Did you make it to the Actors Theater production of Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy earlier this month? I went with a group of other library staff and it catapulted me right back into my vampire phase (which honestly is never too far from the surface). I was sitting in the theater thinking about all the fun vampire books I wished I could share with my audience members. So if you went to see the show (or wish you had) and would like to luxuriate in that vibe a little longer, look no further!
The main book I wanted to recommend to everyone who was enjoying the show was A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson. Like the play, this novel is a reimagining of Dracula from a new perspective, this time one of the nameless “brides of Dracula.” I found this book powerful in its exploration of domestic abuse through the lens of immortal polyamorous vampires. Saved from the brink of death by a mysterious stranger, Constanta is transformed from a medieval peasant into a bride fit for an undying king. But when Dracula draws a cunning aristocrat and a starving artist into his web of passion and deceit, Constanta realizes that her beloved is capable of terrible things. Finding comfort in the arms of her rival consorts, she begins to unravel their husband’s dark secrets. With the lives of everyone she loves on the line, Constanta will have to choose between her own freedom and her love for her husband. But bonds forged by blood can only be broken by death. You can get Constanta’s full story in print or as an audiobook on OverDrive or Hoopla.
Let’s get this out of the way: that COVER though!! Author Samara Breger has said that her inspiration for her new novel A Long Time Dead was to reclaim the queer and Jewish aspects of vampire lore. Vampires are predatory in ways that have been linked to both antisemitic and homophobic undercurrents in European literature since the popularization, if not the invention, of vampire lit. The blurb calls it “lush, Victorian romance, drenched in blood and drama, about the lengths two women will go to secure a love that cannot die.” And I can’t lie, I’m an easy sell, but I was sold then. Breger’s protagonist Poppy woke one evening in an unfamiliar home far from London, weak and confused and plagued with a terrible thirst for blood. While vampirism presented several disadvantages, it more than made up for those in its benefits: immortality, a body that could run at speed for hours without tiring, the thrill of becoming a predator, the thing that pulls rabbits from bushes and tears through their fur and flesh with the sharp point of a white fang. And, of course, Roisin: the mysterious woman who has lived for centuries, who held Poppy through her painful transformation, and who, for some reason, is now teaching her how to adjust to her new, endless life. Read about Poppy, Roisin, and their adventures in print or as an ebook on Hoopla.
If you like the beautiful covers of the other books on this list but don’t have the bandwidth to read a whole print novel right now, might I recommend a graphic novel? Amy Chu’s Carmilla: the First Vampire is a fresh take on the classic vampire novella Carmilla. Chu’s version is set in 1990s New York. At the height of the Lunar New Year, an idealistic social worker turns detective when she discovers young, homeless LGBTQ+ women are being murdered and no one, especially the police, seems to care. A series of clues points her to Carmilla’s, a mysterious nightclub in the heart of her neighborhood, Chinatown. There she falls for the next likely target, landing her at the center of a real-life horror story and face-to-face with illusions about herself, her life, and her hidden past. Inspired by the gothic novel that started the vampire genre and layered with dark Chinese folklore, this queer, feminist murder mystery is a tale of identity, obsession and fateful family secrets. You can read it in print or as an ebook on Hoopla
This is a vampire book that never uses the word “vampire.” House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson opens on its young heroine, Marion Shaw, working herself ragged as a servant in a filthy city. Looking at a newspaper one day, she sees her only chance to escape: a position as a bloodmaid in a wealthy house in the far north. Bloodmaids are beautiful, clean, well-fed, well-dressed– and all they have to do is provide blood for their noble employers to consume, a small price for such a life of luxury. Marion is chosen, and becomes the newest bloodmaid at the court of Countess Lisavet of the House of Hunger. But dark secrets lurk beneath the gilded halls and comfortable beds at the House of Hunger. Behind the strict etiquette and Marion’s strong attraction to her charismatic mistress, there are ancient mysteries and dangers. Who are the monsters in this place, and can Marion learn the rules to living among them? Find out in print, as an ebook on OverDrive, or as an audiobook on OverDrive.
Are you looking for a story about vampires who don’t look anything like Edward Cullen? Try The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez, which begins in 1850s Louisiana, where Gilda escapes slavery and learns about freedom while working in a brothel. After being initiated into eternal life as one who “shares the blood” by two women there, Gilda spends the next two hundred years searching for a place to call home. This novel is ruminative, told in fragmented stories over the course of Gilda’s life all the way forward until 2050– which is still the future now, but was even more of a science fiction year when this book was published in 1991. The vignettes are set in different cities and time periods, which highlight key moments in Gilda’s life. She is in California in 1890, Missouri in 1921, Massachusetts in 1955, New York in 1981, New Hampshire in 2020, and the “Land of Enchantment” in 2050. This movement across time and space also situates the themes of blackness, sexuality, and female empowerment in various contexts. You can read it in print or as an ebook on Hoopla.
Like Gilda, Lydia from Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda is a vampire who has trouble finding her place in this world. She’s grown up isolated with her difficult mother, from whom she got her vampirism, but has finally struck out on her own. She’s always wanted to try Japanese food- the food her Japanese father liked to eat. But, Lydia can’t eat any of these things. Her body doesn’t work like those of other people. The only thing she can digest is blood, and it turns out that sourcing fresh pigs’ blood in London – she’s secretly squatting in a studio space – is much more difficult than she’d anticipated. Then there are the humans – the other artists at the studio space, the people at the gallery she interns at, and the strange men that follow her after dark. Lydia knows that they are her natural prey, but she can’t bring herself to feed on them. She has many of the things humans wish for – perpetual youth, near-invulnerability, immortality – but she is miserable; she is lonely; and she is hungry – always hungry. As Lydia develops as a woman and an artist, she will learn that she must reconcile the conflicts within her – between her demon and human sides, her mixed ethnic heritage, and her relationship with food, and, in turn, humans – if she is to find a way to exist in the world. Before any of this, however, she must eat. Find out what– or should I say who– she eats in print, in ebook or audiobook on OverDrive, or in ebook or audiobook on Hoopla.
So I don’t get too carried away (if I haven’t already), let’s finish off with a nice anthology. Vampires Never Get Old is a collection of brand-new short stories by a variety of authors such as Dhonielle Clayton, Zoraida Córdova, Julie Murphy, Mark Oshiro, Rebecca Roanhorse, Victoria “V. E.” Schwab, and Kayla Whaley. (Schwab’s story is one the Netflix subscribers among you may recognize, as it shares a title with the TV show it inspired, First Kill.) Gone are the frilled Victorian vampires of classic lore– these stories each offer a fresh and interesting idea about what a vampire might be like, depending on their age, their race, their culture, their gender, their sexuality, their historical time period, their body type, and so on. Each page turn is a genuine delight, and I couldn’t leave you in better hands than these. Get it in print, as an audiobook on OverDrive, or as an audiobook on Hoopla.
