Vampires are back! Although some would argue that they’ve never left. There’s always someone dreaming up a horrifically engrossing tale of blood-sucking demons or immortal brooding heroes, and readers dying to read them. What is it about these creatures who go bump in the night that keeps captivating readers? It all depends on the type of vamp you fancy, of course.
There are the original vampire stories, like Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, which was published 26 years before Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Both have underlying warnings about mysterious strangers and foreigners. Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice is a classic, taking the sex out of vampirism but retaining the sensuality of the immortals. Recently, Sylvia Moreno-Garcia gave us vampires in Mexico City in Certain Dark Things, offering a refreshing take on the suburban fantasy setting. But what about the immortals in young adult literature?
Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer, changed the publishing industry and turned vampire lore on its head. But before this mega-hit, teen vampire novels populated the shelves with brooding, dark, and dangerous heroes. From the mysterious Aubrey in Demon in my View by Amelia Atwater Rhodes to the silver-haired Simon in The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klause. We can’t forget The Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith and Claudia Gray’s Evernight series. Love, death, revenge, longing. Vampire stories often depict forbidden love and the grisly side of human nature. There’s an attraction there that pairs well with coming of age and feeling displaced in your own body.
In recent years, vampires stories still grip modern readers. In 2012, Drink Slay Love by Sarah Beth Durst added some humor and sparkle to her stories, but in the form of unicorns. A year later, Holly Black’s Coldest Girl in Coldtown painted a dystopian near-future where vampires live in walled-in cities but at its heart is a human girl who might have just as much monster in her as any of the undead.
Like all myths, vampires transform into a commentary of its time. We know where vampires have been, but where should they go? Renée Ahdieh’s The Beautiful takes us back to 19th century New Orleans. In 2020, Caleb Roehrig is revamping (#sorrynotsorry) paranormal romance in a human boy meets vampire boy mystery with The Fell of Dark.
And Natalie C. Parker and I are co-editing a vampire anthology featuring stories that twist everything you thought you knew about the undead. Vampires Never Get Old features contributions by Victoria Schwab, Julie Murphy, and Dhonielle Clayton, just in time for fall 2020.
It’s safe to say we are absolutely living for this revival.
The Casquette Girls, by Alys Arden
This magical series set in New Orleans is perfect for fans of contemporary vampires like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Vampire Diaries. Combining legends and real history, Alys Arden brings the French Quarter and the mysterious story of the Casquette Girls to life. Arden is a born and bred NOLA kid and this book sings with her inside knowledge of the Big Easy. The novel follows Adele Le Moyne who returns home to NOLA after a storm ravages the city, but things have changed. There is a parish-wide curfew, and mysterious new faces all around. A series of events leads her to uncover family secrets locked away, literally, for three hundred years. Between her uncanny powers and the mythic monsters bumping around the Quarter, her world is turned upside down. The trilogy ended with a bang this year.
Fake Blood, by Whitney Gardner
This graphic novel is perfect for those who want their vampires with a big helping of laughter and coming of age. AJ feels too average and plain. Everyone around him is changing but AJ stays the same. This year, he’s taking matters into his own hands and does something drastic. He pretends to be a vampire to impress Nia, a girl who seems to be obsessed with vampires. Except that she’s a slayer and this is not the attention he thought he wanted. On top of everything, there’s a big bad lurking in his middle school. What’s a fake vamp supposed to do?
Slayer, by Kiersten White
We all know the drill: Into each generation, a Slayer is born…. When she dies, her power moves on to the next Chosen One. Fast forward thousands of years later to circa-now and Buffy has done two things: awakened thousands of slayers, and destroyed magic. But at the very last second, before al magic was ripped from earth, a final slayer was made. She is Nina Smythe and she’s the daughter of two Watchers. If you know your Buffy mythology, the Watchers is the organization that, well, watches the Slayer. Nina is determined to be the best slayer she can by using her family knowledge and vows to never ever be like the disastrous Buffy Summers. But with these great powers comes great doom and a prophecy that threatens to destroy the precarious stability of Nina’s life. Kiersten White absolutely nails this addition to the Buffyverse, and I’m positive the sequel, Chosen, is going to be epic.
Carmilla, by Kim Turrisi
A campy adaptation of Shaftesbury’s award-winning web series of the same name, Carmilla is also a reimagining of the classic vampire novella. Set in a sleepy college town, Laura’s life is turned around when her roommate goes missing and a new girl moves in. Her name is Carmilla and she might know more about the disappearances. Turns out, the girls usually come back, but they’re…changed. Laura wants answers and takes matters into her own hands to get to the bottom of things. But her budding feelings for the mysterious and possibly inhuman Carmilla could get in the way.
The Beautiful, by Renée Ahdieh
New York Times bestselling author Renée Ahdieh offers a romantic novel set in 19th century New Orleans. The year is 1872 and Celine Rousseau flees to New Orleans leaving her life as a dressmaker in Paris behind. She’s taken in by the sisters of the famed Ursuline convent but when she catches the eye of the elusive Sébastien Saint Germain, she quickly becomes embroiled in the city’s glitzy underworld, known as La Cour des Lions. When the bodies start piling up, including a girl from the convent, New Orleans is sent into a frenzy trying to find the serial killer. One of the suspects is Sébastien himself, sending Celine into a deep conflict, especially when she’s caught in the middle of an age-old feud between the darkest creatures of the night.
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