So I've done two blog posts on vampires in as many months, but never you fear, I always have more to say about vampires :).
Anyone who knows me would be able to tell you that I'm a little bit obsessed when it comes to vampires. It started in the 80s when I was a teenager and saw The Lost Boys and it continues to this day. Check out my 'Vampires' label on this blog and you will see.
In my quest for all things vampire I have seen some really terrible works of fiction, be they moving pictures or written words and I have also seen some triumphs. Sometimes my friends let me know that what I consider triumphs are not always their cup of tea :).
I also love to write vampires. I have several books out there that contain vampires which I will list at the end of the post in case you are interested.
When I write vampires I try to make no two types of vampire quite the same. I have not decided on a vampire universe I like and then have all my vampire stories set in the same one, I like to chop and change. I find it much more fun.
Before I turned my hand to professional writing I was purely a fanfic writer and I still do write fanfic; it is a great hobby. I am in many fandoms and I feel it my duty to write at least one vampire story in every fandom I frequent :). I suppose you could say it's kind of my thing. What I like to do is introduce vampires into the universe I'm writing (if it doesn't already have them) rather than writing a vampire alternative universe. It must just be how my brain works, because it still fills me with glee.
Vampires can be heroes or villains, tragic or monstrous, completely supernatural or mostly human with a few added extras. It saddens me when I see so many people see vampire and only think Edward Cullen. He is a perfectly valid interpretation of a vampire, but he is not the only one and when the media try and corral everyone into thinking that just because it has vampire in the description it has to be Twilight frustrates me. There are more vampires than just Edward and if you like Edward, good for you, I hope he brings you as much pleasure as some of my favourite vamps do to me, but there were vampires before Edward, there will be vampires after him and it is that diversity that makes the genre fun.
To round off this post I thought I'd list a few of my favourite fictional vampires (in no particular order as they say on TV):
- Dracula - I've already included a piccie of Gary Oldman as Dracula, but I enjoy Frank Langella's interpretation and Christopher Lee's as well. I also really like Gerard Butler version in Dracula 2000.
- Seline and Michael (Underworld) - I love how powerful Seline is and the fact Michael is a hybrid just pushes so many of my buttons that I won't go into here.
- The Lost Boys - yep, all of them. David was cool, but the others were great too. 'Death by stereo!'
- Kei (Moon Child) - he's so human and lost in some things and yet arogant and playful in others. I love him (he's also played by a fav musician of mine called Hyde).
- Jean-Claude (Anita Blake) - he's just so suave and cool.
- Claudia (Interview With The Vampire) - she is just so childlike and yet tragically not so at the same time.
Thank you for taking the time to read my post. Please tell me about your favourite vampires in fiction or legend, I would love to hear.
Below are some of my books that have vampires in them (apologies if the links are slow, our web host has been having some network issues recently, but they should be fixed very shortly).
The Soul Reader Series
Currently 3 books, soon to be 4 (free short stories and reasonably priced novellas).
John McElroy knows that at best he can be called a male escort and at worst a whore. He sells his blood to vampire clients and it's a full service industry; what the client wants the clients gets whether it be sex or just a meal. John survives using the acting skills he picked up in his old life before he knew some people came with fangs. He keeps his emotions remote, but then he meets Michael Cooper, a vampire who changes everything.
Vampires: The New Age
Currently 2 books, 1 novel, 1 prequel short story.
Nate is a vampire hunter, and he's good at it.
Lexie is a white witch with a dark secret.
Together they make a formidable team in the dangerous world that lurks beneath the civilised veneer most people live in. Vampires exist in the shadows while hunters do their best to keep the predators in check and the rest of humanity ignorant.
Cat's Creation (#2 of The Chronicles of Charlie Waterman)
2 novels, soon to be 3. YA, contemporary fantasy. One of the supporting characters is a vampire and this is used a lot in book 2.
Charlie is an ordinary 18 year old whose whole life it turned upside down when he is attacked by a two inch cat figurine. Magic was not in his plans, but he soon learns reality is not quite as straightforward as he thought.
Myriad Imaginings
2 writers, 31 days of writing madness, the result: 28 fabulously diverse stories for your reading pleasure, including horror, fantasy and science fiction, paranormal adventure, young adult and erotica.
Some of the stories have vampire content and there are also other options to purchase selections of the stories if you wish.
Out of the Frying Pan
Stand alone short story.
Dan works his magic with food as a new up and coming chef, what he does not need is his restaurant being destroyed by an explosion and ending up trapped with the UK's hottest food critic in what's left of his kitchen. When vampirism enters the equation it makes things a whole lot worse.
The Trade
Stand alone short story (coming later this month)
Earth no longer belongs exclusively to humans. After the hoard came demons roam the wreckage of old Earth just as humans do. Karon spans the divide, both human and demon, and, yet, neither at the same time. At the mercy of his vampire heritage he seeks a trade with a powerful demon prince and can only hope that his price will be accepted.
Currently 3 books, soon to be 4 (free short stories and reasonably priced novellas).
John McElroy knows that at best he can be called a male escort and at worst a whore. He sells his blood to vampire clients and it's a full service industry; what the client wants the clients gets whether it be sex or just a meal. John survives using the acting skills he picked up in his old life before he knew some people came with fangs. He keeps his emotions remote, but then he meets Michael Cooper, a vampire who changes everything.
Currently 2 books, 1 novel, 1 prequel short story.
Nate is a vampire hunter, and he's good at it.
Lexie is a white witch with a dark secret.
Together they make a formidable team in the dangerous world that lurks beneath the civilised veneer most people live in. Vampires exist in the shadows while hunters do their best to keep the predators in check and the rest of humanity ignorant.
2 novels, soon to be 3. YA, contemporary fantasy. One of the supporting characters is a vampire and this is used a lot in book 2.
Charlie is an ordinary 18 year old whose whole life it turned upside down when he is attacked by a two inch cat figurine. Magic was not in his plans, but he soon learns reality is not quite as straightforward as he thought.
2 writers, 31 days of writing madness, the result: 28 fabulously diverse stories for your reading pleasure, including horror, fantasy and science fiction, paranormal adventure, young adult and erotica.
Some of the stories have vampire content and there are also other options to purchase selections of the stories if you wish.
Stand alone short story.
Dan works his magic with food as a new up and coming chef, what he does not need is his restaurant being destroyed by an explosion and ending up trapped with the UK's hottest food critic in what's left of his kitchen. When vampirism enters the equation it makes things a whole lot worse.
Stand alone short story (coming later this month)
Earth no longer belongs exclusively to humans. After the hoard came demons roam the wreckage of old Earth just as humans do. Karon spans the divide, both human and demon, and, yet, neither at the same time. At the mercy of his vampire heritage he seeks a trade with a powerful demon prince and can only hope that his price will be accepted.
It's something that "sucks" us all in, vampires are the main course for any horror lover! Thanks for another cool post!Here's my day V MMM at Design du Jour.
ReplyDeleteOh, oh, the pun, the pun! :P Okay, I admit it, you made me laugh. Thanks for stopping by again.
DeleteI love Seline and Michael! And Dracula and Mina. And the lost boys... Hmmm, I think I see a pattern :)
ReplyDeleteVampire love for the win! :D Thank you so much for dropping by.
DeleteVampires are just like that. They have a luring power that just sucks you right in ;-D
ReplyDeleteAnother one with the puns! :D Okay, I laughed again, I confess ::g::. Thanks so much for commenting.
DeleteAlex and I are in love with Seline! I have a vampire priest, Renfield (the father of the Renfield you are thinking about), in my haunted French Quarter novels of Sam McCord and Victor Standish. I call the vampires in my world "revenants" to give them a mystique all their own. I have Abigail Adams rule the American revenants and Empress Theodora (of Emperor Justinian fame) rule the European Empire of Revenants. Great fun. Thanks for visiting and commenting on my post!!
ReplyDeleteIt's always fun to rename to vampires, I had a story where I went with Strigoi (but it was fanfic :)). Sounds like you have a very rich world built there. Thanks for returning the visit :).
DeleteTasha's Thinkings
The Lost Boys - YES! YES! YES! Such an amazing movie. I'm addicted to it too and watch it 3-4 times a year. Even enjoy the sequels, though they're far from being as excellent as the original.
ReplyDeleteIt is a superb movie indeed - I take pride in being able to quote it as thought it were Shakespeare :). I didn't enjoy The Tribe, I thought is was a badly put together, badly acted hash and the only redeeming feature was Edgar (I think I may have strong views because I was waiting so long for a sequel and then I detested it :)), however, I was very pleasantly surprised by how good the third one was. They hadn't just tried to make the same movie again and I like how they advanced the whole vampire side of things.
DeleteI'm afraid Twilight took a lot of the fun out of vampires for me, but there are still some good movies coming out, like Blade, Underworld, and 30 Days of Night. I like vamps as monsters, not playmates, so they need to be suitably scary and powerful.
ReplyDeleteI like vamps as both monsters and playmates ... sometimes at the same time :), but I can see the Twilight problem. I haven't read the books (I had a look and put the first one down fast), only seen the first movie (which I actually enjoyed at a don't turn my brain on level, but not enough to run out and see the others), but I've read enough about them to know the basic gist.
DeleteI'm probably one of the few people who really loved Blade Trinity :); I really enjoy the other two as well, but I'm rather fond of Ryan Reynolds. 30 Days of Night was a good one too, but the ending made me sad. John Carpenter's Vampires is another one I really like including the sequels.
I love your love for vampires! :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you :D It's a minor obsession ;)
DeleteCool blog a good reviews dear Lady Tasha... You new "fiend" and follower.... the Doctor
ReplyDeleteMany thanks, My Good Doctor.
DeleteI love vampires too; I love the huge variety of the ways they're portrayed from Interview with the Vampire to 30 Days of Night. I also love Underworld, although the critics (and most of the public) hate the films. I just can't help it, so I'm glad I'm not alone!
ReplyDeletecoffintreehill.tumblr.com
*clings* A like minded soul, yay! Critics often sniff at genre movies unless they are art house genre movies or they'd look stupid to say they hated them. When I was younger and used to watch Film [whatever year it happened to be] with Barry Norman, if he hated a film I wanted to see it :D. I'll never forget his review of Fright Night 2, because he panned it and it's one of my favourites.
DeleteOf course there are some truly terrible vampire movies out there too *looking at Mama Dracula*. :)
I am a huge vampire fan as well. And I can't believe The Lost Boys didn't cross my mind during this last week. Such a fabulous movie. I've watched that one at least a dozen times throughout my life (probably more). Great post!
ReplyDeleteThank you. The Lost Boys is a classic. I used to have it recorded off the TV, two different cuts, on bought VHS and on DVD :). I might have been a trifle focused ::g::
Delete"Burn rubber does not mean warp speed!"
Okay, so I was a giant Lost Boys fan back in the day. I even named one of my Ger. Sheps "Nanook". :)
ReplyDeleteRespect for the dog naming :). Nanook was the under sung hero of the Emerson household.
DeleteFeels like I'm taking coals to Newcastle. Here's a good one.
ReplyDelete"Ultraviolet" with Actors: Jack Davenport, Susannah Harker, Idris Elba, Philip Quast, Colette Brown
http://www.amazon.com/Ultraviolet-Jack-Davenport/dp/B00005KA70/ref=sr_1_4?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1368658586&sr=1-4&keywords=ultraviolet
I love Ultraviolet, I have it on DVD. I'm eyeing the re-release as well, because I think it might have extra features. I was very sad they never made a second season. Good choice :).
DeleteVampires were my first horror love. My father let me watch old Hammer Horrors with him when I was little, and I read 'Dracula' when I was twelve. My biggest issue with 'Twilight' can be summed up in a remark a man made to me recently: "Oh, vampires. They're a girl thing, aren't they?!" Now apart from the fact that I always take umbrage at "girl" or "woman" being used in a pejorative sense, which in this case it, definitely was, it saddens me to think the whole genre is now being overshadowed by Edward Cullen. I guess he has his place (grumble, grumble, ;) ), but it should be a little corner, not the whole room.
ReplyDeleteI love the Hammer Horrors; there's just something so wonderful about them. The scene where Dracula is brought back to life by suspending the visitor to the castle over the sarcophagus and draining his blood has stayed with me for so many years.
DeleteTotally agree, I have the same problem with Twilight, well that and the fact that a stalker relationship is portrayed as the greatest love of all. Also, they're not really vampires that are representative of the genre and yet people always compare anything with vampires with Twilight.
I'm so glad you mentioned Lost Boys! So many people forget about them but they helped fuel my love for vampires! It's one of my fav movies of all time let alone fav vampire movies! Thanks & great job!
ReplyDeleteIt is a classic, no one can doubt the effect The Lost Boys had on the genre. There were other teen vampire movies around at the time, but this one was huge. My other fav of the era is Fright Night and I really wish they hadn't remade it because David Tenant was fab, but I think they kind of wrecked it.
DeleteThank you so much for dropping by.
I also started with The Lost Boys! I've taken a different path after though. Now my favorite vampires are on Being Human on BBC America. :)
ReplyDeleteMMM on Kristen's blog, Day 5: My Day Involved Monsters!
The Lost Boys - entrance drug of choice to the vampire genre :). I campaigned for Being Human after they aired the pilot and weren't going to make any more. It's a great show.
DeleteThanks for dropping by.