Vampire Books that are not Paranormal Romance

[Dark Muse]

I have loved vampires and been fascinated by them since before the world even heard of the name Stephanie Meyer, and this whole new paranormal romance fad that she helped give birth to is quite annoying to me, not that there is anything wrong with people who enjoy reading that, I have my own guilty reading pleasures, but it is impossible to find any vampire books anymore that do not fit into that genre of paranormal romance and I just don't like romance no matter how you spin it.

For me personally putting a vampire in a romance novel does not make the romance suddenly cool, it just makes the vampire a lot less cool.

In high school I was a die hard Anne Rice fan, and read the entire Vampire Chronicles, and I would like some recommendations on vampire themed books which are not a part of the new paranormal romance craze.

[Drkshadow03]

George R. Martin's Fevre Dreams. That's more like historical fiction meets vampires. Takes place on a New Orleans river boat with vampires. It has some really nice atmosphere and a successful period piece, with vampires.

[Dark Muse]

That sounds really cool, three of my favorite things put together, vampires, New Orleans, and historical fiction.

[applepie]

I have loved vampires and been fascinated by them since before the world even heard of the name Stephanie Meyer, and this whole new paranormal romance fad that she helped give birth to is quite annoying to me

I wish I could blame her It's been a growing trend in adult fiction for going on 6-8 years now. It is my guilty pleasure, but it was so much better in quality before it became the "in" thing. I miss the days of the genera early on *sigh*.

You may want to try the Laurell K Hamilton, Anita Blake series. There is a tiny touch of romance in the early books, but nothing major. They're closer to crime fiction. My only advice, stop with Obsidian Butterfly if you do read them. Anything past that is absolute rubbish, and it gets part of the way there a little earlier. Obsidian Butterfly was just an interesting read in the series, and it's gone down hill since.

Hmmm, there's the Mercy Thompson Series, but once again we're looking at something that has a bit of romance. Not as much as others, but it is still there... I actually stumped. I'll think on it some more, and I'll be back to see what others are suggesting. I started reading vampire stories long before it was popular, and it is a bit sad that it's so hard to find good books even though the shelves are full of them

[dfloyd]

the rest of her novels had an unhealthy smell to them: bad novels stink. As far as I am concerned, I'm happy with the classic Dracula by Bram Stoker: his was the best so now I don't want to read any vampire stories because they can't compare with Stoker's classic.

[Dinkleberry2010]

I think Stephen King's Salem's Lot is the best vampire book of the latter twentieth century. It's definitely not of the romantic genre type

[Dark Muse]

I think Stephen King's Salem's Lot is the best vampire book of the latter twentieth century. It's definitely not of the romantic genre type

Yeah, I need to read that one

[mtpspur]

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro-DM if you don't like this author -- I give up . Her chaacter is St Germaine (based on a real historical character). She writes very vividly of the time period she writes in. Sometimes perhaps a bit too much. You are hardly even aware of Germaine as a vampire (apparently you only need a glass every now and again). Check her out on Yahoo and give her a try. Right up there with Anne Rice and in my opinion a better writer.

[Dark Muse]

I actually have one of her books, I was intrigued by the fact it was about St Germaine, but did not know it also had a vampire component, when I first picked it up I was not aware it was part of a series, so I haven't yet been able to read it, because I haven't yet got the first book in the series.

[mtpspur]

If I recall Hotel Transylvania is first written but she jumps around in history. I will confess I gave up on one of her books after a ton of pages describing Venice I believe. But she's good for atmosphere and mood setting. She takes her time settig the stage and the characters in motion and oyu wait for the payoff which tends to be violent and all the scarier because of the slow progression to the payoff.

[Dark Muse]

That does sound quite up my alley. Maybe I will have to move her books up to the top of my books to get list, next time I happen to out shoping for books.

[Taliesin]

It's not a novel but a short story, by Neil Gaiman. You can even read it online.

Snow, Glass, Apples
A retelling of the Snow White's story from the "wicked stepmothers" point of view. Who actually isn't so wicked after since, as we all know, winners write the history.

[El Viejo]

I've read "Interview With The Vampire," "Salem's Lot," "Twilight," and "Dracula." The last one is the only one I've read repeatedly. The others were fun, but didn't draw me back. The ideas behind the stories were all attractive, but Stoker did a better job presenting his, as often through omission as anything else. For example, no ultra-baseball game in "Dracula."

[Dinkleberry2010]

The only claim to fame I have is that I once lived eight blocks away from Anne Rice on First Street in New Orleans in 1990. What's weird about it is that I happened to be reading her novel The Witching Hour when I discovered she lived on the same street as me.

[FirecrackerX]

'Carmilla' by J. Sheridan le Fanu , is the first story about vampires, strictly talking, in literature, even prior to Stoker's Dracula. You should give it a try, it's worth it.