13 Books of Bloodsucking Beasts - Vampire Lore & Stories

Any new themed collection of work is an excuse for yours truly to make a trip to the bookstore.  This time I have been immersed in the realm of Nosferatu's kin, & what follows is - in no particular order - a mixture of "fact" & fiction that has kept me occupied as the nights draw in.

Vampire bat sketch, October 2024


Our enduring love of vampires - the bad boys (and girls) of paranormal fantasy - has persisted for centuries. Despite being bloodthirsty, heartless killers, vampire stories commonly carry erotic overtones that are missing from other paranormal or horror stories.

Even when monstrous teeth are sinking into pale, helpless throats - especially then - vampires are sexy. But why? In A History Of The Vampire In Popular Culture, author Violet Fenn takes the reader through the history of vampires in 'fact' and fiction, their origins in mythology and literature and their enduring appeal on tv and film. We'll delve into the sexuality - and sexism - of vampire lore, as well as how modern audiences still hunger for a pair of sharp fangs in the middle of the night.

An entertaining, not too challenging romp through the history of vampires.

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Nena knows a thing or two about monsters—as the daughter of a rancher in Mexico, her home has long been threatened by tensions with Anglo settlers from the north. But something more sinister lurks near the ranch at night, something that drains men of their blood and leaves them for dead--something that once attacked Nena nine years ago. Believing Nena dead, Néstor has been on the run from his grief ever since. He has night terrors of sharp teeth, and is haunted by the life he and Nena could have had together.

When the United States attacks Mexico, the two are thrown together on the road to war. But the shock of their reunion—and Nena’s rage at Néstor for seemingly abandoning her long ago—is quickly overshadowed by the appearance of a nightmare made flesh.

Unless Nena and Néstor work through their past and face the future together, neither will survive to see the dawn.

To be honest, I'm not a major fan of romance novels, but the cover of this one persuaded me.  And it is quite beautifully written plus exploring a chapter of history too often overlooked, so overall I'm glad I gave it a whirl.

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A gripping vampire tale following Hedwig, a Polish lady, who is sent to a monastery in the Carpathian Mountains for safety. She draws the attention of two very different brothers and soon finds herself in more danger than ever before. A supernatural story featuring creepy castles, misty monasteries, and tragic romance.

“Then are heard mysterious noises in passages, howls in old, half-ruined towers, shakings of walls – so terrible and appalling that cot and castle are both left desolate, while the inhabitants, whether peasants or nobles, fly to the nearest church to seek protection from holy cross or blessed relics, the only preservatives effectual against the demons that harass our homes.”

A classic novella full to the brim with Gothic atmosphere & readable in one short sitting.  What's not to love?

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Vampires, chilling supernatural creatures of the night – do they really exist? The British Isles has a remarkable association with the realms of the undead, from the nineteenth-century world of Croglin Grange, Varney the Vampire and Stoker’s Dracula, through to Hammer Films and the modern phenomenon of the Highgate Vampire. In this new and thought-provoking book, illustrated with many never before seen photographs and drawing on extensive original research, is a detailed and fascinating exploration of the history of British vampirism in both fact and fiction; a modern guide where every page is truly written in blood . . .

Not a light read, but well worth it if you really want to get your teeth stuck into the subject.  (No apologies for the awfulness of that pun)  Plus it has some splendid photos of Christopher Lee et al.

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The vampire is one of the great enemies of humanity, a nightmarish figure who feeds on the living in order to sustain themselves. Born from ancient folklore, writers in the nineteenth century gave form to the vampire as we know it today. Still haunting our subconscious in the twentieth century, a new wave of writers continued to develop the imagery and traditions of the vampire -- and the vampire continued to evolve. From John Polidori's iconic short story 'The Vampyre' and tales of parasitic female companions to experimental and freshly thrilling takes by Robert Bloch, Angela Carter and Anne Rice, this new collection sets out to present the enrapturing range of the vampire story and our undying fascination with the monster at its heart.

I love these short story collections from the British Library & this one is no disappointment.  If you want only one book of vampiric fiction, this would be a fine choice.

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Louisiana, 1850. A young girl escapes slavery and is taken in by two mysterious women. Rumoured to be witches, the pair travel only at night, dress in men's clothing and seem to know others' innermost thoughts. But the girl sees the promise of true freedom in their dark glittering eyes: the promise to 'share the blood' and live forever. They name her Gilda.

Over the next two hundred years, Gilda moves through unseen spaces: through antebellum brothels, gold-rush bars, Black women's suffrage groups, hair salons and jazz clubs, searching for a way to exist in the world. Her body, powerful against the passage of time, will know both beauty and horror through the women she desires and the blood she craves. But can Gilda truly outrun the darkness of history and face a future where the lives of everyone she loves are at stake?

Wild & fierce & fabulous.

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Paul Barber surveys centuries of folklore about vampires and offers the first scientific explanation for the origins of the vampire legends.  From the tale of a sixteenth-century shoemaker from Breslau whose ghost terrorized everyone in the city, to the testimony of a doctor who presided over the exhumation and dissection of a graveyard full of Serbian vampires, his book is fascinating reading.

Another academic study, this one filled with the minutiae of burial practices & what happens to decaying bodies.  Not for the squeamish, but great if you were ever glued to Dexter.

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Robert Neville is the last living man on Earth ... but he is not alone. Every other man, woman and child on the planet has become a vampire, and they are hungry for Neville's blood.By day he is the hunter, stalking the undead through the ruins of civilisation. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for the dawn.

How long can one man survive like this?

A post-apocalyptic horror that is sooo much better than the movie.

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With a legacy stretching back into legend and folklore, the vampire in all its guises haunts the film and fiction of the twentieth century and remains the most enduring of all the monstrous threats that roam the landscapes of horror. In The Living and the Undead, Gregory A. Waller shows why this creature continues to fascinate us and why every generation reshapes the story of the violent confrontation between the living and the undead to fit new times.  Examining a broad range of novels, stories, plays, films, and made-for-television movies, Waller focuses upon a series of interrelated texts: Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897); several film adaptations of Stoker's novel; F. W. Murnau's Nosferatu, A Symphony of Horror (1922); Richard Matheson's I Am Legend (1954); Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot (1975); Werner Herzog's Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979); and George Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968) and Dawn of the Dead (1979). All of these works, Waller argues, speak to our understanding and fear of evil and chaos, of desire and egotism, of slavish dependence and masterful control.

A fascinating look at changing fashions in vampires & their hunters - academic but readable.

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“The story that follows is one I never intended to commit to paper. Recently, however, a shock of sorts has prompted me to look back over the most troubling episodes of my life and the lives of the several people I loved best. This is the story of how as a girl of sixteen I went in search of my father and his past, and of how he went in search of his beloved mentor and his mentor’s own history, and of how we all found ourselves on one of the darkest pathways into history. It is the story of who survived that search and who did not, and why. As a historian, I have learned that, in fact, not everyone who reaches back into history can survive it. And it is not only reaching back that endangers us; sometimes history itself reaches inexorably forward for us with its shadowy claw.”

Back to some jolly good fiction, & a tale of alternative history in which Vlad the Impaler might actually have achieved immortality.  Beautifully described travels through Eastern Europe to boot.

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In an isolated castle deep in the Austrian forest, Laura leads a solitary life with only her ailing father for company. Until one moonlit night, a horse-drawn carriage crashes into view, carrying an unexpected guest - the beautiful Carmilla. So begins a feverish friendship between Laura and her mysterious, entrancing companion. But as Carmilla becomes increasingly strange and volatile, prone to eerie nocturnal wanderings, Laura finds herself tormented by nightmares and growing weaker by the day...

Pre-dating Dracula by twenty-six years, Carmilla is the original vampire story, steeped in sexual tension and gothic romance.

I should admit at once that I am quite the fan of Le Fanu's work - Schalken the Painter & Uncle Silas are also worth exploring.  But Carmilla, oh Carmilla - just the perfect classic version of the vampiric heroine.

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Published to mark the bicentenary of John Polidori’s publication of The Vampyre, Nick Groom’s detailed new account illuminates the complex history of the iconic creature. The vampire first came to public prominence in the early eighteenth century, when Enlightenment science collided with Eastern European folklore and apparently verified outbreaks of vampirism, capturing the attention of medical researchers, political commentators, social theorists, theologians, and philosophers. Groom accordingly traces the vampire from its role as a monster embodying humankind’s fears, to that of an unlikely hero for the marginalized and excluded in the twenty-first century.
 
Drawing on literary and artistic representations, as well as medical, forensic, empirical, and sociopolitical perspectives, this rich and eerie history presents the vampire as a strikingly complex being that has been used to express the traumas and contradictions of the human condition.

I am currently still reading this one - 'tis a meaty tome - but am learning much despite having gone through all of the books above.  An excellent, wide-ranging look at the "why" of vampires.

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This ingenious toy theatre is based on Edward Gorey’s set and costume designs for his award-winning production of Dracula, which ran to nearly a thousand Broadway performances. Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel took place in the wild Carpathian Mountains, London and rural England, and various places in between. But the Dracula for which Edward Gorey created the set designs reproduced in miniature here compresses the action to one locale: the sanatorium of Dr. Seward, near the town of Purley, somewhere in the English countryside. Gorey’s signature crosshatch, exquisitely detailed drawings set the perfect mood for the three rooms featured in this set—which also includes his costumed characters and stage furniture (a tomb, a bed, two rugs, and a couch. You can put it all together with very little work and just a little bit of tape, to act out your own vampire story with satisfaction.

At last, Dracula rears his be-fanged head!  I love me a paper theatre at the best of times - add Gorey's illustrations & a dose of Mr Stoker and you have rainy afternoon perfection.

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For each book, I have included a link to its listing on the UK version of Bookshop.org.; I have no affiliation to the site, but I would much rather use it (& thus independent shops) than give my pennies to Mr Bezos.

Enjoy!