Vampire/Zombie books

[j. d. worthington]

Weeeellllll... the Seabrook is at least supposed to be nonfiction... and is still considered one of the better books on the subject from the period. (It is a fascinating read, I will admit....)

L.L.: When you mention Alraunes here... are you thinking of the sort Ewers has in his novel, or....?

[Lobolover]

call me Lobo

and-I meant spirits conjured in plant form.Thats whats called an "Alraun" .

[j. d. worthington]

Can't say I recall any such right off the top of my head, but that could just be my spotty memory....

[Lobolover]

and any other good undead/vampiric novel from the classic period does?

[j. d. worthington]

For some vampire suggestions, you might try the following:

Vampire Compendium - Classic Vampire Works by Date

while for werewolves:

Werewolf fiction - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Zombies, however, are another matter....

[Lobolover]

ah,yes,Zombies tend to be usd mass-markedly.

Well,if we ARE speaking of Werewolves,theres Clemence Housman and HIS "The werewolf"-marvelous short read.

The only thing I can remember where the undead were used in a good book was "Lilith"-but thats rather a queer mater.

[j. d. worthington]

Yes, the Clemence Housman is an especially good tale, I agree.

There are various writers who have used the zombie theme, but as I've noted elsewhere, it's rather difficult (though not impossible) to ring a reasonable change on a walking corpse that doesn't involve, for instance, it having some form of conscious personality... which makes it more of a revenant of a different kind....

[Lobolover]

well,I did a story with them-burned canibal corpses breeding animals and children corpses for food-as sort of a countrweight for the "vegetarian"(well,moss eating) undead the narrator "befrieds" (he just follows him around)-and this one person,who liked all my other works-thought it was sickening.

[Connavar]

I saw Lumley's Necroscope series newest book in the bookshop.

I know its Vamp series, is it also good horror wise ? Or is urban fantisiezed vamp story that arent horror like at all ?

[Roy1]

Tomes of The Dead is a series

of some of the very best eyeball popping, gut munching, zombie fiction around, groaning with horror and excitement

The books in the series are published by Abaddon.

Each book will explore the zombie genre in new and thrilling ways.

Another Vampire novel is

'Gabriele Caccini –The Vampire Gene Book 1' (author Paigan Stone) has been available to purchase on Amazon and all leading book stores since January 2007. It has recently been nominated for BOOK of The YEAR with ForeWord Magazine and WON the SILVER AWARD FOR BEST HORROR NOVEL FOR 2007. Furthermore it has been placed on the recommended list by the British Fanatsy Society. The BFS awards take place in September 2008 at FantasyCon in Nottingham.

Author Samantha Stone is in the Best Novel category.
Samantha is working on sequels as Gabriele Caccini will now be repackaged and re-launched under the name Killing Kiss in September with The House of Murky Depths.

[Roy1]

And an example of Zombie fiction in Black Static magazine issue 5

The Second Death of Johan Kludge by Tim Casson is much more enjoyable, telling the tale of a man set upon and killed by footpads, only to find himself brought back to life as one of the living dead. The story veers a little towards overly ripe melodrama in its closing moments, but this is otherwise an effective zombie tale told from a relatively unusual point of view.

from Lawrence Conquest's blog review.

[rogerd]

New here, so hey folks!

I'm glad someone mentioned David Wellington.

Read of them online, and they were brilliant.

As to Daywalker type books, try Barb Hendee who wrote Dhampir. A very good series set in a Middle Earth type scenario.

For vampires I prefer Brian Lumley, who took the horrific ideas of vampires to new levels.

[Connavar]

I have wondered aboutif Necroscope series is more dark fantasy/horror than the supernatural spy thriller the first book sounds like ?

[j. d. worthington]

It's a blending of the two, Connavar. The "spy thriller" aspect is because the whole is ESPionage -- the use of various types of extra-sensory perception-type talents for purposes of maintaining the security or advancing the agendas of the political powers involved; but that inevitably brings them into contact (and conflict) with the entire realm of the paranormal, including the supernatural and horrific. This aspect is often dealt with in an extreme fashion, but Lumley also manages to capture an atmosphere of the unearthly with it, at times very effectively.

I find myself in an odd position, because I'm very aware of Lumley's faults as a writer, yet I find I quite enjoy a great deal of his work nonetheless. It's often like a higher grade of pulp tale brought into a later sensibility. He isn't going to be to everyone's taste, but his work does often tend to be fairly fast-paced and quite enjoyable.

As for his take on vampires -- whether you like it or not, one has to admit that the man does (while remaining fully in touch with their roots in folklore and literature) take them in quite new directions, and turns them into some of the nastiest critters (and characters: Thibor Ferenczy, anyone?) you're ever likely to encounter in horror fiction.

[murphy]

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

It's a blending of the two, Connavar. The "spy thriller" aspect is because the whole is ESPionage -- the use of various types of extra-sensory perception-type talents for purposes of maintaining the security or advancing the agendas of the political powers involved; but that inevitably brings them into contact (and conflict) with the entire realm of the paranormal, including the supernatural and horrific. This aspect is often dealt with in an extreme fashion, but Lumley also manages to capture an atmosphere of the unearthly with it, at times very effectively.

I find myself in an odd position, because I'm very aware of Lumley's faults as a writer, yet I find I quite enjoy a great deal of his work nonetheless. It's often like a higher grade of pulp tale brought into a later sensibility. He isn't going to be to everyone's taste, but his work does often tend to be fairly fast-paced and quite enjoyable.

As for his take on vampires -- whether you like it or not, one has to admit that the man does (while remaining fully in touch with their roots in folklore and literature) take them in quite new directions, and turns them into some of the nastiest critters (and characters: Thibor Ferenczy, anyone?) you're ever likely to encounter in horror fiction.

Everyone is allowed their guilty pleasures, thank goodness.