And I am enthralled with a book as fresh as yesterday.
Not being much of a horror/sci fi reader, however, I have a question for anyone who is. In books about vampires, the humans always seem to have to learn the ways of vampires.
But "new" vampires, always seem to immediately understand the rules and oddities of their kind. Is this a misconception? Are there novels where vampires struggle to understand that they cannot be outside in daylight. Or that mirrors are dangerous things?
Is there a rulebook for new vampires or are they converted to vampirism with the instructions embedded?
8 comments:
Patti: Anne Rice answered those questions. (I recommend the first two)
Interview With the Vampire (1976)
The Vampire Lestat (1985)
The Queen of the Damned (1988)
The Tale of the Body Thief (1992)
Memnoch the Devil (1995)
Through, my favorite was Matheson's.
I always meant to try one of her books. Thanks.
I also recommend Rice's first two. I never could get through THE QUEEN OF THE DAMNED and stopped trying any of hers after that.
Hi Patti
I can't answer that question, but I have to comment anyway: "I Am Legend" is a real masterpiece. I rarely read sci-fi, so I wasn't expecting much, but it was great. I think it's also interesting in that it sits somewhere in between the vampire and zombie subgenres.
Rafe
Zombies are even more esoteric than vampires. They eat the dead, they move slowly, what else? They seem to suffer from a lack of romanticism compared to vampires.
Well, read Joanna Russ on vampires, though I forget which essay collection it was...BUFFY the tv series dealt a bit with newly-undead vampires, as did Matheson's "Blood Son" and perhaps a Jerome Bixby story I'm forgetting the title of. And I believe there's some of it dealt with in Kim Newman's wonderful series that begins with ANNO DRACULA. (I couldn't, or at least had no desire to, slog any further than the first hundred pages of Anne Rice's INTERVIEW, and everything I've tried by her since has also not been my throbbing vein.)
Anne Rice was hugely encouraged by the actually brilliant writer Theodore Sturgeon, who's rationalized vampire novel SOME OF YOUR BLOOD is worth reading if not his best work.
Thanks for the recs, Todd. I'll look for them.
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