# Vampire lit between Anne Rice and Twilight **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 8, 2009, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-lit-between-anne-rice-and-twilight/480415 "2009-01-08T20:21:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Peanut\_Gallery](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/838e76/32.png) [@Peanut\_Gallery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanut_Gallery)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-lit-between-anne-rice-and-twilight/480415/21 "2009-01-08T22:43:28Z")
I started reading Rice’s series at 13, and wasn’t even slightly shocked. Her vampires don’t fuck. There are certainly sexual themes, but don’t mistake the vampire books with the ‘Beauty’ books. ---
**Author:** ![wunderkammer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ed8c4c/32.png) [@wunderkammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wunderkammer)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-lit-between-anne-rice-and-twilight/480415/22 "2009-01-08T23:02:35Z")
_Thirsty_ by M.T. Anderson might fit. It’s a YA book about a sixteen-year-old boy who becomes a reluctant vampire in a mundane high school setting (except for the vampires). It’s solidly in the young adult genre (instead of incest and demons, there’s high school awkwardness and parents to hide the vampirism from, rather than existential angst and oodles of undead sex) and recommended for 7th grade and up. It seems catered to an audience like your son, in fact. I think Christopher Moore’s vampire books are great, but you might want to check them out first. They’re more comic than gory and upsetting, but (at least in _You Suck_, which I’ve read recently) there’s a lot of sex, drugs, and (non-horrific) violence. But if you’d let your son read Kurt Vonnegut I think Christopher Moore would be okay. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-lit-between-anne-rice-and-twilight/480415/23 "2009-01-08T23:28:09Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > How about Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore? > [@wunderkammer](#): > > I think Christopher Moore’s vampire books are great, but you might want to check them out first. They’re more comic than gory and upsetting, but (at least in _You Suck_, which I’ve read recently) there’s a lot of sex, drugs, and (non-horrific) violence. But if you’d let your son read Kurt Vonnegut I think Christopher Moore would be okay. Yeah, lot of mature themes, but not extremely graphic. Would have been fine for me at 13, but then I was reading stuff like John Varley’s Titan at that age, so I may not be representative. I’d say check 'em out if only for the fact they’re decent fast reads :). Since they’re on the radar these days because of the HBO series, I’ll also say that I’m NOT a fan of Charlaine Harris’ vampire books. But they’re probably more mature than you’re looking for anyway. ETA: Oh and very much in the anarchic comedy style of Moore, [this](http://www.amazon.com/Gils-Fright-Diner-Alex-Awards/dp/0765314711) isn’t bad and has a vampire, if it isn’t exactly a vampire story per se. About as racy as Moore as well ( i.e. a bit, but not enormously graphic ). ---
**Author:** ![Vimp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vimp/32/4186_2.png) [@Vimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vimp)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-lit-between-anne-rice-and-twilight/480415/24 "2009-01-08T23:37:23Z")
Cassandra Clare has a couple of good YA books out - the first one is “City of Bones” and the second is “City of Ashes” (and there’s a third one either just out or to be released shortly). I read the first one and loved it; had trouble finding the second one until I found out I had to look in YA. The protagonist is a teenaged girl, but the characters and the story line are sufficiently well developed that I don’t think that it would a problem for a boy. Mature themes like life and death (and becoming undead), but no particular sexual shenanigans that I can remember. ---
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-lit-between-anne-rice-and-twilight/480415/25 "2009-01-08T23:42:47Z")
A second for _Vampire$_. I don’t recall there being sex in it - in fact, it’s a plot point that vampires cannot have sex, and one is mocked by the protagonist for it at one point. Another for Stephen King’s _Salem’s Lot_. Classic. I’ll also add Poppy Z. Brite’s _Lost Souls_. Totally loaded with vampire drugs, sex, incest, but it’s a great novel and will resonate with a kid that age like almost nothing else. ---
**Author:** ![WF\_Tomba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d9b06d/32.png) [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-lit-between-anne-rice-and-twilight/480415/26 "2009-01-08T23:58:00Z")
_Dracula_ really is pretty darn good, and readable, even after all these years. If he hasn’t read it yet, I recommend it. ---
**Author:** ![Laudenum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Laudenum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laudenum)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-lit-between-anne-rice-and-twilight/480415/27 "2009-01-09T00:02:53Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Don’t know that I’d consider Anne Rice x-rated for her vampire books. I don’t remember much graphic sex in them. I seem to recall a 16-year-old boy getting a blow job in the bath from an older man. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-lit-between-anne-rice-and-twilight/480415/28 "2009-01-09T00:11:48Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > ETA: Oh and very much in the anarchic comedy style of Moore, [this](http://www.amazon.com/Gils-Fright-Diner-Alex-Awards/dp/0765314711) isn’t bad and has a vampire, if it isn’t exactly a vampire story per se. About as racy as Moore as well ( i.e. a bit, but not enormously graphic ). I was just coming in to suggest that one. It has quite a bit of language in it, but I don’t recall any particularly graphic sex or violence. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-lit-between-anne-rice-and-twilight/480415/29 "2009-01-09T00:40:51Z")
Has your son read _Dracula_? If not, he should give it a try! > [@ultrafilter](#): > > I’m pretty sure there was a scene with a female character masturbating in the bathroom, and a few others that were definitely sexually charged. You’re probably thinking of Whitley Streiber’s _The Hunger_. I’ve never read _Vampire$_ so maybe it has a similar scene too, but that’s definitely a scene in _The Hunger_. Sexual content aside, I wouldn’t recommend _The Hunger_ because it just isn’t very good. The movie is somewhat better, but it deserves its R-rating. > [@wunderkammer](#): > > _Thirsty_ by M.T. Anderson might fit. It’s a YA book about a sixteen-year-old boy who becomes a reluctant vampire in a mundane high school setting (except for the vampires). It’s solidly in the young adult genre (instead of incest and demons, there’s high school awkwardness and parents to hide the vampirism from, rather than existential angst and oodles of undead sex) and recommended for 7th grade and up. It seems catered to an audience like your son, in fact. This is just what I was going to recommend. I think _Thirsty_ was out of print for a while, but I recently saw it in the bookstore with a new cover. I remember it very well from reading it when it was a new book. It’s an interesting take on the vampire story and is much darker than most contemporary vampire fiction – it actually deals with the _horror_ of becoming a vampire. > [@](#): > > \*I think Christopher Moore’s vampire books are great, but you might want to check them out first. They’re more comic than gory and upsetting, but (at least in _You Suck_, which I’ve read recently) there’s a lot of sex, drugs, and (non-horrific) violence. But if you’d let your son read Kurt Vonnegut I think Christopher Moore would be okay. \*Again just what I was going to say…seriously, are you me? 😉 I read _You Suck_ about a year ago, but I remember that the protagonist and his girlfriend were having acrobatic vampire sex all the time. This wasn’t graphically described and was played for humor, but if the OP is concerned about content then I’d also suggest reading the book first. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-lit-between-anne-rice-and-twilight/480415/30 "2009-01-09T00:43:17Z")
> [@Peanut\_Gallery](#): > > I started reading Rice’s series at 13, and wasn’t even slightly shocked. Her vampires don’t fuck. There are certainly sexual themes, but don’t mistake the vampire books with the ‘Beauty’ books. I was about 13 or 14 as well, and I didn’t find them too adult. (There was plenty enough sex in the Stephen King books I was reading!) Then they started getting a little too emo for me and I stopped. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-lit-between-anne-rice-and-twilight/480415/31 "2009-01-09T00:47:02Z")
> [@Laudenum](#): > > I seem to recall a 16-year-old boy getting a blow job in the bath from an older man. Yikes. Guess I either missed or ignored that scene. ---
**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:** [January 9, 2009, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-lit-between-anne-rice-and-twilight/480415/32 "2009-01-09T00:50:43Z")
[Vampires](http://www.amazon.com/Vampires-Collection-Original-Jane-Yolen/dp/0060502223) edited by Jane Yolen and Martin H. Greenberg. I’m especially fond of “Curse of the Undead.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-lit-between-anne-rice-and-twilight/480415/33 "2009-01-09T01:01:34Z")
Also, it looks like there’s a “[Vampire](http://www.amazon.com/100-Vicious-Little-Vampire-Stories/dp/0760702063)” entry in the “100 Little \” series. These collections are usually pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-lit-between-anne-rice-and-twilight/480415/34 "2009-01-09T01:41:24Z")
> [@emilyforce](#): > > Does anyone remember whether Robin McKinley’s [Sunshine](http://www.amazon.com/Sunshine-Robin-McKinley/dp/0425224015/) has R-rated material in it? I’m pretty sure it’s got at least PG-13 level stuff, but it’s been a while since I read it. There’s only one scene that’s iffy: Sunshine teleports naked over to Con’s place and right when they’re getting hot & heavy, he pushes her away and runs out to put some clothes on. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-lit-between-anne-rice-and-twilight/480415/35 "2009-01-09T02:13:37Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Yikes. Guess I either missed or ignored that scene. I think that’s in _The Vampire Armand_, and I think he (and the entire “stable” of kids the older man in question had around) was considerably younger than 16. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-lit-between-anne-rice-and-twilight/480415/36 "2009-01-09T02:20:56Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > I think that’s in _The Vampire Armand_, and I think he (and the entire “stable” of kids the older man in question had around) was considerably younger than 16. I didn’t even know that book existed. I read _Interview, Lestat, Queen of the Damned,_ and maybe one more that was mostly about Lestat feeling sorry for himself. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-lit-between-anne-rice-and-twilight/480415/37 "2009-01-09T02:22:47Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > I didn’t even know that book existed. I read _Interview, Lestat, Queen of the Damned,_ and maybe one more that was mostly about Lestat feeling sorry for himself. At this point, there are [10 books](http://www.annerice.com/Bookshelf-VampireChronicles.html) in _The Vampire Chronicles_. I have not read anything beyond _The Vampire Armand_ myself. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-lit-between-anne-rice-and-twilight/480415/38 "2009-01-09T02:35:10Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > At this point, there are [10 books](http://www.annerice.com/Bookshelf-VampireChronicles.html) in _The Vampire Chronicles_. I have not read anything beyond _The Vampire Armand_ myself. That is a wise decision, says the person who read all of them. Actually, the best decision would be to stop with _Queen of the Damned_ because Lestat suddenly gets a bad case of Catholic Guilt in _Memnoch the Devil_ and mopes around the rest of the series. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-lit-between-anne-rice-and-twilight/480415/39 "2009-01-09T02:49:10Z")
> [@SpazCat](#): > > That is a wise decision, says the person who read all of them. Actually, the best decision would be to stop with _Queen of the Damned_ because Lestat suddenly gets a bad case of Catholic Guilt in _Memnoch the Devil_ and mopes around the rest of the series. Oh, I know. _QotD_ was wonderful. _Tale of the Body Thief_ was good, but I could see the thread holding up my opinion of her work starting to fray. _Memnoch the Devil_ saw some of the plies in that thread snapping, and _The Vampire Armand_ finally completely broke it. I haven’t gone back to the well since…the water’s all brackish and oily now… ---
**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:** [January 9, 2009, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-lit-between-anne-rice-and-twilight/480415/40 "2009-01-09T04:02:03Z")
_The Last Vampire_ series by Christopher Pike seemed good (I only read the first two books in the series). It was published as six individual volumes (_The Last Vampire_, _Black Blood_, _Red Dice_, _Phantom_, _Evil Thirst_, and _Creatures of Forever_) or two omnibus collections. They were marketed as a Young Adult series so there’s some mild mentions of sex and violence but nothing extreme. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-lit-between-anne-rice-and-twilight/480415.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-lit-between-anne-rice-and-twilight/480415.md?page=3)