Life Eternal? No Thank You, I’m Tired

Oh, hey, it’s me, once again begging you to read A Dowry of Blood, because I am obsessed with this book. It’s the perfect vampire book; it’s gorgeous, romantic, dark, violent, and polyamorous! A Dowry of Blood is the story of Dracula’s brides, told from the perspective of Constanta, the first of three brides whom Dracula creates to be his companions over the course of the novel. It is written as a farewell letter to the man she loved and hated in equal measure, detailing a hundred lifetimes of tenderness, abuse, and the unexpected love that develops between she and her fellow brides.

If you’re looking for a fun, creative, somewhat creepy vampire book for your TBR, you want Mina and the Undead. It’s a love letter to the 90’s vampire craze, and you know I love my nostalgic retro-horror reads. 17-year-old Mina travels from England to New Orleans to visit with her estranged sister Libby, excited to explore a city as steeped in vampire literary references as her home town of Whitby. But Mina gets more than she bargained for when she becomes embroiled in a series of violent murders that all seem to point to Libby. Technically, Mina and the Undead has only been released in the UK, but you can still order a copy through Book Depository, and you definitely should!

I always love a good anthology, but this anthology in particular was one of my favorite books of 2020. Vampires Never Get Old, and vampires also never go out of style, but there’s no denying that for a while there they did fall somewhat out of favor. So I was super excited for Vampires Never Got Old, and the resurgence of my favorite undead. Authors with stories in the anthology include Samira Ahmed, Dhonielle Clayton, Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker, Tessa Gratton, Heidi Heilig, Julie Murphy, Mark Oshiro, Rebecca Roanhorse, Laura Ruby, Victoria “V. E.” Schwab, and Kayla Whaley, which is quite a line up! And one of the things that I love best about this collection is that it runs the gamut of vampire fiction, from the genuinely creepy to the romantic. But whether scary or dreamy, each of these stories pays homage to the vampire stories and myths we love so much.

One month to go, people! One month and I will finally get to read Certain Dark Things, with it’s drop dead (ba dum tish) gorgeous new cover in its shiny new edition from Tor Night Fire. Of the vampire books on my to-read list, this one has been sitting right at the top for ages, and I’m so glad that it’s finally going to be back in print. In Mexico City, street kid Domingo is just trying to survive when he meets vampire-on-the-run Atl. Atl is the descendent of Aztec blood drinkers, on the run from a rival vampire clan. Their meeting happens by chance, but as time goes on the two find themselves working together to escape the dark streets with their lives (life and un-life?) intact.

See, the joy/danger of writing these newsletters is all the new books I discovered that would have otherwise slipped under my radar! Which would have been terrible, considered that The Lost Girls is 100% everything I could possibly want in a book. Elton Irving is a serial vampire maker. He prays on teenage girls, promising them eternal love then abandoning them when the shine wears off his newest toy. Holly Liddell was one of Elton’s victims, turned in 1987 and now she’s stuck at sixteen forever, in a dead end job with no future and no end in sight. But things get interesting the night she meets Rose and Ida, two of Elton’s previous victims, who want her help to finally destroy him before he can harm another girl. Holly may be angry with Elton, but she’s not sure she’s angry enough to kill until she finds herself unexpectedly falling for Parker, Elton’s next victim.