Opinions & Reading Suggestions

I first read Bram Stoker's Dracula when I was around thirteen or fourteen years old and I was in the thrall of the terror it induced. Couldn't put it down and couldn't sleep without the lights on for a full year after I finished the book. Still, I wanted more. Unfortunately, everything after that was still the same old-same old "demons of the night" sort of thing. I had questions: Where did the first vampire come from? What would their world and their existence be like?

I wanted history. I wanted substance. And I wanted worldbuilding.

Everything on TV (Dark Shadows), in movies, and in books left me cold. Until . . . until I found Elizabeth Hunter's Elemental Mysteries four-book series in 2016. I'm finishing my fourth reading of the series right now. I love it. The worldbuilding is phenomenal. Characters are fully fleshed out and their disparate vampiric personalities are real and engaging (though there are plenty of "bad guys", too, among the vampire set). The history is absorbing—it's so well-written you can get lost in it. The action is just gory and blood-spattery enough but, of course, it's billed as a paranormal romance. It is that, but it's so much more.

That's the sort of thing I'll be looking for and hoping to find more of.

I'm not a big fan of vampires, and the current interpretation of the vampire myth leaves me cold. With that disclaimer, I'd second Dracula as being outstanding, but the first vampire book I ever read that I thought 'yeah, that's what it should be' was Those Who Hunt the Night by Barbara Hambly. It's scary, and sort of creepy, and definitely not something to read at night. For a vampire book to interest me, the vampire needs to be creepy and scary, not sparkly, angsty, or just wanting to be loved. Vampires don't angst - they are cold-blooded killers to protect themselves and survive.

Another book that has a different sort of spin on the whole vampire thing is Hemovore by Jordan Castillo Price. It's an m/m romance, but I think she had an interesting take on the whole vampire thing being caused by a virus. There was a whole sort of subculture in that world of vampires, where they mostly worked the night shift or jobs where they didn't have to go out in the daytime. *g* Not quite as unsettling as Dracula and Those Who Hunt the Night, but still quite a good read.

I'm writing a vampire-ish novel. The characters are never referred to in that way, though, and the execution is pretty divorced from the general mythology.

I personally think that the attraction of vampires is the ethical dilemma they impose, or at least that is their attraction for me.

Dracula is pretty difficult to beat. The horror, the writing, the the moodiness, the randomness. Dan Simmons also wrote an interesting "emotional vampire" novel; people who feed off emotions and negativity.

My favourite is Fred Saberhagen's take on 'Dracula'. The first is titled 'The Dracula Tape', and follows the events of Bram Stoker's novel, from Dracula's point of view (an Eastern European nobleman who is trying to modernize his life.) There are a few sequels, also good.
For books, I prefer a properly dangerous Dracula, not some romantic-fiction quasi-hero. Among other things, there's always going to be a huge power-imbalance between an old, superhuman predator and, well, everybody.

I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson.

Ignore the movie with Will Smith in it; it is horrible rather than horrifying.

caw

I really liked Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot-- the vampires were scary and very, very bad indeed. No conflicted anti-heroes here, no romanticizing (which has never worked for me)--just straight-up good vs. evil.

Madness Season by C.S. Friedman remains a personal favorite in the genre, and it moves so quickly from a vampire tale to... well, that would be telling.

Carrion Comfort by Simmons is another older novel that still seems unique.

Carrion comfort! That's it.

blacbird said:

I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson.

Ignore the movie with Will Smith in it; it is horrible rather than horrifying.

caw

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Ditto to blac's recommendation. Interesting implications, especially around the villain.

Since I like PNR, I DO happen to like me some romantic vampire stories. But not sparkly vampires. Not.

I can't think of the book title/author right now, which is going to drive me nuts, but there was a novel I read a few years back about a woman struggling with alcoholism who moved to a new town for a fresh start. Only her neighbor is a vampire (unbeknownst to her) and he relates really well to her struggles with addiction because vampirism is framed as an addiction for him as well. Not sure the novel itself was stellar writing, but the premise was different.

Like Ari, I also enjoy seeing some world-building and unique takes on the origin stories of vampires. A lot just seem to rely on the trope of "oh hey, vampire" without going into any details about how THEIR vampires came about, or if there's a unique twist on the history, etc. In the past, I've been a bit obsessed with vampire stories, and I have some ideas planned. But I haven't read much recently that I would point to as "whoa, that's different". Hmm...

And as for good vampire movies, well, I haven't run across any recently. :/

Just as a general want: I'd love to see some non-European vampire mythology that I could sink my teeth into (pun totally intended ).

For me the best treatment of vampires (and werecritters and etc.) is Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series. She makes them complicated and varied from pure evil to admirable.

Also good was Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series.

The last book I read that featured a vampire that I recall was Seanan McGuire's Down Among the Sticks and Bones, part of her Wayward Children series (which can be read as a standalone, as it's sort of a prequel); twins travel to a gothic world where a vampire overlord protects a town from the other monsters in exchange for the odd meal. Very much recommended, if very dark.

My personal take is: if you're going to do vampires, make them vampires. Don't just make them humans with pointy teeth (see also: Rifftones parody song "Sparkly Vampires"). There should be an inherent terror to vampirism.

Let The Right One In was pretty good

My most favorite vampire story is Marvel's Blade https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_(comics)

It's about a half vampire, vampire hunter who uses a lot of tech to hunt mafia style groups of vampires. If you don't have time to read the comics the first Blade movie does it justice.

Salem's Lot is the only vampire story that frightened me. The Anne Rice books are great too.