Anna Dressed In Blood

by Kendare Blake

Reviewed by

Elizabeth Mosolovich

It's a creepy title, but it's a creepy book. The narrator and protagonist, Theseus Cassio "Cas" Lowood has inherited an odd profession after his father passed away: he kills the dead. Their ghosts, anyway, and usually only the violent ones. He and his mother travel all over, following ghost stories and rooting out the evil at the source. Their latest home is in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, where the locals report of a ghost that, if anyone steps inside her home, will kill them. She's killed so many that their blood is soaked through her white dress, and that is why they call her 'Anna Dressed In Blood.'

Cas has to ask around and make some friends to get what he wants, and when some of his new buddies decide to step inside Anna's house, Cas gets a taste of her frightening power. But...she lets him live, and Cas also sees something else in her: a scared, trapped girl struggling against her bloodthirsty nature. So as Cas starts gaining friends and then trains them to help him kill Anna, he finds himself falling in love with her.

This was an amazing book, with such an original idea. The doomed love story of Anna and Cas is sweet and pure, and the twisted tale of how Anna came to be is shocking and horrifying enough to befit a ghost story. It's wonderful seeing Cas start opening himself up to his friends Thomas and Carmel, and the imagery and figurative language is beautiful. There is also a sequel, called Girl of Nightmares. Anna Dressed In Blood is probably one of the best books I've ever read, and so I highly encourage you to read it!