Interim 2012 starts today and once again I’m teaching Vampire Literature. Our reading list: Suzy Charnas, The Vampire Tapestry Kikuchi, Hideyuki, Vampire Hunter D Kohta Hirano, Hellsing, vol 1, 4, 8 Robin McKinley, Sunshine Alan Ryan, ed., The Penguin Book of Vampire Stories Bram Stoker, Dracula Movies: Nosferatu (1922) Dracula (1931) Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) … Read More
A new school year is starting. Time to really nail this list down. No pun intended. Only 25 left. The Top 70 Vampire Movies of All Time 70. Bordello of Blood (1996) *Bon Jovi Corollary: John Carpenter’s Vampires: Los Muertos 69. Vampire in Brooklyn (1995) 68. Dracula 2000 (2000) 67. Queen of the Damned (2002) … Read More
Yi-Che, Kei, Sho, Son, and Toshi during happier times. Moon Child is the oddest movie. One part social commentary on racial tensions between Japanese and Taiwanese citizens living in the fictional city of Mallepa in the year 2014. One part martial arts action film staring Japanese rock stars Gackt and HYDE. One part low budget—my … Read More
I am occasionally asked what my favorite vampire novels are. And although I still have a tall pile of vampire novels to read on the floor of my office (I’m currently reading I am Legend), here, in no particular order, are my current top 10. 1. Bram Stoker, Dracula (1897) The original and still best. … Read More
Penguin Hardcover Classics has released a new edition of Dracula. It is gorgeous. I wanted to order it for my Brit Lit survey class but couldn’t justify having students buy a hardcover when there are so many paperback versions. Still, it really is a beautiful book. I love the pattern that the sort of sinister … Read More
Director: Scott Charles Stewart Writers: Cory Goodman, Min-Woo Hyung Stars: Paul Bettany, Cam Gigandet and Maggie Q I was delighted when I first heard the manga series Priest, by Min-Woo Hyung, was being made into a movie. And with Paul Bettany as the Priest? Awesome. But then I head that they had added vampires and … Read More
The almost official booklist: Bram Stoker, Dracula The Penguin Book of Vampire Stories Elizabeth Kostova, The Historian Robin McKinley, Sunshine Suzy McKee, The Vampire Tapestry Movies. Dracula (1931) Nosferatu (1922) Let the Right One In (2008) Let Me In (2010) Perfect Creature (2006)
Rachel Caine Signet (June 3, 2008) One thing you realize after reading a lot of vampire fiction, particularly of the young adult kind, is how many common tropes there are. The vampire ball, the magic item of jewelry, the discovery that vampires aren’t bothered by religious items, the sad and sympathetic male vampire(Hello, Byron?), the … Read More
Rachel Caine Books One and Two of the Morganville Vampires series NAL Jam; Reissue edition October 3, 2006 and April 3, 2007 Rachel Caine’s vampire series came out in 2006. And here’s the thing: when I started reading it I thought, “Wow! This is so fresh and original!!” Why? Because the vampires are actually the … Read More
Jeannie Frost Avon (October 30, 2007) I’m not exactly proud of this one. But after a hard week and an on-coming cold, sometimes you need to slum a little bit. Halfway to the Grave is book one in the Night Huntress series and centers on half-human, half-vampire vampire hunter Cat. This is pretty standard Harlequin-Romance-meets-Vampires … Read More
Seth Grahame-Smith Grand Central Publishing; 1st edition (March 2, 2010) I finally finished Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter today. It took me 7 months to do it and that might be review enough in itself. Just last week I told myself I needed to either make a final push and finish the darn thing or just … Read More
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; Reprint edition (April 1, 2009) So, here’s the deal. Vampirates shouldn’t surf. Actually, vampires shouldn’t really surf—the sequel to Lost Boys taught us that. But vampirates really shouldn’t surf. And, seeing as how our first vampirate starts surfing on just about the second page of volume two of the … Read More
by Justin Somper Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (October 4, 2006) Forget Twilight or Vampire Diaries or whatever else. What you want to be reading right now is Vampirates. So. Much. Fun. I discovered Justin Somper’s series quite by accident. I was in the juvenile section of the library with my son looking for … Read More
Well, fast on the heels of finishing one of the most satisfying vampire novels I’ve read in some time, I read one of the least satisfying. Karen Essex’s Dracula in Love: a Novel revisits Bram Stoker’s Dracula but claims to tell the story from Mina’s side. I liked the sort of more “realistic” version of … Read More
I watched episodes 1-3 of Kuroshitsuji II the other night. So far, it is every bit as decadent as you want it to be. Much like episode 1 of Kuroshitsuji I, the first episode of Kuroshitsuji II is a primer on its characters. In the same way that the original series opened with an obscure … Read More
Busy night for me, I guess. Still under the thrall of Sunshine (see my earlier post from this evening), I watched Malice in Wonderland with Dale. It’s a really nicely done British adaptation of Alice in Wonderland Lots of familiar faces in the cast too. Danny Dryer is Whitey (the White Rabbit), Nathaniel Parker is … Read More
Just finished reading Robin McKinley’s Sunshine. Lordy. What a fabulous read! Many thanks to Emily U. for recommending it to me. I think I devoured it in a 24 hour period—I read until 2:00am last night and then polished it off over a few hours this afternoon. Even the great Neil Gaiman loves it. His … Read More
Well, callooh callay! I just found out that there is a second season of Kuroshitsuji called, appropriately enough, Kuroshitsuji II. This “sequel” features a different butler and 12-year old master, but evidently Sebastian and several other supporting characters from the first go round are present. There are only 3 episodes available with English subs at … Read More
I finished up the anime version of Kuroshitsuji last night. No vampires here but gosh darn it if the Butler in question, Sebastian Michaelis, isn’t every bit as dark and seductive as you want him to be. As I explained in an earlier post on the manga, the brilliance of Kuroshitsuji lies in a pun. … Read More
I had the great pleasure of being a guest on episode 17 of Trending Cinema, hosted by Jon Tilton and Simon Miraudo. The episode was about, what else?, vampires. At the end of the episode, we all gave reading/viewing suggestions. Here is a recap of mine. 1. The Vampire Tapestry by Auzy McKee Charnas See … Read More