Staff Picks
Books with Bite - Vampire Edition
- Mahogany S.
- Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Collection
No romance included. All scary beasts, all the time. Enjoy the terror that comes with a bite.
Let the Right One in
Published in 2008
Twelve-year-old Oskar is obsessed by the murder that's taken place in his neighborhood. Then he meets the new girl from next door. She's a bit weird, though. And she only comes out at night--Publisher's description.
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
Published in 2013
When seventeen-year-old Tana wakes up following a party in the aftermath of a violent vampire attack, she travels to Coldtown, a quarantined Massachusetts city full of vampires, with her ex-boyfriend and a mysterious vampire boy in tow.
The Lesser Dead
Published in 2014
"The secret is, vampires are real and I am one. The secret is, I'm stealing from you what is most truly yours and I'm not sorry... New York City in 1978 is a dirty, dangerous place to live. And die. Joey Peacock knows this as well as anybody--he has spent the last forty years as an adolescent vampire, perfecting the routine he now enjoys: womanizing in punk clubs and discotheques, feeding by night, and sleeping by day with others of his kind in the macabre labyrinth under the city's sidewalks. The subways are his playground and his highway, shuttling him throughout Manhattan to bleed the unsuspecting in the Sheep Meadow of Central Park or in the backseats of Checker cabs, or even those in their own apartments who are too hypnotized by sitcoms to notice him opening their windows. It's almost too easy. Until one night he sees them hunting on his beloved subway. The children with the merry eyes. Vampires, like him--or not like him. Whatever they are, whatever their appearance means, the undead in the tunnels of Manhattan are not as safe as they once were. And neither are the rest of us"-- Provided by publisher.
Fledgling
Published in 2007
Shori is a young amnesiac girl whose needs and abilities lead her to a shocking discovery: she is in fact a 53-year-old vampire, genetically modified to survive daylight. The sole survivor of a horrific slaughter, Shori must now struggle to rebuild her family and learn who would want--and still wants--to destroy her.
The Passage
A Novel
Published in 2010
A security breach at a secret U.S. government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment that only six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte can stop.
By Blood We Live
Published in 2014
"From the author of the best sellers The Last Werewolf and Talulla Rising, the hair-raising conclusion to the saga that has galvanized readers' imaginations: an electrifying, startlingly erotic love story that gives us the final battle for survival between werewolves and vampires, and one last incisive--brilliantly ironic--look at what it means to be, or to not be, human. Talulla has settled into an uneasy equilibrium: with her twins at her side and the devotion of her lover Walker, it's a normal family life--except for their monthly transformation into werewolves hungry for human flesh. But even this tenuous peace is interrupted for Talulla by nagging thoughts of Remshi, the 20,000-year-old vampire who haunts her dreams. In turn Remshi can't escape the feeling that he knows Talulla from years before (many, many, many years). They have their distractions: Talulla is being pursued by a fanatical Christian cult, and Remshi is following the trail of reckless feedings by a newly turned vampire. But, as the novel unfurls, they are inextricably drawn to each other--and toward the moment when an ancient prophecy may finally come to pass--in this tale of pulse-pounding supernatural suspense"-- Provided by publisher.
Vlad
Published in 2012
After centuries of war and blood shortages in Eastern Europe, an undead Vlad the Impaler moves to Mexico and offers eternal life to the only child of Yves and Asunción Navarro in exchange for their legal and real estate services.
Abraham Lincoln
Vampire Hunter
Published in 2010
While Abraham Lincoln is widely lauded for saving a Union and freeing millions of slaves, his valiant fight against the forces of the undead has remained in the shadows for hundreds of years.
The Last American Vampire
Published in 2015
"New York Times bestselling author Seth Grahame-Smith returns with the follow-up to Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter--a sweeping, alternate history of 20th Century America as seen through the eyes of vampire Henry Sturges. THE LAST AMERICAN VAMPIRE In Reconstruction-era America, vampire Henry Sturges is searching for renewed purpose in the wake of his friend Abraham Lincoln's shocking death. It will be an expansive journey that will first send him to England for an unexpected encounter with Jack the Ripper, then to New York City for the birth of a new American century, the dawn of the electric era of Tesla and Edison, and the blazing disaster of the 1937 Hindenburg crash. Along the way, Henry goes on the road in a Kerouac-influenced trip as Seth Grahame-Smith ingeniously weaves vampire history through Russia's October Revolution, the First and Second World Wars, and the JFK assassination. Expansive in scope and serious in execution, THE LAST AMERICAN VAMPIRE is sure to appeal to the passionate readers who made Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter a runaway success"-- Provided by publisher.
Salem's Lot
Published in 2011
Ben Mears has returned to Jerusalem's Lot in the hopes that living in an old mansion, long the subject of town lore, will help him cast out his own devils and provide inspiration for his new book. But when two young boys venture into the woods and only one comes out alive, Mears begins to realize that there may be something sinister at work and that his hometown is under siege by forces of darkness far beyond his control.
Carmilla
Published in 2019
Isolated in a remote mansion in a central European forest, Laura longs for companionship until a carriage accident brings another young woman into her life: the secretive and sometimes erratic Carmilla. As Carmillas actions become more puzzling and volatile, Laura develops bizarre symptoms, and as her health goes into decline, Laura and her father discover something monstrous.
Ghost Road Blues
Published in 2006
Winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel From a new master of horror comes an apocalyptic showdown between the residents of a secluded, rural town and the deadly evil that confronts them wherever they turn . . . Evil Doesn't Die The cozy little town of Pine Deep buried the horrors of its past a long time ago. Thirty years have gone by since the darkness descended and the Black Harvest began, a time when a serial killer sheared a bloody swath through the quiet Pennsylvania village. The evil that once coursed through Pine Deep has been replaced by cheerful tourists getting ready to enjoy the country's largest Halloween celebration in what is now called "The Spookiest Town in America." It Just Grows Stronger But then--a month before Halloween--it begins. Unspeakably desecrated bodies. Inexplicable insanity. And an ancient evil walking the streets, drawing in those who would fall to their own demons and seeking to shred the very soul of this rapidly fracturing community. Yes, the residents of Pine Deep have drawn together and faced a killer before. But this time, evil has many faces--and the lust and will to rule the earth. This struggle will be epic. "Serves up scares like pancakes at a church social."--Gregory Frost "Without a doubt this prolific author is the next Stephen King. Maberry deserves more then a Bram Stoker Award for this; he deserves Bram Stoker to rise from his grave and shake his hand." --Chad Wendell, New World Reviews "If I were asked to select only one new voice in horror fiction to read today, it would be Jonathan Maberry."--Katherine Ramsland "A fun, fun read and creepy as hell."--Gregory Frost "If you think small town horror has nothing new to offer, you have a surprise in store. Ghost Road Blues demonstrates that even the most haunted town in America is unprepared for the full depth of evil, either human or inhuman."--Don D'Ammassa "Reminiscent of Stephen King. . .Maberry supplies plenty of chills in this atmospheric novel. . .This is horror on a grand scale." -- Publishers Weekly
I Am Legend
Published in 1995
"Robert Neville is the last living man on Earth ... but he is not alone. Every other man, woman, and child on Earth has become a vampire, and they are all hungry for Neville's blood"--Publisher's description, I am legend.
Sunshine
Published in 2010
All hope for stopping the vampiric elite from controlling earth depends on human SOFs (Special Other Forces) and the success of their attempt to recruit Sunshine, the daughter of legendary sorcerer Onyx Blaise.
Bloodsucking Fiends
A Love Story
Published in 1995
A budding young writer falls in love with a vampire. He is Tommy of Indiana who moved to San Francisco in search of inspiration and is working in a supermarket. Shopping there is Jody, a secretary still trying to adjust to her new vampire status, after being bitten by one on her way home. A zany tale by the author of Coyote Blue.
The Stress of Her Regard
Published in 2011
When Michael Crawford discovers his bride brutally murdered in their wedding bed, he is forced to flee not only to prove his innocence but to avoid the deadly embrace of a vampire who has claimed him as her true bridegroom. Joining forces with Byron, Keats, and Shelley in a desperate journey that crisscrosses Europe, Crawford desperately seeks his freedom from this vengeful lover who haunts his dreams and will not rest until she destroys all that he cherishes. Told in the guise of a secret history, this tale of passion and terror brilliantly evokes the nineteenth century. The chilling horror and adventure blend to create a riveting romantic fantasy.
Bloodshot
Published in 2011
Raylene Pendle, a vampire and art thief, agrees to search for government documents about a biological experiment that has rendered her client, a fellow vampire, virtually sightless, as she finds herself hunted by a deranged scientist determined to stop her.
Carrion Comfort
Published in 2009
Three elderly friends with the power feed off emotions generated during murders meet every year to discuss their game--an ongoing competition of mass murder and vampirism.
Vampire$
Published in 2010
Suppose there really were vampires. Dark, stalking, destroying. They'd have to be killed, wouldn't they? Of course they would. But what kind of fools would try to make a living at it? In best-selling author John Steakley's vampire classic, one tightly knit band of brothers devotes itself to hunting down the monsters that infest the modern world-for a price. An exciting blend of horror and western genres, Vampire$ is a twenty-first-century Ghostbusters with an edge.
Blood Oranges
Published in 2013
"My name's Quinn. If you buy into my reputation, I'm the most notorious demon hunter in New England. But rumors of my badassery have been slightly exaggerated. Instead of having kung-fu skills and a closet full of medieval weapons, I'm an ex-junkie with a talent for being in the wrong place at the right time. Or the right place at the wrong time. Or...whatever. Wanted for crimes against inhumanity I (mostly) didn't commit, I was nearly a midnight snack for a werewolf until I was "saved" by a vampire calling itself the Bride of Quiet. Already cursed by a werewolf bite, the vamp took a pint out of me too. So now...now, well, you wouldn't think it could get worse, but you'd be dead wrong"-- Provided by publisher.