Genre Sampler

All Things Nocturnal: Vampires

By Kyle Burkett, director of Bremen Public Library

Despite a strong showing from the classic “what goes bump in the night” crowd—witches and ghosts and toilet-paper mummies hustling for chocolate—Halloween last year was dominated by revelers dressed in superhero attire. The most popular costumes in 2016, according to USA Today, included Harley Quinn and the Joker (despite the critical failure of the Suicide Squad film), Batman, Wonder Woman, and characters from Game of Thrones and the Star Wars universe. In the eight years since Stephanie Meyers brought her genre-defining Young Adult series, Twilight, to an end, it seems like some of the Cullen family sparkle has faded from one of horror’s most prolific and influential sub-genres: books about the vampyre.

Or, to phrase it differently: in with the Marvel universe, out with the bloodsucking fiends. But while classic gothic tales of vampirism might currently be out of vogue, the observation got me thinking: what brought on America’s obsession with the vampire in the first place? Are vampires still relevant to popular culture? What are some of the truly great works of literature that have brought vampirism to the foreground of American entertainment?

After dedicating several months to the exploration of all-things vampire, from spending mornings nestled comfortably in my newly acquired sarcophagus to exploring innovative ways to cook with garlic, I’m ready to answer at least one of those questions. Here are my picks for the best-of-the-best when it comes to notable works about our favorite transmogrific parasites:

1. Dracula by Bram Stoker—Stoker’s Dracula is easily the most famous book ever written about vampires, and in many ways it is responsible for establishing all of the genre tropes associated with vampirism in general. Composed as a collection of telegrams, memos, letters and journal entries written first-hand, the novel tells the story of Count Dracula’s dark affair with Mina Harker, the tragic death of Lucy Westenra, and the lengths to which a group of suitors will go to save the immortal souls of the women they love. The inclusion of Dr. Abraham Van Helsing established the “man of letters” archetype—a devotee of science who uses his knowledge to locate and combat the supernatural—as a fixture throughout the horror genre at large. Despite being published over a century ago, Dracula is a highly entertaining novel, and should be considered a “must read” by anyone even vaguely interested in vampirism. 

2. Salem’s Lot by Stephen King—One of Stephen King’s earliest, and best, novels. The follow-up to 1974’s Carrie, which put King on the map, dispelled the notion that King might suffer a “Sophomore slump” as many young author will. Centered around the young novelist and romantic, Ben Mears, Salem’s Lot takes many of the tropes defined in Dracula—tortured suitor, a “man of letters,” the power of Christian iconography to resist evil—and updates them for a modern audience. Salem’s Lot is also, arguably, one of King’s “softest” offerings, eschewing much of the vulgar language and “ick” factor that would permeate his future novels. Alternately engrossing and terrifying, Salem

3. Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore—The first book in Moore’s vampire trilogy, Bloodsucking Fiends, introduces the reader to Judy, a young woman living in San Francisco whose unfortunate late-night encounter with a vampire leaves her looking quite pale, and severely long-in-the-tooth. While adjusting to her new existence as a nocturnal leech in human skin, Judy begins a sordid affair with the stocking manager at her local Safeway, befriends an eccentric homeless man who calls himself “The Emperor,” and starts an investigation into a string of murders connected to her elusive and mysterious maker. Equal parts horror, comedy and mystery, Bloodsucking Fiends is both an excellent introduction to the sardonic humor of Christopher Moore and a fresh take on vampirism in literature. 

4. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova—What if Dracula was real? Therein lies the charm of Kostavo’s multi-generational tale of academics drawn into the ages old conflict between man and monster. The appearance of an ancient, vellum-bound book containing some rather morbid illustrations triggers our narrator’s increasingly obsessive interest in the lore associated with the historical figure, Vlad the Impaler, as well as the curious circumstances of her parents’ romance and her mother’s subsequent disappearance. When her father goes missing as well, events are set in motion that escalate into a final confrontation with the dark lord himself. Promising that, “only a cup of blood would be spilled,” Kostova’s novel is ideal for thriller fans and book clubs who aren’t particularly fond of the gore found in many modern horror novels. 

5. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson—While Matheson’s tale of a dystopian world full of psychologically conditioned vampires run amok is broadly considered one of the most influential novels in horror today, earning a special Vampire Novel of the Century Award from the Horror Writer’s Association in 2012, critical praise was hard to come by upon its release in 1954. Essentially the precursor to every “zombie apocalypse” story ever written—from Night of the Living Dead to The Walking Dead—I Am Legend is the story of Earth’s sole survivor, Robert Neville, struggling to survive after the spread of a worldwide pandemic of vampirism. What makes this novel unique is not the monsters lurking in the shadows, but rather, the deep sense of isolation and loneliness our protagonist experiences as he waits to meet his inevitable end. 

6. American Vampire by Stephen King and Scott Snyder, illustrated by Rafael Albuquerque—Alternately the story of an outlaw from the American West, Skinner Sweet, and a wannabe actress, Pearl Jones, looking for work at the turn of the century, Stephen King’s first foray into comics tells the story of the rise of a new breed of vampire—American Vampire—who are both immune to sunlight and hell-bent on burying their predecessors six-feet underground. An old-fashioned Western revenge tale at heart, American Vampires reinvents the early 20th Century Bonnie and Clyde narrative with a Gothic twist. Full of violent illustrations and dark humor, and definitely not for kids, Snyder and King’s collaboration ultimately yields something unique and enjoyable for comic book aficionados and horror fans alike.  

7. Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice—While many longtime Anne Rice fans might hesitate to call Interview with a Vampire her best work—an accolade most often reserved for The Vampire Lestat—it makes this list precisely because it is the novel that first introduces us to the aforementioned vampire Lestat. Rice’s first novel is the story of 200-year-old plantation owner turned vampire, Louis de Pointe du Lac, and his struggles to balance his new-found thirst for blood against his prevailing sense of human morality, all while cohabitating with his truly monstrous lover and maker, Lestat. Part horror, part Victorian romance, Interview with a Vampire introduces readers to many of the hallmarks of Anne Rice’s writing—including the bold portrayal of queer leads that have resonated so strongly with the LGBTQ community over the last 4 decades—and establishes the narrative for the following books in her Vampire Chronicles, which nearly all revolve around the nefarious vampire Lestat.