Tuesday, April 17, 2012
A Brief History of Vampire Fiction
“The Vampyre,” first published anonymously in 1819, was taken to be the work of the famous poet (and early 19th-century equivalent of a tabloid celebrity) Lord Byron, but turned out to be by Byron’s personal physician (and devoted hanger-on), Dr. John Polidori.
Its plot nugget was by Byron, in an uncompleted story dashed off for that ghost-story competition Mary Shelley (then Mary Godwin) won with Frankenstein, but Polidori worked it up into something publishable which, nearly two centuries on, remains smart, tart and readable
read on
Posted by " Dallas " at 6:29 PM 0 comments
Labels: vampire books
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Original 'Dracula' still brings chills
Everyone knows the story of Dracula. The Count's incarnations are countless. But in recent years, teens have come to know the vampire as the "Twilight" series character Edward, who plays baseball with his vampire family in their downtime.
To reclaim your fear of the vampire open up a copy of Bram Stoker's "Dracula." It is Halloween, after all.
From the first pages of the 1897 novel, with all those villagers watching solicitor Jonathan Harker make his way to the Count's castle in Transylvania, the book draws you in:
read on
This book is copyright free and can be downloaded to your "reader" or read online here at Project Gutenberg
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/345
Posted by " Dallas " at 8:48 AM 0 comments
Labels: vampire books
Monday, October 31, 2011
Anne Rice Compares Her Characters to Twilight Vampires
Just in time for Halloween, novelist Anne Rice wrote a Facebook post critiquing Twilight–comparing Stephenie Meyer‘s vampire characters to Rice’s famous Lestat de Lioncourt and Louis de Pointe du Lac.Rice wrote: “Lestat and Louie feel sorry for vampires that sparkle in the sun. They would never hurt immortals who choose to spend eternity going to high school over and over again in a small town —- anymore than they would hurt the physically disabled or the mentally challenged. My vampires possess gravitas. They can afford to be merciful.”
What do you think–how do the two vampire books stack up? The post has already generated more than 8,000 likes and 1,800 comments on Facebook. (Via)
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/
Posted by " Dallas " at 8:03 AM 1 comments
Labels: vampire books
Monday, October 10, 2011
The Most Beautiful Vampire Art We’ve Seen in Untold Ages
Vampire Art Now, edited by Jasmine Becket-Griffith and Matthew David Becket, contains some of the loveliest vampire art we've seen in a vampire's lifetime.
read on
Posted by " Dallas " at 10:19 AM 0 comments
Labels: vampire books
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Stephen King Writing ‘Shining’ Sequel About Psychics & Vampires
At first glance you might think that we’re now running mock stories. Sorry, no such luck.
Instead, long-standing speculation has now given way to fact: Stephen King is writing a sequel novel to The Shining - more to the point, he has some of said sequel already written, he recently read some it, and we have video of his reading.
The sequel will be called Dr. Sleep, and it will follow The Shining‘s young protagonist, Danny, 30 years after the incident at the Overlook Hotel. Danny now uses his psychic powers to literally ease the minds of terminally-ill patients in hospice care. Things get twisted when vampires show up - most likely viewing the the place as the perfect buffet, if we had to guess - and Psychic vs. Vampire battle ensues?
By now, most people are familiar with the aggravation that comes with learning about another unnecessary movie sequel - it’s kind of new to feel that aggravation about a novel, but that sentiment is already out there and swelling. It will be hard to convince a lot of people that The Shining needs a continuation -let alone that words ’The Shining’ and ‘vampires’ even belong in the same sentence. Here at Screen Rant, we’re already nervous about a possible (semi-)sequel to Stanley Kubrick’s classic 1980 film adaptation of The Shining, as we’re sure a lot of other movie fans are as well.
read on
and
Posted by " Dallas " at 8:44 AM 0 comments
Labels: vampire books
Monday, September 5, 2011
Author Ellen Schreiber finds fangs and fortune
At 44, Ellen Schreiber still thinks a lot like a teenager - a hip, fun and funky mindset that propelled her onto the New York Times bestseller list as an author of teen novels.
A native of Roselawn who now makes her home in Warren County, Schreiber wrote the Vampire Kisses series of books, which has sold 1.4 million copies - a staggering figure she says she doesn't think about much.
Nestled in a quiet subdivision where hawks circle overhead, Schreiber is working on several projects in various stages of completion.
She weaves her tales on an Apple computer, which takes center stage on a kidney-shaped Ikea desk in her bright, eclectic office - white jolted with pink and aqua, and infused with black, reflecting her more "Goth" side.
read on
Posted by " Dallas " at 8:22 AM 0 comments
Labels: vampire books
Monday, August 29, 2011
Vampires in GA! Author Kane Makes Aleron’s Presence Felt at the Decatur Book Festival
Atlanta-based author Kane will bring his acclaimed vampire novel, Aleron, to the 6th Annual Decatur Book Festival over Labor Day Weekend.
This new author has spun a tale of fangs so enthralling that it rates with the likes of Anne Rice and Stephen King. Good reading. Good storyline. Interesting characters. This story will Eclipse all others.
S
Kane will be one of the festival’s featured authors and will have a table at the festival site. The festival, sponsored by the Atlanta Journal Constitution, is one of the largest festivals for independent authors. There will be over 300 authors in attendance with 14 stages that will have music and poetry performances. Festival-goers can also look for the Aleron girls and various other promotions throughout the festival weekend.
read on
Posted by " Dallas " at 8:29 AM 0 comments
Labels: vampire books
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
'Bloodlines': The Reviews Are In For Richelle Mead's 'Vampire Academy' Spin-Off!
By now, most dedicated "Vampire Academy" fans have picked up their copy of the first book in Richelle Mead's spin-off series, "Bloodlines." But there are, no doubt, a bunch of readers on the fence, either because they're not "VA" addicts, or they're such addicts, they're not sure they'll be able to stomach a whole series focused on human alchemist Sydney and her dealings with other secondary "VA" characters.
We at Hollywood Crush have decided it's not our place to decide for you, even though we're going to declare "Bloodlines" our Summer Beach Read of the week. Instead, here are what other reviewers on the Web had to say about it:
read on
Posted by " Dallas " at 8:07 AM 0 comments
Labels: vampire books
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Slayer Sighting! - True Blood Creator, Alan Ball reads book on Vampire Killing
We don't know what drew Alan Ball, creator of hit HBO drama,True Blood, to Bruce A. McClelland's Slayers and Their Vampires: A Cultural History of Killing the Dead, but we do know that he is holding the first book to explore the origins of the vampire slayer.
McClelland presents a nonromanticized history of the earliest vampire rituals that shows how much creative license figured into the refashioning of the vampire for the entertainment of the West. In Western popular culture, very little is said about the nemesis to the Vampire - the Slayer. They are seen as super-human or heroic when mentioned while their darker nature -- as those who persecute a corpse -- is obscured.
Posted by " Dallas " at 7:32 AM 0 comments
Labels: vampire books
Teen Hunts Vampires in 'Voice of the Undead'
Looking for a great YA book for a teen Vamp lover -where vamps don't sparkle ?
"Alex Van Helsing: Voice of the Undead" (HarperTeen), by Jason Henderson: Alex Van Helsing finally belongs somewhere. It just happens to be an underground organization that secretly hunts and kills vampires.
"Voice of the Undead" is Jason Henderson's second novel in the Alex Van Helsing series. The first, "Vampire Rising," published last year, was an interesting twist on an old tale, but a slow read. "Voice of the Undead" is a more action-packed story, and the characters are more fully developed.
read on
Posted by " Dallas " at 7:10 AM 0 comments
Labels: vampire books
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Stockton students see their 'True Blood' essays turned into a book
Love this idea - !
Fangs, shape shifters and immortals, oh my. HBO's popular vampire saga "True Blood" is in its fourth season, and it has at least a small group of philosophy students watching with more than casual interest.
These local fans of the goings on between vampires and mortals in the quagmire that is Bon Temps, La., have taken their love of the show to another level - publishing a book of their musings on the themes dealt with in "True Blood" and how they relate to larger, real-life questions.
read on
Posted by " Dallas " at 9:10 AM 0 comments
Labels: vampire books
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Georgina Kincaid Series -Succubus Blues
When it comes to jobs in hell, being a succubus seems pretty glamorous. A girl can be anything she wants. The wardrobe is killer, and mortal men will do anything just for a touch. Granted, they often pay with their souls, but why get technical?
Thanks TXLadyJane for the recommendation
Posted by " Dallas " at 7:33 AM 1 comments
Labels: vampire books
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Susan Blexrud: Asheville vampire romance novelist, quilter and community activist
Susan Blexrud likes to live her life as if she's assembling an old-fashioned quilt, like the pioneer women who cut the good sections out of old clothing and frayed linens and fashioned the pieces together to create something singular and beautiful.The pieces of Blexrud's quilt come from life experiences ranging from political speechwriter to animal welfare supporter to advocate for gay teens to her current career as a romance novelist whose books feature vampires with razor-sharp senses of humor.
read on
Posted by " Dallas " at 9:14 AM 0 comments
Labels: vampire books
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Graphic Books Best Sellers: More Vampires NYTimes
read on
Posted by " Dallas " at 8:40 AM 0 comments
Labels: Comics, vampire books
Friday, July 22, 2011
Warners to adapt 'A Discovery of Witches' Deborah Harkness novel pits vampires against sorcerers in interspecies war
The story centers on a reluctant witch and a 1,500-year-old vampire. The witch -- a direct descendant of the first woman executed in the Salem Witch trials -- accidentally unlocks an enchanted manuscript and finds herself in a race to prevent an interspecies war.
Harkness, a professor of history at USC, is writing the story as a trilogy and the second novel, "Shadow of Night," will be published by next year.
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Posted by " Dallas " at 9:15 AM 0 comments
Labels: vampire books
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire will be adapted into a new graphic novel
Yen Press, the graphic novel and manga imprint at Hachette, will adapt Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire into a new graphic novel with the same plot but a new point of view: the story will be told by Claudia, a child who is transformed into a vampire by Louis, the narrator of the original novel. Newcomer Ashley Marie Witter will illustrate the story, which will be published as a single volume in fall 2012.
Interview with the Vampire is the first book in Rice's 10-volume series The Vampire Chronicles, and Rice said she is "intrigued" by the idea of retelling her story from a different point of view. "I have gone all through The Vampire Chronicles writing from the point of view of different characters, so it is completely legitimate to do that," Rice said. "Lestat [another vampire] tells you a completely different version of events than Louis. Who do you believe?"
Yen Press has a history with vampires: its adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight was one of the bestselling graphic novels of 2010, according to Nielsen BookScan.
Rice grew up reading Classics Illustrated comics and horror comics like Tales from the Crypt. "I remember reading Jane Eyre in the Classics comics and how much I loved the details and seeing the madwoman in the attic in those little panels and seeing the whole novel play out," she said. "What always drew me were very detailed, representational drawings, rather than something abstract. I wanted to see a lot of richness and a lot of depth." Graphic novels, she said, "have a freedom that is all their own to create an entire universe in detail fairly inexpensively, compared to a film."
read on
Posted by " Dallas " at 8:39 AM 0 comments
Labels: Comics, vampire books
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Vampire Mythology -Sookie Stackhouse by Charlaine Harris
VAMPIRE MYTHOLOGY IN DEAD UNTIL DARK
AUTHOR/CREATOR:Charlaine Harris
YEAR CREATED:2001
NATIONALITY:American (specifically from the South in Northern Louisiana)
PHYSICAL TRAITS: Vampires resemble humans and look as they did when they were 'turned' from human to vampire. However, Caucasian vampires will be paler than they were in human form when 'turned'. Any temporary scarring or bruises had by humans when 'turned' will heal when they become vampires. Vampires do not age.
Vampires have a cooler body temperatures than humans and are cold to touch. Vampires incisors extend into fangs when they are angry, excited, aroused, need to fight or see blood. Apart from when going through these emotions or events, vampire fangs are retracted back into their incisors. Vampires do not need to breathe and do not have the need to fidget or itch. They can stand as still as a statue and remain expressionless. SUPERNATURAL ABILITIES: Healthy vampires are a good deal stronger and faster than humans with heightened reflexes, stamina and senses. As they get older, their strength, speed, reflexes and senses increase further. They can also heal quickly. Fresh vampire blood is also able to heal wounded humans as well as increase that person's strength, speed, reflexes, senses, stamina and physical appearance. Stale or less fresh vampire blood can be used a narcotic by humans and while it does everything that fresh vampire blood does, it can cause people to become high, mentally ill or cause humans to go into aggressive frenzies, attacking or sookie killing others or themselves
Vampires are also capable of learning a number of supernatural skills. The most common of these is the ability to glamor humans. Glamoring is a form of hypnosis that requires a vampire to make direct eye contact and use their voices to hypnotize a human into doing their bidding. Glamoring does not effect other vampires or other supernatural creatures. Some vampires are also able to shapeshift, levitate, fly or use telepathy as well as a number of other supernatural skills. SUSTENANCE/FEEDING: Vampires must sleep during the day, away from exposure to daylight. Only old vampires are able to rouse themselves during the day and even then they will be severely weakened. Vampires who try and remain awake during the day in a room unexposed to daylight will not only be weakened but will get the 'bleeds', this is where blood will slowly leak out of them, weakening them further. Vampires do not need to produce waste.
Vampires cannot eat normal food or drink normal drinks. They must drink the blood of humans, animals or synthetic blood. Human blood tastes best to vampires although they can sustain themselves on synthetic blood although it does not taste very good. Animal blood is also drank by some vampires although they are considered to be those of an unstable mental health. Vampires who do not drink blood will become so thirsty that they will go into complete frenzies, draining anyone they meet. They will not die from drinking blood, they will just become uncontrollable and sometimes mad. Vampires also become uncomfortable and begin to ache if they do not get blood. They become weaker also. Vampires find freshly deceased corpses and pure fairy blood irresistible and those with some fairy blood more appealing. Maenad blood is toxic to them. BECOMING A VAMPIRE: A vampire must drain a human of all their blood, effectively killing that human, and replace it with some of their own blood. The vampire and drained human will then sleep in the ground for two to three nights until the drained human rises as a vampire. The newborn vampire will be thirsty and need to feed on blood. The newborn vampire will have to stay with their 'maker' for some time as the 'maker' shows the newborn vampire or 'ward' how to live the life of a vampire. Although having some control, newborn vampires will often lose control of their impulses and can cause serious harm or trouble. Newborn vampires must leave their human lives behind as they are likely on impulse to attack their family or friends.
Newborn vampires must answer to their maker and are unable to resist if their maker commands them to do something. Eventually, makers will allow their wards to go out into the World themselves to be independent and free. Wards can return to their makers if they wish. VAMPIRE POLITICS: Since The Great Revelation (when vampires revealed themselves to humans), vampires have become involved in human politics in countries where they are accepted such as campaigning for vampire-human marriage.
Unknown to the majority of humans, vampires have their own political system. In the United States Of America, each of the States are split into kingdoms or queendoms, ruled by a king or queen or by both a king and queen. Each kingdom is split into areas (formerly called fiefdoms) ruled by sheriffs.
Great job by folks on the True Blood wiki ---check out all the other mythologies !
Older vampires are more powerful than younger vampires. Vampires run on a pecking
order with older vampires having a say over younger vampires. A younger vampire committing a crime against an older vampire is a major offence and would see that vampire punished by their sheriff, king or queen or vampire organisations such as the American Vampire League or the magister of the North American Vampire League. Vampires, regardless of age, must respect these authorities. INTERACTION WITH OTHER SUPERNATURAL BEINGS: Vampires dislike shapeshifters and werewolves but will join with them for common supernatural causes. Vampires find fairies irresistible because the smell of blood is so enticing. Fairies are in danger of being drained by vampires because of their irresistible. Vampires seem to be accepting of practioneer witches and Wiccans. HOW TO KILL A VAMPIRE: Vampires can be killed by wooden objects through the heart, decapitation and being burned to death by fire. A disease known as Sino-AIDS and severe use of silver can lead to silver poisoning which can kill them. VAMPIRE VULNERABILITIES: Silver is toxic to them and causes their skin to burn although it only causes them great pain but in most cases does not kill them. Garlic also disgusts them. Vampires are weakened by silver, staying awake in the day and starved of blood. They can also contract certain diseases such as Hepatitis D which will weaken them for a month. SOCIAL STATUS: Older vampires are more respected socially than younger vampires. However, most vampires live in harmony with each other and racism and homophobia are virtually non-existent in vampire society.
Since vampires 'came out of the coffin' with the invention of synthetic blood, they have tried to live amongst humans (this is known as mainstreaming). Vampires are tolerated in countries such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan and the majority of first World countries but are hunted in the majority of Islamic and South American countries. Even in countries where they are tolerated, there is still major bigotry towards vampires by humans with many being cautious or living in fear of them. INTERACTION WITH HUMANS: Some vampires try to "mainstream" and live among humans, while others attempt to live as they had before the Great Revelation. VAMPIRE BLOOD: When humans drink Vampire blood, they become more attractive to other humans and vampires and sexually potent. They also gain strength and more control over themselves. They also feel healthier and tend to be able to heal faster. Vampire blood is one of the most sought-after commodities on the black-market because of its potency (even though some humans have gone crazy after drinking it). The effects last depending on the amounts of blood that was ingested.
http://truebloodwiki.wetpaint.com/page/Exploring+Vampire+Mythologies
Posted by " Dallas " at 10:16 AM 0 comments
Labels: Sookie Stackhouse books, vampire books
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
New eBook : UNDEAD. The Birth of Dracula
Frank Delaney Deconstructs the Myth of the Modern Vampire in His First Kindle Single, UNDEAD. The Birth of Dracula ( 99 cents)
In his first Amazon Kindle Single, UNDEAD, Irish author, broadcaster and literary historian, Frank Delaney, reveals the relationship between blood, sex and everlasting life, and revisits the 19th century birth of Dracula at the hands of his countryman, Bram Stoker. Released on Friday, June 24, by Saturday at midnight it had shot to #1 on the Kindle Single bestseller list, knocking David Baldacci off the top spot.
Poised to meet the timing and interest of HBO's thirsty True Blood fans, Delaney acknowledges the quality of the writing and production values in the ground-breaking Alan Ball series, and uses it to guide his full-bodied literary foray into all things vampire.
From his eye-witness account of a castle that inspired Stoker, to his re-telling of myths from the Bible, to the gothic Victorians, to the modern screen, Delaney weaves a visceral and compelling thesis, contending that the vampire story has been a part of the human narrative from the time stories were first shared.
read on
Posted by " Dallas " at 7:00 AM 0 comments
Labels: vampire books
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Going fast: Anne Rice's Ebay auction
Anne Rice, author of "Interview with the Vampire" and its sequels and, most recently, the 2010 novel "Of Love and Evil," is auctioning personal items on Ebay in a kind of online yard sale.
The auction, which went online Tuesday night, includes items from Rice's wardrobe -- think black skirts -- as well as jewelry, a few books, some furniture and some religious icons.
Most of the listed items have a minimum bid but also have Ebay's "buy it now" feature; by Wednesday morning, most of the jewelry and some lovely French-influenced chairs, which had been listed for around $300, were already gone
more
Posted by " Dallas " at 9:53 PM 0 comments
Labels: vampire books
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
New book release: The Vampire Diaries: The Return: Midnight
The Vampire Diaries: The Return: Midnight will be out this week and, if you haven’t been following the controversy, it’s the last book in TVD series that will be written entirely by L. J. Smith herself (the series is being taken over by a ghostwriter). Personally, I’m all over Whedonistas, a collection of essays by female authors that celebrate the awesomeness of Joss Whedon. And if your into science and gadgets, check out Physics of the Future, which predicts that we will have invisibility cloaks, Internet-accessible contact lenses, modular robots, and flexible paper this century.
Posted by " Dallas " at 10:20 PM 0 comments
Labels: vampire books

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