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:lol: 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 (http://www.holycow.com/dreaming/stories/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.

[Dinkleberry2010]

Carmilla isn't the first story about vampires. The first short story about vampires was John Polidori's The Vampyre written circa 1816. The first full-length seriel novel about vampires was Varney The Vampire written in the 1840s.

[Dark Muse]

Carmilla isn't the first story about vampires. The first short story about vampires was John Polidori's The Vampyre written circa 1816. The first full-length seriel novel about vampires was Varney The Vampire written in the 1840s.

All those sound really interesting, I would love to read some more classical works about vampires.

[Gustavo L.]

Must it be a serious/horror work? If not, I’d suggest a “surreal and darkly humorous odyssey” (as the reviewer at Amazon called it) by Paul Féval, Vampire City (1867). I consider it a classic.

From Amazon:


To save her friends from the dreaded vampire lord Otto Goetzi, gothic author Ann Radcliffe and her fearless vampire hunting companions, Merry Bones the Irishman, Grey Jack the faithful old servant, the revenge-driven Doctor Magnus Szegeli, and Polly Bird, one of the vampire's earlier victims, launch an all-out attack on Selene, the Vampire City...

[Dark Muse]

Must it be a serious/horror work? If not, I’d suggest a “surreal and darkly humorous odyssey” (as the reviewer at Amazon called it) by Paul Féval, Vampire City (1867). I consider it a classic.

No it needs not be serrious/horror. I have read some vampire books which would not qualify as being such.

[Donny Slaughter]

I love vampire books but also hate steamy romance in them. I don't mind love interests but would rather the details be left up to my imagination. For me, the best Vampire series' that have little, or acceptable amounts, of romance are the Thirst series by Christopher Pike and The Morganville vampire series by Rachel Caine. I literally average about 1 book every day and a half. Most are vampire and paranormal. I've pretty much run out of books in the Genre that are light on the romance. I'd appreciate some suggestions too.

[Pompey Bum]

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.

Too bad this post is five years old. As weirdness would have it, I was living a couple streets away at the same time. I used to see Rice at a local bookstore. She once autographed a skeleton foot for me (a plastic model for medical students--you can get anything in the French Quarter). I still have the foot. It's a small weird world.

[Calidore]

One of my favorite non-traditional vampires is Brian Lumley's Wamphyri, which are introduced in the second book of his Necroscope series and really come into their own as characters when we go to their world in the third. They're pretty much the opposite of current sparkly romantic vampires in every way--they're huge, powerful, and vicious, and rule their own world like medieval warlords from massive aeries, aided by thralls, human slaves/food, and vat-grown creatures.

I've only read the initial five-book Necroscopeseries and the following Vampire World trilogy, and they are enormously entertaining.

[irukandji]

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

I was looking for something to read, and this was the first novel I picked up. It has remained my favorite Stephen King novel.

[ladderandbucket]

Blindsight by Peter Watts is hard sci-fi with vampires. The idea is that vampires are an extinct species of predator which fell victim to 'the crucifix glitch' - an inability cope with right angles. They are resurrected via genetic engineering, given 'antieuclideans', and used for their superior intelligence.

I know this sounds ridiculous, but somehow Peter Watts makes it plausible. The book is hard, philosophical sci-fi - the fact that it includes spaceships, vampires and tentacled aliens is almost irrelevant.

[kev67]

Anno Dracula (Kim Newman) looks good, although I have not read any of the series.

[Dark Muse]

Blindsight by Peter Watts is hard sci-fi with vampires. The idea is that vampires are an extinct species of predator which fell victim to 'the crucifix glitch' - an inability cope with right angles. They are resurrected via genetic engineering, given 'antieuclideans', and used for their superior intelligence.

I know this sounds ridiculous, but somehow Peter Watts makes it plausible. The book is hard, philosophical sci-fi - the fact that it includes spaceships, vampires and tentacled aliens is almost irrelevant.


"Inability to cope with right angles"

I love that. I love totally random absurd things like that.

[Calidore]

Anno Dracula (Kim Newman) looks good, although I have not read any of the series.

I remember that one being good, though I didn't know it was a series.


"Inability to cope with right angles"

I love that. I love totally random absurd things like that.

I agree. I'm not normally into "hard, philosophical" sci-fi, but I do like when someone takes a totally off-center perspective on something and runs with it.

[mortalterror]

1766 Pu Songling- Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio
1819 John Polidori- The Vampyre
1874 Paul Feval, pere- Vampire City
1897 Bram Stoker- Dracula
1954 Richard Matheson- I am Legend
1973 Anne Rice- Interview with a Vampire
1975 Stephen King- Salem's Lot

[Dark Muse]

I thought I Am Legend was zombies.

[Iain Sparrow]

I thought I Am Legend was zombies.

The awful movie with Will Smith they're portrayed more like zombies... but just like Will Smith in I, Robot, the movie had very little to do with the original story. In Matheson's I Am Legend the plague that sweeps across the globe causes vampirism, and the protagonist if memory serves refers to them as vampires. Also, unlike the movie where hope remains, the book ends very badly for humankind, or perhaps not depending on your take... humanity isn't dying out, it's simply a mutation and humans are now better for it. Matheson keeps it very scientific and Darwinian; in the end, the protagonist understands the exquisite finality in it.

[Dark Muse]

That sounds really good. Ironically I recently added I Am Legend to my reading list because I was looking for zombie fiction and it came up in my search. But a dark take on vampires sounds better. I did think they looked more like vampires on the book cover.

[mortalterror]

I Am Legend sort of skews the line for zombies and vampires, since there are feral vampires and smarter ones. It breaks with a lot of the newer conventions since it was published in 1954. Don't think of it like the 2007 Will Smith movie. The old Vincent Price The Last Man on Earth, or Charleton Heston's Omega Man were actually closer to the book. It's really, really good. Much better than say Dracula. A real classic of the horror genre.

[Calidore]

In general, it's hard to go wrong with Matheson. He also wrote the original stories for The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Legend of Hell House, Stir of Echoes, and Duel., as well as several classic Twilight Zone episodes.

[Iain Sparrow]

That sounds really good. Ironically I recently added I Am Legend to my reading list because I was looking for zombie fiction and it came up in my search. But a dark take on vampires sounds better. I did think they looked more like vampires on the book cover.

As mentioned by others here, you'll probably enjoy just about anything by Richard Matheson.
Unlike most mid-century pulp science fiction/fantasy/horror, his stories are much less dated. The only problem is, when you read Matheson for the first time his work all seems very familiar... which is because it now is familiar because so many writers and film makers were inspired by his work.
The only modern writer I can think of that's had a comparable impact on genre fiction/movies, would be Michael Crichton... and Matheson was a superior writer.

[Dark Muse]

As mentioned by others here, you'll probably enjoy just about anything by Richard Matheson.
Unlike most mid-century pulp science fiction/fantasy/horror, his stories are much less dated. The only problem is, when you read Matheson for the first time his work all seems very familiar... which is because it now is familiar because so many writers and film makers were inspired by his work.
The only modern writer I can think of that's had a comparable impact on genre fiction/movies, would be Michael Crichton... and Matheson was a superior writer.

I will have to look into him. I am always looking for good horror writers.

[Calidore]

The only modern writer I can think of that's had a comparable impact on genre fiction/movies, would be Michael Crichton... and Matheson was a superior writer.

I definitely agree with Matheson being a superior writer to Crichton (of whom I'm not a fan), but I'd say a closer parallel would be Ray Bradbury. Both wrote piles of stories and many novels, and also wrote movies and TV scripts themselves in addition to having much of their work adapted by others.

[mortalterror]

That sounds really good. Ironically I recently added I Am Legend to my reading list because I was looking for zombie fiction and it came up in my search. But a dark take on vampires sounds better. I did think they looked more like vampires on the book cover.

You know, some of the old cool stuff doesn't fit into the modern categories. A friend once recommended John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids to me. He's a big fan of sci-fi/horror. After I read it, I mentioned to him that the plants, the triffids, function exactly like zombies would in modern narratives, except Wyndham was writing before zombies became popular. My friend concurred. So in the same way that you can read Matheson's I am Legend as either a zombie or a vampire book, you can also read Wyndham's book as a zombie book or as a parable about modern political structures.

[Dark Muse]

You know, some of the old cool stuff doesn't fit into the modern categories. A friend once recommended John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids to me. He's a big fan of sci-fi/horror. After I read it, I mentioned to him that the plants, the triffids, function exactly like zombies would in modern narratives, except Wyndham was writing before zombies became popular. My friend concurred. So in the same way that you can read Matheson's I am Legend as either a zombie or a vampire book, you can also read Wyndham's book as a zombie book or as a parable about modern political structures.

The Day of the Triffids sounds really good to. I have heard the name before but haven't read it.

[Whifflingpin]

"Bones and I" by Whyte-Melville is (or includes) a vampire story, published a few years before "Carmilla"

[Pike Bishop]

If you like naturalist vampire films, Abel Ferrara's The Addiction and (especially) Larry Fessenden's Habit are both excellent.

[jennyg]

I' m pleased to see that Salem's lot is a suggested by many. It's also my favorite when it comes to vampires. A few years back I actually had a go with all of Anne Rice's vampire books! I wasn't that thrilled actually with the plots, just had a thing for Lestat I guess ;)

[Calidore]

The Day of the Triffids sounds really good to. I have heard the name before but haven't read it.

Wyndham's another good hand. He wasn't especially prolific, but his work is aces. Day of the Triffids is the most popular, but most of his works have been adapted (often repeatedly) for film, TV, and radio. There's a couple of good DotT movies out there, but your best bet is probably the '80s six-part BBC miniseries. I've also heard a six-part BBC radio adaptation that I enjoyed.

[markmm]

Anyone read Beauty of The Beast by Viktoria Faust?

[Sheila69]

I too love vampires, I'm fascinated by the general aspects of them fell in love with the idea of such a creature when I was little. I like most books and movies that have been written or filmed about vampires. I'm not too keen on then sparkles and glitter or the very erotic strange, but they have their place. I recently found a book on Amazon that caught my eye and thought I'd give it a read. It's not hocus pocus or sparkly, I actually found it a fairly good read. Like most books they have slow parts and great parts. It has some different definitions of a vampire and how they became to exist. It was written back in 1997 by Joni Jovani and titled The Journal: The Fugitives of Tyryonus and the Secrets of Vampires.

[mtpspur]

Saw this old post and revisited and I saw where I recommended Yarbro but it occurred to me -for historical purposes a sampling of Varney the Vampire might entertain you as a primeexample of early vampire novels in a pulp style. Only other thought is Fred Saberhagen's Dracula series of novels written back in the 1980s or so. The Dracula Tape is a fun read giving HIS version of how Stoker got it all wrong. From there the series gets more serious about itself and it an interesting read.--Just saying.

[kev67]

I doubt Varney the Vampyre has much romance in it. It's a Victorian penny dreadful. It was in the school library when I was a boy, which led to a bit of teasing as my surname is Varney. The original edition had 220 chapters.