My 2023 Vampire Books Reading List
If you’ve heard of the Chinese zodiak, you know that every twelve years, the Chinese calendar cycles through twelve different animals, each with its own characteristics. There’s the year of the goat, snake, horse, etc. All well and good, but apparently they forgot the year of the vampire. Clearly an oversight. I took a look at the global and national situation and decided that it’s not the year of the rabbit – calm, gentle and loving – it’s the year of the vampire. Thus, I’m planning on reading through a number of vampire books that I haven’t already read.
This is my vampire-related reading list for the year. These books were all recommendations from Twitter readers-writers who stated that these were among their favorite vampire books of all time. When I saw a book recommended by several different people I added it to my list. In case you’d like to join me, feel free to check these out.
Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
This book, set in 1981, starts out when the body of a teenager is found, emptied of blood, in an otherwise peaceful suburb of Stockholm, Sweden. Simultaneously, readers meet twelve-year-old Oskar who’s struggling with constant bullying and his desire for revenge.
But then a new girl moves in next door to Oskar and the two develop a close friendship. It isn’t long before he notices that something is wrong with her. She’s nimble, unaffected by the cold, unnaturally intelligent, and she only comes out at night.
They Thirst by Robert McCammon
If you read (and loved) McCammon’s book, Swan Song, you’ll want to check out this earlier work of his.
Set in Los Angeles, the book follows the story of Andy Palatazin, a Hungarian immigrant who fled the country as a child after a vampire attack on his village. Now, as a LAPD homocide detective, Palatazin witnesses a rising death toll, countless cemetery desecrations, and a mysterious presence who has made the famed Kronsteen castle his home. He knows there’s only one conclusion: they’re back.
The Moth Diaries by Rachel Klein
In Klein’s brilliant work, she examines the life of an unnamed protagonist whose life at boarding school is made up of her love for literature, her attempts to recover from her father’s suicide, which she witnessed, and her relationship with her best friend, Lucy.
But when a new girl, Ernessa, joins the school, the protagonist realizes that something isn’t right with her. She has strange nocturnal habits, never eats, and avoids the sun. And she’s coddling up to Lucy, who is becoming sicker and sicker.
I already wrote about this one, which I loved. See my discussion of Klein’s use of intertextuality here.
Black Ambrosia by Elizabeth Engstrom
Angelina is a killer. But you wouldn’t know it to look at her. Unless you look in her eyes.
After her parents’ deaths, she sets out to wander the country, accepting rides from hospitable travelers. But when she faces the inevitable – an encounter with a couple of violent men – something awakens in her that she can’t control. And doesn’t want to.
Led by a Voice within, Angelina sets out to give eternal rest to her victims. This book is well-written and psychologically intriguing, however, it is very dark. Look for my review of it in the near future.
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
Originally published in 1954, I Am Legend reads like a very relevant, current novel.
After a deadly pandemic, most of humanity is killed and all infected survivors are turned into vampires. The novel’s protagonist, Robert Neville, is the last man standing.
By day, he struggles to understand what the world has become, to uncover the roots of the disease, and to root out and destroy the undead. By night, he insulates himself in his home and wars with his own complex emotions in the wake of loss.
Fevre Dream by George R. R. Martin
Yes, you read that correctly – this is one of Martin’s other books, before Game of Thrones.
In this tale, Abner Marsh, a riverboat captain, is approached by a wealthy man with an offer to take him down the Mississippi.
“Not until the maiden voyage of Fevre Dream does Marsh realize that he has joined a mission both more sinister, and perhaps more noble, than his most fantastic nightmare—and humankind’s most impossible dream.” (Amazon)
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
Amazon calls this book “Steel Magnolias meets Dracula in this New York Times best-selling horror novel about a women’s book club that must do battle with a mysterious newcomer to their small Southern town.“
What’s more southern than hospitality? When Charleston resident Patricia Campbell befriends newcomer, James Harris, and children in her town go missing, her book club’s love for true crime, merges with her reality.
What will she do to protect herself from this nefarious stranger?
Fledgling by Octavia Butler
“This is the story of an apparently young, amnesiac girl whose alarmingly unhuman needs and abilities lead her to a startling conclusion: She is in fact a genetically modified, 53-year-old vampire.
Forced to discover what she can about her stolen former life, she must at the same time learn who wanted-and still wants-to destroy her and those she cares for and how she can save herself.” (Amazon)
Carmilla by J. Sheridan LeFanu
This novella is a classic, written in 1872, and yet I’ve never read it. However, it was one of the dominant pieces of literature Klein used in The Moth Diaries, thus sparking my interest.
The protagonist, Laura, comes into contact with a vampiress, Carmilla, after a carriage accident brings the girl into her life. The two enter into something of an obsessive friendship. But over time, Carmilla begins to wander by night and Laura grows weaker by day.
This is the book that predated and inspired Dracula.
My Soul to Keep by Tananarive Due
And last, but absolutely not least…this is one I’m extremely excited to read. Set in Miami, Jessica thinks she has found everything she wanted in her husband, David. But when people around her begin to die, she discovers that he is part of an Ethiopian sect and is over 400 years old.
When his sect demands that he return to Ethiopia, David decides to go to forbidden lengths to keep his wife and children. Jessica finds herself trapped “between the desperation of immortals who want to rob her of her life and a husband who wants to rob her of her soul.” (Amazon)
Conclusion
I think you can see why I’m excited about this year’s lineup. Unfortunately, I’m already almost 50% of the way through these, so I may add an additional list later in the year. Or we may look at some other Gothic tales. Expect to see reviews and/or commentary about some or all of these in the future.
Happy reading!
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