Edited by John Joseph Adams
Night Shade Books, $15.95, 485 pages
Society has long been fascinated by vampires– from Dracula to Buffy to Twilight – vampires and the lore that surrounds them has infiltrated our literature and movies. But what is it that people find so fascinating about vampires? This is the question posed by John Joseph Adams, who has put together an extensive collection of vampire short stories. Most of the stories have a nice preface giving each individual author’s thoughts on the lure of vampires in modern society. The collection itself is impressive on its own and has a nice variety of popular and lesser known authors. Some of the highlights include a fantastically twisted retelling of Snow White by Neil Gaiman, a tense slayer tale by Garth Nix, a clever Gatsby-esque tale by Kristine Kathryn Rusch and ending with a story by the master of horror, Stephen King. Each story gives a different view of the vampire, some horrifying and some downright hilarious. Fans of fantasy and, obviously in particular, vampires, will greatly enjoy this collection.
Reviewed by Barbara Cothern
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