Well, I am sure you have already read Bram Stokers' Dracula.
Did you read the whole series of vampire books by Anne Rice?

KEVIN-
STOP what ur doing RITE NOW.


Find a copy of 'Fledgling' by Octavia Bulter.. ,now avaiable in soft trade back.................... (i posted a pick of the cover in Photos here...)

HANDS DOWN THE MOST ORIGINAL vamp book in years...............................................!!!!!!

NO. QUESTION.ABOUT.IT>


(Sorry for yelling..., just sucks how many vamp fans have NO IDEA this tale is out there....)

P.N. Elrod and Fred Saberhagen do some neat blood suckers.

I personally liked Nancy Collin's 'Sonja Blue series':Sunglasses After Dark,In the Blood,Paint it Black.These 3 are by far my favorites.The other two: A Dozen Black Roses, and Darkest Heart,were both ok,but nothing compared to the first 3 books.I read 'The Historian" and loved it as well,that was one book that kept me totally engrossed from cover to cover,well worth reading.

'The Vampyre' by Tom Holland was really good. Of Anne Rice's series I liked 'Queen of the Damned' the most. There was a lot more stuff going on - a lot more history and story.

Raven, by S.A. Swiniarski. Excellent story about a Cleveland P.I. who discovers he's been turned into a vampire, but he has no memory of how it was done, and the vampire who did it isn't around to answer his questions!

Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula, or, The Adventure of the Sanguinary Count, by John Watson & Loren Estleman. Estleman is a veteran mystery and historical fiction writer, and this book is a masterpiece. Watson and Holmes are perfectly in character, and the fusion of the two stories is so smooth and convincing that you wonder why it was not thought of before!

Bloodsucking Fiends, by Christopher Moore. Terrific story about how a young ad exec is turned into one of the undead, and settles into an apartment with a Safeway clerk as her minion.

Children of the Night, by Mercedes Lackey. Part of her Diana Tregarde series, and probably the best. Diana is an occult investigator who teams up with a French vampire to battle a Japanese demon in 1972 New York.

The Night Stalker, by Jeff Rice (edited by Richard Matheson). Book version of the 1972 TV movie in which a vampire lays siege to Las Vegas in the early 1970's. He's fought by an aging reporter for a Nevada daily.

These are all great books, and I put them down in no particular order. Any one of them could be number one on my list.

P.N. Elrod
Fred Saberhagen

my favourite vampire series is the Necroscope by Brian Lumley, now on it's 13th book I believe. my wife who is a big Laurel K. Hamilton fan turned me onto these books. I wouldn't necessarily recommend them to everyone though because of the horrifying nature of the beast. it is a very thorough well thought out world with a great play on all of the monster rules and a sweeping story line. it's that many books long, but none of it is wasted space, it's a large exploration of the history of the vampires, their introduction to our world and most importantly those who fight the evil.

it's gruesome in many places and not your romantic dreamy vampire tale. I am always kept guessing how the author will get the 'hero' out of whatever horrible jam they are in and the wild ways in which the tables are turned. tread carefully but it's highly rewarding.

Already Dead and No Dominion by Charlie Huston as well as The Nymphos of Rocky Flats and X-Rated Bloodsuckers by Mario Acevedo were excellently done Vampire books, with the prize, imho, going to X-Rated Bloodsuckers.

Both authors come at the vampire genre with something that isn't pure shlock (which is getting realllly hard to find). I enjoy seeing how authors integrate Vampires into a contemporary milieu...

Although Sergei Lukyanenko's Nightwatch and Daywatch (English translations of Russian prose) aren't specifically about Vampires, the "others" in his book do feed off of humanity's energies. They were a good read - Try 'em.

If you are looking for a vampire book that is a bit different and has strong characterization, try _Agyar_ by Steven Brust. Brust is highly skilled at characterization, dialog, and the sheer craft of putting words in a line effectively.

Here's one I forgot: The Dracula Tape, by Fred Saberhagen. This is one is particularly funny because it is basically the story of Bram Stoker's Dracula, but told from the vampire's point-of-view! Dracula is the hero, and Van Helsing is portrayed as a slick con artist!