Sunday, February 28, 2010
Contest March 1st only - win HER VAMPIRE HUSBAND
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Contributor Appreciation Day!
I wanted to call attention to VampChix's regular contributors, and hope you will stop by their websites or blogs to show them some love.
Anna Dougherty posts movie quotes, reviews, and articles at VampChix. She's also the Bite Club moderator. How lucky did I get when I picked a person I didn't even know out of a crowd of regular readers (at the Riding With The Top Down blog where I blog with a group of romance writers) thinking she was probably someone who enjoyed vampires and would be interested in handling the creative position as book club moderator? Very lucky! Anna is amazing. She runs Bite Club like a charm, and keeps the chats going all month, and comes up with awesome questions about the books. She doesn't have a blog of her own, so do stop by Bite Club and say 'hey'!
Devon Downeysmith is our resident vampire nerd and writes for the Portland Vampire Examiner, and recently did a feature on Twilight. We hope to see a lot more from her in the future!
Margaret L. Carter makes us think with her great articles on vampire myth and some of the great classic novels. She's pubbed in non-fiction and fiction. Stop by her website and check out some of her titles!
Moonlight is a regular contributor to Vampires.com, but VampChix is lucky to have her guest post here once a month. Always fun and interesting vamp info from her.
Patricia Altner, former librarian, author, and blogger/owner of Patricia's Vampire Notes, provides us with the must-have list of vampire releases every month. You should print up her posts and bring them along to the bookstore. Please stop by her blog!
Roxanne Rhoads, author and blogger/owner of Fang-Tastic Books, reminds us that a little sparkle can be a good thing. Please stop by her website and show her some love!
Shauna Kemp is the newest addition to the contributor list. She's our Young Adult expert, and always let's us know which vampire series we should check out! She also blogs on her own, and for the Fresno Books Examiner, so stop by and see what she has to say.
And also a few high-fives to contributors who are not regular but have provided us with some great articles:
SciFiGuy hosts a self-titled blog that keeps an eye on all the latest book releases in the paranormal realm. It is a must-add to your blog crawl every morning.
Just a few days ago, Andy Boylan gave us access to his latest vampire essay. His blog, Taliesin Meets The Vampire is not to be missed.
And don't forget Derek Tatum over at Mondo Vampire. He's always got interesting articles posted about our favorite creature.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Review: Burning Shadows by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Book Description from the publisher:
The conquest of Europe by Attila the Hun is one of the great stories in history. The swift-moving bands of warriors, the inventive military tactics, Attila's commanding personality- all are the stuff of legend. But to the ordinary people who lived in the Huns' path, Attila and his men were the stuff of nightmare. Slaughtering entire villages, laying waste to crops and livestock- the Huns were a terrifying force that destroyed everything in their path.
Concealing his vampire nature, the Count Saint-Germain has been appointed the regional guardian of a small village on the outskirts of the failing Roman Empire. When word comes of the Huns' approach, the villagers- like the residents of many other towns- flee, seeking sanctuary at a nearby monastery. The monks are none too pleased about being invaded by the outside world with all its complications, but the Abbot reminds them of their charitable duties. With the help of Saint-Germain, the leaders of the refugee camps, and a small contingent of warriors, an uneasy peace is established in the crowded monastery as winter approaches.
Among the refugees is a strange, silver-eyed woman whose secret might cost her her life. She hides away in Saint-Germain's infirmary and soon becomes the vampire's lover- and now she has two secrets to hold close, for if word of Saint-Germain's true nature were to spread among the monks and the villagers, his long life would soon be cut dramatically short. As tense months pass and tempers grow ever shorter, Saint-Germain begins to fear that no one- not even he- will escape the monastery alive.
Review:
As a longtime fan of the Saint-Germain series I was pleased to see that Burning Shadows held much the same overall tone as the previous novels. Each adventure is unique and Yarbro did another excellent job conveying the terror that the Huns brought to the region, taking the reader on a vivid tour through one of histories most brutal reigns. The book keeps with the tradition of all Saint-Germain novels and begins each chapter with letters written to and from the main characters- giving a depth of detail to both the people and the plot line.
No story about Saint-Germain would be complete without compelling relationships and Burning Shadows certainly delivers. Love is always beautiful and bittersweet with Saint-Germain because the limits of his kind prevent any long lingering love story. After just a handful of blood exchanges brings the risk of turning to a certainty and not everyone he encounters wants to become one of his Blood. Germain always stays in contact with those he loves but the relationship is dramatically changed and limited. The love interest in Burning Shadows is Nicoris and I will admit that she is not one of my favorites, partly because I am so partial to Olivia, who has an appearance in this book, and Madelaine, from the original, Hotel Transylvania. Nicoris has secrets and they put her life at great risk, but she still strikes me as being selfish with Saint-Germain, withholding herself when he is so giving. I loved the inclusion of Olivia and Roger, and through them we are able to see the depth of devotion and loyalty each person feels.
Burning Shadows is 23rd in the Saint-Germain Chronicles and features both historical fiction and romantic elements. Saint-Germain is a timeless and intense vampire hero- one of the best ever written- and his adventures should not be missed. The books can be read either by publication date, which is how I was introduced all those years ago, or one can choose to read them in historical order.
*reviewed by Anna Dougherty for VampChix
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Guest: Andrew Boylan on the Vampire and the Divine
Something interesting to peruse and whet your appetite for further reading today. Andrew Boylan, author and the mastermind behind the blog, Taliesin Meets The Vampire, has written a 6-part essay on The Vampire and the Divine. He's given us exclusive access to the first part today at VampChix. He's also made the entire document available as a downloadable file, which you can access here.
An Extract from: The Vampire and the Divine: A Shifting Relationship Seen Through Media Produced Between 1819 and 2010.
by Andrew M. Boylan
1. Opening and the Early Form
This essay looks to examine the relationship between the vampire and the divine. For divine I will accept any deific form, independent of actual religion or godform, so long as it is popularly seen as ‘good’, any supernatural force or agent actively opposing this will be deemed infernal. I have previously looked at the shifting use of the part holy symbols have to play in the vampire genre[1]. Whilst that essay looked at the use of holy symbols as an apotropaic this looks more into the relationship with the actual divine, and explores the vampire as it is used as an infernal agent opposing the divine, as a secular creature or perhaps a force of nature and as an agent of the divine. However, out of necessity we will explore similar concepts to that earlier essay in part 3, “You have to have faith for this to work on me!”
The essay comes with a simple caveat; the vampire as a symbolic archetype has proven itself to be incredibly malleable and versatile. Or, even more simply, the vampire has been used to represent most anything, however I intend to use some of the bigger films and classical books as well as more obscure media. I intend to use the vampire as portrayed in popular media rather than the traditional vampire of folklore – though traditions will be touched upon.
The first published English language vampire story was John W Polidori’s ‘the Vampyre’ – which first received (incorrectly credited) publication in 1819. The story itself was a good example of the versatility of the genre as it was a thinly veiled satire at the expense of Lord Byron and thus the debauched lifestyle of the vampyre, Lord Ruthven, could be seen to be the excesses of the landed classes. Even so, the vampyre is still a supernatural entity in this tale and is associated with intemperance, and evil will visit upon those who cross paths with the creature.
“They described it as the resort of the vampyres in their nocturnal orgies and denounced the most heavy evils as impending upon him who dared to cross their path.”[2]
However, there is no mention at all of the use of apotropaic substances or iconography, religious or otherwise. I will take this silence as an indication that there was no divine influence over the vampyre and, similarly, there is little to indicate that the vampires in Varney the Vampire, or The Feast of Blood[3] are held at bay by the cross. They are, perhaps, created as a punishment for their own misdeeds – a curse bestowed if you like and, in the case of Varney, this might be for killing his wife or his child. That said we also hear of one character, Clara Crompton, raised as a vampire simply because she was killed by one (in an act of vengeance against her family). These discrepancies are not uncommon in the text, making it somewhat unreliable as a consistent source material, and are born from the nature of the Penny Dreadful.
Whilst stories such as La Morte Amoureuse[4] had a definitive religious aspect (concerning, as it does, a priest) and actually had the vampire destroyed by holy water, it is to the early English language stories we will look for now – due to the wider impact they seem to have had on the genre – and to Carmilla[5]. One of the big two stories, in my opinion, to impact the genre the vampire of the story, the eponymous Carmilla, does have a negative relationship with the divine. We see this when she hears hymns during a funeral procession:
“‘You pierce my ears,’ said Carmilla, almost angrily, and stopping her ears with her tiny fingers. ‘Besides, how can you tell that your religion and mine are the same; your forms wound me, and I hate funerals. What a fuss! Why you must die--_everyone_ must die; and all are happier when they do. Come home.’”[6]
What is interesting here, in looking at the relationship with the divine, is that not only does the hymn hurt Carmilla but she mentions a different religion. Could this be worship of the infernal?
Whilst it isn’t obviously clear, I would argue that would seem to be the case, albeit subtly, in Bram Stoker’s seminal work, Dracula[7]; despite taking the name Dracula from the historical Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia (1431-1476). Stoker had used William Wilkinson’s An Account of the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia: with various Political Observations Relating to Them[8] for research and copied into his notes [9] a footnote pertaining to the assertation that Dracula meant devil. However Stoker clearly did not base his vampire on the man also known as Vlad Ţepeş, or the Impaler, and only used his name. Indeed the vampire was, until the eleventh hour, still called Count Wampyr. We need to note that Dracul could translate as either ‘devil’ or ‘dragon’ and Vlad’s father was known as Dracul due to his membership of the Order of the Dragon. Dracula would therefore mean ‘Son of the Dragon’ when in context to Vlad III.
When it comes to the relationship this vampire had with the divine this is important for, as many atrocities that Vlad III might have carried out, he was a Christian; certainly he died a Catholic and had probably also been a member of the Orthodox Church. Compare and contrast this with the Count Dracula of the novel who became a vampire, Stoker hints, via the agency of the Devil.
“The Draculas were, says Arminius, a great and noble race, though now and again were scions who were held by their coevals to have had dealings with the Evil One. They learned his secrets in the Scholomance, amongst the mountains over Lake Hermanstadt, where the devil claims the tenth scholar as his due. In the records are such words as 'stregoica' witch, 'ordog' and 'pokol' Satan and hell, and in one manuscript this very Dracula is spoken of as 'wampyr,'”[10]
The hint here being that, perhaps, this Dracula was the tenth scholar who, according to Emily Gerald (another source Stoker used in researching his novel):
“…is detained by the devil as payment, and mounted upon an Ismeju (dragon) he becomes henceforward the devil's aide-de-camp, and assists him in 'making the weather,' that is, in preparing thunderbolts.”[11]
We should note that Dracula is given some control of weather in the novel. Stoker also established many of the rules around using religious artefacts to fight the vampire. Jonathon Harker is given a crucifix by a concerned lady – interestingly Harker is uncomfortable with this at first as, being an English Churchman, he finds the crucifix idolatrous. Later, of course, he comes to rely on said crucifix. Stoker also establishes the use of the host; purifying Dracula’s unhallowed earth, making putty that prevents the undeads’ passage or searing the flesh of a mortal infected by the vampire’s blood.
Bizarrely Stoker seems to contradict himself with regards the place where a vampire might sleep. Having established the idea that the vampire should sleep on unhallowed earth or, as in Whitby, the grave of a suicide (which itself was in the consecrated grounds of St Mary’s Church), Stoker then suggests that hallowed ground is necessary:
“There have been from the loins of this very one great men and good women, and their graves make sacred the earth where alone this foulness can dwell. For it is not the least of its terrors that this evil thing is rooted deep in all good, in soil barren of holy memories it cannot rest.”[12]
This does seem incongruous as surely placing the host in the soil, which they do to purify Dracula’s boxes of earth, would offer a ‘holy memory’. That aside, however, Dracula is clearly the most influential vampire novel written and established the vampire as an unholy creature, perhaps even the devil’s aide-de-camp. We shall next see that it would be with the character of Dracula that this went a step further still.
Bibliography and Sources
[1] Boylan, Andrew M, (2006), Vampires and the Cross [online], available over four parts at: Taliesin Meets the Vampires, http://taliesinttlg.blogspot.com/, (accessed: 14 December 2009)
[2] Polidori, John W, (1819), The Vampyre, Vampires – Encounters with the Undead, Ed. Skal, David J, 2001, p/42
[3] Rymer, James Michael, (1845-1847), Varney the Vampire, or The Feast of Blood
[4] Gautier, Theophile, (1836), la Morte Amoureuse
[5] Le Fanu, J. Sheridan, (1872), Carmilla
[6] Le Fanu, J Sheridan, (1872), Carmilla, Vampires – Encounters with the Undead, Ed. Skal, David J, 2001, p.119
[7] Stoker, Bram, (1897), Dracula
[8] Wilkinson, William, (1820), An Account of the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia: with various Political Observations Relating to Them
[9] Stoker, Gram, et al, (2008), Bram Stoker's Notes for "Dracula": A Facsimile Edition
[10] Stoker, Bram, (1897), Dracula, 1992 Pan Ed., p.246-247
[11] Gerard, Emily, (1885), "Transylvanian Superstitions." The Nineteenth Century, p.128-144
[12] Stoker, Bram, (1897), Dracula, 1992 Pan Ed., p.247
Continue to read more here.
An Extract from: The Vampire and the Divine: A Shifting Relationship Seen Through Media Produced Between 1819 and 2010.
by Andrew M. Boylan
1. Opening and the Early Form
This essay looks to examine the relationship between the vampire and the divine. For divine I will accept any deific form, independent of actual religion or godform, so long as it is popularly seen as ‘good’, any supernatural force or agent actively opposing this will be deemed infernal. I have previously looked at the shifting use of the part holy symbols have to play in the vampire genre[1]. Whilst that essay looked at the use of holy symbols as an apotropaic this looks more into the relationship with the actual divine, and explores the vampire as it is used as an infernal agent opposing the divine, as a secular creature or perhaps a force of nature and as an agent of the divine. However, out of necessity we will explore similar concepts to that earlier essay in part 3, “You have to have faith for this to work on me!”
The essay comes with a simple caveat; the vampire as a symbolic archetype has proven itself to be incredibly malleable and versatile. Or, even more simply, the vampire has been used to represent most anything, however I intend to use some of the bigger films and classical books as well as more obscure media. I intend to use the vampire as portrayed in popular media rather than the traditional vampire of folklore – though traditions will be touched upon.
The first published English language vampire story was John W Polidori’s ‘the Vampyre’ – which first received (incorrectly credited) publication in 1819. The story itself was a good example of the versatility of the genre as it was a thinly veiled satire at the expense of Lord Byron and thus the debauched lifestyle of the vampyre, Lord Ruthven, could be seen to be the excesses of the landed classes. Even so, the vampyre is still a supernatural entity in this tale and is associated with intemperance, and evil will visit upon those who cross paths with the creature.
“They described it as the resort of the vampyres in their nocturnal orgies and denounced the most heavy evils as impending upon him who dared to cross their path.”[2]
However, there is no mention at all of the use of apotropaic substances or iconography, religious or otherwise. I will take this silence as an indication that there was no divine influence over the vampyre and, similarly, there is little to indicate that the vampires in Varney the Vampire, or The Feast of Blood[3] are held at bay by the cross. They are, perhaps, created as a punishment for their own misdeeds – a curse bestowed if you like and, in the case of Varney, this might be for killing his wife or his child. That said we also hear of one character, Clara Crompton, raised as a vampire simply because she was killed by one (in an act of vengeance against her family). These discrepancies are not uncommon in the text, making it somewhat unreliable as a consistent source material, and are born from the nature of the Penny Dreadful.
Whilst stories such as La Morte Amoureuse[4] had a definitive religious aspect (concerning, as it does, a priest) and actually had the vampire destroyed by holy water, it is to the early English language stories we will look for now – due to the wider impact they seem to have had on the genre – and to Carmilla[5]. One of the big two stories, in my opinion, to impact the genre the vampire of the story, the eponymous Carmilla, does have a negative relationship with the divine. We see this when she hears hymns during a funeral procession:
“‘You pierce my ears,’ said Carmilla, almost angrily, and stopping her ears with her tiny fingers. ‘Besides, how can you tell that your religion and mine are the same; your forms wound me, and I hate funerals. What a fuss! Why you must die--_everyone_ must die; and all are happier when they do. Come home.’”[6]
What is interesting here, in looking at the relationship with the divine, is that not only does the hymn hurt Carmilla but she mentions a different religion. Could this be worship of the infernal?
Whilst it isn’t obviously clear, I would argue that would seem to be the case, albeit subtly, in Bram Stoker’s seminal work, Dracula[7]; despite taking the name Dracula from the historical Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia (1431-1476). Stoker had used William Wilkinson’s An Account of the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia: with various Political Observations Relating to Them[8] for research and copied into his notes [9] a footnote pertaining to the assertation that Dracula meant devil. However Stoker clearly did not base his vampire on the man also known as Vlad Ţepeş, or the Impaler, and only used his name. Indeed the vampire was, until the eleventh hour, still called Count Wampyr. We need to note that Dracul could translate as either ‘devil’ or ‘dragon’ and Vlad’s father was known as Dracul due to his membership of the Order of the Dragon. Dracula would therefore mean ‘Son of the Dragon’ when in context to Vlad III.
When it comes to the relationship this vampire had with the divine this is important for, as many atrocities that Vlad III might have carried out, he was a Christian; certainly he died a Catholic and had probably also been a member of the Orthodox Church. Compare and contrast this with the Count Dracula of the novel who became a vampire, Stoker hints, via the agency of the Devil.
“The Draculas were, says Arminius, a great and noble race, though now and again were scions who were held by their coevals to have had dealings with the Evil One. They learned his secrets in the Scholomance, amongst the mountains over Lake Hermanstadt, where the devil claims the tenth scholar as his due. In the records are such words as 'stregoica' witch, 'ordog' and 'pokol' Satan and hell, and in one manuscript this very Dracula is spoken of as 'wampyr,'”[10]
The hint here being that, perhaps, this Dracula was the tenth scholar who, according to Emily Gerald (another source Stoker used in researching his novel):
“…is detained by the devil as payment, and mounted upon an Ismeju (dragon) he becomes henceforward the devil's aide-de-camp, and assists him in 'making the weather,' that is, in preparing thunderbolts.”[11]
We should note that Dracula is given some control of weather in the novel. Stoker also established many of the rules around using religious artefacts to fight the vampire. Jonathon Harker is given a crucifix by a concerned lady – interestingly Harker is uncomfortable with this at first as, being an English Churchman, he finds the crucifix idolatrous. Later, of course, he comes to rely on said crucifix. Stoker also establishes the use of the host; purifying Dracula’s unhallowed earth, making putty that prevents the undeads’ passage or searing the flesh of a mortal infected by the vampire’s blood.
Bizarrely Stoker seems to contradict himself with regards the place where a vampire might sleep. Having established the idea that the vampire should sleep on unhallowed earth or, as in Whitby, the grave of a suicide (which itself was in the consecrated grounds of St Mary’s Church), Stoker then suggests that hallowed ground is necessary:
“There have been from the loins of this very one great men and good women, and their graves make sacred the earth where alone this foulness can dwell. For it is not the least of its terrors that this evil thing is rooted deep in all good, in soil barren of holy memories it cannot rest.”[12]
This does seem incongruous as surely placing the host in the soil, which they do to purify Dracula’s boxes of earth, would offer a ‘holy memory’. That aside, however, Dracula is clearly the most influential vampire novel written and established the vampire as an unholy creature, perhaps even the devil’s aide-de-camp. We shall next see that it would be with the character of Dracula that this went a step further still.
Bibliography and Sources
[1] Boylan, Andrew M, (2006), Vampires and the Cross [online], available over four parts at: Taliesin Meets the Vampires, http://taliesinttlg.blogspot.com/, (accessed: 14 December 2009)
[2] Polidori, John W, (1819), The Vampyre, Vampires – Encounters with the Undead, Ed. Skal, David J, 2001, p/42
[3] Rymer, James Michael, (1845-1847), Varney the Vampire, or The Feast of Blood
[4] Gautier, Theophile, (1836), la Morte Amoureuse
[5] Le Fanu, J. Sheridan, (1872), Carmilla
[6] Le Fanu, J Sheridan, (1872), Carmilla, Vampires – Encounters with the Undead, Ed. Skal, David J, 2001, p.119
[7] Stoker, Bram, (1897), Dracula
[8] Wilkinson, William, (1820), An Account of the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia: with various Political Observations Relating to Them
[9] Stoker, Gram, et al, (2008), Bram Stoker's Notes for "Dracula": A Facsimile Edition
[10] Stoker, Bram, (1897), Dracula, 1992 Pan Ed., p.246-247
[11] Gerard, Emily, (1885), "Transylvanian Superstitions." The Nineteenth Century, p.128-144
[12] Stoker, Bram, (1897), Dracula, 1992 Pan Ed., p.247
Continue to read more here.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
YA Vamps in Vampire Kisses by Ellen Schreiber
Ellen Schreiber writes the Vampire Kisses young adult books.
She also writes the Manga series Vampire Kisses "Blood Relatives":
Here she continues her vampire story in the manga series of Vampire Kisses "Blood Relatives" Volumes 1-3. REM illustrates Volumes 1-2 beautifully down to Goth girl Raven's skull hairpins and bat necklace and is joined by Elisa Kwon in Volume 3. As you can see in the covers, they show off Raven's one of a kind intricate black-laced wardrobe and style. In "Blood Relatives" Raven and her vampire boyfriend Alexander Sterling have to deal with the appearance of his half-vampire cousin Claude and his gang who have come to town. Suddenly, Raven isn't the only one dressed in black clad at Dullsville High and she has to figure out what they want and keep her friends and family safe. After all, Alexander can't come out in the day to help, because he is a full vampire after all...
That is one thing I like about the Vampire Kisses is the classic vampire-ness of the characters. The manga series also ties in nicely with the main characters being in both of the books series. The scenes are also recreated nicely into what one would have imagined. The unique twist in the manga series being Claude's half-vampire self, his gang and their quest endangering Raven and her friends.
I'm sure they will figure it out... with one fang or another. It's an adorable Gothic YA vampire series! The manga drawings add a beautiful new element to the literature that allows us to see Raven's wardrobe in the way that Ellen envisioned and with REM's special touch. There is a slight difference in the illustration with the addition of Elisa Kwon in Volume 3. However, it flows well. Should I have the pleasure of publishing my own fanged fiction someday (a girl can dream!), my next joy would be to do a companion graphic novel, manga or comic series as well (may as well dream big!!); just as Ellen has done with her Vampire Kisses series. It compliments the series well, in my opinion. It adds a visual aspect to what the reader has only imagined. Now, if only I knew someone who could draw... Wait, I do! Hmm... I'll have to work on my powers of persuasion. And keep writing, of course. Well, not all dreams come true, but let's see what happens. It's important to dream! And to go after those dreams. And, for Ellen, I think things worked out quite nicely. These are lovely books! I recommend them as companions with the Vampire Kisses books series. Speaking of...
Vampire Kisses 7: LOVE BITES is coming out on May 18th! A description of it is available on Ellen Schreiber's website and it says:
As a mortal girl dating a vampire, Raven knows that love isn’t always easy. Now that Alexander’s parents have returned to Romania, Raven and her dreamy vampire boyfriend are happy to resume their cryptic romance.
But soon another visitor comes knocking: Sebastian, Alexander’s best friend, arrives for a stay at the mansion. At first Raven is wary, and then thrilled – this is the perfect chance to learn more about her darkly handsome boyfriend and his past. Raven has been wondering whether Alexander will ever bite her and make their love immortal, and Sebastian could be her guide to the love habits of Alexander and his kind. But when Sebastian falls for a particular Dullsvillian, will another mortal beat Raven to the bite?
Here's the cover:
Have you read any of the Vampire Kisses? If so, let us know what you think?
Thanks & happy reading! ~ Shauna Kemp
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Vamps and angels
After reviewing Vampire Forensics I was excited to see this television special airing on Tuesday, February 23 (National Geographic channel) at 10PM ET/PT. [Now, if only I could get that channel.]
NationalGeographic
Channel's "Explorer: Vampire Forensics" follows forensic anthropologist Matteo Borrini as he digs deeper into this legend.
Venice, 1575 - the jewelled city of northern Italy is in the throes of unimaginable horror. One of the worst plagues ever to strike mankind: the Black Death. Mass graves swell with thousands of bodies. A legend grows that a vampire known as a "Shroud-eater" is the cause of the plague. The Shroud-eater feasts on corpses, then rises from the earth to infect the living.
More than four hundred years later Italian forensic anthropologist and CSI specialist Matteo Borrini leads a team excavating a 16th Century mass grave on one of Venice's outlying islands. He uncovers a skeleton unlike any he had ever seen before. A brick appears to have been inserted between the jaws of the skull. Why? The answer shocks him. He believes the object was part of a macabre ritual designed to kill a vampire. The discovery launches Borrini on a forensic investigation unlike any he has ever attempted - as he attempts to put a face - a life - to the Vampire of Venice.
Looking ahead a few weeks, starting March 7th VampChix will be hosting an ANGEL WEEK, since we know you all love vampires, but probably like other winged creatures, as well. Our guest that week will be Skyler White, author of and FALLING FLY
and we'll review ANGELOLOGY
, and chat about all things angel. Look for werewolves, demons, and others to get their own week in the coming months.
National
Venice, 1575 - the jewelled city of northern Italy is in the throes of unimaginable horror. One of the worst plagues ever to strike mankind: the Black Death. Mass graves swell with thousands of bodies. A legend grows that a vampire known as a "Shroud-eater" is the cause of the plague. The Shroud-eater feasts on corpses, then rises from the earth to infect the living.
More than four hundred years later Italian forensic anthropologist and CSI specialist Matteo Borrini leads a team excavating a 16th Century mass grave on one of Venice's outlying islands. He uncovers a skeleton unlike any he had ever seen before. A brick appears to have been inserted between the jaws of the skull. Why? The answer shocks him. He believes the object was part of a macabre ritual designed to kill a vampire. The discovery launches Borrini on a forensic investigation unlike any he has ever attempted - as he attempts to put a face - a life - to the Vampire of Venice.
Looking ahead a few weeks, starting March 7th VampChix will be hosting an ANGEL WEEK, since we know you all love vampires, but probably like other winged creatures, as well. Our guest that week will be Skyler White, author of and FALLING FLY
and we'll review ANGELOLOGY, and chat about all things angel. Look for werewolves, demons, and others to get their own week in the coming months.
If you're a frequent visitor to THE ULTIMATE VAMPLIST did you know you can follow us on Twitter? Follow @vamplist for updates to the list. We don't Tweet often, only when updates are made to the sight, but for example, this weekend we tweeted 18 new titles. A great way to stay on top of the new vampire titles headed to bookstores soon!
Monday, February 22, 2010
Guest: Terence Taylor
Guest, Terence Taylor spins the interview table about and chats with Tom O'Bedlam, a character from his newest novel, BLOOD PRESSURE
. Thanks to both Tom and Terence for appearing at VampChix today!
Blood Pressure Interview
Tom O’Bedlam cuts a striking figure in a dark blue tailored suit, slightly avante-garde in its style, his snow white hair cropped close on the side and long on the top, tumbling down over wide set crystal blue eyes that always seem to be looking somewhere else. He holds the hand of a teenage girl by his side, a petite Eurasian with startling green eyes and the slightest trace of a smirk on her dark red lips. She wears a pearl choker and a 60’s style black cocktail dress, short, snug, with a black leather biker jacket thrown over it, festooned with silver Milagros, Mexican charms to ward off evil. Her name is Claire St. Claire. Tom holds her hand up high enough to delicately nibble at the tip of her pinkie finger as we talk.
Terence Taylor - Tom, Claire...I’m surprised to see you here alone. I was expecting some of the other characters from my upcoming novel, Blood Pressure.
Claire St. Claire - They were unavoidably...detained.
Tom and Claire giggle at this.
TT - I see. I trust not permanently.
Tom O’Bedlam - Oh, no, sir, of course not, most assuredly not.
CSC - We could never do anything without your permission, our lord and master.
TO’B - Pygmalion to our Galatea.
CSC - Frankenstein to our monster.
This sets them off on a round of laughter.
TO’B - I’m sure you’ll see them soon.
TT - Yes...Let’s get on with the interview. You are both vampires, and appeared in my first novel, Bite Marks.
TO’B - All too briefly. Virtually a cameo.
TT - Albeit a critical one.
TO’B - Indeed, but we had to leave all too early.
CSC - Just when we were starting to have fun.
TT - You mean by planning to take over New York in 1937 and turn it into your personal playground and blood bank?
TO’B - That's so reductionist. You oversimplify.
CSC - I'm bored.
TO’B - Oh dear. We mustn’t have that...
TT - So you're back in book two of the opening trilogy of The Vampire Testaments?
TO’B - You know very well...Oh, I see. That's a cue to talk about the book.
CSC - Our adventures in Wonderland.
TT - Not just yours. Perenelle returns and gets a surprise. Steven and Lori are back, in very different places in their lives...
CSC - Blah, blah, blah. May I silence him?
TO’B - Caution, love. Technically, we are his creations. Patricide seldom has a happy ending.
Claire pulls her hand away and sulks, arms folded.
TT - Blood Pressure...
TO’B - Yes, yes, I'm sorry. I forget this is all about you.
TT - More about you.
CSC - As an extension of you...
TT - Considering your characters, I can't say that speaks well of me.
TO’B - Precisely.
TT - I love you both. Despite yourselves.
TO’B - And we love you for that.
TT - So what do you do in this book?
CSC - If we give that away, who’ll buy your book?
TO’B - Hush, love. Humor father. My darling Claire finds me and frees me...to grave consequence.
CSC - Though not to ourselves.
TO’B - The -- shall we say -- centerpiece of Bite Marks
comes back to New York to dig up his past. In the process, I am excavated. Where it goes from there your readers will have to discover for themselves.
.jpg)
CSC - There’s love. Mine for Tom...
TO’B - ...and mine for you!
CSC - Reunions of old loves that find new life. New love that takes twists along the way.
TO’B - But isn’t all love twisted? A twining?
Claire slips her hand back into his, fingers entwining.
TT - Without giving anything away, what else can you tell us about Blood Pressure?
TO’B - Only what's on the slip of paper you just slid across the table with characteristic subtlety. Claire? Will you? For me?
CSC - Whatever...”Check DoYouBelieveInVampires.com for updates on the book’s release, The Vampire Testaments, buy Bite Marks to be filled in on the full story.”
She crumples the paper and hurls it at me.
TT - Thank you, Claire. I think I'll go look for the rest of my novel’s inhabitants.
CSC - Just don’t go in the cellar.
TO’B - Not a warning or a threat, just really good advice in general.
TT - Thanks. I’ll remember that.
BLOOD PRESSURE comes out March 30th, and is available on pre-order on Amazon.com <http://Amazon.com> .
. Thanks to both Tom and Terence for appearing at VampChix today!
Blood Pressure Interview
Tom O’Bedlam cuts a striking figure in a dark blue tailored suit, slightly avante-garde in its style, his snow white hair cropped close on the side and long on the top, tumbling down over wide set crystal blue eyes that always seem to be looking somewhere else. He holds the hand of a teenage girl by his side, a petite Eurasian with startling green eyes and the slightest trace of a smirk on her dark red lips. She wears a pearl choker and a 60’s style black cocktail dress, short, snug, with a black leather biker jacket thrown over it, festooned with silver Milagros, Mexican charms to ward off evil. Her name is Claire St. Claire. Tom holds her hand up high enough to delicately nibble at the tip of her pinkie finger as we talk.
Terence Taylor - Tom, Claire...I’m surprised to see you here alone. I was expecting some of the other characters from my upcoming novel, Blood Pressure.
Claire St. Claire - They were unavoidably...detained.
Tom and Claire giggle at this.
TT - I see. I trust not permanently.
Tom O’Bedlam - Oh, no, sir, of course not, most assuredly not.
CSC - We could never do anything without your permission, our lord and master.
TO’B - Pygmalion to our Galatea.
CSC - Frankenstein to our monster.
This sets them off on a round of laughter.
TO’B - I’m sure you’ll see them soon.
TT - Yes...Let’s get on with the interview. You are both vampires, and appeared in my first novel, Bite Marks.
TO’B - All too briefly. Virtually a cameo.
TT - Albeit a critical one.
TO’B - Indeed, but we had to leave all too early.
CSC - Just when we were starting to have fun.
TT - You mean by planning to take over New York in 1937 and turn it into your personal playground and blood bank?
TO’B - That's so reductionist. You oversimplify.
CSC - I'm bored.
TO’B - Oh dear. We mustn’t have that...
TT - So you're back in book two of the opening trilogy of The Vampire Testaments?
TO’B - You know very well...Oh, I see. That's a cue to talk about the book.
CSC - Our adventures in Wonderland.
TT - Not just yours. Perenelle returns and gets a surprise. Steven and Lori are back, in very different places in their lives...
CSC - Blah, blah, blah. May I silence him?
TO’B - Caution, love. Technically, we are his creations. Patricide seldom has a happy ending.
Claire pulls her hand away and sulks, arms folded.
TT - Blood Pressure...
TO’B - Yes, yes, I'm sorry. I forget this is all about you.
TT - More about you.
CSC - As an extension of you...
TT - Considering your characters, I can't say that speaks well of me.
TO’B - Precisely.
TT - I love you both. Despite yourselves.
TO’B - And we love you for that.
TT - So what do you do in this book?
CSC - If we give that away, who’ll buy your book?
TO’B - Hush, love. Humor father. My darling Claire finds me and frees me...to grave consequence.
CSC - Though not to ourselves.
TO’B - The -- shall we say -- centerpiece of Bite Marks
comes back to New York to dig up his past. In the process, I am excavated. Where it goes from there your readers will have to discover for themselves..jpg)
TO’B - ...and mine for you!
CSC - Reunions of old loves that find new life. New love that takes twists along the way.
TO’B - But isn’t all love twisted? A twining?
Claire slips her hand back into his, fingers entwining.
TT - Without giving anything away, what else can you tell us about Blood Pressure?
TO’B - Only what's on the slip of paper you just slid across the table with characteristic subtlety. Claire? Will you? For me?
CSC - Whatever...”Check DoYouBelieveInVampires.com for updates on the book’s release, The Vampire Testaments, buy Bite Marks to be filled in on the full story.”
She crumples the paper and hurls it at me.
TT - Thank you, Claire. I think I'll go look for the rest of my novel’s inhabitants.
CSC - Just don’t go in the cellar.
TO’B - Not a warning or a threat, just really good advice in general.
TT - Thanks. I’ll remember that.
BLOOD PRESSURE comes out March 30th, and is available on pre-order on Amazon.com <http://Amazon.com> .
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Mini Vampire Myths
There are countless vampire myths and legends around the world and among them are a large number of different vampire species. The only problem is that some of these tales have faded over time and as a result we are left with only a crumb of information on each. So with that in mind today’s post is dedicated to those little-known vampires.
Peuchen
This vampire hales from southern Chili and it is described as a giant flying snake that makes peculiar whistling sounds. It is said that it’s gaze could petrify its intended victim. While the victim is trapped the peuchen would then be able to drink down their tasty blood. The only way to destroy this creature is to have a Machi (Mapuche Medicine Woman) take it down.
Tunda
This Columbian vampire is for sure an odd one. She is a shapeshifter that takes on the form of a beautiful woman to lure her victims deep into the forests. Her true appearance is a hideous creature with one wooden leg that is shaped like a molinillo (a kind of whisk). Once she has lured a man to her she then feeds him shrimp that she has farted on, the shrimp then puts him into a kind of trance and this is when the tunda attacks and feeds on his blood and flesh.
Abchanchu
Very little is known about this Bolivian vamp. What we do know is that it would take on the form of an helpless elderly traveler. When people would stop and offer the creature help the abchanchu would grasp them and feast on their blood.
Amalanhig
A Filipino vampire that looks very similar to humans except for its incredibly long canine teeth. Amalanhig are actually Aswangs that never completed the full transformation. Instead they simply rise from their graves to kill humans by biting their necks. To escape from one of these monsters you need to run in a zigzag pattern since they can only walk in a straight line due to the stiffness of their body. You can also run into a body of water since Amalanhigs are afraid of deep bodies of water.
- Moonlight
[This post was previously published at Vampires.com]
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Special Offer Still Available
Friday, February 19, 2010
Sinister Barrier
The subcategory of psychic vampires—creatures that live on energy rather than blood—includes a fascinating variety of novels and stories, including the now almost forgotten (except by SF scholars) pulp-era novel SINISTER BARRIER (1939), by Eric Frank Russell. Although it seems to be out of print, Amazon.com has lots of inexpensive used copies for sale. In this book human ingenuity scores a decisive victory over the alien psychic predators, which are irredeemably hostile. The novel begins with an outbreak of mysterious deaths and suicides among scientists, who leave cryptic messages suggestive of madness. Gradually the truth comes to light: Throughout the existence of Homo sapiens, humanity has been ruled and preyed upon by "luminescent spheres, about three feet in diameter, their surfaces alive, glowing, blue, but totally devoid of observable features.” These entities, "neither animal, mineral nor vegetable" but pure energy, given the name "Vitons," feed on violent emotions as well as certain kinds of electromagnetic energy. They use extrasensory perception and telepathy in lieu of material senses and modes of communication. Investigation uncovers a combination of drugs that allows ordinary people, not only those with paranormal perception, to see the Vitons. Revealed to the world, the Vitons strike back by provoking global disasters and warfare. Finally an electromagnetic wavelength capable of destroying them is discovered, and humanity annihilates its former masters.
The Vitons have no individual personalities, at least, none that human beings can perceive. One character in SINISTER BARRIER describes these predators as "so utterly and completely alien that I cannot see how it will ever be possible for us to find a common basis that will permit some sort of understanding.” The emergence of humanity from its ignorant status as prey into clear-sighted knowledge constitutes the theme of the novel. Here understanding is not the key to interspecies cooperation as in many later vampire novels; instead, understanding is the key to conquest and annihilation. Graham, Russell's protagonist, declares, "Ignorance may be bliss—but knowledge is a weapon,” and later he proclaims the need to "counterbalance the Vitons' enormous advantage in having an ages-old understanding of human beings, and gain an equally good comprehension of them. Know thine enemy!"
The imagery of the novel dehumanizes both humanity and the superhuman predators. Graham and his fellow investigators in the novel discover that the Vitons, whether invaders from another planet, creatures co-evolved with Homo sapiens, or possibly "true Terrestrials, while we are the descendants of animals which they've imported from other worlds in cosmic cattle-boats,” deliberately breed human beings for the emotional energy upon which the predators feed. The novel begins with a pair of metaphorical warnings: "Swift death awaits the first cow that leads a revolt against milking," and, "there's a swat waiting for the first bee that blats about pilfered honey.”
Other subhuman imagery includes a reference to a mental patient as "mutilated trash tossed aside by super-vivisectionists"; a contrast between the Vitons as "Lords of Terra" and "we, the sheep of their fields," kept under "their mastery as cold-bloodedly as we maintain ours over the animal world—by shooting the opposition"; the suggestion that the Vitons perform "super-surgery on their cosmic cattle" for the same motives that lead some people to "teach seals to juggle with balls, teach parrots to curse, monkeys to smoke cigarettes and ride bicycles" and medical students to "make stray cats disappear" and snatch "frogs that are later dissected"; and the characterization of a victim about to be drained as "a homoburger waiting the bite.” All terrestrial conflicts throughout history have been "grist for the Viton mill...unwitting feeders of other, unimaginable guts.” The human gene pool has been manipulated just as we shape crops such as potatoes; human beings are "emotional tubers...grown, stimulated, bred according to the ideas of those who do the surreptitious cultivating.”
This novel thus places the blame for the horrors of human history on an outside force. One character warns his hearers, "Humanity will never know peace, never build a heaven upon earth while its collective soul bears this hideous burden, its collective mind is corrupted from birth.” Oddly, this theme ultimately leads to optimism instead of despair. Once freed from the tyranny of the psychic vampires, Homo sapiens is restored to the condition of freedom and self-determination that our species should have enjoyed all along. "We can emote for ourselves now, and not for others," Graham declares at the conclusion, for "in the truest sense we're now alone.” The text implies that in the absence of the Vitons, most human conflicts will cease, and our species will indeed "build a heaven upon earth.” Only the elimination of the corrupting outside force is required to initiate a terrestrial golden age.
This tale of rampant paranoia and chilling cosmic horror is well worth a look for all fans of Golden Age SF.
Margaret L. Carter
Carter's Crypt
The Vitons have no individual personalities, at least, none that human beings can perceive. One character in SINISTER BARRIER describes these predators as "so utterly and completely alien that I cannot see how it will ever be possible for us to find a common basis that will permit some sort of understanding.” The emergence of humanity from its ignorant status as prey into clear-sighted knowledge constitutes the theme of the novel. Here understanding is not the key to interspecies cooperation as in many later vampire novels; instead, understanding is the key to conquest and annihilation. Graham, Russell's protagonist, declares, "Ignorance may be bliss—but knowledge is a weapon,” and later he proclaims the need to "counterbalance the Vitons' enormous advantage in having an ages-old understanding of human beings, and gain an equally good comprehension of them. Know thine enemy!"
The imagery of the novel dehumanizes both humanity and the superhuman predators. Graham and his fellow investigators in the novel discover that the Vitons, whether invaders from another planet, creatures co-evolved with Homo sapiens, or possibly "true Terrestrials, while we are the descendants of animals which they've imported from other worlds in cosmic cattle-boats,” deliberately breed human beings for the emotional energy upon which the predators feed. The novel begins with a pair of metaphorical warnings: "Swift death awaits the first cow that leads a revolt against milking," and, "there's a swat waiting for the first bee that blats about pilfered honey.”
Other subhuman imagery includes a reference to a mental patient as "mutilated trash tossed aside by super-vivisectionists"; a contrast between the Vitons as "Lords of Terra" and "we, the sheep of their fields," kept under "their mastery as cold-bloodedly as we maintain ours over the animal world—by shooting the opposition"; the suggestion that the Vitons perform "super-surgery on their cosmic cattle" for the same motives that lead some people to "teach seals to juggle with balls, teach parrots to curse, monkeys to smoke cigarettes and ride bicycles" and medical students to "make stray cats disappear" and snatch "frogs that are later dissected"; and the characterization of a victim about to be drained as "a homoburger waiting the bite.” All terrestrial conflicts throughout history have been "grist for the Viton mill...unwitting feeders of other, unimaginable guts.” The human gene pool has been manipulated just as we shape crops such as potatoes; human beings are "emotional tubers...grown, stimulated, bred according to the ideas of those who do the surreptitious cultivating.”
This novel thus places the blame for the horrors of human history on an outside force. One character warns his hearers, "Humanity will never know peace, never build a heaven upon earth while its collective soul bears this hideous burden, its collective mind is corrupted from birth.” Oddly, this theme ultimately leads to optimism instead of despair. Once freed from the tyranny of the psychic vampires, Homo sapiens is restored to the condition of freedom and self-determination that our species should have enjoyed all along. "We can emote for ourselves now, and not for others," Graham declares at the conclusion, for "in the truest sense we're now alone.” The text implies that in the absence of the Vitons, most human conflicts will cease, and our species will indeed "build a heaven upon earth.” Only the elimination of the corrupting outside force is required to initiate a terrestrial golden age.
This tale of rampant paranoia and chilling cosmic horror is well worth a look for all fans of Golden Age SF.
Margaret L. Carter
Carter's Crypt
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Some Vampire goodies for February. Several highly anticipated titles are out like
Black Magic Sanction
by Kim Harrison; Everlasting Kiss by Amanda Ashley; Flirt (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 18) by Laurell K. Hamilton and more.
Black Magic Sanction
by Kim Harrison
Eos, February 23, 2010
Rachel Morgan has fought and hunted vampires, werewolves, banshees, demons, and other supernatural dangers as both witch and bounty hunter—and lived to tell the tale. But she's never faced off against her own kind . . . until now. Denounced and shunned for dealing with demons and black magic, her best hope is life imprisonment—at worst, a forced lobotomy and genetic slavery. Only her enemies are strong enough to help her win her freedom, but trust comes hard when it hinges on the unscrupulous tycoon Trent Kalamack, the demon Algaliarept, and an ex-boyfriend turned thief. It takes a witch to catch a witch, but survival bears a heavy price.
BROTHERHOOD OF BLOOD
by Bianca D'Arc
Samhain Publishing, February 2010
Three mortal women discover the loves of their lives…the vampires of their dreams.
One and Only
Vampire Atticus Maxwell stands at the edge of his own oblivion…until the faint heartbeat of a desperately wounded mortal woman calls him back. The terrible crash that almost took both their lives has brought him a woman who just might give him a reason to live again. No barrier to their love seems too great—until they learn the crash was no accident at all…
Rare Vintage
Marc LaTour is drawn to Kelly when she goes to work for the newlyweds Atticus and Lissa at their vineyard. He moves into the mansion on the pretext of needing a place to stay while his own home is remodeled. Then an upstart vampire challenges him to a fight to the death. Kelly is willing to trade her life for his—but can he save her from himself?
Phantom Desires
Dmitri Belakov enters the scorching hot dreams of the woman who just bought the farmhouse that rests above his secret lair. He must either bargain with her or kill her, but she is much too intriguing to dispose of so easily. When he discovers she is his One—his perfect match—he’ll do anything to keep her by his side…forever.
Dead, Udead, or Somewhere in Between
by J. A. Saare
February 7th 2010 by Eternal Press (first published 2010)
One bad corpse can ruin your whole day.
No one knows better than Rhiannon Murphy that one bad corpse can ruin your whole day.
She left behind the flash and sass of Miami for the no-nonsense groove of New York City, eager for a clean slate and a fresh start. A bartender by trade, a loud mouth by choice, and a necromancer by chance; she managed to keep her nifty talent hidden from those around her—until now.
The deliciously good-looking vampire, Disco, knows her secret. When he strolls into her bar to solicit help investigating the mysterious disappearances of his kind from the city, Rhiannon discovers he’s not the kind of person that appreciates the significance of the word no.
But in a world where vampires peddle their blood as the latest and greatest drug of choice, it’s only a matter of time before the next big thing hits the market. Someone or something is killing vampires to steal their hearts, and unlike Rhiannon, this isn’t their first stroll around the undead block.
DECADENT MASTER (Masters of Desire, Book 2
by Tawny Taylor
Aphrodisia (February 23, 2010)
A closed door swings open…and Wynne Fischer enters an elegant bondage club for those who crave extremes of forbidden sensation.
Within the walls of Twilight, ultra-male temptation comes in threes: the muscular brothers Rolf and Dierk, and the mysterious Master Zane. Dominance is in their blood and the natural submissiveness of the inexperienced Wynne arouses the men beyond belief. Baring herself body and soul at their command, their captive is about to satisfy her most hidden desires as she explores the dark side of sexual passion…
Eleventh Grade Burns #4 (Chronicles of Vladimir Tod)
by Heather Brewer
Dutton Juvenile (February 9, 2010)
Eleventh grade at Bathory High is draining Vladimir Tod. Joss, a professional vampire slayer and Vlad’s former friend, has moved back to town. The powerful vampire Dorian has an overwhelming desire to drink Vlad’s blood. And his arch enemy, D’Ablo, has brought Vlad’s Uncle Otis to trial for crimes against vampires. So much for dating. When the tables turn on Vlad, he has just enough time to return to Bathory for his final good-byes.
EVERLASTING KISS
by Amanda Ashley
Zebra (February 1, 2010)
Daisy O'Donnell doesn't get the attraction some women feel for vampires. She likes her men with a heartbeat. And she's just met one who's full of life: Erik Delacourt, the unreasonably sexy man she keeps meeting at a popular L.A. nightclub called the Crypt. She barely knows him, but there's no resisting the connection she feels. . .
There's one important detail Erik hasn't gotten around to telling her yet. He's a powerful vampire out to hunt the Blood Thief who is draining young vampires all over the city--and who has just raised the stakes by destroying one of Erik's friends. To Erik, Daisy is a bright spot of innocence in a world of darkness and menace. He'll do anything--even lie to her--to keep her safe and pure.
If only he knew that Daisy has something of her own to hide. . .
FIRST DROP OF CRIMSON (Night Huntress World, Book 1)
by Jeaniene Frost
Avon (February 9, 2010)
The night is not safe for mortals. Denise MacGregor knows all too well what lurks in the shadows—her best friend is half-vampire Cat Crawfield—and she has already lost more than the average human could bear. But her family's past is wrapped in secrets and shrouded in darkness—and a demon shapeshifter has marked Denise as prey. Now her survival depends on an immortal who lusts for a taste of her.
He is Spade, a powerful, mysterious vampire who has walked the earth for centuries and is now duty-bound to protect this endangered, alluring human—even if it means destroying his own kind. Denise may arouse his deepest hungers, but Spade knows he must fight his urge to have her as they face the nightmare together . . .
Because once the first crimson drop falls, they will both be lost.
Flirt (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 18)
by Laurell K. Hamilton
Berkley (February 2, 2010)
When Anita Blake meets with prospective client Tony Bennington, who is desperate to have her reanimate his recently deceased wife, she is full of sympathy for his loss. Anita knows something about love, and she knows everything there is to know about loss. But what she also knows, though Tony Bennington seems unwilling to be convinced, is that the thing she can do as a necromancer isn't the miracle he thinks he needs. The creature that Anita could coerce to step out of the late Mrs. Bennington's grave would not be the lovely Mrs. Bennington. Not really. And not for long.
Real Vampires Hate Their Thighs
by Gerry Bartlett
Berkley (February 2, 2010)
Glory St. Clair loves soaking up Hollywood's vampire nightlife with her sexy Scottish lover, Jeremiah. Especially when she meets a vampire/ diet guru who promises to give her the body she's wanted for centuries. One problem: his clan and Jeremiah's are ancient enemies. But Glory's not about to let a stupid family feud come between her and slender bliss. Yet, she can't help but wonder...how much is she willing to risk for her hips? And how much (and precisely what) is she willing to lose?
The Thirteenth: A Vampire Huntress Legend (Vampire Huntress Legends)
by L. A. Banks
St. Martin's Griffin (February 3, 2009)
Magic University Book Two: The Tower and the Tears
Author: Cecilia Tan
Ravenous Romance, February, 2010
Kyle is a college sophomore worrying about the usual things students do, like what he's going to major in and getting along with his dorm mates, but he attends a most unusual college. He's a student at Veritas, the hidden magical university inside Harvard.
Before he got to Harvard, Kyle hadn't even known he was magical. Now he finds he has a talent for sex magic and the erotic arts. Not only that, a girl in his sex magic class has a crush on him. Kyle looks forward to lots of "study sessions" together with Ciara and their friend Marjory, but when their professor is mysteriously attacked, Kyle finds himself embroiled in a mystery deeper than university department politics. Someone has been stealing magical artifacts and the dean suspects Ciara, sending Kyle on a quest to discover the real culprit.
Kyle will learn sizzling sexual technique and unleash powerful magic on his incredible erotic journey, but is the study of sex really the route to true love? Perhaps what Kyle needs to learn about most is himself.
The Tower and the Tears is the second book in the Magic University series by Cecilia Tan. Bringing together myth, magic, eroticism, and the Tarot, the Magic University books are for all the adult readers of classic fantasy who want a bedtime tale of their own.
Vampire Forensics: Uncovering the Origins of an Enduring Legend
Mark Collins Jenkins
National Geographic (February 16, 2010)
Mark Jenkins’s engrossing history draws on the latest science, anthropological and archaeological research to explore the origins of vampire stories, providing gripping historic and folkloric context for the concept of immortal beings who defy death by feeding on the lifeblood of others. From the earliest whispers of eternal evil in ancient Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome, vampire tales flourished through the centuries and around the globe, fueled by superstition, sexual mystery, fear of disease and death, and the nagging anxiety that demons lurk everywhere.
In Vampire Forensics, Mark Jenkins probes vampire legend to tease out the historical truths enshrined in the tales of terror: sherds of Persian pottery depicting blood-sucking demons; the amazing recent discovery by National Geographic archaeologist Matteo Borrini of a 16th-century Venetian grave of a plague victim and suspected vampire; and the Transylvanian castle of "Vlad the Impaler," whose bloodthirsty cruelty remains unsurpassed.
Jenkins navigates centuries of lore and legend, adding new chapters to the chronicle and weaving an irresistibly seductive blend of superstition, psychology, and science sure to engross everyone from Anne Rice’s countless readers to serious students of archaeology and mythology.
Readers and authors if you know of any titles that I missed, please contact me with the information at patriciaaltner@gmail.com.
Enjoy!
Black Magic Sanction
by Kim Harrison; Everlasting Kiss by Amanda Ashley; Flirt (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 18) by Laurell K. Hamilton and more.by Kim Harrison
Eos, February 23, 2010
Rachel Morgan has fought and hunted vampires, werewolves, banshees, demons, and other supernatural dangers as both witch and bounty hunter—and lived to tell the tale. But she's never faced off against her own kind . . . until now. Denounced and shunned for dealing with demons and black magic, her best hope is life imprisonment—at worst, a forced lobotomy and genetic slavery. Only her enemies are strong enough to help her win her freedom, but trust comes hard when it hinges on the unscrupulous tycoon Trent Kalamack, the demon Algaliarept, and an ex-boyfriend turned thief. It takes a witch to catch a witch, but survival bears a heavy price.
by Bianca D'Arc
Samhain Publishing, February 2010
Three mortal women discover the loves of their lives…the vampires of their dreams.
One and Only
Vampire Atticus Maxwell stands at the edge of his own oblivion…until the faint heartbeat of a desperately wounded mortal woman calls him back. The terrible crash that almost took both their lives has brought him a woman who just might give him a reason to live again. No barrier to their love seems too great—until they learn the crash was no accident at all…
Rare Vintage
Marc LaTour is drawn to Kelly when she goes to work for the newlyweds Atticus and Lissa at their vineyard. He moves into the mansion on the pretext of needing a place to stay while his own home is remodeled. Then an upstart vampire challenges him to a fight to the death. Kelly is willing to trade her life for his—but can he save her from himself?
Phantom Desires
Dmitri Belakov enters the scorching hot dreams of the woman who just bought the farmhouse that rests above his secret lair. He must either bargain with her or kill her, but she is much too intriguing to dispose of so easily. When he discovers she is his One—his perfect match—he’ll do anything to keep her by his side…forever.
by J. A. Saare
February 7th 2010 by Eternal Press (first published 2010)
One bad corpse can ruin your whole day.
No one knows better than Rhiannon Murphy that one bad corpse can ruin your whole day.
She left behind the flash and sass of Miami for the no-nonsense groove of New York City, eager for a clean slate and a fresh start. A bartender by trade, a loud mouth by choice, and a necromancer by chance; she managed to keep her nifty talent hidden from those around her—until now.
The deliciously good-looking vampire, Disco, knows her secret. When he strolls into her bar to solicit help investigating the mysterious disappearances of his kind from the city, Rhiannon discovers he’s not the kind of person that appreciates the significance of the word no.
But in a world where vampires peddle their blood as the latest and greatest drug of choice, it’s only a matter of time before the next big thing hits the market. Someone or something is killing vampires to steal their hearts, and unlike Rhiannon, this isn’t their first stroll around the undead block.
by Tawny Taylor
Aphrodisia (February 23, 2010)
A closed door swings open…and Wynne Fischer enters an elegant bondage club for those who crave extremes of forbidden sensation.
Within the walls of Twilight, ultra-male temptation comes in threes: the muscular brothers Rolf and Dierk, and the mysterious Master Zane. Dominance is in their blood and the natural submissiveness of the inexperienced Wynne arouses the men beyond belief. Baring herself body and soul at their command, their captive is about to satisfy her most hidden desires as she explores the dark side of sexual passion…
Eleventh Grade Burns #4 (Chronicles of Vladimir Tod)
by Heather BrewerDutton Juvenile (February 9, 2010)
Eleventh grade at Bathory High is draining Vladimir Tod. Joss, a professional vampire slayer and Vlad’s former friend, has moved back to town. The powerful vampire Dorian has an overwhelming desire to drink Vlad’s blood. And his arch enemy, D’Ablo, has brought Vlad’s Uncle Otis to trial for crimes against vampires. So much for dating. When the tables turn on Vlad, he has just enough time to return to Bathory for his final good-byes.
by Amanda Ashley
Zebra (February 1, 2010)
Daisy O'Donnell doesn't get the attraction some women feel for vampires. She likes her men with a heartbeat. And she's just met one who's full of life: Erik Delacourt, the unreasonably sexy man she keeps meeting at a popular L.A. nightclub called the Crypt. She barely knows him, but there's no resisting the connection she feels. . .
There's one important detail Erik hasn't gotten around to telling her yet. He's a powerful vampire out to hunt the Blood Thief who is draining young vampires all over the city--and who has just raised the stakes by destroying one of Erik's friends. To Erik, Daisy is a bright spot of innocence in a world of darkness and menace. He'll do anything--even lie to her--to keep her safe and pure.
If only he knew that Daisy has something of her own to hide. . .
by Jeaniene Frost
Avon (February 9, 2010)
The night is not safe for mortals. Denise MacGregor knows all too well what lurks in the shadows—her best friend is half-vampire Cat Crawfield—and she has already lost more than the average human could bear. But her family's past is wrapped in secrets and shrouded in darkness—and a demon shapeshifter has marked Denise as prey. Now her survival depends on an immortal who lusts for a taste of her.
He is Spade, a powerful, mysterious vampire who has walked the earth for centuries and is now duty-bound to protect this endangered, alluring human—even if it means destroying his own kind. Denise may arouse his deepest hungers, but Spade knows he must fight his urge to have her as they face the nightmare together . . .
Because once the first crimson drop falls, they will both be lost.
Flirt (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 18)
by Laurell K. Hamilton
Berkley (February 2, 2010)
When Anita Blake meets with prospective client Tony Bennington, who is desperate to have her reanimate his recently deceased wife, she is full of sympathy for his loss. Anita knows something about love, and she knows everything there is to know about loss. But what she also knows, though Tony Bennington seems unwilling to be convinced, is that the thing she can do as a necromancer isn't the miracle he thinks he needs. The creature that Anita could coerce to step out of the late Mrs. Bennington's grave would not be the lovely Mrs. Bennington. Not really. And not for long.
Real Vampires Hate Their Thighsby Gerry BartlettBerkley (February 2, 2010)
Glory St. Clair loves soaking up Hollywood's vampire nightlife with her sexy Scottish lover, Jeremiah. Especially when she meets a vampire/ diet guru who promises to give her the body she's wanted for centuries. One problem: his clan and Jeremiah's are ancient enemies. But Glory's not about to let a stupid family feud come between her and slender bliss. Yet, she can't help but wonder...how much is she willing to risk for her hips? And how much (and precisely what) is she willing to lose?
by L. A. Banks
St. Martin's Griffin (February 3, 2009)
The final story in the now cult favorite Vampire Huntress series.
The entire Neteru Guardian team is on the run, having now been labeled as America's most-wanted terrorists following the gruesome demon battle that felled the Washington Monument and crashed the front doors of the White House. The Anti-Christ is positioned for emergence, the powers of darkness have released the pale horse of the apocalypse, and half the Neteru team is pregnant. Plagues from hell that ravage the country are being cited as stemming from bio-terrorism. The nation is under martial law. The Neterus and their team are underground. If things weren't bad enough the Dark Realm breaks the sixth Biblical seal, which plunges the world into perpetual darkness…and irrevocably into the Armageddon.
The entire Neteru Guardian team is on the run, having now been labeled as America's most-wanted terrorists following the gruesome demon battle that felled the Washington Monument and crashed the front doors of the White House. The Anti-Christ is positioned for emergence, the powers of darkness have released the pale horse of the apocalypse, and half the Neteru team is pregnant. Plagues from hell that ravage the country are being cited as stemming from bio-terrorism. The nation is under martial law. The Neterus and their team are underground. If things weren't bad enough the Dark Realm breaks the sixth Biblical seal, which plunges the world into perpetual darkness…and irrevocably into the Armageddon.
Author: Cecilia Tan
Ravenous Romance, February, 2010
Kyle is a college sophomore worrying about the usual things students do, like what he's going to major in and getting along with his dorm mates, but he attends a most unusual college. He's a student at Veritas, the hidden magical university inside Harvard.
Before he got to Harvard, Kyle hadn't even known he was magical. Now he finds he has a talent for sex magic and the erotic arts. Not only that, a girl in his sex magic class has a crush on him. Kyle looks forward to lots of "study sessions" together with Ciara and their friend Marjory, but when their professor is mysteriously attacked, Kyle finds himself embroiled in a mystery deeper than university department politics. Someone has been stealing magical artifacts and the dean suspects Ciara, sending Kyle on a quest to discover the real culprit.
Kyle will learn sizzling sexual technique and unleash powerful magic on his incredible erotic journey, but is the study of sex really the route to true love? Perhaps what Kyle needs to learn about most is himself.
The Tower and the Tears is the second book in the Magic University series by Cecilia Tan. Bringing together myth, magic, eroticism, and the Tarot, the Magic University books are for all the adult readers of classic fantasy who want a bedtime tale of their own.
Vampire Forensics: Uncovering the Origins of an Enduring LegendMark Collins Jenkins
National Geographic (February 16, 2010)
Mark Jenkins’s engrossing history draws on the latest science, anthropological and archaeological research to explore the origins of vampire stories, providing gripping historic and folkloric context for the concept of immortal beings who defy death by feeding on the lifeblood of others. From the earliest whispers of eternal evil in ancient Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome, vampire tales flourished through the centuries and around the globe, fueled by superstition, sexual mystery, fear of disease and death, and the nagging anxiety that demons lurk everywhere.
In Vampire Forensics, Mark Jenkins probes vampire legend to tease out the historical truths enshrined in the tales of terror: sherds of Persian pottery depicting blood-sucking demons; the amazing recent discovery by National Geographic archaeologist Matteo Borrini of a 16th-century Venetian grave of a plague victim and suspected vampire; and the Transylvanian castle of "Vlad the Impaler," whose bloodthirsty cruelty remains unsurpassed.
Jenkins navigates centuries of lore and legend, adding new chapters to the chronicle and weaving an irresistibly seductive blend of superstition, psychology, and science sure to engross everyone from Anne Rice’s countless readers to serious students of archaeology and mythology.
Readers and authors if you know of any titles that I missed, please contact me with the information at patriciaaltner@gmail.com.
Enjoy!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
The winner is...
...Shauna Kemp wins a copy of MINA from Elaine Bergstrom!
Shauna email vampchixmail@gmail.com with your snail mail address. Congrats! And thanks to all who stopped by and commented!
Shauna email vampchixmail@gmail.com with your snail mail address. Congrats! And thanks to all who stopped by and commented!
So You Want To Be A Vampirologist
by Anthony Hogg
When I tell people I'm a vampirologist, the usual reaction is bewilderment or jokes about biting necks.
What is a vampirologist? Quite simply, someone who studies vampires. You don't even have to believe in 'em to do it. I mean, how many folklorists actually believe in pixies, unicorns and ogres?
Nor do you actually have to be a vampire. As Stephen Kaplan, founder of the Vampire Research Center, said in Vampires Are
(Palm Springs, CA: ETC, 1984):
". . . being a criminologist does not make a person a criminal; being a bacteriologist does not make you bacterium; so why would being a vampirologist make you a vampire?" (3)
Vampirology is a much more complex field than you'd probably think. There's a variety of perspectives and disciplines under this umbrella heading. In one of my blog entries , I mentioned that David Lavery wrote a paper on one of its sub-branches, Buffy Studies, and managed to isolate fifty "disciplines, methods, and/or approaches." Can you imagine how many more exist in vampirology itself?
Still interested? Then let's move onto the basics.
1. Read!
My first piece of advice is to read, read, read and don't forget - read. There's no escaping it, folks. To be somewhat informed on the subject, you'll need to read as much as you can.
For a solid introduction into the field, I recommend J. Gordon Melton's The Vampire Book: Encyclopedia of the Undead (1994). I prefer it over the 1999 second edition, which has many superfluous entries.
Despite its horrible title, Jay Stevenson's The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vampires (2002) gives a pretty decent run-through, and even dedicates its third chapter to vampirology.
Bibliographies are a handy resource to this end, whether they're the references that appear at the end of the book, or bibliographic monographs like Martin V. Riccardo's Vampires Unearthed: The Complete Multi-Media Vampire and Dracula Bibliography (1983). You'll also note that vampire books aren't the only sources of vampire info. For instance, John Cuthbert Lawson's Modern Greek Folklore and Ancient Greek Religion: A Study in Survivals
(1910) contains a massive chapter on vampires and also impacted on Montague Summers' The Vampire: His Kith and Kin
(London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. Ltd., 1928), who acknowledges it in his introduction:
"I have already pointed out that it were impossible to better such a chapter as Mr. J. C. Lawson has given us in his Modern Greek Folklore and Ancient Greek Religion, a book to which as also to Bernhard Schmidt's Das Volksleben der Neugriechen und das Hellenische Alterthum, I am greatly indebted." (xii)
Summers' own work, along with his The Vampire in Europe
(London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. Ltd., 1929) are considered to be classics in the genre. Both have been reprinted multiple times since their original publication.
2. Choose Your Discipline
As I said, there are many perspectives and disciplines in vampirology. So what interests you about vampires? Is it the novels? The films? The folklore?
I'm personally into the latter. If you are, too, then I suggest Paul Barber's Vampires, Burial, and Death: Folklore and Reality (1988), Jan L. Perkowski's The Darkling: A Treatise on Slavic Vampirism
(1989) and David Keyworth's Troublesome Corpses: Vampires & Revenants, from Antiquity to Present 
(2007).
However, literature studies take up the bulk of the field. The Library of Congress has 110 listings in this division, alone. That's not even including the multitude of journal articles devoted to the subject.
Psychological perspectives are moderately popular, too. Nina Auerbach's Our Vampires, Ourselves
(1995) straddles both these fields, but Laurence A. Rickels' The Vampire Lectures
(1999) is much more of a challenge.
3. Write!
Now that you've chosen which approach you want to take, why not write something about it? This can be an essay, a journal article, a book or even scribblings in a blog (heh).
Niels K. Petersen's Magia Posthuma was born out of his search for the near-legendary work of the same title.
Truth be told, I was initially threatened by his blog. Its wanton sharing of resources felt like a dangerous incursion into my own "secret" studies. But, over time, I came to appreciate his approach. After all, why hoard everything like a dragon on a mound of gold coins, if it's just gonna sit there and get dusty?
4. Network
If you write or seek enough, you'll find other people with similar interests. I originally stumbled onto Niels' blog when I was conducting my own search for de Schertz's Magia Posthuma (I found a copy, by the way).
Thanks to a commentator on my blog (thanks Erwin!) I was able to follow a lead in identifying the original source of a mis-attributed "vampire" picture.
In not-necessarily-blog-related matters, I've also had the fortune of corresponding with authors I grew up reading (or reading about), like Paul Barber, Jeanne Keyes Youngson, Rosemary Ellen Guiley and Bruce A. McClelland. I even landed an interview with Martin V. Riccardo (which you can read here and here ).
It's also been interesting discovering what got other people into the field. Inanna Arthen's account is particularly interesting and you can read my own , on this very blog.
And, hell, why would Michele have even invited me to provide my contributions, at all, if I hadn't started Diary of an Amateur Vampirologist ?
5. Conclusion
But, a couple of words of warning before I wrap this thing up. Firstly, don't get into it cos of the money. Vampirologists aren't exactly millionaires.
If you really wanna make money with vampires, your best bet is to write novels. And even then, notably few actually hit paydirt, unless you happen to be Bram Stoker (who didn't even get to enjoy Dracula's overwhelming success until after his death), Stephen King, Anne Rice, Laurell K. Hamilton, Charlotte Harris and, of course, Stephenie Meyer.
Second, there's a high chance you'll come across nutters and other nasty folk [link edited out at VampChix's discretion]. Certain vampire fanclubs and research societies are also bombarded with letters and e-mail from folk proclaiming to be the real deal undead.
If you think you can handle these things, by all means, go ahead with vampirology. We could always use young blood!
That's better!
~ Anthony
When I tell people I'm a vampirologist, the usual reaction is bewilderment or jokes about biting necks.
What is a vampirologist? Quite simply, someone who studies vampires. You don't even have to believe in 'em to do it. I mean, how many folklorists actually believe in pixies, unicorns and ogres?
Nor do you actually have to be a vampire. As Stephen Kaplan, founder of the Vampire Research Center, said in Vampires Are
". . . being a criminologist does not make a person a criminal; being a bacteriologist does not make you bacterium; so why would being a vampirologist make you a vampire?" (3)
Vampirology is a much more complex field than you'd probably think. There's a variety of perspectives and disciplines under this umbrella heading. In one of my blog entries
Still interested? Then let's move onto the basics.
1. Read!
My first piece of advice is to read, read, read and don't forget - read. There's no escaping it, folks. To be somewhat informed on the subject, you'll need to read as much as you can.
For a solid introduction into the field, I recommend J. Gordon Melton's The Vampire Book: Encyclopedia of the Undead
Despite its horrible title, Jay Stevenson's The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vampires
Bibliographies are a handy resource to this end, whether they're the references that appear at the end of the book, or bibliographic monographs like Martin V. Riccardo's Vampires Unearthed: The Complete Multi-Media Vampire and Dracula Bibliography
(1910) contains a massive chapter on vampires and also impacted on Montague Summers' The Vampire: His Kith and Kin (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. Ltd., 1928), who acknowledges it in his introduction:"I have already pointed out that it were impossible to better such a chapter as Mr. J. C. Lawson has given us in his Modern Greek Folklore and Ancient Greek Religion, a book to which as also to Bernhard Schmidt's Das Volksleben der Neugriechen und das Hellenische Alterthum, I am greatly indebted." (xii)
Summers' own work, along with his The Vampire in Europe
(London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. Ltd., 1929) are considered to be classics in the genre. Both have been reprinted multiple times since their original publication.2. Choose Your Discipline
As I said, there are many perspectives and disciplines in vampirology. So what interests you about vampires? Is it the novels? The films? The folklore?
I'm personally into the latter. If you are, too, then I suggest Paul Barber's Vampires, Burial, and Death: Folklore and Reality
However, literature studies take up the bulk of the field. The Library of Congress has 110 listings
Psychological perspectives are moderately popular, too. Nina Auerbach's Our Vampires, Ourselves
3. Write!
Now that you've chosen which approach you want to take, why not write something about it? This can be an essay, a journal article, a book or even scribblings in a blog (heh).
Niels K. Petersen's Magia Posthuma
Truth be told, I was initially threatened by his blog. Its wanton sharing of resources felt like a dangerous incursion into my own "secret" studies. But, over time, I came to appreciate his approach. After all, why hoard everything like a dragon on a mound of gold coins, if it's just gonna sit there and get dusty?
4. Network
If you write or seek enough, you'll find other people with similar interests. I originally stumbled onto Niels' blog when I was conducting my own search for de Schertz's Magia Posthuma (I found a copy, by the way).
Thanks to a commentator on my blog
In not-necessarily-blog-related matters, I've also had the fortune of corresponding with authors I grew up reading (or reading about), like Paul Barber, Jeanne Keyes Youngson, Rosemary Ellen Guiley and Bruce A. McClelland. I even landed an interview with Martin V. Riccardo (which you can read here
It's also been interesting discovering what got other people into the field. Inanna Arthen's account
And, hell, why would Michele have even invited me to provide my contributions, at all, if I hadn't started Diary of an Amateur Vampirologist
5. Conclusion
But, a couple of words of warning before I wrap this thing up. Firstly, don't get into it cos of the money. Vampirologists aren't exactly millionaires.
If you really wanna make money with vampires, your best bet is to write novels. And even then, notably few actually hit paydirt, unless you happen to be Bram Stoker (who didn't even get to enjoy Dracula's overwhelming success until after his death), Stephen King, Anne Rice, Laurell K. Hamilton, Charlotte Harris and, of course, Stephenie Meyer.
Second, there's a high chance you'll come across nutters and other nasty folk [link edited out at VampChix's discretion]
If you think you can handle these things, by all means, go ahead with vampirology. We could always use young blood!
That's better!
~ Anthony
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