Vampire Stories

On Fri, 9 Apr 2004 15:13:21 +1200, "Ali"
<ali.matt@[spamoff]paradise.net.nz> wrote:

 >Hi All
 >
 >I'm looking for some advice on good vampire authors, so far my list
 >contains:
 >
 >Brian Lumley
 >Montague Summers
 >H. P Lovecraft
 >Anne Rice
 >
 >Any others that anyone can think of?
 >Regards
 >Ali
 >
 >
The Delicate Dependency - Michael Talbot
The Shiny Narrow Grin - Jane Gaskell
House of the Vampire - G.S. Viereck
I Am Legend - Richard Matheson
Vamphyric - Simon Clark
The Mark of the Bat - Gertrude Dunn
Carrion Comfort - Dan Simmons
They Thirst - Robert McCammon
Salem's Lot - Stephen King
The Dragon Waiting - John M. Ford


I could do this all night, but I won't... There's enough here to start
a good core collection (with some rather valuable books thrown in just
to make it interesting).


Cheers,

John<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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Ali wrote:
 > Hi All
 >
 > I'm looking for some advice on good vampire authors,

You might try the newsgroup alt.vampyres, which
is dedicated to the discussion of vampires in
fiction, movies, lore, and pop culture. I believe
one of the group's FAQs specifically addresses
recommended vampire reading.

 > so far my list contains:
 >
 > Brian Lumley
 > Montague Summers
 > H. P Lovecraft
 > Anne Rice

Whether these are "good" depends on what kind of
vampire writing you're looking for. Lovecraft did a
few vampire short stories, but the bulk of his work
doesn't reflect vampire topics. Summers did only a
couple of non-fiction books on the subject of
authentic belief in vampires and vampire-like creatures;
his works are showing their age, though nothing has
really taken their place. Frankly, there are now so
many vampire books out there I'd hardly know where to
begin making recommendations. Get over to alt.vampyres
and start a discussion on the subject!

Cathy Krusberg
Internet: ckberg.TakeThisOut@ix.netcomm.com<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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Ali writes:

 >I'm looking for some advice on good vampire authors

Nancy A. Collins' three Sonja Blue vampire novels -- Sunglasses After Dark, In
the Blood, and Paint it Black -- are collected in the omnibus volume, Midnight
Blue, and oughtn't be missed.



Bob Riedel
Print Matters! Used & Rare Books
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.abebooks.com/home/printmat" target="_blank">http://www.abebooks.com/home/printmat</a><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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John Pelan wrote:

 > The Delicate Dependency - Michael Talbot
 > The Shiny Narrow Grin - Jane Gaskell
 > House of the Vampire - G.S. Viereck
 > I Am Legend - Richard Matheson
 > Vamphyric - Simon Clark
 > The Mark of the Bat - Gertrude Dunn
 > Carrion Comfort - Dan Simmons
 > They Thirst - Robert McCammon
 > Salem's Lot - Stephen King
 > The Dragon Waiting - John M. Ford

Not all these are necessarily vampire books -- it depends
on how narrowly you define "vampire." Carrion Comfort is
about energy-drainers, not blood drinkers, and I want to think
House of the Vampire is about a person who consumes
artistic talent. I'm sorry to say I haven't yet read Mark
of the Bat. Is The Shiny Narrow Grin as hard to find as it
used to be? That's the only one on the list that seems to be
invariably pricey. The Delicate Dependency is cheap enough
if you find it on eBay. (Where it does pop up from time to
time.)

Cathy Krusberg
Internet: ckberg DeleteThis @ix.netcom.com<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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On Fri, 09 Apr 2004 11:51:21 GMT, Cathy Krusberg
<ckberg RemoveThis @ix.netcom.com> wrote:

 >John Pelan wrote:
 >
  >> The Delicate Dependency - Michael Talbot
  >> The Shiny Narrow Grin - Jane Gaskell
  >> House of the Vampire - G.S. Viereck
  >> I Am Legend - Richard Matheson
  >> Vamphyric - Simon Clark
  >> The Mark of the Bat - Gertrude Dunn
  >> Carrion Comfort - Dan Simmons
  >> They Thirst - Robert McCammon
  >> Salem's Lot - Stephen King
  >> The Dragon Waiting - John M. Ford
 >
 >Not all these are necessarily vampire books -- it depends
 >on how narrowly you define "vampire." Carrion Comfort is
 >about energy-drainers, not blood drinkers, and I want to think
 >House of the Vampire is about a person who consumes
 >artistic talent. I'm sorry to say I haven't yet read Mark
 >of the Bat. Is The Shiny Narrow Grin as hard to find as it
 >used to be? That's the only one on the list that seems to be
 >invariably pricey. The Delicate Dependency is cheap enough
 >if you find it on eBay. (Where it does pop up from time to
 >time.)
 >
 >Cathy Krusberg
 >Internet: ckberg RemoveThis @ix.netcom.com


Hi Cathy:

Well, our poster didn't specify "blood-drinkers"...

The Gaskell is still tough to find and the Dunn is tougher by several
orders of magnitude...


Cheers,

John<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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"Cathy Krusberg" <ckberg RemoveThis @ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
news:40768DF5.1050006@ix.netcom.com...
 > Ali wrote:
  > > Hi All
  > >
  > > I'm looking for some advice on good vampire authors,
 >
 > You might try the newsgroup alt.vampyres, which
 > is dedicated to the discussion of vampires in
 > fiction, movies, lore, and pop culture. I believe
 > one of the group's FAQs specifically addresses
 > recommended vampire reading.
 >
  > > so far my list contains:
  > >
  > > Brian Lumley
  > > Montague Summers
  > > H. P Lovecraft
  > > Anne Rice
 >
 > Whether these are "good" depends on what kind of
 > vampire writing you're looking for. Lovecraft did a
 > few vampire short stories, but the bulk of his work
 > doesn't reflect vampire topics. Summers did only a
 > couple of non-fiction books on the subject of
 > authentic belief in vampires and vampire-like creatures;
 > his works are showing their age, though nothing has
 > really taken their place. Frankly, there are now so
 > many vampire books out there I'd hardly know where to
 > begin making recommendations. Get over to alt.vampyres
 > and start a discussion on the subject!
 >
 > Cathy Krusberg
 > Internet: ckberg RemoveThis @ix.netcomm.com
 >
Bram Stoker wrote a pretty good one called Dracula<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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"Ali" <ali.matt@[spamoff]paradise.net.nz> wrote in message
news:ixodc.7791$u%1.805633@news02.tsnz.net...

 > I'm looking for some advice on good vampire authors, so far my list
 > contains:
 >
 > Any others that anyone can think of?



You might check this out when it is published:

<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.transylvania.com/vbib.html" target="_blank">http://www.transylvania.com/vbib.html</a>



William M. Klimon
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.catholicbookcollector.com" target="_blank">http://www.catholicbookcollector.com</a><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Vampire Stories 

 >Subject: Re: Vampire Stories
 >From: printmat.RemoveThis@aol.combusted (Bob Riedel)
 >Date: 4/9/2004 4:44 AM Pacific Daylight Time
 >Message-id: <20040409074400.12558.00000108.RemoveThis@mb-m26.aol.com>
 >
 >Ali writes:
 >
  >>I'm looking for some advice on good vampire authors
 >
 >Nancy A. Collins' three Sonja Blue vampire novels -- Sunglasses After Dark,
 >In
 >the Blood, and Paint it Black -- are collected in the omnibus volume,
 >Midnight
 >Blue, and oughtn't be missed.
 >
 >
 >
 >Bob Riedel
 >Print Matters! Used & Rare Books
 >http://www.abebooks.com/home/printmat
 >
 >
 >
 >
 >
Why not something with history to it? Sir Richard Francis Burton's Vikram and
the Vampire translation:

PREFACE (by his wife)

The Baital-Pachisi, or Twenty-five Tales of a Baital is the history of a huge
Bat, Vampire, or Evil Spirit which inhabited and animated dead bodies. It is an
old, and thoroughly Hindu, Legend composed in Sanskrit, and is the germ which
culminated in the Arabian Nights, and which inspired the "Golden Ass" of
Apuleius, Boccacio's "Decamerone," the "Pentamerone," and all that class of
facetious fictitious literature.

The story turns chiefly on a great king named Vikram, the King Arthur of the
East, who in pursuance of his promise to a Jogi or Magician, brings to him the
Baital (Vampire), who is hanging on a tree. The difficulties King Vikram and
his son have in bringing the Vampire into the presence of the Jogi are truly
laughable; and on this thread is strung a series of Hindu fairy stories, which
contain much interesting information on Indian customs and manners. It also
alludes to that state, which induces Hindu devotees to allow themselves to be
buried alive, and to appear dead for weeks or months, and then to return to
life again; a curious state of mesmeric catalepsy, into which they work
themselves by concentrating the mind and abstaining from food - a specimen of
which I have given a practical illustration in the Life of Sir Richard Burton.

The following translation is rendered peculiarly; valuable and interesting by
Sir Richard Burton's intimate knowledge of the language. To all who understand
the ways of the East, it is as witty, and as full of what is popularly called
"chaff" as it is possible to be. There is not a dull page in it, and it will
especially please those who delight in the weird and supernatural, the
grotesque, and the wild life.

My husband only gives eleven of the best tales, as it was thought the
translation would prove more interesting in its abbreviated form.

ISABEL BURTON.

August 18th, 1893.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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William M. Klimon wrote:

 >
 > You might check this out when it is published:
 >
<font color=purple> > <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.transylvania.com/vbib.html</font" target="_blank">http://www.transylvania.com/vbib.html</font</a>>

Oh lordylordylordylordy....

Next time I've got nothing better to do, I'm going to
have to dig through my records, old correspondence, and
back issues of LOCUS, and see just how long this title
has been "forthcoming." Seems like Rob Eighteen-Bisang
embarked on this odyssey around 1994, when the first
Transylvania Press titles came out, and it even got as
far as appearing as "forthcoming" in LOCUS a few times.
Never forthcame. And when it does, most likely it is
going to cost an arm and a leg -- more than any but the
most hardcore vampire collector would consider paying.

Yes, I do have a knack for raining on parades, why do
you ask...?

There are a couple of helpful vampire fiction bibliographies
now in existence: The Transylvanian Library by Greg Cox
(covers titles to about 1988) and Vampire Readings by
Patricia Altner (published 1998). Not sure how readily
obtainable these are, but there is an online version of
the Altner book at
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.biblioinfo.com/vamp/VampReadOnline.html" target="_blank">http://www.biblioinfo.com/vamp/VampReadOnline.html</a>
Patricia Altner also offers a web newsletter
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.biblioinfo.com/vamp/updates.html" target="_blank">http://www.biblioinfo.com/vamp/updates.html</a> with news
about recent vampire books.

Repeat invitation to wander over to alt.vampyres,
where this topic is very on-topic.

Cathy Krusberg
Internet: ckberg.RemoveThis@ix.netcom.com<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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"Cathy Krusberg" <ckberg RemoveThis @ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
news:40776BD6.9020905@ix.netcom.com...

  > > You might check this out when it is published:
  > >
<font color=green>  > > <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.transylvania.com/vbib.html</font" target="_blank">http://www.transylvania.com/vbib.html</font</a>>
 >
 > Oh lordylordylordylordy....
 >
 > Next time I've got nothing better to do, I'm going to
 > have to dig through my records, old correspondence, and
 > back issues of LOCUS, and see just how long this title
 > has been "forthcoming."



Thanks for the background! You obviously have a lot more insight into this
than I do, but it doesn't strike me as strange that a bibliography as
detailed as this one purports to be striving for would be long delayed. As
strange as this might sound, bibliography is hard work.


William M. Klimon
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.catholicbookcollector.com" target="_blank">http://www.catholicbookcollector.com</a><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Vampire Stories 

William M. Klimon wrote:
 > "Cathy Krusberg" <ckberg.DeleteThis@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
 > news:40776BD6.9020905@ix.netcom.com...
 >
 >
   >>>You might check this out when it is published:
   >>>
   >>>http://www.transylvania.com/vbib.html
  >>
  >>Oh lordylordylordylordy....
  >>
  >>Next time I've got nothing better to do, I'm going to
  >>have to dig through my records, old correspondence, and
  >>back issues of LOCUS, and see just how long this title
  >>has been "forthcoming."
 >
 > Thanks for the background! You obviously have a lot more insight into this
 > than I do, but it doesn't strike me as strange that a bibliography as
 > detailed as this one purports to be striving for would be long delayed. As
 > strange as this might sound, bibliography is hard work.

I'll do a big Amen to that! I've never actually
published a bibliography, but I helped Margaret
Carter with _The Vampire in Literature_ (UMI
Research Press, 1989) and did spend a lot of hours
in the library. I didn't list this bibliography as
a helpful source on vampire fiction because its
annotations are quite minimal -- just classification
codes for type of vampire in a given work.

I don't know what the various holdups over the years
have been for the Transylvania Press bibliography,
but the delays haven't been just a case of the
publisher dragging his feet. (Though of course there
may also have been some of that.) I'm looking forward to
it whenever it comes out.

I've been heavily into vampire fiction since the early
1980s or so. From roughly 1990 to 2002 I wrote a book
review column for a small press publication for vampire
fans. I burned out on that about the time the publication
folded (reviewing over 500 books in 12 years can do that),
but I still have the knowledge I acquired. Some of it,
anyway.

Cathy Krusberg
Internet: ckberg.DeleteThis@ix.netcom.com<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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On Fri, 9 Apr 2004 15:13:21 +1200, "Ali"
<ali.matt@[spamoff]paradise.net.nz> wrote:

 >Hi All
 >
 >I'm looking for some advice on good vampire authors,

Try one of the St. Germain novels by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. They're
different from all the other vampire novels and you'll either love
them or, well, not.

If you like them, there are lots of them in print or available used.

Mike Ward
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.hidden-knowledge.com" target="_blank">www.hidden-knowledge.com</a><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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In article <ixodc.7791$u%1.805633@news02.tsnz.net>,
ali.matt@[spamoff]paradise.net.nz (Ali) wrote:

 > Hi All
 >
 > I'm looking for some advice on good vampire authors, so far my list
 > contains:
 >
 > Brian Lumley
 > Montague Summers
 > H. P Lovecraft
 > Anne Rice

At least one of the Poppy Z. Brite novels is vampiresque IIRC. But sorry,
I can't remember which it is.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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