Best vampire books?

[twolittledarlings]

Any recommendations?

and no one mentioned Kim Newman yet?

Tanya Huff's Blood series
Kim Newman's Anno Dracula series
Nancy A. Collin's Sonja Blue series
The last two are light on the romance, heavy on the vampire

Glad I'm not the only one sfxmum, love the name!

MayasPapaya: I've got the Blood Series to read, I'm hoping they are good

Lost Souls by Poppy Z Brite. One of the only books I love to re-read. Fab genre fiction.

SandyisinCaldwell, I enjoyed them but didn't finish the series. The romance is fairly central to the story, which may or may not be your thing ;-) They made a TV show of it briefly a couple of years ago which was pretty good, think the author was at least partly involved.

I would say that The Vampire Diaries is pretty close to unreadable. It makes Twilight look well written.

I really like Salem's Lot, by Stephen King. Good stuff!

Vampire Diaries = utter shite, makes Biff, Chip and Kipper look like works od Shakespeare
Immortals after Dark, by Kresley Cole - not just vampires but all manner of supernatural - smex filled and funny - possibly my fav's
Lara Adrian's Midnight Breed series - Smex filled, not so funny but still worth a read
JRWard - Brohthers - I like them, but agree with Team lots of extra H's for no apparent reason, but there are plots and sex so all is good.
True Blood - hmmm some are ok, some are not
Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunters - I love them, again not just vampire's but Gods and other supernatural type people.
Twilight - bit crap to be honest and very poorly written.

There is another lot that I read but cannot for the life of me think who writes them or indeed what the series is which probably means they are rubbish - if I remember them I will post

xx

I'd forgotten about Salem's Lot.

King's Dark Tower series also features Father Calahan of The Lot and some pretty nasty vampires.

The Anne Rice books are good up to and possible including Memnoch the Devil, but no others.

Dracula is very good
Fevre Dream by George RR Martin is very good indeed.

The Historian - boring old waffle
Lost Souls - Poppy Z Brite - not as cool as it thinks it is

I've avoided most other vampire series. I think Anne Rice had it right for the first three of her Chronicles, and pretty much everything else sucks. Interview is the hardest read of them, but is a good counter-balance to Lestat's later narration.

Comte de Saint-Germain series - too fluffly romantic
Valentine and sequel by Somtov - too disgustingly gory

There are some cracking good vampire short stories in vampire anthologies. I would have to look them up to remember the names.

I am Legend by Richard Matheson

The Keep by F Paul Wilson (or something like that)

The Historian

Dark Lover by JR Ward

Anita Blake series by Laurell K Hamilton ONLY up to book 8 or 9 though

Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, Queen of the Damned all by Anne Rice (stick with the first one, it's worth it in the end)

Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris

Undead and ... series by Mary Janice DAvidson

Minion by LA Banks

Salems Lot by Stephen King

Let the Right One In

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Personally, I wouldn't even bother with the Twilight or Vampire Diaries series - they're both overhyped pants. There are so many other good books about vampires out there.

Forgot to also second I Am Legend - Richard Matheson (which is not like the film).

Also second The Keep - F Paul Wilson

The Penguin Book of Vampire Stories edited by Alan Ryan is good.

Immortals after Dark - by Kresley Cole i have just discovered them and oh boy they are fab, Raunchy, funny and mystical, i think there are about 8 in the series maybe more!

I'd reccommend Sunshine by Robin McKinley, it's far, far better than the Twilight series! Also 'Wicked Game' by an America author called Jeri Smith-Ready, if you can cope with the idea of vampires as radio DJs....