Judging Books By Their Covers: The Daywalker and the Demon

Today in aesthetic central: ♪ Roll up, roll up for the mystery tour ♪ It’s coming to take you away. Let’s go!

The Daywalker and The Demon (Rose Cohen Vampire Series Book 1) by Hope Ironsmith

Published: 2024, DLB Publishing

Cover Artist: Unknown

Just looking- Dial glyph for murder.

What it makes me think – ♪ You say glyph / I say rune / You say stop and I say go go go oh no / You cast a spell and I see a demon in your room ♪ Surely, John and Paul would have written such a song had they seen this cover in the 1960s. I would have, and this cover demands musical justice. The symbols floating in a circular pattern catch my eyes first, and that’s remarkable because I usually focus on the character if there is one. Yes, there is one here, and let’s take a look. All in black and ready to cast, she’s a female lead front and center. I like the way I assume that she’s a witch. That’s the runes talking, but suppose she’s a vampire practicing witchcraft or a vampire with powers I don’t know about? It’s Hope Ironsmith’s world, and it makes me want to open the book to find out.

The font helps a lot with the vibe the artist is looking for. Its name is Lightfoot, created by Paul Lloyd, and it is what I would call a retro font with nods to classic serif designs. With exaggerated curves and appendages, I think Lightfoot is what would have happened if Tim Burton had been designing fonts instead of making movies. It’s a little dark, slightly fanciful, and kind of twisted…just like the kind of stories we might have read had the Beatles written vampire urban fantasies instead of some of the greatest rock and roll songs of all time.

Would I buy it? Yes. You can find it here.

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