Vampire horror?

leahzero said:

The Passage - Justin Cronin.

Pretty decent post-apocalyptic epic about vampires overrunning the world. His vampires are very feral--beastly, terrifying things, not your typical seductive humans.

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I just read that, or tried to. Gave up around page 500. He's a first-rate writer, but this story was just too long and meandering. No sooner did I get invested in one set of characters than it was on to another. Narrative arc stretched way too thin!

There are vampires in my new book? <.<

That's almost like a real live book.

quicklime said:

"Bite" and "The Stake" and "The Traveling Vampire Show" were all interesting books by Laymon, but a lot of folks don't like him for his sex.....hell, I'll read him but wish he edited a bit tighter, and probably wouldn't have let him babysit my kids Still, interesting books and premises...especially The Stake.

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while i loved the traveling vampire show (finished it in one day), i'm kinda put off by laymon because i've never really gotten much out of his books other than the violence and sex... character development? and his dialogue can be godawful sometimes. i'm not saying i want some kind of profound literature, but i don't think i've ever gotten much out of his books other than "well... that was violent, bizarre and kinda stupid."

also: i LOOVE so many of the books already mentioned <3

i'm writing a vampire novel, too!

My current WIP is told from the POV of a vampire. This is tricky as a vampire will often be more invulnerable than most characters and that could make it harder to connect to him.
I'm not a big fan of vampires and I think there's too many of them out there, but for some reason this character attracted me with his dry observations, along with the subtly humorous manner in which his appearance affects those around him.

Let The Right One In.
Guillermo Del Toro's The Strain Trilogy

ETA: Aw, apparently I'm the only one who liked The Strain Trilogy? Yeah the final book was kind of lacking but the first two were creepy as heck.

Salems lot, one for the road and midnight mass would be my recommendations too.

I forgot about stake, bite and the travelling vampire show. I liked those three too. I have always liked "proper" vampires who are cold hearted monsters rather than being lonely, moody and sultry.

Arislan said:

My current WIP is told from the POV of a vampire. This is tricky as a vampire will often be more invulnerable than most characters and that could make it harder to connect to him.
I'm not a big fan of vampires and I think there's too many of them out there, but for some reason this character attracted me with his dry observations, along with the subtly humorous manner in which his appearance affects those around him.

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it certainly doesn't have to be.... Most of Rice's books are told from the POV of a vampire, as is Agyar.

The Light at the End by Skipp & Spector is my favourite vampire novel right now.

John Steakley Vampire$ has quite scary vampires in it.

Live Girls by Ray Garton was a good read. I need to track down a copy and give it another going over.

Brother Blood by Donald Glut is a good story as well. Set in the 60's, a vampire is stalking Sunset Strip. Groovy...

Anarchic Q said:

Let The Right One In.
Guillermo Del Toro's The Strain Trilogy

ETA: Aw, apparently I'm the only one who liked The Strain Trilogy? Yeah the final book was kind of lacking but the first two were creepy as heck.

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The Strain Trilogy was all right (yeah, funky ending), and it certainly had gross and scary vampires in it and plenty of truly terrifying bits, but I wish del Toro had written it by himself. I found the prose uninspired, as is often the case with collaborators, in my experience.

Let the Right One In rocks the genre. Lindqvist is brilliant. It's right up there with my all-time favorite Salem's Lot.

Lefanu's "Carmilla" is indeed one of the crown jewels in shorter vampire fiction. I would add two by E. F. Benson, "Mrs. Amsworth" and "The Room in the Tower." Then there's F. Marion Crawford's "For the Blood is the Life." And a tiny gem by the great M. R. James, "An Episode of Cathedral History." Though there's no telling what Count Magnus really is, he does have some lovely vampire-like aspects, so hey, grab James's story of the same name while you're at it. You won't be sorry unless you're prone to nightmares.

Vampires aren't the main course in Lovecraft's Case of Charles Dexter Ward, but one does make a brief and chilling appearance as one stage of the resurrection process, and there are plenty of other terrors in store besides.

I scanned back, and it seems no one's mentioned Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's Saint-Germain series. Good treatment of a practical vampire fitting in to many societies through many centuries. I read four or five of the novels. I think there are some short stories in the canon too.

callalily61 said:

I scanned back, and it seems no one's mentioned Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's Saint-Germain series. Good treatment of a practical vampire fitting in to many societies through many centuries. I read four or five of the novels. I think there are some short stories in the canon too.

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Makes sense to mention her. Yarbro's masterful at creating detailed historical novels. Yes, there's a short story collection, too. I read all of them back when.

I don't think they'd appeal to the OP though. Heavy on romance, and St.Germain is a "good" vampire, not a horrific figure. The tortured vampire hero wasn't nearly as overdone back then...

I can't remember when I last read a vampire tale that had any real creepy otherness to it, instead of bare violence or a romanticized figure.

Has anyone mentioned Fred Saberhagen's take on Dracula (An Old Friend Of The Family and at least 2 others as I recall)?