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VampGirl's Previous Featured Books: Page Five 2001
The Illustrated Vampire Movie Guide : Stephen Jones 'The Illustrated Vampire Movie Guide' by Stephen Jones is a truly indispensable book. Featuring an introduction by Peter Cushing himself, this essential movie guide reviews over 600 movies from around the world and covers movies from the earliest 'silent' period (1896ish to the early thirties) right up to 1992 when this book was written.
At the start of each section there is a two-page summary of the key trends in vampire cinema for each period and every movie has a special 'vampire bat' rating from 'For Completists Only' (one bat) to 'A Classic!' (five bats). The movie guide is illustrated throughout with lobbycards, posters and the original stills from the most popular movies.
Disappointingly, the 'Illustrated Vampire movie Guide' is no longer available for purchase anywhere. As the movies reviewed only cover up to 1992 I expect this was the reason for its current withdrawal from sale. However, if you do see a copy anywhere (ISBN 1-85286-449-4) I recommend you purchase it immediately. If you are as obsessed with vampire movies as I am you will find this book to be an absolutely essential item for your vampire reference shelf.
 This Dark Paradise : Wendy Haley "
"Deep in the moss-shrouded woods of the South- far from prying eyes- stands a house of many secrets. The Arbor. Home to the proud and passionate Danilov family. A place haunted by ghosts of days gone by, and consumed by shadows of things to come..."
Alexander Danilov, vampire founder of the mortal Danilov family, returns to his ancestral home in Savannah, Georgia after many years in Europe to reclaim his domain. His grand-daughter, Margaret, has reached old age and is close to death and the remainder of the Danilovs have become bitter rivals; intent upon destroying each other with their sinister, dark secrets and jealous passions.
The setting of Wendy Haley's novel 'This Dark Paradise' is somewhat reminiscent of Anne Rice's 'Interview...' with the heady, primal swamps of Georgia which surround the family home. The characters are thoroughly developed and, as in 'Interview...', we feel able to empathise with the vampire, Alex Danilov, throughout his narratives. There is a tangible sense of sadness in this vampire archetype; not only in his mourning for the loss of his late wife Catherine, now just a ghost in his memory, but also in his fierce protection of the lives and affairs of his mortal family and in the passion that he feels for his new lover Elizabeth.
'This Dark Paradise' is a novel which is able to fully capture the imagination and inescapably draw us into a world of seduction, intrigue and betrayal. It is a gripping tale of romance and horror with moments of suspense that prevent the reader from putting the book down right up until the very end.
If you've read Anne Rice and have a passion for vampire-romance fiction then you should try this next. 'This Dark Paradise' should most certainly be a classic in this usually trashy genre.
 Interview with the Vampire : Anne Rice "In a darkened room a young man sits telling the macabre and eerie story of his life...the story of a vampire, gifted with eternal life, cursed with an exquisite craving for human blood."
'Interview with the Vampire' by Anne Rice is truly a classic vampire novel. Unlike Bram Stoker's 'Dracula', the more traditional aspects of vampire lore are here refreshingly reworked for a modern audience. Indeed, this novel is one of the books that began my obsession with the vampire myth when I first read it more than 10 years ago.
It is written in an unusual and extremely effective manner. Rice's innovative method of having the story narrated by the vampire Louis himself enables us to more completely identify with the 'unlife'of the vampire. The vivid description and heady prose of 'Interview..' enables the reader to be inextricably drawn into the periods of history that this novel traverses. New Orleans and Paris are especially rich; these settings are brought to life within the mind of the reader and we feel almost able to experience the story as if we are overlooking the action as it occurs.
Rice's characters are intensely written. Loius is a tortured soul still struggling with his mortal emotions, desparately trying to discover and resist his true vampire nature: that of a cold-blooded killer. In complete contrast to Louis, Lestat is a ruthless, obliviously self-obsessed killer who delights in taunting his prey before their inevitable death. And caught in between these two opposing characters is the child-vampire Claudia, trapped in the body of a five year old girl she matures to womanhood with mixed emotions toward Louis and utter hatred for Lestat, her creator.
Of all the characters in this novel I most empathised with Louis and, since reading further novels in Rice's vampire chronicles ( The Vampire Lestat, The Queen of the Damned, The Tale of the Body Thief, Memnoch the Devil, The Vampire Armand and Merrick), he has become my favourite character. I find Lestat somewhat irritating and did not entirely enjoy the novels in which he was the primary character. In my opinion, 'The Vampire Armand' is the only novel in the series which is anywhere near as good as 'Interview with the Vampire'; this novel being one which I would recommend as an essential purchase for your collection.
VampGirl's Previous Featured Books: 2002| Page One | The Beast Within
: Ed. Stewart Wieck
Tall, Dark and Gruesome
: Christopher Lee
The Mammoth Book of Dracula : Ed. Stephen Jones
Pandora : Anne Rice |
| Page Two | The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vampires
: Jay Stevenson, Ph.D.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Pop Quiz
: Cynthia Boris
The Queen of the Damned : Anne Rice |
| Page Three | The Vampyre : And Other Tales of the Macabre
: Ed. Robert Morrison & Chris Baldick
The Mammoth Book of Vampire Stories by Women : Ed. Stephen Jones
The Vampire Encyclopedia : Matthew Bunson |
| Page Four | Lost Souls
: Poppy Z. Brite
The Keep : F. Paul Wilson
Mina's Journal : Kimberley Zagoren |
VampGirl's Previous Featured Books: 2001| Page One | Dracula the Undead : Freda Warrington
Salem's Lot : Stephen King | | Page Two | The Vampyre: A secret history of Lord Byron : Tom Holland
Sunglasses After Dark : Nancy A. Collins
Love in Vein : Ed by Poppy Z. Brite | | Page Three | In Search of Dracula : Raymond T. McNally & Prof. Radu Florescu
Dracula : Bram Stoker
Lord of the Vampires : Jeanne Kalogrides
The Secret Life of Laszlo, Count Dracula : Roderick Anscombe | | Page Four | Sins of the Blood : Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Rulers of Darkness : Steven Spruill
Guilty Pleasures : Laurell K. Hamilton |
| Page Five | The Illustrated Vampire Movie Guide : Stephen Jones
This Dark Paradise : Wendy Haley
Interview with the Vampire : Anne Rice |
| Page Six | The Vampire Book : J. Gordon Melton
Bad Dreams : Kim Newman
Vampire World I: Blood Brothers : Brian Lumley |
| Page Seven | Sips of Blood : Mary Ann Mitchell
The World on Blood : Jonathan Nasaw
Vampire : The Masquerade : White Wolf Publishing
Ravenloft: Vampire of the Mists : Christie Golden |
| Page Eight | Batman : Bloodstorm : Doug Moench & Kelley Jones
Batman vs Dracula : Red Rain : Doug Moench & Kelley Jones
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| Page Nine | The Penguin Book of Vampire Stories : Ed. Alan Ryan
Piercing The Darkness : Katherine Ramsland
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| Page Ten | Vampire$ : John Steakley
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Obsidian Fate : Diana G.Gallagher
The Deluxe Transitive Vampire : Karen Elizabeth Gordon
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