Top Ten Vampire Novels!

In honor of Blood of Midnight being free on Kindle for one last day, I decided to countdown my top ten vampire novels. I have read a lot of vampire novels. What qualifies? Every genre, from urban fantasy to paranormal romance, ya to na to adult. No holds barred.

For me, vampires are a fixture of both horror and sex appeal, and they can make or break a book, depending on how they're depicted. The books aren't organised by literary merit (for example, I believe Carry On is a much better book all around than Shadow Souls, but as far as the depiction of vampires themselves go, Shadow Souls takes the cake.)

10 - City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

City of Ashes isn't technically a vampire novel, but this fantasy novel has a few of my favorite bloodsuckers in it; Simon, Raphael, Lily, Camille - Clare has a some of the best members of the undead masses, here. Plus, that scene where Simon bites Jace is really, really hot. Jimon for the win, bitches!

9 - Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

These books annoy me, I'm not going to lie. They're also addicting. As much as I often want to punch Sookie in the head (mostly in the later books, as opposed to the first few) there's something about these that is just undeniably fun and entrancing. They get more watered down as the series progresses and other entities are introduced, though.

8 - Blood Promise by Richelle Mead

This is easily the best of the Vampire Academy series, at least in my opinion. It's hot, sure, but it's also got a broad scope - Minnesota to Moscow, people - and a deadly romance. Rose really rises to the occasion in this book and the emotional arc + intense final action sequence leave their mark.

7 - Interview With The Vampire

This is self-explanatory. It's set primarily in the south. It's homoerotic. It has Lestat. Lestat is my husband, people. Stay the fuck away from him, we're gonna get married someday.

6 - New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

Yup, I'm gonna go there. Why does this make the list, you may ask? Because while the Twilight Saga is hella problematic and cheesy, it has its moments. I like New Moon the most, mostly because Bella is less insufferable in this, and because we get to meet the Volturi. Meyer focuses on romance too much, but when she focuses on horror, her horror tends to work. Also, you know, Emmett is my husband.

5 - I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

This is a treasure. If you haven't read this you're missing out. There is a certain sadness and hopelessness to this novel, but the vampires are very evocative of sheer, unbridled tear.  I consider this a must-read.

4 - My Blood Approves by Amanda Hocking

My Blood Approves is, essentially, Twilight with normal teenagers. I.E. what if Bella acted like an actual teenager instead of a forty year old woman? Hocking has said she wrote these with the Scream franchise in mind, having a conversation with the vampire romance genre the same way Scream is a conversation with the slasher genre, and it works. It's fun, funny, and kinda adorable.

3 - Carry On by Rainbow Rowell 

Another book that isn't actually a vampire novel, but is, instead, a fantasy. The love interest is a vampire though. A gay vampire. A gay wizard vampire. Baz is also my husband. I now have a harem of vampire husbands. There is nothing you can do about it.

2 - The Return, Shadow Souls by L.J. Smith

This is just, I don't even know, it's the best. The Dark Dimension was a world that fascinated me, and of course, Smith is like, the vampire queen. The Return Arc took the Vampire Diaries into high fantasy territory, and it worked. For me, at least.

1 - The Last Vampire by Christopher Pike

Like all Pike books, the last vampire isn't for everyone. It's dark, kind of ruthless, and also corny as fuck at times. but it also has competent writing, a fascinating main character, and a very rich mythological tapestry. Also, slight sci-fi and thriller elements.

Honorable Mentions: The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, Frostbite,The Vampire Lestat, Black Beast (Shadow Thane), Insatiable.

So that's that, folks. All in all I think we can agree, if not on specific titles, then at least on the fact that we all loves the fanged undead. Also that, more than anything else, I deserve a harm of vampire husbands. If Dracula can have three brides, I can date a bunch of immortal studs, okay? Let me live.

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You Had a Thing No One Could Ever Be Sure Of

Title from the song Weight of Love by The Black Keys.

So. It's Black Friday. I worked from 9 to 5:30 today, then scrambled over to Best Buy and got a new laptop. Then I ran home and did the dishes, threw some chicken strips in the oven, and bolted to open this computer as fast as humanly possible.

I think I've met my one true love. No, but seriously - this laptop if my new golden child.

Anyway, I'm dead tired, but I'm taking a night off editing SOSAS, so I told myself I had to write a blog post instead, so here I am.

The last few weeks have been crazy.

Since I started working this job, I've lost ten pounds. My feet are covered in blisters, and my hands are constantly cut from the cardboard sleeves in the boxes at work, and by the time I'm off ever night I'm dead-tired from spending 8 hours on my feet, interacting with people, lugging out boxes and shelving stuff. It's tiring work, and anxiety doesn't make it easier. It's awful coming home after an eight and a half hour shift to realize you still have to write for two hours, on top of doing stuff around the house (aka picking up after four cats) and cooking dinner, if it's my turn to cook that night. I'm stretched pretty thin. There have been nights where I haven't written anything at all, because I come home and just pass out until it's time to get up and go back to work again. Did I mention I'm glad I'm only working seasonal?

I go back to school in January, and that will make work harder, too, but it's only for one semester, and then I'm free! I still totally failed Nano this month (actual life took over my life) but this job pays better than royalties right now, and I need this money so I can buy stuff that makes my job doable - like a laptop with a functional keyboard - and stuff that I desperately need; a phone, new clothing, gas, food - you know, the annoying shit we all need to live. But I'm hoping that now that I have this laptop and can write in bed, I'll put more work hours in.

Goodbye, external keyboard. Hello, productivity!

Work aside, I've actually gotten in a lot of reading lately while waiting for the bus or my ride home from work, and I just finished Carry On by Rainbow Rowell (my new favorite book! Review here) and Ruin and Rising, by Leigh Bardugo (review here).  What I really want now is the new Amanda Hocking, which doesn't come out until after new year's, so maybe a Kanin re-read is in order. . .

I've been listening to a lot of PVRIS and Tor Miller. I am obsessively watching Scream Queens. And you. Always. At night, when you think you're alone, I see you, staring into the dark, wondering . . .

Or maybe not.

And that's all I have to mention. As soon as I have a day off I'll have a blog about work and a blog about all this epic pop culture that I've been taking in lately, but right now I'm too tired to delve into much of it, outside of listing shit off.

Now I'm going to pass out, and wake up, and work another eight hour shift. Wish me luck. (I really, really, really need it.)