Books About Vampires

**samah** · 06-01-2006, 12:53 PM

I've noticed recently from the internet that there are a lot of books about vampires ,I believe that the first one was Dracula by Stocker and the other writers found this book as an access for hundreds of other stories about vampires , Vlad Tipes , Transylvania ...etc.
I know that a lot of people believe that this is not good literature but lets admit it these things are successful and somehow fun .
I'm 20 years old in the last a few years I started to believe that maybe vampires are real ! every time I watch T.V theres a series or a movie about vampires, deamons
and who didnt watch Buffy anyway ?!
Its like Vampires and more other things are apart of a new culture we are forced to be part of especially if you are young , when you go to school you find everyone is reading these things and talking about it , but you dont see too many people reading books for Destoevsky or Tolestoy for example ,
, I'm not saying that all the vampires books are bad and unfortunatly I've never read anyone of them just because english is not my first language and actually I'm not so good in it and I couldnt find other books in my language .
What I'm trying to say is that its a good thing to read everything but we should always be able to evaluate what we read .

**Bysshe** · 06-01-2006, 01:08 PM

I've only ever read two books about vampires - Dracula and Interview with the Vampire.

However, I ended up really regretting reading Interview with the Vampire. It was very disappointing.

**mir** · 06-01-2006, 01:35 PM

i read Sunshine, by Robin McKinley, and it became my absolute favorite book (that's not a classic which I only read once); but when i started half-looking for other vampire books because i'd loved that one so much, i couldn't really find anything good. does anyone know some GOOD vampire books?

and i think vampire books are so popular because they combine a lot of elements that are really well-liked in books - an otherwordly aspect, easy read without a huge amount of thought, eroticism, and violence.

interpretation is fun, but let's face it, books that are nothing more than face value are too, especially on a friday night at 12:00 . . . it all depends on your mood.

**Bysshe** · 06-01-2006, 03:23 PM

does anyone know some GOOD vampire books?

Dracula's the obvious choice...if you haven't read it already.

**Hyacinth Girl** · 06-01-2006, 04:50 PM

Originally Posted by mir

does anyone know some GOOD vampire books?
interpretation is fun, but let's face it, books that are nothing more than face value are too, especially on a friday night at 12:00 . . . it all depends on your mood.

I recently read, "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova. I found it a lot of fun as a vampire mystery that drew on a large historical base, and even echoed Stoker's Dracula in form to some extent through use of various letter narratives introduced into the linear narrative. Great literature it is not, but a definite GOOD read.

**Pendragon** · 06-01-2006, 06:57 PM

If you like short stories, I recommend Dracula in London edited by P.N. Elrod, The Mammoth Book of Dracula edited by Stephen Jones, and then there's The Many Faces of Van Helsing, edited by Jeanne Cavelos, and the excellent 100 Vicious Little Vampire Stories, one of a 100 story series put out by Barnes & Noble and edited by Robert Weinberg, Stefan Dziemanowicz, and Martin H. Greensburg. The stories are by such authors as Tanith Lee, Christopher Golden, Brian Lumley, Ramsey Campbell, Gene DeWeese, Mike Ashley, Greg Cox, Hugh B, Cave, and other masters of fantasy and horror.

**mir** · 06-01-2006, 07:19 PM

thanks! i'll try as many as i can find! : )

**Jay** · 06-01-2006, 08:17 PM

What about John Polindori's The Vampyre (published 1819)? - think ghost-story telling competition at Lake Geneva 1816 - Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was written then. I think Byron wrote Darkness, but not too sure. P.B. Shelley wrote Alastor, or The Spirit of Solitude if I'm not mistaken. I guess Polindori beat Stoker and used the idea of a vampire in literature first

... or at least English lit.

Yep, romanticism exam soon, what gave me away?

**kathycf** · 06-01-2006, 08:30 PM

Lost Souls by Poppy Z Brite
Sunglasses after Dark by Nancy Collins
Both of these came out in the early 90's, and I think they are worth a look, if you like vampire and/or horror stories.

Apparently there is an upcoming movie "Ultraviolet" this is the author's website.

http://www.yvonnenavarro.com/ultraviolet.htm

**mir** · 06-02-2006, 07:57 AM

sounds like Underworld

**Weeping Willow** · 06-02-2006, 08:22 AM

If some wants there is a really good book series called Ravenloft..
the first book is called Vampire of the Mists by Christie Golden.
REally really good..

**Shannanigan** · 06-02-2006, 10:11 AM

Now that I think about it, I've only been reading one series of books related to vampires, and I haven't read any other books outside of the series. The books, of course, are the Anita Blake series I'm always ranting about...by Laurell K. Hamilton, starting with the book "Guilty Pleasures." (I don't care how much anyone thinks it is just a useless page-turning, keep-me-entertained-this-summer series....I love it!) Hamiton's books also include werewolves and other were-animals, are based on a character who raises zombies, and every once in a while a witch or troll will make an appearance. I really should read Dracula, huh? lol....

**kathycf** · 06-02-2006, 01:07 PM

Originally Posted by Shannanigan

... The books, of course, are the Anita Blake series I'm always ranting about...by Laurell K. Hamilton, starting with the book "Guilty Pleasures." (I don't care how much anyone thinks it is just a useless page-turning, keep-me-entertained-this-summer series....I love it!)

Nothing wrong with that, I like reading books of all different kinds.Something "trashy" can have merit even if all it provides is an afternoon's entertainment.

Carmilla by J. Sheridan LeFanu is also a good creepy vampire story.
Free download
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/10007

Originally Posted by mir

sounds like Underworld

I dunno, I didn't see that. After I saw Blade, I swore off vampire movies for a while....

the two books I mentioned are pretty good though.

Lost Souls by Poppy Z Brite
Sunglasses after Dark by Nancy Collins

**Padan Fain** · 06-02-2006, 02:22 PM

Fevre Dream by George R. R. Martin. Not typical, but also one of the best novels I've ever read. recently re-released.

**Satine** · 06-02-2006, 02:23 PM

I'm not a fan of Vampire books, but I have a friend that is and she is a huge fan of Anne Rice. Christ the Lord is supposed to be really good, but I haven't read it, and it's different than her other stuff......