlequin" on forward, I'm just now going back and reading the initial books. Wow. While I love and devour every Anita Blake book, I have to say, I really do prefer the early books without the pornography and the endless talk, talk, talk about the telenovella that is Anita's personal life. Excellent!

The Anita Blake series is not deep and subtly crafted. I have no urge to immediately give a second reading to pick up all the nuances and depths I missed the first time through because one can catch everything on one reading. They're good fun, but not *great* reading.
The book can stand alone, but since you're here at a book store, pick up 'Guilty Pleasures' to make everything crystal clear. Also because it's a better book and you might as well see Hamilton at her best to carry you through lesser volumes. The Laughing Corpse is a different book, yes, but the writing quality has dropped as well on objective levels.
This is not a vampire book. Those from GP appear almost as cameos, more to set up future books and to keep them in mind than to further this story. Other characters could have been used for their functions, but it was nice to see the fang gang again. This story concentrates on Anita's abilities as an animator, raising the dead, dealing with zombies, and some of the implications of that power she has been staving off.
Technical writing flaws have been allowed to creep in: comma splices, using the same word "gleaming" three times in ten lines, little distracting teeth-grinders that I still remember the next morning.
More importantly, this volume uses gratuitous gore as sheer padding. The gross-out contest shows the characters involved as immature, unprofessional, and disrespectful of murdered women and children. Is this really what Hamilton wants us to think of Anita and the RPIT crew? The tremendously detailed crime scenes this time around, as opposed to those in GP, make me think someone gave the author a copy of 'All the Gooey Gunk Inside' and, when she found herself 15,000 words short of a novel she used it to pad things out. It's okay in the first murder scene to set up the horror, but elsewhere it's a weary drag on the story's pace. I wound up skimming it in boredom. She should have used another Jean-Claude scene and moved things along on that line, at least, rather than just marking time.
Also, I was persistently thrown off by the long-term voodoo queen of the Midwest being Mexican, and the whole business being treated as if primarily a Mexican religion. Voudoun comes out of francophone Haiti. I would expect Santeria or Spiritism out of an Hispanic community. Read 'The Magic Island' and 'The Serpent and the Rainbow' for some NF on voudoun.
At least a bit more of the story world background is explained, like why vampire criminals are executed in the field rather than any attempts being made at trial and incarceration. Her timeline is off here, though. Vampires have only been legalized two years, Anita has been the Executioner for two years, yet the executioners are said to exist in response to something that happened within that two years. Sloppy, but that's sort of the motif for this volume.
If GP was a bag of Oreos, this was generic chocolate sandwich cookies. Okay for a snack attack, but it could have been better.

A crazed zombie is on a killing rampage, someone wants her to raise a very old zombie and isn't taking no for an answer, a voodoo priestess has a personal vendeta...you'd think that would be enough to make Anita Blake's life miserable. But to add to her trouble the city's head vampire has the hots for her. What's a girl to do? If she's Anita Blake you can be sure she'll think of something.
Laurell K. Hamilton's world is filled with vampires and other creepy crawlies...but it's also filled with page-turning stories you won't be able to put down.

I found this trite, boring and needlessly bloody. Im all for blood when its well placed and adds to the plot, but she just seems to kind of throw it around without imagination. Her other books (starting with "Kiss of Shadows") were SO much more imaginative, I was constantly surprised by the twists and intrigue of the unseely court and caught up in the new and interesting applications of magic. I was just seriously bored by this, maybe Im just not into the zombie thing. Anita Blake bores me too. Shes the typical tough, morally unimpugnable spitfire....blah blah blah.... totally uninteresting. Read Kiss of shadows if you want to see some imagination. Its a little different because its more of an erotic series but really fun to read!

I tolerated the first book because I needed to be introduced to what all the fuss was about ANITA BLAKE VAMPIRE KILLER. She had some human decency in the Guilty Pleasures book when she went rampaging to save her friend Catherine from psycho vampires and finally doing the right thing with poor scarred up Phillip, after he had been raised up as a zombie. But this one, THE LAUGHING CORPSE is just a gag fest with zombies on the loose and voo-doo craziness running the show. It is just revolting and full of nauseating gore. It scares me to think that so many readers think this is good stuff. I know there are people who love horror movies where blood and gaping wounds and headless bodies pile up in bloody heaps. I avoid those with a vengeance. This book gave me nightmares.
Dialogue like this is repellant: "I had performed human sacrifice. And it had felt good. The rush of power was like the memory of painful sex." Why does painful sex make Anita Blake feel good? If she enjoys inflicting pain during sex, she is a sadist. If she enjoys being inflicted with painful sex, she is a masochist.
Anita Blake has lost her little bit of decency and it is hard to root for a heroine who isn't heroic.

Good read but hard to follow at times. I feel like the author could have been a bit more cohesive in the writing. I read the first three but the others aren't in kindle unlimited anymore so I won't be continuing.

After reading "Guilty Pleasures," I thought perhaps it was a fluke and didn't think a second book could be as good as the first one. I was, thankfully, proven wrong. This book talks more about Anita's skills as an animator, and introduces new characters. I'm sure that anyone experienced in the vaudun arts could shoot holes through the magical information, but I thought everything flowed together beautifully. Definitely a fun and wonderful read, highly recommended!

Even better than the first. This book is non-stop action, interesting all the way to the end. There are some gory crime scenes that Anita assists the police with (so i hope you have a good stomach)there are some good fight scenes and new nasty characters along with Jean-Claude who even though he is the "bad guy" and Master of the city I was still desperate to find out whether he and Anita hooked up. I love Anita's strong character and the fact that she will stand up to anyone. Trilling read. Can't wait to read Circus of the Damned.

Overall, this is a good book. The plot was interesting, the characters were well rounded and the story moved quickly. The only problem I had with it was Anita. It's strange to like a book, but dislike the main character, but it happens. I felt that Hamilton tried to hard to make Anita be a touch chick. At times, Anita would stupidly anger the wrong people for no reason. As a result, those people would want to kill her and I honestly couldn't blame them.

I will probably keep reading this series, but I hope that Hamilton eases up on the touch girl attitude.

Though I'm not passionate about the series, nor on-board with all the decisions Hamilton made, I'm still interested. I like that there are a lot of grey areas with her characters. I think I'd enjoy these more if everything didn't wrap up so neatly at the end.

I was very into the second book of the Anita Blake series. It held somewhat of a mystery all the way up until the end. It was action packed and kept me turning the pages and not wanting to put it down. For some strange reason I really like Jean-Claude. Hamilton gives very detailed descriptions of her characters. I just picked up the third.. and the series continues...

This is one of the necessary books in a series. The first book catches your attention, but leaves a lot to be answered. The second book, The Laughing Corpse, develops the characters, especially Ms. Blake, and shows what they are willing to do if not now then in the future. There are a few hints of foreshadowing in this book. It also hints at the huge amount of power that Anita has and will discover in future books. If you are not reading these books in order then this book will probably not interest you as much. If you are reading them in order, which I highly recommend, then you will appreciate what you learn from this book after you have read the later books. I hope everyone has a beautiful day and KEEP READING!

This book wasn't what I thought it was going to be. This isn't author's fault. I thought I was getting a vampire romance fantansy and that is not what these books are about, apparently. They are violent, more like fantasy detective novels, and this Blake character is kind of hard core. I didn't like her and I think that's the idea. She's blunt, rude, weird, and very masculine. And I think she really doesn't like sex, let alone men, much. So if you're looking for a fun romance, buyer beware. However, if romance isn't your thing, and violence is, these books may be your cup of tea.

I love the way this author writes. It's very relateable and makes you laughs out loud while reading. She blends a very strong female character but also captures the inner sensitive parts as well. This particular story had a really good villan that you just love to hate. Anita Blake is turning into one of my more favorite series.

I'd heard a lot of good things about the Anita Blake series so I thought I would give it a read. I was quite dissapointed with this book. I love to read and have just finished up reading a ton of different vampire series (Sookie Stackhouse, The Vampire Academy, Twighlight, Black Brother Dagger Hood, The Vampire Diaries, and the list goes on and on). Anyhow I was really hoping these books would be good but they just didn't do it for me. Now I have to try and search for some new series to read. Bottom line I don't recommend this book, however I enjoyed the books I've listed above.

Unfortunately this book is racist, classist and displays religious bigotry. The villain is a "voodoo queen" who raises zombies and Anita's personal religious bent casts Dominga Salvador and her African originated religious beliefs as immediately suspect and evil. It was irresponsible to write this without a display of the good side of Santeria, Candomble, Macumba, worship of Ocha or the Orisha or the Saints.
The plot was stronger than other books in series because it wsn't laden with as many characters as the rest of teh books became so that focus stayed on the crime plot. Which was good, remarkable even for a Hamilton book in many ways. Anita never so much of solves a crime as she just shoots the right folks at the right time. This book actually has a thread of strength to it but the racism and one-sided views of God through Catholicism weakens it. I'm reading it thinking to myself Anita raise steh dead, sleeps with a werewolf and a vampire and is JUDGING someone. Laughable. If this books were a little stronger, it could attain the level of dreck.

The Laughing Corpse, the second book in the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series, is a great book, don't get me wrong. However, The theme of this book veers from the predominant one in the series, that of Vampires and Werecreatures. The focus in this book is on the oh-so-many zombies that Anita can raise. Zombies are great, but they don't do much in the department of moving the story along. The story seems slow and yet, it's written in the ever-detailed style of the lovely Laurell K. Hamilton. Unfortunately, the book does little for the series, and the editing is as bad as in the rest of the first 5 books. The Laughing Corpse tells neccesary things you must know if you are reading the series in order, but otherwise is one you can skip.

Here's an interesting question: how can a series that has zombies, vampires, werewolves and all manner of supernatural threats be so BORING?

While "Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: The Laughing Corpse Book 1 - Animator" has plenty of promise at the beginning, it quickly degenerates into an endless stream of boring conversations, whining, and Anita pretending to be tough even as people save her from the bad guys. Laurell K. Hamilton's urban fantasy is poorly translated with too much rambling dialogue and Anita pouting and posing. All that and it ends on a cliffhanger too.

Anita accompanies her boss Bert to a rich potential client, Harold Gaynor, but is already determined not to take the case (apparently because it would involve being civil). And she's even less inclined to cooperate when she A) sees his blonde trophy girlfriend, and B) finds out the zombie he wants raised would require a human sacrifice. The she gets a call from Dolph -- there's been a gruesome murder, and it seems that whatever did it wasn't human.

Unfortunately the search for the guilty party takes her to the evil voudon priestess Dominga Salvador, who puts Anita through a series of tests -- and reveals a nasty little basement biz she has. To figure out what's going on with Salvador and Gaynor, Anita must call on some of her connections -- such as balding werewolf Irving and the rock-abbed vampire Jean-Claude -- for help, but her nosing around leads to some very grotesque visitors...

You can cram a lot of action, exposition and character development into even a slender graphic novel, especially when it's a part of a larger story. Unfortunately "Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: The Laughing Corpse" doesn't take advantage of that -- it just sort of oozes along, leaving a sticky trail of bickering and endless conversation, with the occasional spurt of action or zombie attacks... none of which last long enough.

In fact, the endless dialogue slows everything to a crawl -- one entire issue is devoted to Anita having three long rambling conversations with three dudes, with the result that nothing actually gets done. Everybody has long, drawn-out conversations full of stilted dialogue ("I am not your servant!" "Yes, ma petite, you are." "Dammit Jean-Claude, leave me alone!"), and the entire plot is overshadowed by Anita's boring internal musings ("I like this shirt. It hides the gun").

Additonally, it's pretty obvious that Hamilton hasn't caught on to how graphic novels work. If there's a picture of a tall thin blonde in a micromini, why do we have to hear that "the tall leggy blonde wore a dress made to cover what decency demanded, but not a stitch more"? We can see it. Why tell? Nor, sadly, does she know much about Mexicans, who are portrayed as sinister evil people who inexplicably practice voudon instead of Santeria.

It doesn't help that Anita is a pretty obnoxious heroine, and Hamilton seems to think that being rude, antisocial and not very bright equals being strong. While there are a few moments of humanity for her (her fear of Dominga), too often she's busy sneering at others and telling cops how to do their jobs. And of course, there's her insistence that she's "one of the boys" and has a big phallic gun to prove it -- despite having to be saved by Big Strong Men whenever something really bad happens.

Ron Lim's artwork is the proverbial icing -- shiny red noses, big linebacker men, and lots of crazy curly black hair. Anita's appearance is the among the worst, since her massive lips appear to be trying to eat her chin, and her rapidly inflating breasts are matched only by the waspiness of her waist. And the supposedly sexy Jean-Claude's freakish abs, pecs and groin make him look as sexually alluring as a cobblestone driveway.

"Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: The Laughing Corpse" crawls by at a starving zombie's pace, without even any chills to show for it -- just endless leaden quips and conversations.

This book was definitely better than Guilty Pleasures! But is it just me or do her books keep getting better as you go along? I'm reading Circus of the Damned right now and like it better! But this was a definitely good book! Some of the murder scenes are a little gory but oh well! There was also more action than in Guilty Pleasures!

After I read this book it was so great I had to get the rest of the series. I am now addicted to Anita and the rest of the gang. This series is a must read for anyone who loves fiction. It's action packed and keeps you glued to the pages through the whole thing. I read the first eight books in less than a month. I just couldn't put them down. The best books I've ever read.

After reading "Guilty Pleasures", I was definately interested in the series. After reading "The Laughing Corpse" I am hooked. This book, the second in the series, is so much better than the first. Not that the first book was bad, this one is just that much better. It has more to do with her powers as an animator, than with the vampires nickname for her, The Executioner. Anita is a great character, and she has you laughing, and feeling her pain through the whole book. Definately a great read!

Great series if you have not read the first one in the series, I suggest you start with it and read all of them don't skip around or you may miss some really good stuff, Anita is great, praises to Laurell K. Hamilton for the whole series.

Mrs. Hamilton does an admirable job of crafting a good, suspenseful story in this book. I must admit I enjoyed reading it and that I will one day probably read it again. But something about this book left me feeling that it lacked an element that should have been there. Maybe it was that the ending wasn't long enough - that there should have been more to the story after the evil-doer was caught.

Anyway, no matter how I slice it, this was a good book filled with good writing.

I've been on a bit of a paranormal jag lately, since I've read more books in the past few weeks than in the last few years. This is one of the better books. I did like the first in this series, but the I think this one was even better. How cool is Anita... Vampire Hunter, Necromancer all wrapped up into a petite package.

I've read some of the reviews of the newer books in the series, so I'm not sure where it's all going, but for now I'm going to keep reading the series. Good stuff!

So... what would you do for a million dollars? Anita "just says no" to human sacrifice, but not everyone has her scruples. This second book in the series carries on in the same vein as the first, continuing her slide toward what she considers "moral ambiguity" and we call "steamy love scenes". Plus the title is just plain cool.

This is the second installment of the Anita Blake vampire series. What can I say...Laurell K. Hamilton has done it again. I recently fell in love with this series. I never want it to end. It really is too good. Anita Blake is all women. She has so many funny comeback lines, it's ridiculous. There is also Jean Claude, the Master of the City. Why aren't human men like him? Pretty soon you will meet Richard, the werewolf. Who will capture Anita's heart, Jean Claude or Richard. Go get this and the third installment...NOW!!!!!!

I am floored how many rave reviews this series has. Aside from main racist stereotypes and a Non-WOC who has no idea what it's like to be a person of color writing a WOC....this book is terrible. I've only listen to the audiobooks, so bad. I wish I could get 10hrs back of my life. I couldn't even finish the second book.

Second in the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series. Laurell K. Hamilton does it again. This book is a great journey into the goings on of Zombie activity. We see just how powerful Anita is although she is short and petite (ma petite), she is full of fire and ready to fire one of the many guns she carries. This is a real page turner. I read it in a week.

This book is great. It pulls you right into the story and won't let go. If you want humor, fear and suspense just sit down and read this book. This book makes you love, hate, and lust for the bad guys. You actually feel like you need to jump in and be a part of this dream-like experience

this series is basically my paranormal encyclopedia. . . it always seems like every book i read after is just a book but these are the "real way its supposed to be" hahahah. . . .definately the best vampire/paranormal series ever written i think

I still cannot give this book 5 stars. There are too many annoying habits to Hamilton's writing, such as using the same phrases in each book. That aside, this is so much better than the first. Here, Anita takes on a zombie queen and although the ending turns a little silly, it was well worth reading. Hamilton's characters may be easy to judge, but they are still likeable enough to keep reading.

Words cannot express how fun and entertaining this book was to read. Never boring - imaginative, funny, with a strong, insightful heroine. Realistic, gory monsters abound, limbs flying through the air, Zombies, witches, vampires...I can't recommend this book highly enough and can't wait to read it again.

I am reading this series in order and cannot wait to start the next. The Laughing Corpse had me hooked. I stomached through the gore and violence and glad I did. Anita is my hero and a vibrant realistic character. In fact all of the characters in this book are rich. I love the strange world Ms. LKH has created. Circus of the Damned here I come.

Anita is back. This lady is one you want on your side. God help you if you're a bad guy. She' rough, tough and won't be pushed around by anyone, not even the most feared voodoo priestess in St. Louis. I recommend this to anyone who loved Guilty Pleasures.

I got my Anita Blake books out of order. I read Bloody Bones first (great), then Guilty Pleasures which I found a bit hard to get into. But The Laughing Corpse - what a sensational story ! Lots of action, bad characters and Anita at the wittiest I've seen so far. I'm glad I've still got 3 to read ...

I enjoyed this more than Guilty Pleasures - I got a stronger sense of the characters, and the relationship between them. I think that the whole world of Anita Blake was better explained in this book, than in the first one. The plot was a little more sophisticated, too.

I have to tell you..Im loving these Anita Blake books..definitely something different. I enjoyed this story very much...my one complaint??? Not enough Jean Claude...this is one wild ride..I highly recommend getting into this series..its worth your while and sooo entertaining!!

"The Laughing Corpse" is the second book in Anita Blake series. It is as exciting, thrilling as the first one (if not more actually). I am amazed at L.K. Hamilton's wild imagination, the way of writing which binds the reader to the story so strongly, that putting the book down seems simply impossible.

Treat yourself to yet another wonderful adventure together with Anita and her ..... colorful crew :)

This book sucked. I think that Laurell K. Hamilton is the worst author yet. The book was boooooring. It only had like 4 scenes, and one scene lasted 30 pages. It was ridiculous. I could hardly keep my eyes open. For an animator, Anita is really stupid, she doesn't explore any of her powers. All she does is get smart with everybody she not supposed to get smart with, and by mistake discovers more powers. She repeats the same phrases over and over again till you wanna reach through the book and slap her. The scenes with Jean Claude are unoriginal. All they do is repeat the same thing. Anita - I'm not your servant. Jean Claude - yes you are. NO I'M NOT, YES YOU ARE, NO I'M NOT, YES YOU ARE. No dialog at all. Her friends lack personality, she has no back bone at all and a stupid sense of humor. The only action is at the end, but you won't make it past the boring scenes! The cop, Dolph, is just as bland as she is. Don't expect any action to come from there. Dominga Salvador is the only interesting person in the book. I say, if you want a good suspense/mystery, go to the book store and get J. D. Robb's In Death series. I guarantee, you will not have to read about Eve Dallas finding outfits with penguins on them in which to conceal her weapon.

If I had read this first instead of Guilty Pleasures I would probably not have read another one. The violence in this book is pretty stomach-churning, and while it's blackly funny in parts, there isn't as much personal interaction as in the other Anita Blake books I've read. So if this is your first exposure to Anita Blake, don't be discouraged but go on and try the rest of the series.

The laughing corpse is a dodgy club in a dodgy city.
A dodgy guy offers Anita a lot of cash to do a dodgy job. This job is to raise the dead in a way that is a no-no. She refuses, but someone else does it.

Then the dead bodies start turning up, and the police and Anita have to investigate. She still has human friends at the time, too.

This book is a hundred times better then Guilty Pleasures. It had a good gripping story, Jean-Claude, and not a lot of corney cliches that the 1st book had.

Anita sometimes gets a little irritating, you don't have to say your a 'tough as nails vampire slayer' twenty times, we got it. I also don't quite understand how bloody murder scenes make her puke but she can lop off a vampires head without a hint of an upset stomach ... vamps bleed too.

Anita also had her good moments ... that and the story line kept me reading and I'm glad I did.

I grew up watching Dark Shadows after school and this is the first series I've come across that captures that blend of horror, drama, and romance that grabs my attention. Anita Blake should hit the big screen next.

Though some say that Laurell K. Hamilton has mediocre writing skills and such, I don't believe that's necessarily true. Hamilton's writing is witty, and full of small idiosyncrasies that relate to the writing style and the character build of all Anita Blake and Co.
The Laughing Corpse was good, though I haven't read Guilty Pleasures, The Lunatic Cafe, The Killing Dance, Obsidian Butterfly or Narcissus in Chains, my favorites are Burnt Offerings and Blue Moon.
Hamilton mixes character, emotion, and realism in all of her books, definetly worth reading.

After being introduced to Anita and Jean-Claude and the rest of the gang in "Guilty Pleasures", "Laughing Corpse" moves us along nicely. This book concentrates more on Anita's burgeoning power as a zombie raiser, and eventually a necromancer.
I am really enjoying the series. It is my favorite at the moment. Cheers LKH!

Ever wonder what the United States would be like with vampires and shapshifters? Where vampires are treated as living people and a person could be tried for murder when they staked the undead. Where the disease known as lycanthropy can make a regular person howl viciouly at the full moon and crave warm human flesh. And a woman known as an animator makes a living off of raising the dead...as in zombies. If you've ever wondered if the supernatural could be natural then I would encourage you to read this book and the other books of the Anita Blake series. Especially those who love blood, guts, gore, and a heroine who's tough enough to take on the whole supernatural world that Laurell K. Hamilton has created.

I thought Guilty Pleasures was great, but The Laughing Corpse is better. I knew Anita Blake was powerful, but I didn't know she was this powerful. It was breathtaking. I read this book in one night. I was just unable to put it down. I was at the edge of my bed, so excited. It made me run and get the next book right away.

This was an excellent book, Laurell K. Hamilton writes so intricately giving the reader an in-depth look at the world she is building. The Laughing Corpse is the second book in the Anita Blake Series and takes place a year after the previous book. I don't want to give out too much but it involves werewolves, vampires (of course) and voodoo priestesses. A wonderful book altogether and I would recommend it to anyone who likes to read.

The Laughing Corpse was ok but after reading Guilty Pleasures it kinda let you down. you still get to read about Anita and Jean-Claude (whom i think is great). this book was not as good becuause all she does is kill a zombie that was raised and was killing people...other than that there is a little more to keep the plot going. i would still read it because it is crucial to the series and though there isn't as much desired from it you still need to read it and it is ok.

Anita Blake is back again... a tough, independent woman with an unnatural desire for you to know that she is wearing Nike shoes. The murder scenes are horrific and gruesome... just what you'd expect if you read the first book - Guilty Pleasures (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter).

In The Laughing Corpse (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter), there is a killer zombie that is literally tearing people apart. The Regional Preternatural Investigation Team calls Anita in to assist with the investigation.

There are some very interesting subplots woven into the story, including Anita continued struggle with her connection to Jean-Claude, a voodoo priestess named Dominga Salvador, and a crippled crime overlord named Harold Gaynor who wants Anita to raise a 200 year old corpse.

Hamilton's characterizations are great and the book is action packed from cover to cover. Anita's ability to take a beating and keep on ticking like the energizer bunny is a little unrealistic, but doesn't take away from the enjoyment of the book.

No gratuitous sex... that comes in the later novels. Does contain descriptions of graphic violence (gruesome murder scenes)

This is definitely a series that any Urban Fantasy lover should read (at least until somewhere around book 8-10).

Laurell K Hamilton brings a strong second book into her series with Anita, our 'tough as nails vampire slayer'. The most of the book is about the same pacing at the first, Guilty Pleasures, but the end picks up speed. I nearly cried it was so... amazing. Hamilton lets you taste the power! READ!

Second book in the series. Need I say more? Just buy it already! After all, who could resist Jean-Claude? ;D (See I told you this was an addictive series! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D)

I throughly enjoyed this book. The characters were great, especially, the main character. She has quite a sense of humor where needed. I can just picture her in my mind and the people around her. I am pretty much hooked on this author. I read this in one day which put me in bed at about 3 am. That should tell you how much I enjoyed the book. Now I am on to the next which I am sure will be just as great!

Hamilton has done it again. This is an amazing and gripping tale that will have you on the edge of your seat and wanting more. Anita has a terrible task ahead. She must kill a human to raise a 300 year old zombie but her morals forbid her from doing it. Really fascinating story.

Anita Blake novels are one of my favorite series. I can't put them down and usually finish the book in a day or two. I would definetly advise anyone to read guilty pleasures before laughing corpse considering its a series and you may be a little confused by the references but the book is great and Ilook forward to reading may more.

Don't close your eyes! Have you ever imagined waking up to murderous zombies in your bedroom? Nope, I can't imagine it either. Anita is faced with more than her share of creepies in this installment of the Anita Blake series. Though she tries to stay far away from Jean Claude, she finds herself in need of his assistance, and that of her fellow animator Manny. This will be the first time Anita has to use her skills as a necromancer to protect herself, and in doing so, cause the murder of two people who want her to do extremely bad things before ending her life.

Enjoy the exploration and excitement.

i love the story line. sometimes i find Anita too wrapped up in her love trangle. but the graphics are great the story line is awesome.

if you don't want to read the books read the graphic novel, they just rock. the artist captured the character...

Love the Anita Blake books! Love everything Laurell writes but the Anita Blake series is my favorite and is one I read over and over again. I love it so much, I have the hardcovers of all of them and am re-purchasing them in Kindle form so I have both medias. You can't go wrong with these books! I wait with anticipation every year for her newest to come out!

We find Anita Blake in trouble yet again. Harold Gaynor a wealthy man offers Anita an obscene amount of money to raise a 300+ year-old zombie. The only problem Anita doesn't do human sacrifice. All the while she is embroiled with the police in a mystery of bodies being destroyed by what appears to be a rabid zombie. Could the two cases be linked? What will she do about Mr. Gaynor when he won't take no for an answer and he will do anything to make Anita bend to his will? Another great story in this series. I love how Anita is getting sucked into more of Jean Claude's antics. I truly am in love with this series and I can't wait to read the next book. Another must read from Laurell K. Hamilton.

So I needed a Vamp fix after Black Dagger Brotherhood (best series I have read so far action, drama, passion, romance ...the works). So I decided to check out Anita Blake, it was not what I expected there has been no romance, or steamy scenes of any kind so far Im on book 3....but I AM NOT disappointed the action and drama is fast paced. I love a cycnical kick @$$ chick. I bought the first 11 and intend to read them all. It's a great series, very gory, gritty, and abit scary I LUV it;)Hard to stop reading once you start!

Started this series and for the most part enjoy it. Like all movies and books where the main character gets beaten, shot and abused regularly it's hard to believe they keep in going no matter what. Still I read....

I was out books to read and ask some friends for suggestions. Many friends recommended the Anita Blake series. It took a day or two to get into it but once I did it took off and I couldn't put it down. I can't wait to leave the next one!