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VampGirl's Previous Featured Books: Page Nine 2001
 The Penguin Book of Vampire Stories : Ed. Alan Ryan
This essential collection of 32 vampire stories chosen by Alan Ryan contains many classics such as John Polidori's 'The Vampire' (1819), the complete 'Carmilla' (1872) by J. Sheridan Le Fanu and 'Dracula's Guest' (1897) which was the chapter left out of Bram Stoker's classic 'Dracula'.
Spanning literature from 1816 (Byron's 'Fragment of a Novel') all the way to 'Bite-Me-Not' written by Tanith Lee in 1984, 'The Penguin Book of Vampire Stories' covers many different forms of vampire and displays them in their full horror and majesty. Other writers featured in this anthology include F. Marion Crawford : 'For the Blood is the Life' (1911), Manly Wade Wellman : 'School for the Unspeakable' (1937), Fritz Leiber : 'The Girl with the Hungry Eyes' (1947), Richard Matheson : 'Drink my Blood' (1951) and Robert Bloch : 'The Living Dead' (1967).
My favourite and indeed, most memorable, short story in this collection is 'An Episode of Cathedral History' written by M. R. James, an author of classic English ghost stories, in 1919. This is a truly haunting tale involving vampiric activity and the Church which I still remember to this day, having read my hardback copy in 1994.
'The Penguin Book of Vampire Stories' by Alan Ryan is still available in paperback today and, as an excellent introduction into the world of classic vampire literature, is most definately a 'Must-Have' in any collection.
 Piercing The Darkness : Katherine Ramsland "A daring writer's intimate and terrrifying odyssey into a world of darkness."
Loosely based on a premise that the author is investigating the mysterious disappearance of a journalist named Susan Walsh in the summer of 1996 while writing an article on the 'vampire' underground of downtown Manhattan, Katherine Ramsland embarks upon a fascinating journey into modern-day vampire culture.
The author's investigations are well documented in the easy-to-follow style of participatory journalism which encourages the reader to feel included in Ramsland's investigations throughout and effortlessly carries us along through her exploration of online culture, interviews with website owners and many other enquiries in this field. 'Piercing the Darkness: Undercover with Vampires in America Today' also incorporates research and encounters with 'leads' followed up from such websites, meetings with fetishists, roleplayers, donors, self-professed 'vampires' and many other people who have an interest in or engage in any part of the 'vampire' scene.
Already well-known for her biography and other work on Anne Rice, and the bestselling 'Dean Koontz: A Writer's Biography' this is a fascinating piece of modern research that is well deserving of a place on the reference section of your bookshelf.
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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