Reddit mentions: The best vampire horror books

Most of these recommendations are sort of peripherally queer, so they may not be exactly what you're looking for, but I figured I'd throw them out there in case you're interested.

I admit I'm not a big fan of it, but Virginia Woolf's Orlando is definitely a queer text. The titular character changes from male to female, and the book itself is often read as a love letter to Vita Sackville-West, the woman with whom Woolf had a love affair. I had trouble getting engaged in it myself, but your mileage may vary.

Santa Olivia (and the sequel, Saints Astray) by Jacqueline Carey features a lesbian romance. Not super heavy, but they're fairly quick, fun reads. Carey's Kushiel series (beginning with Kushiel's Dart) might qualify as queer, in that it embraces and celebrates all types of relationships and sexualities (they are set in a society where the gods' most sacred precept is "Love as thou wilt," and bisexuality and open relationships are typical). The primary love stories are heterosexual, but the characters also often engage in same-sex relationships (both sexually and emotionally), and there are supporting characters of various sexual persuasions.

The Tamir Trilogy by Lynn Flewelling is about the rightful heir to the throne in a troubled kingdom. Born female, she was magically disguised as a boy in order to protect her (the usurper king has been making noblewomen disappear in order to protect the succession of his own son). It maybe doesn't explore the consequences of Tobin/Tamir being essentially transgendered as deeply as it could, but it's an interesting and enjoyable read.

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin is a sci-fi classic that plays with gender and sexuality. The basic concept is that, on the planet of Winter, everyone is hermaphroditic. Le Guin's thoughtful exploration of this world was incredibly groundbreaking at the time it was written, and it remains a really enjoyable and thought-provoking read.

Octavia Butler's work also often embraces feminist and queer themes, playing with sexuality and gender. Fledgling and the Xenogenesis Trilogy are some you might find interesting.

The Female Man by Joanna Russ is an explicitly feminist book with some queer themes. It follows women from four alternate realities (one of which is a utopia populated entirely by women) as they cross over into each others' worlds. It's not always an easy read--it can be very fragmetary--but it's totally worth it.

I also just stumbled across this self-proclaimed Gay Fiction Booklist That Doesn't Suck. Some of the above books are listed, and there are a bunch more sci-fi/fantasy titles that might be of interest.

Happy reading!

> From what I can tell (you're obviously quite a bit more familiar with the material you're discussing than me), non-perfect romance characters are still exceptional in some way.

In general, yes. But some of this is simply that characters in any kind of light, fun book will almost be exceptional in one way or another. Fiction is supposed to be entertaining, and light fiction usually includes a large amount of wish fulfillment.

> If he's physically below average (Miles), he's a natural leader and a genius.

Heh. Miles is a force of nature. He's the patron saint of "fake it 'till you make it," and he manipulates everyone constantly. When he has his real romance plot, this tendency causes him to fuck things up very badly.

> If he lives what would broadly be considered a mundane life (the small town characters you mentioned), he's at least a big fish in a small pond (sheriff, firefighter -- and I'm guessing both of those characters are physically attractive, too).

I'd say that most of the guys in this particular series are maybe 1-in-10, or 1-in-20 guys, at the absolute most. Good decent guys, reasonably masculine in a quiet way, but generally down on their luck. Maybe they have a decent jawline or something, but they're not hunks. The female leads, on the other hand, are generally pretty good looking and they possess massive amounts of supernatural power.

But it's rare to find a romance novel where the female lead is awesome and kick-ass, and the male lead is just a bit above average. The appeal of these particular guys is that they really are decent human beings.

What you do see fairly often is guys who are non-traditional but still badass. An autistic pilot, a charming conman with a heart of gold, the ex-soldier with severe PTSD, and so on. Romance heroes are definitely not cookie-cutter, and many of them are damaged goods. Especially if there's a series of related romance novels, each hero needs to be different and stand out in their own way. Part of the genre is matching the right hero to the right heroine.

> You're right that these characters are a lot closer to average than more stereotypical romance novel characters, but they're still pretty far from "that cute guy in accounting."

Hmm, it's not a romance, but I suppose you could try The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant.

I believe that all your "loved" stories are high fantasy (perhaps all your stories, period), so I suspect you'll get a lot more mileage out of this list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_high_fantasy_fiction than anything we provide here. Another huge clue is your lack of urban fantasy reading. Given that it's been the dominant trend in fantasy for a decade and you still have sampled only one series (Dresden), I think it's clear that you avoid that subgenre and so should our recommendations. That said, here's some possible winners.


 



Sunshine by Robin McKinley



Summary: A 20-something female protagonist meets vampires? How original! We've never seen that before in literature! /sarcasm



You might loath it because: Right after I just got done saying we should avoid urban fantasy, my first pick is...an urban fantasy...with the ultimate YA female cliche as the plot. That said, this is no cliche. It's so far removed from most of that ilk as to be a different theme altogether. Also, there's really only one high-octane, action/adventure scene in the book (the climax towards the end)--the plot is more similar to Name of the Wind than Lies of Locke Lamora. I.E., more character development & world-building and less action/adventure.



You might love it because: It's technically urban fantasy, but it's definitely not our world, so I suspect it may tap into that whoa-this-is-a-completely-different-place experience that high fantasy provides. There is a maximum amount of world-building conveyed with a minimum of text. The prose is excellent and gives off a surreal vibe at times due to it's first person, interior monologue, stream of consciousness style (normally I hate that in novels, but it works here). It has a definite character arc, both personally and in terms of skill. We see a metaphorical zero growing into a metaphorical hero as a humble baker discovers she might have some magic in her. The main character behaves like a real person, there's no "omg why would X do that??" moments. While there is weirdness (cuz fantasy), there's otherwise no suspension of disbelief; the people and the world are coherent and make sense.




The Conan Stories by Robert Howard



Summary: Three books comprising 20-30 short stories & novelettes that jump around in time and location. The tale of Conan of Cimmeria is told "just as an adventurer in a tavern would tell the tales of their life, as they occurred to them."


Accept no substitutes. The books linked above are literally the only "real" version of the Conan stories available for purchase and in their proper order. Until 2003 the Conan tales were edited, modified, revamped, rewritten, extended, etc. to suit whoever had the license at the time. Most of the Conan literature on the market until then was not written by Robert Howard at all.




You might loath it because: it's a series of linked TV episodes as opposed to a movie (Firefly VS Serenity). While there is a character arc, Conan--by and large--stays roughly the same throughout (Mal in Firefly), so this might not appeal to you if you like to see the level 1 protagonist growing to level 10 over time.



You might love it because: consistent world & world-building. Main themes are exploration and action/adventure. The prose is fantastic (it starts out so-so but turns superb as time goes by). No deus ex machina to resolve the plot.



Reading picks: Due to this being a compilation, I'd highly recommend checking out a couple before you take the plunge. For the shortest read: "The Tower of the Elephant." This is Conan as a young adult who wandered south from Cimmeria and--being broke--decides to try his hand at thievery... For a longer read (though still a short story): "The Queen of the Black Coast." This is Conan as an adult and on the run from the law, who jumps aboard the first ship he comes to...




 



I'm gonna speed through the rest because this might take me forever otherwise. :-/


The Riyria novels by M. Sullivan. (probably safest bet)



The Black Magician trilogy by T. Canavan.



The Farseer trilogy by R. Hobb. (Could go either way. 50% of the story elements go along with your "liked/loved" stories and 50% of elements go along with your "disliked". Ultimately I think it'll boil down to the "disliked" bits. A few negatives: The trilogy ends in a bittersweet fashion, but the vast bulk is a series of tragedies that could be avoided fairly easily but are endured because of insert-story-reason-here. Also the main hero develops personally, but not significantly in terms of skill. Despite the lead character being an "assassin" it's sort of tacked on...assassination rarely occurs and when it does, is typically offstage. He's seemingly mediocre in combat. There is very little action and most of the story is internal and interpersonal. If all that doesn't faze you, then you'll probably enjoy it.)



Super obvious but the Harry Potter and LOTR series are likely a good match.



The Bartimaeus trilogy by Stroud. (an oldie but a goodie. probably another safe bet.)



The Night Angel trilogy by Weeks. (He was a new author when this was written so there are flaws, though mostly in books 2 & 3. The 2nd book in the series may induce book-throwing syndrome because of characters being obvious derps--similar to the Farseer trilogy in that regard. Regardless, book 1 is mostly solid and if you can overlook the aforementioned stuff the whole series will be very entertaining for you.)



The Gormenghast trilogy by M. Peake. (Might work for you. It's a lesser-known fantasy classic that will enthrall you if you love beautiful prose.)



That's all I can think of that would seem to match off, though I'm at work. ;) I'll add more if I think of any. Happy reading!

This has been one of my favorite character archetypes to play around with in my head for years. I don't have a TON of guidance mechanically speaking as I've never specifically played one in Shadowrun, but if you're concerned about the idea of them being officially classes as "Wild Spirits", well, the Nature Spirits category in Shadowrun already includes the subsection "Spirits of Man", and the examples given include spirits of streets, or the hearth. Why wouldn't the spirit of a car be a "tamed" spirit? It was created and "controlled" by human hands; if anything, the spirit of a car would be MORE comprehensible to a human mind than a Mountain spirit, because a car is a human creation, engineered entirely to serve human understanding and need. Or a highway, or an apartment building. Does not an apartment building still have every bit as much need of a Spirit of the Hearth as a log shack in the forest? It all comes down to how one arrives at the idea flavorwise: how does shamanism work? A shaman (at least of the variety loosely described by most RPG's, shadowrun included) is, at root, an Animist - someone who believes, in some capacity, that ALL things have a spirit, and that if you know what you're doing, those spirits can be interacted with. Just because something was "made" doesn't mean it has no spirit, and just because a human being made something doesn't mean that that thing isn't, ultimately, an expression of the same natural process that made mountains or forests or lakes.

​

If your storyteller is hesitant or wants inspiration as to how those kinds of spirits might behave/think/operate, it might be an odd source for it, but one of the best inspirations I've ever found for it was in a World of Darkness tie-in novel titled Three Shades of Night. In the Werewolf section, there's a teenage kid who's an urban shaman, and talks with the spirits of street murals, piles of trash/litter, and an old abandoned house. It won't quite touch on the kind of cyberpunk future-tech you might encounter in Shadowrun, but it's definitely a great start on how to think about the idea.

​

Hope any of that is helpful.

That canvas! If I had access to the rest of the needed supplies, that would definitely be something I'd want. Though I don't...

I have so many lists.. But here goes:

Super Sculpey is on my artsy list because I found you can alter vinyl figures with it and boil or lightly bake it! Further customizing, which I find neat.

Bravely Default is on my list because the demo got me hooked. I use to hate JRPG type games and turn-based games, but this one seems fun with a lot of extra's. (Like extra things to do.)

Purple bed set.. SO DARN ELEGANT.. I mean shhh. Basically purple and black go together so wonderfully and my bed is a mess of colors right now. xD Tiger stripes with green bedding and flowery and black pillow cases. Also a big purple pillow and a leopard print.

African Violet perfume oil is on my list because back when I would go to the flea market there was a man and lady who sold essential oils. African violet was such a mesmerizing scent. I had it all over my room, the house.. Basically anywhere it would smell divine at.

Hard choice between House Of Leaves and I Am Legend. Both are books I want to read because I love the reviews. I generally go for non-fiction, horror books. Both seem to be right for the reading. I want to be scared or intrigued! Hooked into a story.

Coloring book... because I am a kid at heart!

Magnetic cubes! I want these because the original circular buckyballs/neocubes are always WAY to high priced. It's an alternative, and I love magnetic things.

Nubian goat light switch cover because.. goats! I love nubian goats and that's, that! (Also love just about any type of goats..)

Daemon tarot cards because I am fascinated with anything to do with demons, or entities. Generally anything tarot card or fortune related also. More so things that are evil, because people tend to shy away.. While I go towards them.

Last but not least...

I'm such a sucker for Norman Reedus... I want it to hang on my wall. I even have a frame waiting for it. (Thank's WalMart.) Got 2 frames for the price of one!

>How do video games help you? They improve your hand-eye coordination. They improve your reflexes. You can learn new vocabulary in video games too through the story. If you're playing multiplayer, it can be an opportunity to meet new people and socialize.

True.


>How does reading help you? Well, it can increase your vocabulary. That's a small improvement, but it's an improvement.

That's a gross oversimplification. Books at their finest give us insights into the human condition. They can tell us more about the world around us, and other people's perspective on things, or they can challenge our most firmly held convictions. That's not just nonfiction books either, even a simple vampire story can shock you with a new perspective on things.

Video games typically just aren't this mature. Few games have meaningful content beyond just being "fun." Partially because it's a newer medium, and partially because of the industry's fixation on selling games to teenage boys.

>So obviously, video games are better for you than reading.

Not obvious to me.

> And when the people that were around when video games were invented die out, video games won't be seen as "taboo" anymore. They won't be something that a parent needs to limit a child's time on.

You haven't made that argument. Children should be able to play games for 20 hours straight at the expense of other things in their life... why? Because it might improve their hand-eye coordination? Depending on the type of game even that's arguable. After 200 hours of grinding in a JRPG you stop getting anything really useful out of the experience. What about Farmville or any of those crappy iOS games that are explicitly designed to be time sucks with IAP's? It's like eating 50 cans of Pringles. You might want to, and it might taste good, but there's better things you could be doing.

I can concede to your overall point though, depending on what you're playing and what you're reading. Are you playing "Papers, Please", and reading Twilight? Yeah, the video game is a meaningful experience and the book is trash.

Some slightly obscure ones I read years ago that sound like what you might be looking for:

The I, Vampire series by Michael Romkey

Bring on the Night by Jay and Don Davis. Link is to the Kindle edition, but Amazon has dirt-cheap used paperbacks, too.

Gentleman Vampire by P.N. Elrod (who was mentioned elsewhere for her Vampire PI series)

I Am Dracula C. Dean Anderson. A Dracula POV novel about his ascent to become Lord of the Vampires. Lurid and filled with demons, magic, all sorts of pulpy weirdness and wickedness.

None of these are super dense, challenging reads, but they're high on action, paranormal happenings, and fun. I certainly enjoyed them when I read them.

I'll also second (or third, or forth) the recommendations for The Vampire Chronicles. The first two books in the series (Interview and Lestat) are classic modern vampire tales for good reasons, with Lestat especially striking a good balance between mood and action, self-reflection and external conflict. The third book (Queen of the Damned) is a kinetic, intense potboiler and really fun. I even think the fourth book (Tale of the Body Thief) doesn't get enough credit for being just a damned good read.

Here are some off the top of my head I can remember liking:

Day by Day Armageddon: The first book is amazing and it trails from there.

The Stain Trilogy: Again the first one is awesome, then they fall fast to the point I stopped reading the third one for a couple weeks, before I finished.

The Passage: A Novel This is a huge book, that spans a large timeline. Like most modern "huge" books there is some slow reading and some boring parts but over all I liked it, there is a second one, but I haven't started it yet.

I know some will think the Stain and Passage don't belong here due to the fact they are not zombies, but if you want stories about monsters that eat people and society collapses, then that's what they offer.

LZR-1143: Within, and LZR-1143: Perspectives are two free short stories that are intros (bait) for the real series of LZR-1143 books. I just finished Within last night and after reading the two free books, the rest of the LZR series will be next.

Sawkill Stories: The Silver Tower This is another free intro book, I liked the story and the writing style, and will get around to reading the main book, I hesitate because there are plenty of typos in the free book, and the reviews of the main state the same thing.

Listening to:

• Radical Face
  
• Harley Poe
  
• O'Death
  
  I also spent the week devouring Brand New's discography while at work. Monday: Your Favorite Weapon; Tuesday: Deja Entendu; Wednesday: Fight Off Your Demons; Thursday: The Devil and God; and today was Daisy day. I interspersed singles from each album during that time as well, with "Out of Range," "Mene," and the Devinyl split playing today.
  
  Gonna go see:
  
  
• Captain America: Civil War
  
  This one's for my dad. He grew up with the Marvel comics, but only recently started getting into the cinematic universe. He really liked "Winter Soldier," but only got to see it from Netflix. I figure this will be a worthwhile outing.
  
  Gonna play:
  
  
• Skyrim
  
  I haven't played anything in months, but I got the itch midway through the week for some adventuring, popped the game in last night, going to play some more over the weekend.
  
  Personal:
  
  Three of my good friends are all battling various combinations of anxiety, depression, and hormone deficiencies. Two of the three start a new round of medication this weekend, so I've got my fingers crossed that maybe there'll be some progress.
  
  I'm also on the "get in shape" wagon. I fell off two years ago when I got an office job. Since the start of spring I've been trying to get my life back under my control though. Need to keep motivation and discipline high.
  
  Been reading:
  
  
• The Strain Trilogy
  
• The Golden Dawn
  
• Image of the Netherworld
  
  I have very eclectic tastes when it comes to reading material. I like to try and read two things at once: one fiction, one nonfiction, which I find helps me break up the monotony and better remember what I'm reading in each.

The Mist by Stephen King, a novella in the collection Skeleton Crew, is about small group of people taking refuge in a supermarket when a monster-filled mist rolls into town. It's fantastic, but the ending leaves a bit to be desired.

The Wayward Pines trilogy by Blake Crouch is about a secret service agent investigating a disappearance in a small Idaho town where everything is too good to be true. It's a small spoiler to include this book here because the creatures don't show up right away, but it's great.

Relic (plus one sequel) by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, is about a creature lurking in a museum.

The Alien spinoff novels are fun (but also a bit cheesy and derivative at times).

If you're into dinosaurs, there's always the Jurassic Park books. (or my book, for something a little more pulp-y).

If you're into sharks, there's Jaws (a classic) and The Meg (also pulpy).

​

Best,

Geoff Jones

Author of The Dinosaur Four

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Yes, I thought of this instantly. I really liked the Merry Gentry series by the same author but never tried Anita Blake for a long time because I thought it would be too cliche and then there was Twilight. But I finally gave it a shot, and absolutely loved it. It's a really fantastic series, especially at the beginning! But alas like oogmar said (much like the Merry Gentry series) the sex started to overwhelm and things became a bit repetitive. Still they're fairly popular so your library probably has a copy. This first book is called Guilty Pleasures and it's by Laurell K. Hamilton.

Despite the fact that it's got comedic elements, there are plenty of parts in John Dies At The End that are pretty wonderfully creepy.

House of Leaves always needs mentioning, it works its magic on numerous levels.

The absolute scariest ghost story I've ever read, and I never hear anyone talking about it, is Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel.

You can't go wrong with Stephen King, but if you haven't cracked into his books yet it can be a daunting task, he has a huge bibliography. For me, IT, The Shining, Salem's Lot, and Pet Sematary are some of the scariest, plus pretty much any of his short story collections are golden. In fact, any one of his short story collections might be the best place to start with King, I would recommend Skeleton Crew.

And while I wouldn't necessarily categorize it as strict "horror", one of the books that's scared me the most is Alan Moore's graphic novel From Hell. It's an absolute beast (and it's pretty much nothing like the film adaptation with Johnny Depp, so don't let that color your perceptions).

A really good writer that does a good job at making everyone fleshed out, is A. Lee Martinez.

If you like high-fantasy read In the Company of Ogres

If you enjoy the supernatural elements read Gil's all fright diner

If you want a detective read the Automatic detective

If you want a modern mythological read Divine Misfortune

If you want a a strong female lead with bouts of comedy try A nameless witch

If you want a book that has plenty of monsters try Monster

If you want eldritch horrors threatening the world try Chasing the Moon

And if you want a contrast to the heroes saving the day here is a story of a kobold housemaid who ends up in a perilous situtation Too Many curses

I can't stress enough how wonderful this writer is, his ability to make likable and strong characters is phenominal even when he jumps genres.

I strongly recommend that you pick up at least one of his books, his books were released a while ago and they should be fairly cheap. The Amazon prices were under $10 USD so it shouldn't be hard to get one or two, but he does a good job at making sure no-one you meet is just another cog to play a role.

I'm very interested in your copies of Your Inner Fish, Anatomy of an Epidemic, and Evil Genes. I would love to be able to take all three off your hands. I have several books that I can offer you in exchange, all of which I've read and highly recommend! What I have that might match your interests are:

• Mutants: On Genetic Variety and the Human Body, Armand Leroi
  
  
• We, Yevgeny Zamyatin
  
• Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein
  
  
• Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein
  
  
• Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keyes
  
• I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
  
  And seeing that you had a Steve Berry novel up for trade, I also have these two excellent Brad Meltzer thriller novels:
  
  
• The Book of Fate, Brad Meltzer
  
  
• The Millionaires, Brad Meltzer
  
  If any of my books peak your interests, I'd love to make a trade!

Hey everyone, this week I'm recommending The Laughing Corpse, by Laurell K. Hamilton. It's the second book in the Anita Blake series, and I'm recommending it because even with all the vampires and werewolves and zombies running around, it's a crime novel, and you can't talk about book beginnings without mentioning crime novels.

Whether it's the classic writers like Arthur Conan Doyle, the contemporary masters like Grisham and Connelly, or even the supernatural genres like the Dresden Files or Anita Blake, most crime stories have a formulaic beginning: the first chapter is almost always the main character at a crime scene, or if they're a private detective, sometimes meeting a client with hidden motives.

This has become a formula because it works. It immediately starts the action and plot of the book, and gives the author the opportunity to show, rather than tell, the character's skills and attitude toward their work. In the case of the crime scene it also gives the readers a hook, either an extra grisly murder scene to raise the stakes, an unusual or improbable killing to raise intrigue, or both. Or, in the case of the client meeting, it gives the readers a chance to feel, along with the main character, whatever unease or suspicion they might have about the client.

A lot of books have both kinds of openings as their first two chapters, and The Laughing Corpse is one of them that I think does them to great effect. It's also just a great book on its own, and the Anita Blake book that really hooked me into the series. It gets weird later on, but I enjoyed the first dozen or so books quite a bit, and they have many great qualities.

If you want to try listening to The Laughing Corpse on your next ride to work or while you're getting some exercise or doing daily quests in a game, Audible has a free 30-day trial that gives you one book credit, which you keep even if you cancel the trial right away. If you use this link, you can even support the show while you do it. Thanks for listening!

I played Curse of Strahd with a great DM and great players, and I completely fell in love with the campaign. I bought and read a couple of novels (I, Strahd and Vampire of the Mists and fell in love even more with the story and lore.

I decided to DM CoS for my girlfriend and a few other players. One of the other players dropped out even before we began, and one of the players... got unbearable. We kind of just stopped playing.

I wish for my girlfriend to forget everything about CoS so that we can play it again from scratch with other players. You know what, screw that, I wish I could play CoS from scratch!

Which was a spectacular book, in my opinion. The movie was pure rubbish in comparison.

The book beautifully grafted interesting fiction onto real history, as if that's the way it really happened. To the point where it makes actual sense, and not just some half-coked story.

A friend of mine picked it up for me as a gift based on the ridiculous title alone. I laughed at it and let it sit on my shelf for a good 2 months until hurricane Irene came around and knocked my power out for days, so I sat reading it next to my coleman lamp, and only put it down to take a nap in between.

If you like the supernatural, sci-fi, history, or all the above, this book is a must. Do yourself a favor and get a real copy, as an e-book would not do it justice.

http://www.amazon.com/Abraham-Lincoln-Vampire-Seth-Grahame-Smith/dp/B007SRVUUC

World War Z, by Max Brooks

The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter Miller

I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson -- fair warning: it's actually more of a short story/novelette. But even if you've seen the Will Smith movie, the book is different (and, in my opinion, better) so you'll still want to read this one.

The Last Policeman, by Ben Winters -- sort of fits. It's not exactly post-apocalyptic. It's more pre-apocalyptic. It's a sort of noir detective novel, except the government has announced that an asteroid is going to collide with the earth, probably ending life as we know it. So it's kind of a murder mystery while the world breaks down around the hero. The first book in this trilogy won an Edgar Award in 2013 for Best Paperback Original.

Parasites Like Us, by Adam Johnson -- This one's more light-hearted. The hero is a 2nd rate anthropologist working at a 2nd rate university. He illegally conducts a dig at the site of an early American settlement, and gets thrown in jail. Turns out that the dig unleashed a virus that threatens to wipe out civilization. It focuses more on the human elements of the story -- life, love, etc. -- and less on the apocalypse, and it's filled with dark humor and satire.

Well, since it's been only a couple of weeks, I think your best best is something simple and not too try hard. Does he have all the Zombie Apocalypse survival guides? Why don't you try getting him a how to survive if civilization ends book? There are tons of those.

Alternatively, here's a zombie trekkie book that got good reviews. He might get a kick out of it:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1594744637/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=gaynerd-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=1594744637&adid=15RRS5VC4P2CJCP3SZQN&

It's a matter of the audience. Some Taliban fighters are heroes to those who support their cause. The 9/11 hijackers are heroes to AQ and Daesh types.

One man's monster is another man's glorious savior.

If you're intrigued by that concept, I'd suggest this (it's the book, not the terrible movie): I Am Legend

You might like [this book!] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0062021338/ref=mp_s_a_1_75?qid=1412591251&sr=1-75&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70) Its dark, has vampires, and ROMANCE! :)
I have been dying to read [Salems Lot by Stephen King] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0307743675/ref=aw_wl_ov_dp_2_4?colid=11K4B8UA475UO&coliid=I3N2UWNFSTQ48D)
Thanks for the contest :D

I can't show you a picture, but Joe Pitt is the only vampire I'd upvote. Seriously, if you like vampires, these books are awesome. A lot cooler than True Blood.

Let's get grammared this weekend!

I <3 your phrase! :D

My last final is on the May 12th, so I'm not done yet.

Anyway, Happy Almost Birthday!!!! My b-day is coming up soon too: May 26th

I'm sorry I don't read much but the last book I read and loved that seems to be in your realm of interest was:

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Same book on paperbackswap.com

My personal favorite is Night Of The Living Trekkies. It's not really a 'serious' read but it is one of my favorite pleasure reads from the last several years.

I love reading books! :D

Did you like Owen Meany? I hated it, but I had to read it over the summer for my senior year of high school. I also didn't like Ender's Game. :( Boo, I know.

Anyway, I would suggest White Oleander by Janet Fitch, for some reason it sort of reminds me of the subject matter in John Green's books but it's quite different. I would also suggest The Gates by John Connolly, I thought it was quite good. :D

I would like dis book, mass market paperback is fine. :D

Thanks for the contest!

Hellboy
Netflix
IMDB
A demon, raised from infancy after being conjured by and rescued from the Nazis, grows up to become a defender against the forces of darkness.

If you haven't seen this movie before, you should. It's a great story, a pretty phenomenal cast and the movie that really put Del Toro's name out there for the mainstream.

This was the second Del Toro movie I saw. The first was Blade 2. I only recently read the first of The Strain Trilogy and had to smile at how he snuck in some of the anatomy from those books into the movie. Sadly, none of the Blade movies are on Instant Streaming.

Guillermo del Toro has a series out now, I have read The Strain and The Fall. AMAZING books! Vampires done right! Book 3 just got released, The Night Eternal

I also really liked The Passage

http://www.amazon.com/Strain-Book-One-Trilogy/dp/0061558230
http://www.amazon.com/Fall-Book-Two-Strain-Trilogy/dp/0061558222
http://www.amazon.com/Night-Eternal-Guillermo-Del-Toro/dp/0061558265/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319746834&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Passage-Novel-Justin-Cronin/dp/0345504976/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319746889&sr=1-1

Summerfuntime!

I would love I am Legend. I loved the movie and I have yet to find a movie made from a book where the book wasn't better!

My idea was much along the same lines, plagiarising Seth Grahame-Smith's classic Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter but I actually agree with you, digitalyss ... /u/MCubb's version is FAR better.

Great, guys. Release the eldritch horrors that the computational demonologists at NSA are trying to protect humanity from. . .

Some new books that I have enjoyed recently

Guillermo Del Toro - The Strain, part one of three, part two just came out

I also enjoy Brian Keene. He has a kind of Lovecraft mythos throughout his books.

The Strain. Its a trilogy. Super creepy. Think they even made an FX series based on the books - haven't seen it but have heard good things.

https://www.amazon.com/Strain-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B002BD2V38

Let's be blunt, the pulp put out by WoD does not, in any way, stack up to Stoker's Dracula. I've read 2-3 of their novels and was unimpressed with all of them.

A really good vampire read is The Strain. It's a good spin on vampires that is closer to Stoker's concept than Rice and it's not filled with angst like most vampire novels.

I've read the book and it was awesome. I had no idea there was a movie until just now :) I can't wait.

This last was another re-reading for me, but it still left me feeling empty without another book and of course a bit mentally exhausted at putting all that in my brain again. So I went with a more light, funny book I'd been saving to read: Night of the Living Trekkies. It was far better than I expected, even with the AMAZING book trailer they did for it.

Yup! But--and this is unusual--not based on a graphic novel. It was a novel written by the same guy that did Pride & Prejudice & Zombies.

I enjoyed it, dumb but fun, but I assume people would accuse it of being another example of unoriginal content in the cinema.

Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter. While the movie was sub-par, the book was great in my opinion.

Check out Already Dead by Charlie Huston. Great dark noir vampire mystery series.

Look on amazon. Their used book sellers sometimes have great prices. I don't really care about the condition of books so I pick a lot of books through them for pennies. The shipping per book is always 3.99. I can usually beat prices found at our Half Price books. Some of them ship really quickly too. You can look to see the location of the seller. Choosing one closer to your own location speeds up shipping too.

Here's one:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0061558230/ref=tmm_hrd_used_olp_0?ie=UTF8&condition=used&sr=8-2&qid=1407876290

labor day.

this would be cool. used would be cool.


“Well, I must endure the presence of a few caterpillars if I wish to become acquainted with the butterflies.”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

I really want to read The Strain. I've read the 4 graphic novels, but haven't watched the show yet because I'd like to read the book first.

If you want some good redeeming vampire stories. check these out:

• Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin.
  
• Already Dead by Charlie Huston, the first of a (complete!) six part series.

I, Vampire by Michael Romkey.

I read it when it first came out in 1990 and I continue to reread it every few years. Definitely one of my faves.

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Vampire-Confessions-Strangest-Desires-Fawcett-ebook/dp/B004EBT6PQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1494050102&sr=8-2&keywords=Michael+Romkey+I%2C+Vampire

I'm having a little trouble because most fantasy things, set in another universe with worldbuilding like LOTD, Wheel of Time, GoT, etc, don't really have horror elements, and vice versa. Even Lovecraft's stuff is mostly set on Earth, even though it's decidedly non-real. For classic horror I recommend Dracula, which is apparently free on Kindle, or I Am Legend.

An interesting story, a moral dilemma with a unique perspective, Already Dead by Charlie Huston.
 
It's noir meets vampires and definitely not like anything you've read before.

I wouldn't mind having this book. I am about finished with the one I am reading. Time to get a new one.

Thanks for doing your first contest!

Night of the Living Trekkies

was actually quite good. Zombie outbreak at a Star Trek convention

Here's a link to the book. Some of the stories are really good even if they only take up two or three pages.

Oh yes!
And his Apocalypse Codex

It's a black comedy but gets really dark

Dachsund

Scottish Fold

Chameleon

Woof Woof! I'd like this book.

Sounds like Night of the Living Trekkies.

My Life as a White Trash Zombie

Ex-Heroes

The Last Bastion of the Living

Boneshaker

Patient Zero: A Joe Ledger Novel

I have read all but two of these. Have not read Boneshaker or The Last Bastion of the Living but on my to-do list because they look promising.

edit: I Am Legend is actually about vampires. Not sure if you just wanted exclusively zombie books. I have not read it in a few years, but the vibes that it puts off in the book makes it easy to get it confused with a zombie type world. My fault.

I recommend you read I am Legend. Forget the movie. The book is way better than any of the several movies made from it.

I can't say more without spoiling it. This may seem out of left field but it is relevant to the OP.

Yep: http://www.amazon.com/Abraham-Lincoln-Vampire-Seth-Grahame-Smith/dp/0446563072/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1368637531&sr=8-2&keywords=abraham+lincoln+vampire+hunter

The Roanoke Colony is explained in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

Sure is!

• Y: The Last Man (Volume 1 of 10)
  
• Akira (Volume 1 of 6)
  
• Marvel Zombies
  
• I am Legend
  
• Wasteland (Volume 1; ongoing)

> Richard Matheson, Vincent Price, Charlton Heston, and Will Smith already did this...

FTFY

See "Night of the Living Trekkies"

According to "Night of the Living Trekkies": yes.

I am legend book

The Passage by Justin Cronin

The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro (Author), & Chuck Hogan (Author)

I'm gonna be that guy. Buy the book. It's a quick read...and its subject matter is more thought provoking than the movie. The movie is fine (I own it) but its just a bit above a box-standard zombie movie.

Hell...the book is cheaper

Sort of off the top of my head:

Not Supernatural:

• The Road
  
• Lord of the Flies
  
• One Second After
  
  Supernatural:
  
  
• World War Z
  
• I am Legend
  
• Robopocalypse
  
  Often times books about survival don't need to be fiction to be amazingly interesting, so I'll add these:
  
  
• Unbroken
  
• Escape from Camp 14

Strain. http://www.amazon.com/Strain-Book-One-Trilogy/dp/0061558230

This is Peggy, in the loopy bar, sitting and watching the moment when the loopy enters the stage. "Swamp water" is a drink.

> The curtain swept open with such a rush, she almost dropped her glass. It thumped down heavily on the table, swamp water cascading up its sides and raining on her hand. The music exploded shrapnel of ear-cutting cacophony and her body jerked. On the tablecloth, her hands twitched white on white while claws of uncontrollable demand pulled up her frightened eyes.

~Matthew Richardson: Dance of the Dead

The last sentence sends shivers down my spine whenever I read it.

"Dance of the Dead" and "I am Legend" are incredibly awesome. I think it was Mike that recommended it somewhere on OOC, thank you!

As to my own sentence - I don't think I have a favorite that stands on its own. They all live in their little place where they were born and raised. In that form I would choose this two word sentence.

Well . . . if you're looking at a book simply as a collection of text, I too have never feared a line of text. What books allow, is a slow building of fear that require quite a bit of character development. I don't read horror novels waiting to be frightened, and truthfully read very little horror. The fear just happens. To be honest, it's a different type of fear - more of an uneasy feeling really. Certainly, a book can't have, what my son calls, "The scary jump out scenes". But if we exchange the term fear with edgy, here are a list of my favorite books with an "Edge":

[The Passage] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Passage-Novel-Book-Trilogy/dp/0345528174)
[The Terror] (http://www.amazon.com/Terror-Novel-Dan-Simmons/dp/0316008079/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1404481514&sr=1-1&keywords=terror)
The Stand
Carrion Comfort
Desperation
I am Legend
The Sparrow
Night
Frankenstein
All Quite on the Western Front
Hunger
Blood Meridian
Watchers
The Minus Man

In no particular order - Not the usual suggestions either. Hope it helps, and happy reading!

Night of the Living Trekkies by Kevin David Anderson and Sam Stall. Zombie horror at a Star Trek convention.

Here is a mash of books off the top of my head.

• World War Z
  
• Blindness
  
• A Fire Upon The Deep
  
• I Am Legend
  
• Frankenstein
  
• The Quantum Thief
  
• The Windup Girl

The Song of Kali by Dan Simmons was pretty scary when I read it about ten years ago. I also remember being scared by Salem's Lot and freaked the fuck out by Pet Cemetery.

Yeah... especially Pet Cemetery.

Fucking cats.

There were two types of infected: 1) Those infected who did not succumb to the infection leading to death and 2) Those infected whom did die and could become reanimated. The reanimated ones were feral, having no memories of their past lives and killed without hesitation, which is where I think the confusion lies between vampirism and modern day zombies.
The symptoms are that of vampirism and not that of typical "walking dead" as we know them today.
I'd recommend reading the novel the movie is loosely based on by Richard Matheson.

His vampirism was a catalyst in the development of modern day zombies and heavily influenced the likes of George A. Romero and Stephen King.
Romero himself is quoted as saying, "I had written a short story, which I basically had ripped off from a Richard Matheson novel called I Am Legend." The title of Romero and co-author John Russo's short story is called "Monster Flick" and was originally intended to be a horror comedy which has little resemblance to the final product.