# Recommend Vampire Books please **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 17, 2005, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-vampire-books-please/308703 "2005-06-17T14:00:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-vampire-books-please/308703/1 "2005-06-17T14:00:26Z")
I was at the book store last night and trying to remember a vampire book recommended by a doper ( anno something?) and came up dry. I was recommended **Anne Bishop** series, but didn’t buy them as the store was closing and I like to read the first chapter or so before I make any commitment. Any thoughts on them? Any kind, but I am partial to something with a nice line of humor, too. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-vampire-books-please/308703/2 "2005-06-17T14:04:11Z")
[Anno Dracula?](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/038072345X/qid=1119017801/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/104-3426204-9825508?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) I read it many years ago, so I remember very little about it, but I liked it at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-vampire-books-please/308703/3 "2005-06-17T14:07:33Z")
_Sweet Silver Blues_ by Glen Cook. It’s about vampires, and has a different “take” on the whole Fearless Vampire Hunter thing. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-vampire-books-please/308703/4 "2005-06-17T14:24:39Z")
Don’t know the Anno thing. However, I have personally enjoyed: _The Vampire Files Series_ by Patricia N. Elrod _A Dozen Black Roses_ by Nancy A. Collins _Dracula_ by Bram Stoker (of course) ---
**Author:** ![melondeca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@melondeca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melondeca)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-vampire-books-please/308703/5 "2005-06-17T14:35:31Z")
**Bloodsucking Fiends** by Christopher Moore may not be exactly what you are looking for but it is about vampires and damn is it funny. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-vampire-books-please/308703/6 "2005-06-17T14:41:34Z")
[The Historian](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0316011770/ref=pd_ts_tb_3/102-6408473-3964932?v=glance&s=books&n=283155) is supposed to be good. Somebody read it and let me know, please. ---
**Author:** ![Graycat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Graycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Graycat)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-vampire-books-please/308703/7 "2005-06-17T14:52:58Z")
Charlaine Harris has a series out called _Southern Vampire_ . It has five books now, all with “dead” in the title; the first is _Dead until Dark._ Funny and quirky. The protagonist lives in a small town in the South and reads minds. Robin McKinley’s book _Sunshine_ is another vampire book I really enjoyed. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-vampire-books-please/308703/8 "2005-06-17T14:55:12Z")
Fred Saberhagen: The Dracula Tapes Thorn An Old Friend of the Family Vlad Tepes as protagonist. Very cool. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-vampire-books-please/308703/9 "2005-06-17T14:56:05Z")
Salem’s Lot, of course. 🙂 George R. R. Martin wrote a good one – Fevre Dream – vampires on a Mississippi riverboat in the 1800’s. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-vampire-books-please/308703/10 "2005-06-17T15:05:00Z")
**Vampire Junction** by S. P. Somtow. **The Stress of Her Regard** by Tim Powers (a truly different vampire novel, brilliantly integrated into historical fact). **[Gil’s All-Fright Diner](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0765311437/104-0214142-1886372?v=glance)** by A. Lee Martinez is a fun read. For anthologies, get **[Vampires](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060268018/qid=1119021414/sr=8-3/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i3_xgl14/104-0214142-1886372?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)** by Jane Yolen and Martin H. Greenberg and **[Blood Muse](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1556114702/qid=1119021446/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/104-0214142-1886372?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)** by Esther Friesner and Greenberg. Buy lots of copies. Lots!!! I can use the cash. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-vampire-books-please/308703/11 "2005-06-17T15:49:11Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > I was at the book store last night and trying to remember a vampire book recommended by a doper ( anno something?) and came up dry. > > I was recommended **Anne Bishop** series, but didn’t buy them as the store was closing and I like to read the first chapter or so before I make any commitment. Any thoughts on them? > > Any kind, but I am partial to something with a nice line of humor, too. They are not ‘good’ by literary standards, but I enjoyed some of the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton. Some sex (at least in later installments), some gore, some sarcastic humor. I’ve been thinking about reading Sex and the Single Vampire, but am having second thoughts thinking it’s heavier on romance than sex and violence. Of course, the best all-round Vampire writer (IMO, of course) is Anne Rice. Strangely, if you sort contemporary vampire novels by best sellers, most of the novels are serial installments by female writers. Rice’s novels are largely serials, with a few recurring characters; Hamilton writes about vampire hunger, Anita Blake; and the list continues with Davidson, Harrison, Harris, Macalister, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-vampire-books-please/308703/12 "2005-06-17T15:54:30Z")
Seconding _Sunshine_. Funny, chatty, well-written. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-vampire-books-please/308703/13 "2005-06-17T15:56:19Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Salem’s Lot, of course. 🙂 > > George R. R. Martin wrote a good one – Fevre Dream – vampires on a Mississippi riverboat in the 1800’s. Absolutely - I strongly agree as to both. Outstanding in very different ways from each other, but both are well worth your time. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-vampire-books-please/308703/14 "2005-06-17T16:02:29Z")
If you don’t mind dipping into a D&D world, Christie Golden’s **Vampire of the Mists** is very, very good. It’s a Ravenloft book, but IMHO it trancends the “licensed world” genre. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-vampire-books-please/308703/15 "2005-06-17T16:07:28Z")
I’ve got to third Robin McKinley’s _Sunshine_ and also recommend the two vampire books by Barbara Hambly, _Those Who Hunt The Night_ and _Traveling with the Dead_. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-vampire-books-please/308703/16 "2005-06-17T16:57:39Z")
Kim Newman’s _Anno Dracula_ is excellent; it’s a variation on the original _Dracula_ where Dracula was not killed by Van Helsing and company and takes over England. He creates hundreds of other vampires and they become the new ruling society with humans forming an underground resistance movement. One interesting feature is that Newman is a scholar of horror fiction and film and he brings in dozens of characters from other books and movies for cameo appearances in his book. Newman’s written two sequels and he’s working on a third. Another interesting look at a vampire ruled society is Brian Stableford’s _Empire of Fear_. I’d also recommend Jonathan Nasaw’s _World on Blood_, which is a very good novel that’s unusual because it features non-supernatural vampires. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-vampire-books-please/308703/17 "2005-06-17T17:04:30Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > non-supernatural vampires. Which brings to mind Richard Matheson’s _I Am Legend_. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-vampire-books-please/308703/18 "2005-06-17T17:51:19Z")
I think **AuntiePam** and I must read the same books. _Fevre Dream_ by George RR Martin is excellent. I would also add _The Madness Season_ by C.S. Friedman. Imagine vampires plus an alien invasion. It’s awesome, really! ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-vampire-books-please/308703/19 "2005-06-17T17:56:00Z")
I agree on _Sunshine_ and Nancy A Collins _Sonja Blue_ series. Wonderful books, and I hope Robin writes a sequel to Sunshine. Of late I’ve been dragged into the ‘Undead and…’ series by Mary Janice Davidson. It starts with Undead and Unwed. Betsy Taylor is having a really bad week, she gets fired and gets hit by a car only to wake up in the morgue wearing her step-mother’s cast offs and not a Prada shoe in sight. It’s a fun series, and I thought I would hate it but I’ve already got the 28th circled as the day to buy the third book in the series. Susan Sizemore is another good one, she is a romance author but her Laws of the Blood series aren’t. If you can get your hands on it I would also reccomend As One Dead by Don Bassingthwaite and Nancy Kilpatrick. It’s one of the novels put out by White Wolf from their Vampire game but you don’t have to know anything about the game to read it. Anne Bishop? I never realized she did vampires. Unless that’s the Black Jewels series? I couldn’t get into that one. I’ve also read a few of [Chelsea Quinn Yarbro](http://www.mindspring.com/~ebowden/Yarbro/yarbro_homepage.htm)’s _St Germain_ series which follows the main character (St. Germain) through the centuries. I plan to pick up more and read them. I have others I liked, but this is enough for now _grins_ ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-vampire-books-please/308703/20 "2005-06-17T17:59:44Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > _Sweet Silver Blues_ by Glen Cook. I recommend the unrelated _Fat White Vampire Blues_ by Andrew Fox. I expected a book about a 450 pound vampire to be a comedy. While there are plenty of laughs, there’s also a lot of tragedy. I also recommend issue twenty of Beautiful Stories For Ugly Children. Though they look like regular comic books from the outside, Beautiful Stories were prose stories with illustrations. This issue contains the tale “Arnold:Confessions Of A Blood Junkie” Arnold is obese, unglamorous, and just trying to deal with his undead existence. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-vampire-books-please/308703.md?page=2)