October 2025 "Black Ambrosia: An Unsung Classic Of 80's Horror Literature" by Ulysses Ochoa

     In the 1988 novel Black Ambrosia, Elizabeth Engstrom tells a very unique and disturbingly tragic vampire story. Angelina Watson is a young woman who, in the midst of an extremely traumatic experience, awakens a vampiric entity within her. As more and more pain is inflicted on Angelina by the world, she is also waging a war against her vampiric self. As small glimmers of hope at a normal life are dashed one by one, Angelina’s vampiric tormentor ultimately takes over, and she becomes a truly terrifying force to be reckoned with.

   A theme that Engstrom touches upon in the novel is that women are not allowed to assert their reality. They are instead spoken about, subject to the narratives and labels society puts upon them. This is demonstrated through Engstrom having Angelina recount her life after the events of the novel have happened and by having several people give their testimonies at various points of the story. At the start of the novel, Angela’s stepfather admits to contemplating killing her in her sleep for having a perceived darkness within her. Another example of this theme early on is when one of the attackers who triggers Angelina’s vampirism says horrible things about her to cast her retaliation as anything but an action of survival. In reality, Angelina initially is a kind person with aspirations of freedom. She is quiet and reserved, yes, but that does not mean she is not a kind person with dreams of seeing what the world has to offer. However, after establishing this dynamic, Engstrom then plants seeds of doubt in how reliable Angelina is as a narrator. Is she really a vampire? Does she have supernatural abilities? Or is everything the figment of a mind shattered by the cruelty of the world? This back-and-forth ultimately becomes part of the theme that Engstrom is trying to explore. Men try to rationalize and handwave away Angelina’s supernatural powers, the character that does this the most being her one-time lover, now turned mortal enemy, Boyd. However, within Boyd’s account of events, he ends up unintentionally corroborating Angelina’s perspective.

     What makes this novel so captivating is the sheer tragedy of it all, along with the disturbing progression of Angelina’s condition. You desperately wish for Angelina to fight off her hunger, knowing full well that she eventually succumbs. That moment is sheer heartbreak, as Angelina views accepting the darkness taking over as salvation from a life that has crushed her over and over again. From that point on, Angelina has become a ruthless predator who portrays her hunt as a twisted form of salvation. While there are certainly disturbing moments before this point in the novel, once Angelina fully awakens her powers and her actions become more depraved, the novel turns downright stomach-churning. While absolutely not for the faint of heart, Black Ambrosia is a true horror masterpiece that sinks itself deep into your veins and doesn’t let go until you’ve been bled bone dry.