I'm not particularly into vampire fiction, even as an avid Buffy fan -- it's another fad with a lot of crap and a few really spectacular pieces, much like any other genre has ever been. However, Anne Rice is good. Her vampires are people, but they retain their vampireness all the same. "Pandora" probably isn't the best example of her sagas, because it reads like one long, beautiful poem, but it's very good. I haven't read anything else by her yet; however, thanks to this, I plan to, especially if in her other books (as I've heard tell) she focuses more on narrative and plot than the flowery prose.