Something in the vein of Rice. Any suggestions?
Early Laurell K. Hamilton, Guilty Pleasures was wonderful.
“The Last Days of Jesus Christ, the Vampire” is my favorite (title is something like). It’s the perfect antidote to the Left Behind Series.
The series by Chelsea Quinn Yarbo about Count Saint-Germain. The first in the series, HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA, explains her take on the vampire mythos (he can survive in sunlight but is very weak, religious symbols have no effect, you kill a vampire by severing the spinal cord, etc). It’s not the best of the series, though, but it’s a place to start. Saint-German is about 3000 years old, and the various books are set in various time frames, from ancient Egypt and ancient Rome, through historical locations and times.
It’s been awhile, but I loved Vampire Junction by S.P. Somtow.
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You also might look for Blood Muse, edited by Esther Friesner and Martin H. Greenberg. You can download one of its stories from Fictionwise.
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I got turned onto Christopher Pike’s THE LAST VAMPIRE series when I was 38 (3 yrs ago).
the woefully out-of-print BLOOD OF THE IMPALER by Jeffrey Sackett (a sequel & flashback-prequel to Bram Stoker’s D…)
Kim Newman’s ANNO DRACULA trilogy (A… D…; THE BLOODY RED BARON; JUDGEMENT OF TEARS aka DRACULA CHA-CHA-CHA, and varied short stories)
I’ll second Chelsea Quinn Yarbro’s books – Pepper Mill is a big fan, and I’ve been getting them for her as presents fior years. The big drawback is that they’re hard to find. I think that Hotel Transylvania is back in print, at long last, but the other books (like ** The Saint Germain Chronicles**) can be very difficult to get hold of. Bookstores also don’t seem to know where to file these – I’ve found them under Science Fiction, Horror, and straight Fiction. I’m surprised I haven’t found them under History yet.
So read them, but you may have to go to used bookstores or used book websites to find then.
I’m a traditionalist, myself. If you can find it, get The Annotated Dracula by John Leonard, or his follow-up, The Essential Dracula.
Elaine Bergstrom has written many excellent vampire novels. Mina folls Mina Harker after Dracula, and is quite excellent.
George R. R. Martin’s “Fevre Dream” is a pretty good vampire novel set in the 1840s, I believe. Much of the action centers around a riverboat on the Mississippi. Although not as, um … baroque as Rice’s writing, it’s a good period piece.
It’s a completely different style than Rice, but Stephen King’s “'Salem’s Lot” is a good vampire novel.
“Salem’s Lot” by Stephen King. Made me keep the curtains tightly closed.
Also “The Lost Boys” Don’t remember the author, yes, the movie was from the book (People are Strange, when you’re a stranger. Faces seem ugly when you’re alone…)
Vampyre by Varnie I think.
I hear that Bram Stoker wrote a pretty good vampire book, but I have not read it.
I always liked “I am Legend” by Richard Matheson (sp?). It’s got the whole omega man feel to it (actually I think O M was based on I am Legend…).
Another great vampire novel, although completely different in style from Rice, is John Steakley’s ‘Vampire$’. Very gritty and action-oriented, reads very fast and some of the most memorable characters I’ve seen in a long time. It was one of those books that I always said should be made into a movie, and when it was (“John Carpenter’s Vampires”), it was horrible. (In the book’s defense, the movie had nothing in common with the book aside from the names of some of the characters. It would have been immeasurably better if it had used the storyline from the book.)
A series I’m fond of is the “Blood…” one by Tanya Huff. It combines mystery with vampires and other supernatural creatures. Meatros, Omega Man is the second film adaptation of I Am Legend (the first one being a 60s movie called The Last Man on Earth).
Ditto for Fevre Dream, Salem’s Lot and the Kim Newman Anno Dracula books, although I like Newman’s short stories a bit better than the novels, particularly the one about Francis Ford Coppola’s trials and tribulations while filming a Dracula movie, with real vampires.
Fevre Dream has the absolute best how-I-came-to-be-a-vampire explanation I’ve ever read, anywhere.
Salem’s Lot – so weird, I read it when it first came out and I was probably halfway through the book before I even knew it was about vampires.
Are the Newman stories collected? I loved Anno Dracula and enjoyed the next two (with lessening degrees of affection I must admit) and would like to read any other similar material.
One that no one’s mentioned yet: The Vampire Tapestry by Suzy McKee Charnas. Like Fevre Dream, the vampire isn’t human; unfortunately for him, he’s increasingly forced into personal interactions with human beings, and he slowly discovers that predators who develop empathy for their prey get into trouble.
Another vote for Salem’s Lot
Not really an Anne Rice sort of book (kind of the antithesis to Rice, actually), but Dan Simmons’ take on the vampire in Children of the Night is incredibly original and clever. Highly recommended.
Another completely non-Rice vampire series is Brian Lumley’s Necroscope series. Great reads IMHO.
I also like Hamilton’s series but towards the end of the series (so far), well, the plots have kind of degenerated into some kind of ongoing s&m love(?)fest.
derf