Amber Benson

AMBER BENSON gets some creep on with author Christopher Golden in ‘Ghosts of Albion.’

Amber Benson, once a lesbian icon on ‘Buffy,’ finds a new calling as co-author of horror series

It’s 1838 and women in the slums of London are giving birth to toads. Men are transforming into deadly frog monsters and it’s up to magical siblings Tamara and William Swift (and a trio of historic ghosts) to protect their Mother England from the impending doom.

Thus the stage is set in “Ghosts of Albion: Accursed,” the first full-length novel in a new series from Christopher Golden (“The Shadow Saga” and “Wildwood Road”). Sounds like your typical horror fodder, sure, but the book is bound to attract the attention of at least a few fanboys (and grrls) thanks to its co-author, Amber Benson. For three seasons, Benson played lesbian enchantress Tara on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” and quickly became a cult favorite on the cheeky spook opera.

In the book, Tamara and William are the Protectors of Albion, the magical name for England. They are descendents of a long line of mystical protectors. Offering our young wizards protection, as well as some unique perspectives on life after death, are three of England’s most famous figures, Queen Bodicea, bisexual dandy Lord Byron and the esteemed Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson.

But it’s not all ghost-busting for this brother and sister duo. This is Victorian England, mind you, and these protectors stink with hormone-saturated desire worthy of the Bronte Sisters.

Benson and Golden find some of their best writing while fleshing out the worldly and ethereal existences of their ghostly heroes. Lord Byron sorely misses his days of sexual debauchery. Admiral Nelson is forever the eternal officer in service of England and Queen Bodicea is simply fierce. She’s a six-foot, spear-throwing Celtic warrior queen who battles evils completely nude and smeared head to toe in war paint. You go girl!

The fiction, while at first as stifling as one of Tamara’s bound corsets, becomes easier to navigate as the story progresses. Attention to architecture and period costuming are nicely emphasized throughout the novel. The authors take their subject seriously, but still manage to lace it with a dark sense of humor.

“Ghosts of Albion: Accursed” is a surprisingly fun read for fans of Victorian horror. Benson will easily find a built in audience in the form of her frothing “Taraholics.” As the title evolves into a series of novels (and perhaps a television series? I’m talking to you, Joss Whedon), the afterlife looks very good for at least one member of the former Scooby Gang.