Tales of the Slayer

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Note: This is not to be confused with "Tales of the Slayers" Graphic Novel.

Book Covers for Volumes 1-4 of Tales of the Slayer
Book Covers for Volumes 1-4 of Tales of the Slayer

"Tales of the Slayer" are volumes containing prose short stories. Four volumes of this series has been released, all published by Pocket Books. Each contains a number of short stories surrounding the mythology of past slayers

Contents

[edit] Tales within Buffyverse Chronology

These are ordered by chronology rather than by their appearance in the books.

[edit] A Good Run

Author: Greg Rucka
Collected in: Vol. I
Setting: Greece, 490 BCE
It's 490 BC in Greece and Thessily is the current Slayer. In order to protect an important messenger, she must run 300 miles in 3 days while fending off countless vampires. In the end, this 29 year old Slayer just wants to be remembered for something great.

[edit] Lady Shobu

Author: Kara Dalkey
Collected in: Vol. II
Setting: Sagami Province, Japan, 980
Kishi Minomoto is a brave girl born into a warrior clan who is suddenly called to serve as a lady in waiting for the Great Lady Ankimon-in. Her summoner, Bennin, claims to be her Watcher and informs her of her duty as a Slayer. He teaches her precious little concerning the demons around her as well a her predecessor before sending her to wait on the Great Lady. Kishi does her best to locate the demons which have been surrounding the Palace only to find out that Bennin is not who he says he is nor is the Great Lady who was originally the Watcher of the past Slayer. Bennin, is actually Migoto, his brother, who has been sacrificing Slayers to a dragon in order to maintain his immortal life.

[edit] Dark of the Moon

Author: Yvonne Navarro
Collected in: Vol. II
Setting: 1229 and 1250
The story of a slayer who was trained but did not know what her calling was. Her angst and frustration come through when she failed to fulfill her duty through no fault of her own.

[edit] Abomination

Author: Laura J. Burns and Melinda Metz
Collected in: Vol. II
Setting: Beauport, Brittany, France, 1320
Eliane and her Watcher have spent years training together, but as the years go by and Eliane becomes older they begin to suspect that she will never be called as a Slayer. Eventually she and her Watcher fall in love, get married and form a family. When she finally reaches the age of 20, she is abruptly called to her duty and her husband is taken away from her for violating codes of conduct with his charge. Eliane refuses to accept her duty until her husband has returned to her even though Tatoul, a particularly vicious vampire plagues her city. When the demon finally steals her five year old child and turns him into a vampire, she begins to fight back. But it may be far too late.

[edit] The Rule of Silence

Author: Kara Dalkey
Collected in: Vol. IV
Setting: Seville, Spain, 1481
The Slayer, Esperanza de la Vega, is a Marrano and this makes her a heretic. Reading about demons does not help her standing.

[edit] The White Doe

Author: Christie Golden
Collected in: Vol. I
Setting: London, 1586
A Slayer named White Doe was adopted by Croatoans despite her English breeding and trained as the men were. She grew to be beautiful and agile. A particular wizard of the people fell in love with her but she did not return his lust. He then turned her into a white doe because if he could not have her then he did not wish anyone else have her heart. But Seal of the Ocean loves her and eventually finds her, only to end up killing her because he believes she is a wild animal. This story is based on myths built around the real life disappearance of the Roanoke Colony and Virginia Dare, the first child of English colonists born on American soil.

[edit] Die Blutgrafin

Author: Yvonne Navarro
Collected in: Vol. I
Setting: Hungary, 1609
Countesse Elizabeth Bathory (die Blutgrafin) aka the Blood Countess is a wicked woman that lives in a castle in Hungary. It is rumoured that she bathes in the blood of young virgins in order to stay youthful. Ildiko is the current Slayer and she infiltrates the castle, posing as a maid. But the Countess takes note of her abilities and poisons her. Ildiko realizes that she has failed in her duties as Slayer when she is put inside the Iron Maiden; the Countess' favorite torture device.

[edit] Blood and Brine

Author: Greg Cox
Collected in: Vol. II
Setting: The Caribbean 1661
Robin Whitby is the captain of a schooner titled Neptune's Lady. She has been passing herself off as a man in order to be accepted by her crew. While sailing the seas, they come about a boat called the El Dorado which is strangely free of any crew members, save for a young Spanish girl. The boat is loaded with gold and treasures and in particular, an ugly little idol. After a brief mutiny on board her ship as soon as the crew realizes that she's female, half the members take the other boat and set off. However, the boat becomes plagued by the kraken, a water monster with fangs and squid-like arms, and Robin heads back to fight for the crew that once betrayed her. In a fight with the kraken, Robin loses her right forearm to the beast, losing a part of herself, yet still not defeating the hideous monster.

[edit] Unholy Madness

Author: Nancy Holder
Collected in: Vol. I
Setting: France, 1789
Marie-Christina is a Slayer of royal blood who lives in Marie-Antoinette's royal palace at Versailles. Unfortunately, the royals have become displeased with her work, as has her Watcher. She is trying to save the poor people of Paris from a vampire named L'Hero who is rallying the people against the royals but her Watcher disapproves of her actions. She then discovers that she is not born of royal blood, but she was pulled off the streets when she was a young child. She accepts her past and kills L'Hero but then finds her Watcher at the guillotine. She tells him that she succeeded in killing L'Hero but he tells her that she failed in all her duties and she's useless. His head is then chopped off while Marie-Christine looks down on him in sorrow.

[edit] The Ghosts of Slayers Past

Author: Scott Allie
Collected in: Vol. II
Setting: England, 1843
The current Watcher of the current Slayer (who is from the run down east end of London) has absolutely no sympathy for his charge until he is visited by two Slayers from the past who show him what he is doing wrong, but it isn't until one Slayer from the future makes an appearance that the Watcher learns the error of his ways.

[edit] Ch'ing Shih

Author: Mel Odom
Collected in: Vol. III
Setting: June 10, 1856
After the slayer's Watcher died, she ran away from the monastery where he trained her. Posing as a man she survived on her own in the city. When her new Watcher finds her they join forces to battle an extremely dangerous vampire.

[edit] The New Watcher

Author: Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Collected in: Vol. II
Setting: Atlanta, 1864
Pauline Francis Bernard is passing herself off as a man under the name of Frankie Massey in order to enlist in the army. Her Watcher long dead, a new Watcher arrives in her town in search of a woman. Her general as secretly known that Frankie is in fact a woman but wants her on his side and the Watcher is sent off without ever finding his Slayer.

[edit] Alone

Author: Scott Allie
Collected in: Vol. IV
Setting: 1876 Ireland
Around the time of her Cruciamentum, the slayer, Catherine Callan of Ulster, must tolerate both her father and prejudice from the largely English Watchers Council. She teases the council, pretending to be married to Mr Spelling, her watcher.

[edit] Mornglom Dreaming

Author: Doranna Durgin
Collected in: Vol. I
Setting: Kentucky, 1886
Mollie Prater is a simple 15 year old girl living in Kentucky in 1886. Next week she's to be married to Harly. But a Watcher named Ethan has been searching for her because she is the new Slayer. A few weeks ago Mollie grew new abilities and Ethan must train her. Her town has been attacked by several man-demons and she's the only one that's faced them and lived to tell the tale. Mollie's wedding day is interrupted by these demons and Ethan's appearance. He briefly tells her that she is the Slayer and she kills the demons. Unfortunately Harly walks out on her and she knows her life won't ever be the same.

[edit] House of the Vampire

Author: Michael Reaves
Collected in: Vol. II
Setting: London 1897
Dracula has come to England, even after his supposed death years ago. Angelique Hawthorne, the current Slayer, must determine if she's under the thrall of Dracula himself and how to defeat him. She also learns a hard lesson about keeping friends in her field.

[edit] Sideshow Slayer

Author: Greg Cox
Collected in: Vol. IV
Setting: Duluth, Minnesota, 1911
The slayer, Millicent "Millie" Rose Gresham is approaching her eighteenth birthday and therefore the Cruciamentum awaits. Millie is a traveling Slayer, covering within a carnival side show.

[edit] Survivors

Author: Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Collected in: Vol. IV
Setting: Chicago 1919
The slayer, Dorothy "Dot" Singers is approaching her eighteenth birthday and therefore the Cruciamentum awaits. Her Watcher, Reginald Hill, suffers shell shock after having abandoned going to war.

[edit] The War Between the States

Author: Rebecca Rand Kirshner
Collected in: Vol. II
Setting: New York, 1922
A young woman named Sally Jean comes to New York and becomes awed by a flapper named Ardita O'Reilly who is in fact the current Slayer. Sally Jean becomes completely enthralled by everything that Ardita possesses, until she learns what exactly Ardita is and what she does.

[edit] Silent Screams

Author: Mel Odom
Collected in: Vol. I
Setting: Germany, 1923
Herr Lichtermann is the Watcher of the new official Slayer, Britta. He trains her but never once encounters a vampire or demon. One night, the Slayer and Watcher attend a screening of a new movie, only to find that the creators are vampires plan to kill their audience. Herr Lichtermann runs away, leaving Britta to die alone, breaking his promise to her. But Lichtermann is captured and put into a cell with the newly vamped Britta who wants nothing more than to kill the Watcher that betrayed her.

[edit] Voodoo Lounge

Author: Christopher Golden
Collected in: Vol. III
Setting: Dec. 12, 1940
Sequel to Spike and Dru: Pretty Maids All in a Row. The slayer and her Watcher try to find a Watcher who has gone missing in 1940's United States.

[edit] Stakeout on Rush Street

Author: Max Allan Collins with Matthew V. Clemens
Collected in: Vol. II
Setting: Chicago, Illinois, 1943
The new Slayer is in fact a private eye who goes by the name Betty. She has ties to the mob currently in Chicago and has helped them out on several occasions. When she learns that one of their current employees is in fact a vampire, she informs the mob boss who agrees to pay her a large sum of money in exchange for her killing the demon.

[edit] Undeadsville

Author: Michael Reaves
Collected in: Vol. IV
Setting: New York, 1952
The Slayer is a 'beatnik' named Zoe, is turning eighteen, and therefore should soon be having her Cruciamentum. Zoe's Watcher, Ian Sykes, is so alienated from her lifestyle that he conspires to see that his Slayer does not survive her Cruciamentum.

[edit] And White Splits the Night

Author: Yvonne Navarro
Collected in: Vol. I
Setting: Florida, 1956
17 year old Asha is a dark-skinned Slayer in an extremely racist society. While hunting, she discovers a vampire's plan to kill a church group in a couple days and bomb the place to the ground. She and her Watcher rush to the church to prevent the attack from happening. Asha managed to save the people in the church but ends up killing herself in return.

[edit] Back to the Garden

Author: Robert Joseph Levy
Collected in: Vol. IV
Setting: 1969
A pacifist Slayer, Beryl MacKenzie, approaches her eighteenth birthday and therefore her Cruciamentum awaits. She joins a commune in Nova Scotia in just before coming into her power. So she must face the Cruciamentum as an initiation into being a slayer.

[edit] It's All About the Mission

Author: Nancy Holder
Collected in: Vol. IV
Setting: Harlem, New York, 1973
Nikki Wood is turning eighteen and pregnant. Nikki's Watcher, Bernard Crowley, knows that the Cruciamentum is a terrible idea.

[edit] Two Teenage Girls at the Mall

Author: Jane Espenson
Collected in: Vol. IV
Setting: Keller, Nebraska, 1981
This story is is told from the perspective of a sixteen year old newly-turned vampire, Julie Lemmer. Her sire starves her then locks her in a mall. The second girl locked in the mall is a slayer who has just turned eighteen and is therefore facing her Cruciamentum.

[edit] The Code of the Samurai

Author: Nancy Holder
Collected in: Vol. III
Setting: Tokyo, 1993
India Cohen, Buffy's immediate predecessor, patrols freely around Tokyo. She fancies her handsome young watcher, Kit. The pair are asked to help a clan dust their vampire-ancestor, along with 50 other warriors. India Cohen also appears in The Book of Fours

[edit] Again, Sunnydale

Author: Jane Espenson
Collected in: Vol. II
Setting: California, 2001 with flashbacks to 1999
Buffy, Willow and Xander are sent back into their 1999 bodies back in high school. They have all the knowledge of what is to come because they are actually from the year 2001. Willow and Xander are both disturbed and want to go back to the present time but Buffy is determined to stay in the past where her mother still lives and her life isn't nearly as complicated as it had become in the future.

[edit] All That You Do Comes Back..

Author: Todd A. McIntosh
Collected in: Vol. II
Setting: California, 2000
A fellow student of Buffy Summers at UC Sunnydale named Josh decides to stand up for himself against the mean jocks and summons an ancient Egyptian spirit to do his bidding. Only the spirit doesn't want to play along and is in search of his mummified body which is currently located in Sunnydale's museum. It's up to Buffy to stop this spirit from inhabiting his old body, but it turns out that Xander, despite his mummy fears, saves the day.

[edit] Continuity

[edit] Canonical issues

Main article: Buffyverse canon

Buffy novels are not usually considered to be canonical. However, overviews summarising their story, written early in the writing process, were 'approved' by both Fox and Joss Whedon (or his office), and the books were therefore later published as official Buffy merchandise.

The collection contains stories by Mutant Enemy writers Jane Espenson and Rebecca Rand Kirshner.

The one major departure from the canon was started in Christopher Golden's Spike and Dru: Pretty Maids All in a Row and then continued in his story Voodoo Lounge from vol.III. This story centres around the fact that Spike kills the slayer Sophie Carstensen, and the remaining narrative details the death of her immediate successor, Isabel Cortes, then the adventures of the next girl, Eleanor Boudreau. However in the canon of the TV show, a large point is made of the fact that the two slayers Spike kills are a Chinese Slayer and Nikki Wood, Robin Wood's mother.

[edit] Timing

  • Most of these 'tales' take place before 1995. Here they are listed with the other stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:
Location, time
(if known)
Buffyverse chronology: Ancient - 1900
(non-canon = italic)
Ancient Tales of the Slayers: Prologue
490 BCE Tales of the Slayer: Lady Shobu
490 BCE Tales of the Slayer: A Good Run
Japan, 980 Tales of the Slayer: Lady Shobu
1229 & 1250 Tales of the Slayer: Dark of the Moon
France, 1320 Tales of the Slayer: Abomination
England, approx 1400. Tales of the Slayers: Righteous
Spain, 1481 Tales of the Slayer: The Rule of Silence
London, 1586 Tales of the Slayer: The White Doe
Hungary, 1609 Tales of the Slayer: Die Blutgrafin
Caribbean Sea, 1661 Tales of the Slayer: Blood and Brine
France, 1789 Tales of the Slayer: Unholy Madness
1789 Tales of the Slayers: The Innocent
Early 19th Century Tales of the Vampires: Some Like it Hot
England, 1813 Tales of the Slayers: Presumption
London, England, 1843 Tales of the Slayer: The Ghosts of Slayers Past
Boston, 1845 WB Buffy promo: History of the Slayer
June 10, 1856 Tales of the Slayer: Ch'ing Shih
Atlanta, 1864 Tales of the Slayer: The New Watcher
Virginia, 1866 WB Buffy promo: History of the Slayer
Ireland, 1876 Tales of the Slayer: Alone
November 1888 Tales of the Vampires: Jack
Kentucky, 1886 Tales of the Slayer: Mornglom Dreaming
Oklahoma, 1893 WB Buffy promo: History of the Slayer
Virginia City, 1897 WB Buffy promo: History of the Slayer
Late 19th Century 'Tales of the Vampires' framing story
Sunnydale, late 19th century Tales of the Slayers: The Glittering World
Location, time
(if known)
Buffyverse chronology: 1901 – 1995
(non-canon = italic)
US, 1911 Tales of the Slayer: Sideshow Slayer
Brooklyn, 1912 WB Buffy promo: History of the Slayer
Chicago, 1919 Tales of the Slayer: Survivors
New York, 1922 Tales of the Slayer: The War Between the States
1922 onwards Tales of the Vampires: Father
Germany, 1923 Tales of the Slayer: Silent Screams
Chicago, 1927 WB Buffy promo: History of the Slayer
Las Vegas, 1930s Tales of the Vampires: Dames
Hollywood, 1930s Angel comic: Spike vs Dracula #2
1933 Buffy graphic novel: Spike & Dru: All's Fair
1933 Tales of the Vampires: Dust Bowl
New York 1937 Tales of the Slayers: Broken Bottle of Djinn, 1937 (2nd half)
Germany, 1938 Tales of the Slayers: Sonnenblume
World War II Angel comic: Spike vs Dracula #3
1940s Buffy book: Spike and Dru: Pretty Maids All in a Row
Dec. 12, 1940 Tales of the SlayerVoodoo Lounge
Chicago, 1943 Tales of the Slayer: Stakeout on Rush Street
New York, 1952 Tales of the Slayer: Undeadsville
Italy, 1950s Angel comic: Spike vs Dracula #4
Florida, 1956 Tales of the Slayer: And White Splits the Night
1969 Tales of the Slayer: Back to the Garden
New York, 1970s Tales of the Slayers: Nikki Goes Down!
New York, 1973 Tales of the Slayer: It's All About the Mission
New York, 1977 Buffy book: Blackout
Nebraska, 1981 Tales of the Slayer: Two Teenage Girls at the Mall
Tokyo, 1993 Tales of the Slayer: The Code of the Samurai

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Reviews

[edit] Volume I

[edit] Volume II

[edit] Volume III

[edit] Volume IV

Buffy novels


Buffy books in order of Buffyverse chronology

Tales of the Slayer | Pretty Maids All in a Row | Blackout | Halloween Rain | Coyote Moon | Night of the Living Rerun | How I Survived My Summer Vacation | Keep Me In Mind | The Suicide King | Colony | Night Terrors | After Image | Carnival of Souls | Blooded | Go Ask Malice: A Slayer's Diary | Sins of the Father | Child of the Hunt | Ghoul Trouble | Paleo | The Evil That Men Do | The Deathless | Doomsday Deck | Immortal | Prime Evil | Power of Persuasion | Revenant | The Gatekeeper | Resurrecting Ravana | Return to Chaos | Visitors | Unnatural Selection | Obsidian Fate | Deep Water | Here Be Monsters | The Book of Fours | Sunnydale High Yearbook | Lost Slayer | Oz | These Our Actors | Unseen | Tempted Champions | Little Things | Crossings | Sweet Sixteen | Wisdom of War | Cursed | Blood and Fog | Monster Island | Wicked Willow | Seven Crows | Apocalypse Memories | Mortal Fear | Spark and Burn | Heat | Queen of the Slayers

Angel novels


Angel books in order of Buffyverse chronology

Not Forgotten | Close to the Ground | Soul Trade | Redemption | Shakedown | Hollywood Noir | Avatar | Bruja | The Summoned | Unseen | Haunted | Image | Stranger to the Sun | Vengeance | The Longest Night | Monster Island | Endangered Species | Impressions | Fearless | Cursed | Sanctuary | Seven Crows | Dark Mirror | Heat | Solitary Man | Love and Death | Monolith | Nemesis | Book of the Dead

Buffyverse & related topics
Main Canon | Index

Chronology: Ancient | Modern | BS1 | BS2 | BS3 | BS4/AS1 | BS5/AS2 | BS6/AS3 | BS7/AS4 | AS5 | Future | Flashbacks

Buffy Characters (main) | Characters (minor) | Episodes | Plot | Quotes

Comics | DVDs | Film | Novels | Pilot (unaired)

Angel Characters (main) | Characters (minor) | Episodes | Plot | Quotes

Comics | Corrupt (unaired) | DVDs | Novels | Pitch tape

Expanded Uni. Comics | Fray | Novels | Slayer timeline | Tales of Slayer (prose) | Tales of Slayers | Tales of Vampires | Video Games

New: Auld Lang Syne | Asylum | Bad Bargain | Blackout | Deathless | Go Ask Malice | Masks | Portal Through Time | Spike vs Dracula

Auxiliary Academia | Cast & crew | Fan made productions | Rare promos | Unofficial parodies | Undeveloped productions

Buffy Animated | Card Game | Guidebooks | Magazines | RPGs | Spike movie | Toys

Powers Angel Investigations | Circle of the Black Thorn | Order of Aurelius | The First Evil | The Initiative | Monsters | Old Ones | The Powers That Be | Ra-Tet | Scooby Gang | Scourge of Europe | Senior Partners | Watchers' Council | Wolfram & Hart
People Adam | Amy | Andrew | Angel | Anya | Buffy | Caleb | Connor | Cordelia | Dawn | Darla | Doyle | Drusilla | Eve | Faith | Fred | Giles | Glory | Gunn | Harmony | Holtz | Illyria | Jasmine | Jenny | Joyce | Jonathan | Kate | Kennedy | Lilah | Lindsey | Lorne | Master | Mayor | Oz | Robin Wood | Prof. Walsh | Riley | Spike | Tara | Warren | Wesley | Willow | Xander
Places L.A. | Sunnydale
Bronze | Buffy's residence | Caritas | Hellmouth | Hyperion | Library | Magic Box | Pylea | Sunnydale High
Music Complete Tracklist | Use of Music in Buffy & Angel

Buffy album | Dingoes Ate My Baby | Film | Radio Sunnydale | Live Fast, Die Never | Once More, with Feeling

Key Terminology "Demon" | "Slayer" | "Vampire" | "Watcher" | "Werewolf" | "Witch"

"Child of Senior Partners" | Shanshu | Sunnydale Syndrome | Tro-Clon

In other languages