There are tons of articles dedicated to sexiest vampire or the coolest vampire. This article is different — it’s my picks for the books that have adapted the legend of the blood drinking supernatural the best. By “the best” I mean those who have mixed the old and new legends together in good way. Sometimes the legends gets twisted into strange extremes. The vampire mythos is barely there. Of course we all know Bram Stoker’s Dracula started the literary trend. After thinking about it, the titles below are what I believe to be the best mixes, in no particular order.
1. Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles
Of course she would be up here. Rice helped invent the modern vampire. Her vampires do not consume food. They do burn (mostly) in the sun. As they age, their powers grow. They are not able to procreate even after drinking blood. The only humanity in her vampires is their emotions and the form they maintain after they die. As they age, they start to look less human. Their skin hardens and feels like stone. Her vampires set off a new wave of vampire creations.
2. Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress Series
The vampires are bit souped up in this series. The only real thing that can kill them is a silver stake in the heart. Her vampires still get weak in daylight. Of course, they are powerful and beautiful. They each develop unique powers over time. Cat Crawfield, the main heroine, is half vampire. It gives her a boost in strength and power but not so much that she’s an all powerful being. Frost’s vampires are believable and always fun to read about.
3. Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake Series
Despite my current opinions of Anita, Hamilton does know how to create a good vampire. Her vampires are a good mix of old and new legends. They can still be killed by sunlight and a stake through the heart. Yet, they have an interesting array of powers that keep them from being boring. Jean Claude has the powers of an incubus. The vampires are descended from different lines with various powers attributed to them. One line could rot their skin and regenerate it back.
4. Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files Series
I know the books are mainly about wizards but the vampires in the series are great. We first come across Bianca, a red court vampire. These vampires feed off blood and are very powerful. There are other types of vampires in the series: white court and black court. White court vampires feed off emotional energy. Black courts look like rotting corpses. Red and Black court vampires are the most like Stoker’s Dracula. I found it interesting to see how each type of vampire differed from each other. Butcher put a lot of thought into creating them.
5. Elizabeth Kostova’s The Historian
Photo by mtkr
This is a stand alone book but one of the best vampire novels I’ve ever read. She sticks to the myth of Vlad Dracula himself. The historical figure stalks the novel looking for those who get too close to the truth. He needs someone to keep the record of his life. He also wants to find those of his bloodline. All the old legends are there. He can be killed by beheading, fire, sunlight, and holy instruments.
