The Penguin Book of Vampire Stories

by Alan Ryan (Editor), Clark Ashton Smith, Suzy McKee Charnas

Seductive, erotic, doomed to immortality, and forever hungry, they're lurking under the cover of darkness. In this collection of the very best vampire stories ever told, we see this pale creature of the night emerge from the shadows of myth and legend. Here, in all their horror and all their glory, are the great vampires of literature: male and female, invisible and metamorphic, doomed and daring. Their skin deathly pale, their nails curved like claws, their fangs sharpened for the attack, they are gathered for the kill and for the chill.

Careful—they are all crafty enough to steal their way into your imagination and steal away your hopes for a restful sleep.

Contents:
Introduction (Vampires) (1987) - essay by Alan Ryan.
Fragment of a Novel (1816) - short story by Lord George Gordon Byron [as by George Gordon, Lord Byron].
The Vampyre: A Tale [Lord Ruthven] (1966) - novelette by Dr. John William Polidori [as by John Polidori].
Varney, the Vampyre; or, The Feast of Blood (excerpt) (1847) - short fiction by James Malcolm Rymer.
The Mysterious Stranger (1854) - novelette by Karl von Wachsmann (trans. of Der Fremde 1844) [as by Anonymous].
Carmilla [Martin Hesselius] (1872) - novella by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu [as by J. Sheridan Le Fanu].
Good Lady Ducayne (1896) - novelette by Mary Elizabeth Braddon.
Dracula's Guest [Dracula] (1914) - short story by Bram Stoker.
Luella Miller (1902) - short story by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman [as by Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman].
For the Blood Is the Life (1905) - short story by F. Marion Crawford.
The Transfer (1911) - short story by Algernon Blackwood.
The Room in the Tower (1912) - short story by E. F. Benson.
An Episode of Cathedral History (1914) - short story by M. R. James.
A Rendezvous in Averoigne [Averoigne] (1931) - short story by Clark Ashton Smith.
Shambleau [Northwest Smith] (1933) - novelette by C. L. Moore.
Revelations in Black (1933) - novelette by Carl Jacobi.
School for the Unspeakable (1937) - short story by Manly Wade Wellman.
The Drifting Snow (1939) - short story by August Derleth.
Over the River (1941) - short story by P. Schuyler Miller.
The Girl with the Hungry Eyes (1949) - short story by Fritz Leiber.
The Mindworm (1950) - short story by C. M. Kornbluth.
Drink My Blood (1951) - short story by Richard Matheson (variant of "Drink My Red Blood ...").
Place of Meeting (1953) - short story by Charles Beaumont.
The Living Dead (1967) - short story by Robert Bloch (variant of Underground).
Pages from a Young Girl's Journal (1973) - novelette by Robert Aickman.
The Werewolf and the Vampire (1975) - novelette by R. Chetwynd-Hayes.
Love-Starved (1979) - short story by Charles L. Grant.
Cabin 33 [Count of Saint-Germain] (1980) - novella by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro.
Unicorn Tapestry (1980) - novella by Suzy McKee Charnas.
Following the Way (1982) - short story by Alan Ryan.
The Sunshine Club (1983) - short story by Ramsey Campbell.
The Men and Women of Rivendale (1984) - short story by Steve Rasnic Tem.
Bite-Me-Not or, Fleur de Feu (1984) - novelette by Tanith Lee.

Also published as: Vampires: Two Centuries of Great Vampire Stories.

Genres: Horror, Vampires, Short Stories, Fiction, Fantasy, Anthologies, Gothic

621 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Alan Peter Ryan was an American author and editor, known for his work in the horror genre in the 1980s.

Reviews

[Werner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Note, April 1, 2022: I've just edited this review to incorporate a factual correction (the editor wrongly attributed one story).

Editor Ryan (who also contributes a story, and a short but good history of vampire fiction, beginning with its first appearance in Ernst Raupach's ca. 1800 story "Wake Not the Dead" --Ryan wrongly attributes it to Ludwig Tieck, but this is a common mistake) has covered pretty much the whole broad spectrum of this sub-genre, with both traditional and more innovative views of the Undead. Something I've long felt to be a weakness with the former is the lack of personal moral choice by vampires in their behavior --even good and decent people become automatons of predatory, ruthless evil just by being exsanguinated by a vampire. That isn't consistent with a view of moral responsibility! But C.L. Moore's "Shambleau" (1933), though not a traditional vampire story itself --Moore's title character is an alien life form who drains victims of psychic energy, not of blood-- suggests a solution to that seeming paradox: her hero posits that these beings attract their victim's willing consent, because they exude a tempting compulsion towards evil that resonates with the worst impulses of the human soul. Their prey are thus seduced (in a moral, not a sexual, sense --one reviewer of the story interpreted the compulsion as sexual, but a Shambleau feeding embrace doesn't involve sexual contact at all; it's strictly mental), not conquered as such. It occurred to me that the moral transformation of traditional vampire victims could be viewed in the same sense, which gives a much deeper quality to the good vs. evil spiritual struggle that's implicit in the best traditional vampire literature.

The two novellas included here, John Polidori's The Vampyre and Le Fanu's Carmilla, I've reviewed separately. Varney the Vampire (which Ryan attributes to James Malcolm Rymer, though other critics have ascribed it to Thomas Prest) is represented by an excerpt --which I did read, contrary to my usual practice; it's gripping enough that I couldn't help it-- and Bram Stoker's masterpiece by "Dracula's Guest," which was originally a part of Dracula, but published separately because his publisher felt the manuscript needed to be trimmed. A number of stories here, especially the earlier ones, are very much in the traditional mold as well, and these include some of the collection's best. Among my favorites in this group are Manly Wade Wellman's "School for the Unspeakable," with its masterful twist at the end; Clark Ashton Smith's "A Rendezvous in Averoigne;" the anonymous pre-1860 German-language gem, "The Mysterious Stranger;" M. R. James' "An Episode of Cathedral History;" Carl Jacobi's "Revelations in Black;" and F. Marion Crawford's "The Blood is the Life" --which reminds us that in folklore, not all vampires are created by exsanguination; suicides were thought to be at risk of becoming vampires, too. Robert Aickman's historical, "Pages From a Young Girl's Journal," is also very traditional, though told from a victim's perspective, and can be thought to illustrate the idea of voluntary negative moral transformation under vampiric influence that I alluded to above. The vampire in P. Schuyler Miller's "Over the River," like Crawford's, is a suicide, and basically traditional in his powers and limitations, but non-reasoning and non- verbal --much more like a predatory animal than most fictional vampires.

Several of the more recent stories also present fairly traditional vampires, as in R. Chetwynd-Hayes' "The Werewolf and the Vampire," except that the latter story treats its title characters as free moral agents whose condition doesn't prevent them from being essentially decent and likable people. (That story is also an exception to the rule that a marked change of tone in a story --here, from humorous to tragic-- will necessarily make it flop.) Psychic vampires, as distinct from the blood-drinking variety, are also represented, beginning with Mary E. Wilkins Freeman's 1903 tale "Luella Miller;" Charles L. Grant's vampires in "Love-Starved" --a story that represents the erotic strand of the vampire fiction tradition, but without obscenity-- are of this type. Some other presentations of the Undead here depart more from the traditional mold. Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's series character Count Saint Germain (represented here by the outstanding short story "Cabin 33"), for instance, is not only a responsible and kind-hearted person, but is capable of being active during the day in sunlight and unfazed by holy water or crosses. And the vampires of Tanith Lee's brilliant "Bite-Me- Not," or, "Fleur de Feu" are not exsanguinated humans, but a separate, winged species, not verbal in the human sense and instinctive in their behavior. That story well illustrates some excellent qualities of Lee's style: sumptuous prose; a moral orientation that doesn't glorify evil, but that suggests that facile labeling of people as good or evil isn't always as accurate as we expect it to be; use of an indeterminate pre-high-tech setting that's vividly evoked even without geographic or chronological definition; an ability to give the narrative an erotic quality in places without being dirty; and a powerful emotional impact in the best Romantic tradition. (Despite my high rating of this story, though, I'd still give pride of place to "Red as Blood" as Lee's best vampire yarn.) A couple of stories don't feature actual vampires in the supernatural sense at all; the title character of Mary Elizabeth Braddon's "Good Lady Ducayne" (1897) is interested in the science-fictional rejuvenating properties of other people's blood, and the protagonist of Bloch's "The Living Dead" is a Nazi officer who thinks a vampire persona will be a useful disguise. (But will it?)

Suzy McKee Charnas is represented by an excerpt from The Vampyre Tapestry.; in keeping with my usual preference for experiencing a work of literature in its entirety, I didn't read that one. And two stories, editor Ryan's own "Following the Way" and Steve Rasnic Tem's "The Men and Women of Rivendale," just didn't gel for me; neither of them could command enough credibility to evoke suspension of disbelief. (Stephen King's Salem's Lot spin-off "One for the Road" would have been a better choice than either of these --though I'd have to check the date to be absolutely sure it was written before 1987.) But I found all the other selections worthwhile, and many of them really good. IMO, this is one of the best supernatural fiction anthologies I've ever run across, and a wonderful introduction to vampire fiction. And its value is enhanced by Ryan's extensive annotated bibliography of modern vampire novels, beginning with Matheson's I Am Legend (1954).

[Allan Krummenacker · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE PENGUIN BOOK OF VAMPIRE STORIES is one of the best anthologies I've ever found. Part of the reason is that it covers authors who've touched on this subject as far back as 1816 and goes up to 1984. There are a number of familiar names in this book like Clark Ashton Smith, Sheridan Le Fanu, Tanith Lee, and August Derleth to name just a few. But what fascinates me the most is seeing how the vampire legend is explored. We meet the legendary "Varney The Vampire", the seductive and dangerous "Carmilla", as well as Stoker's missing chapter from Dracula which was released as a short story several years after the novel itself was published. I understand in some later printings, it was put back into the novel where it belonged. Alas my copy of Dracula is one of the ones without it, so finding this missing chapter in this collection was a treat for me.

The first 2 installments in this collection: "Fragment of a Novel" (1816) and "The Vampyre" (1819) were of particular interest to me since their creation were the direct result of a bet made between the poet Percy Shelley, his wife Mary, Lord Byron and John Polidori. The four were spending a summer together and during a particularly boring rainy night they all agreed to a little contest. Each was to create a full length horror story within a certain amount of time. These 2 stories were the entries by Byron and Polidori respectively. Neither is fully finished. In fact Mary Shelley was the only one to complete her story the legendary "Frankenstein".

Sheridan Le Fanu's "Carmilla" is another brilliant piece in this collection. Published in 1872, it predates Stoker's more famous "Dracula" by a few decades. Considered a 'lesbian' vampire story since both the victims and the antagonist are women. But it's here where we really find one of the first demonstrations of the sensuous behavior that has been built upon by so many modern writers of vampire fiction. Yet, it is not love or real affection. I'll quote a passage from the story so you can see what I mean.

"...the vampire is prone to be fascinated with an engrossing vehemence, resembling passion
of love, by particular persons. In pursuit of these it will exercise inexhaustible patience and
stratagem, for access to a particular object may be obstructed in a hundred ways. It will
never desist until it has satiated its passion, and drained the very life of its coveted victim.
But it will, in these cases, husband and protract its murderous enjoyment with the refinement
of an epicure, and heighten it by the gradual approaches of an artful courtship. In these cases
it seems to yearn for something like sympathy and consent. In ordinary ones it goes direct to
its object, overpowers with violence, and strangles and exhausts often at a single feast..."

So here we see that alluring nature that is so eroticized these days. But clearly in this passage we see that clearly there is no real affection for the victim at all. It's fascinating to see how one idea is singled out and made romantic, while the consequences are ignored these days. However, I cannot criticize modern writers for this. Every author wants to put a different spin on an old legend and this can be seen throughout this collection.

We have "Luella Miller" by Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman in 1902. No blood letting here, but the title character definitely has a kind of vampiric nature, willing or otherwise. She is almost a sympathetic character in some ways.

Later we find C. L. Moore's "Shambleau" in 1933, where the author takes us on a science fiction journey to another planet where we meet a vampire-like being, who also shares some resemblance to the legendary Medusa of ancient Greece.

There's also the legendary Fritz Lieber's offering "The Girl With The Hungry Eyes" from 1949. Or August Derleth's 1939 "Drifting Snow" where we meet a pair of Snow Vampires.

For almost a century authors have been putting their own spin on this famous myth and many will continue for years to come, myself included.

I give this collection a full 5 STAR rating and highly recommend it to any fan of the genre.

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection is a rarity in several sense, namely: -

1) Unlike similar heavy-named anthologies, this collection actually concentrates on packing a large no. of very good stories (including classics as well as almost unknown stories), from different authors who are very-very famous in their own fields, and thus creates an intense competition among themselves in the mind of the reader by having their differently styled (& themed) works placed side-by-side.
2) Most of the stories are very good, and collectively they cover nearly all kinds of 'vampirical' entities who can prey upon others (I would like to emphasise the 'prey' aspect, to differentiate them from the "Twilight"-sagan entities).

The stories in this collection are:

1. Fragment of a Novel by George Gordon, Lord Byron
2. The Vampyre by John Polidori
3. Varney the Vampyre, or, The Feast of Blood by James Malcolm Rymer
4. The Mysterious Stranger by Anonymous
5. Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
6. Good Lady Ducayne by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
7. Dracula's Guest by Bram Stoker
8. Luella Miller by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
9. For the Blood Is the Life by F. Marion Crawford
10. The Transfer by Algernon Blackwood
11. The Room in the Tower by E. F. Benson
12. An Episode of Cathedral History by M. R. James
13. A Rendezvous in Averoigne by Clark Ashton Smith
14. Shambleau by C. L. Moore
15. Revelations in Black by Carl Jacobi
16. School for the Unspeakable by Manly Wade Wellman
17. The Drifting Snow by August Derleth
18. Over the River by P. Schuyler Miller
19. The Girl with the Hungry Eyes by Fritz Leiber
20. The Mindworm by C. M. Kornbluth
21. Drink My Blood by Richard Matheson
22. Place of Meeting by Charles Beaumont
23. The Living Dead by Robert Bloch
24. Pages from a Young Girl's Journal by Robert Aickman
25. The Werewolf and the Vampire by R. Chetwynd-Hayes
26. Love-Starved by Charles L. Grant
27. Cabin 33 by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
28. Unicorn Tapestry by Suzy McKee Charnas
29. Following the Way by Alan Ryan
30. The Sunshine Club by Ramsey Campbell
31. The Men and Women of Rivendale by Steve Rasnic Tem
32. Bite-Me-Not or, Fleur de Feu by Tanith Lee

This list should enable you to appreciate the breadth as well as the depth of this collection, which comprehensively covers the entire gamut of "vampiric" fiction, and in the process brings together some of the most seminal works in the field of horror together in a very-very reasonably priced volume. Recommended.

[Shaindel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first got this book in high school, where I would read it in in-school suspension. (Admit it, you can't read in class, so in-school suspension is where the real learning takes place.) It is one of the best collections of vampire stories ever compiled--two centuries of vampire tales, as the subtitle says. It includes favorites like "Varney the Vampire," the classic "Carmilla," and "The Girl with the Hungry Eyes." A necessity for the library of any fan of vampire fiction (or vampires themselves :-)

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really nice collection of a wide range of vampire fiction from almost two centuries, from the earliest vampire stories up through the mid-1980s. I've read all of the earliest stuff elsewhere, so I skipped over it, but I have to say this book does a fairly good job of touching on the most significant 19th century works. It's especially nice to see it reprint Carmilla. However, for anyone interested in 19th century vampires, the Dracula's Guest anthology is a much better choice. Still, the 20th century portion was excellent, and I hadn't read any of these stories before. The Girl With the Hungry Eyes, The Mindworm, Pages from a Young Girl's Journal, The Werewolf and the Vampire, and Cabin 33 were all especially notable and good, but this is all in all a great collection. It's given me at least one or two major vampire series to look into, as well as exposing me to some new authors. I also appreciate the lists of vampire novels and films the editor provides at the end. Over all, this is an excellent collection, especially for those who want to see the wide variety of 20th century vampires.

[LordSlaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Penguin Book of Vampire Stories, a 1987 anthology edited by Alan Ryan, is, like most story collections, a mixed bag. My tastes favor the Gothic and literal when it comes to vampire tales, and so I particularly enjoyed the front section of this chronologically arranged collection, most especially J. Sheridan Le Fanu's classic "Carmilla"; "Dracula's Guest" by Bram Stoker; "The Room in the Tower" by E.F. Benson; "Shambleau" by C.L. Moore; and " The Drifting Snow" by August Derleth. But in the back section of the book, when the tales became more modern and psychological, I did not have such a good time. Two long stories in particular, "Cabin 33" by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and "Unicorn Tapestry" by Suzy McKee Charnas, I did not care for at all, which made for a particularly rough 110-page slog near the end of the book. This is all a matter of taste, of course. So with some 'good' stories and some 'bad', I'll call it a wash and give the anthology a nice middle-of-the-road rating.

[Bailey · Rating 3 out of 5]

As usual, i put my thoughts on each individual story below! "*" indicates a favourite

Fragment of a Novel- George Gordon, Lord Byron: already read this!

The Vampyre- John Polidori: already read this!

Varney the Vampire, or The Feast of Blood- James Malcolm Rymer: you cannot pay me to read anymore Varney than I have already

The Mysterious Stranger (1860)- Anonymous: I feel like I've read this before but had no proof. A father, daughter and another lady move into an old castle where a stranger enters their lives and sucks the blood of the daughter. They bring in a knight to help rid them of their vampire. It was cool to have a female character drive the stake through!!

Carmilla- J. Sheridan LeFanu: already read this!

Good Lady Ducayne- Mary Elizabeth Braddon: already read this!

Dracula's Guest- Bram Stoker: already read this!

Luella Miller- Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman: A neighbour recounts the tale of how a girl killed everyone who ever helped her tend to her house (husband, sister in law, outside help, etc) Pretty good little story!

For the Blood is the Life- F. Marion Crawford: I liked the first part of the story better, where a man at dinner with his buddy goes outside to see the figure he thought he saw through the window, the buddy sees a spirit grab for him but fail. The second half of the story is explaining the spirit is a woman who died where there was buried treasure and she fed off the old houseowners son.

The Transfer- Algernon Blackwood: this sisnt really stick in my head, but i think a vampire guy targeted a child?

The Room in the Tower- E. F. Benson: a giy is plagued by dreams of a woman named Julia Stone who died, and has some issues with her portrait. shes later found dead in a coffin filled with blood that refuses to be buried. cool idea but a bit boring on execution

An Episode of Cathedral History- M. R. James: already read this!

*A Rendezvous in Averoigne- Clark Ashton Smith: a couple planned to meet in Averoigne but ended up in the scariest situation possible- forced to endure a social event in a vampires castle!! great descriptions and story length

Shambleau- C. L Moore: a scifi story of a man being attacked by a medusa style vampire alien

Revelations in Black- Carl Jacobi: a guy finds a handwritten book in an antique shop and suffers the same fate as the events of the book, only this time he succeeds in killing the monster

School for the Unspeakable- Manly Wade Wellman: some mean kiddos scare a poor kid trying to travel to a new school!

The Drifting Snow- August Derleth: old lady warns her family to keep the windows shut lest they are found dead in the snow attacked by a vampire (they dont listen and die)

Over the River- P. Schuyler Miller: man laying in mountain mud is a vampire, eats a porcupine and gets killed by people that knew him as a human

The Girl With the Hungry Eyes- Fritz Leiber: neat story about a photographer who shoots a mysterious model with psychic vampire tendencies!

The Mindworm- C.M. Kornbluth: i hate scifi vampire mind worms

Drink my Blood- Richard Matheson: the writer of I Am Legend pens a short story about a "weird little kid" obsessed with vampires so much so that he drank his own blood, read dracula for a month straight and talked to a bat at the zoo (aka totally normal to me)

Place of Meeting- Charles Beaumont: a group of vampires meet and declare that the human population is dead, so they decide to sleep until theres more food

The Living Dead- Robert Bloch: a guy playing a vampire tricks the people around him so well that they stake him!

Pages from a Young Girl's Journal- Robert Aickman: diary entries of an englishwoman travelling to italy with vampiric things happening..lord byron was mentioned a lot?

The Werewolf and the Vampire- R. Chetwynd-Hayes: a guy gets turned into a werewolf and gets taken in by a vampire family, and he has a werevamp baby but then people try to kill them 😭

Love Starved- Charles L. Grant: a guy talks about his encounter with essentially a sex vampire and reveals at the end that hes one too. not bad!!

Cabin 33- Chelsea Quinn Yarbo: the Compte de Saint Germaine solves a vampire case at a ski lodge! meh

*Unicorn Tapestry- Suzy McKee Charnas: interesting story about a vampire in therapy!

Following the Way- Alan Ryan: the editors story! priest vampires are always good!

The Sunshine Club- Ramsey Campbell: a guy has a therapy session about his parents being vampires, a little too short!
The Men and Women of Rivendale- Steve Rasnic Tem: the only story to scare me, lots of cancer descriptions

Bite me Not, or Fleur de Feu- Tanith Lee: not a bad tale about a cursed duke, a scullery maid, a vampire repelling flower and a vampire prince!

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent tome of vampire styled stories spanning from 1816 to 1984. There is quite a bit of variety and new treatment of an ancient idea. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes horror.

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another questionably assembled anthology. Yet another women's lit assignment. Fortunately it has inspired me to read Dracula because Stoker has a short story in here and, day-um, the man is a goldmine of aesthetic language.

Update:
Alright, so I didn't get to read all of the stories, but I gotta say from what I've seen this compilation is not too shabby. In addition to the one I mentioned in my preliminary interpretation, the short story "Unicorn Tapestries" (since adapted into a novel, Vampire Tapestry) would be an interesting read for a feminist. It's an interesting approach on showing the mortal woman who is perhaps physically weak but emotionally cunning and not afraid to take what she wants. The Anita Blake series comes to mind, and surely Anita Blake does it better, but "Unicorn Tapestries" is worth its 50 some-odd page read. Only thing I hated: she's totally one of those writers who gives you the pointless details like some chip on a coffee mug in the middle of some metaphysical revelation, then doesn't say a god damned thing about the coffee mug or its chip being in any way relevant or developmental elsewhere.

And I have no idea whether "Cabin 33" has been adapted into a novel yet, whether another author has plagiarized the story yet or what; but there's some fresh ideas on how to do a vampire story in there. Or, at the least, new ideas in the eyes of someone who knows only mainstream vampire tales.

Overall, impressively enjoyable for someone such as myself, who does not read vampire novels for the terror or the godly values of their vampirism.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

•Fragment of a Novel (1819) Lord Byron
•The Vampyre (1819) Dr. John William Polidori ⭐⭐⭐
•Varney the Vampyre, or, The Feast of Blood (excerpt) (1847) James Malcolm Rhymer ⭐⭐⭐⭐
•The Mysterious Stranger (1854) Karl von Wachsmann ⭐⭐⭐
•Carmilla (1872) J. Sheridan Le Fanu ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
•Good Lady Ducayne (1896) Mary Elizabeth Braddon ⭐⭐⭐
•Dracula's Guest (1914) Bram Stoker ⭐⭐⭐
•Luella Miller (1974) Mary E. Wilkins Freeman ⭐⭐⭐
•For the Blood Is the Life (1905) F. Marion Crawford ⭐⭐⭐
•The Transfer (1911) Algernon Blackwood ⭐⭐⭐
•The Room in the Tower (1912) E. F. Benson ⭐⭐⭐⭐
•An Episode of Cathedral History (1914) M. R. James ⭐⭐⭐
•A Rendezvous in Averoigne (1931) Clark Ashton Smith ⭐⭐⭐⭐
•Shambleau (1933) C. L. Moore ⭐⭐⭐
Revelations in Black (1933) Carl Jacobi ⭐⭐
•School for the Unspeakable (1937) Manly Wade Wellman ⭐⭐⭐
•The Drifting Snow (1939) August Derleth ⭐⭐⭐
•Over the River (1941) P. Schuyler Miller ⭐⭐
•The Girl with the Hungry Eyes (1949) Fritz Leiber ⭐⭐
•The Mindworm (1950) C. M. Kornbluth ⭐⭐
•Drink My Blood (1951) Richard Matheson ⭐⭐⭐
•Place of Meeting (1953) Charles Beaumont ⭐⭐
•The Living Dead (1967) Robert Bloch ⭐⭐
•Pages from a Young Girl's Journal (1973) Robert Aickman ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
•The Werewolf and the Vampire (1975) R. Chetwynd-Hayes ⭐⭐⭐⭐
•Love-Starved (1979) Charles L. Grant ⭐⭐
•Cabin (1980) Chelsea Quinn Yarbro ⭐⭐⭐⭐
•Unicorn Tapestry (1980) Suzy McKee Charnas ⭐⭐
•Following the Way (1982) Alan Ryan ⭐⭐
•The Sunshine Club (1983) Ramsey Campbell ⭐⭐
•The Men & Women of Rivendale (1984) Steve Rasnic Tem ⭐⭐⭐
•Bite-Me-Not or, Fleur de Feu (1984) Tanith Lee ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been picking through this collection and I am absolutely smitten. The works from the 30s to the late 80s are so vivid and delightful to read. This is a celebration of everything vampire, each story delicately crafted and bringing something original to the mythos. Snow vampires, World War II vampires, vampire models, the list goes on and yet, these sound like gimmicky, elevator pitch ideas but they are written with commitment and somberness that is so goddamn refreshing to read, especially in the age of meta, self-referential science fiction and horror.

[Suna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has been subjected to cosmetic surgery: Its cover is now wrapped in plain yet tasteful brown packaging paper, because it simply doesn't deserve to present this lurid cheese fest as its first impression. Max Schreck would be turning in his grave if he knew he was orange.

[Leothefox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most anthologies are pretty much the same story: there's good and there's bad, and you have to try and sort through the padding to find the good stuff. This is different, however, in a chronological collection. Alan Ryan's collection claims to be “two centuries” worth of vampire stories. It's more like 160 years, but the important thing is that it's in order of when the stories were written. What this amounts to is a very solid first half (the first hundred plus years) and a rocky second half.

We already know some of the better ones, since many collections have Le Fanu's “Carmilla” and Stoker's “Dracula's Guest”, and I'm willing to bet that far fewer readers are aware of more contemporary selections like Yarbo's “Cabin 33” or McKee Charnas' “Unicorn Tapestry”. Personally. I'd say this is because modern writing is bankrupt and spends more time trying rationalize, even apologize for itself, rather displaying imagination. Yet, this collection ends with a very tedious block of no less than 6 stories from the 1980s, including a throwaway by the editor and the two big clunky novellas I named above.

The 2nd half of this book is not entirely a chore, since the underpopulated stretches of 50s and 60s stories include Bloch, Matheson, and Kornbluth, and in the 70s bit we get R. Chetwynd-Hayes. The first half is also slowed by C.L. Moore's oversexed “Shambleau” and ends wirh a thud when it reaches Derleth's hurried “The Drifting Snow”

P. Schyler Miller puts the reader in a hungry living corpse for “Over the River”, which I wouldn't recommend anyone read during the winter... or on a full stomach... or perhaps at all. Bleakness is only fun when it's classy.

You probably picked up that what I'm recommending is the first half, kicking off straight away with Lord Byron's “Fragment of a Novel”, an unfinished yet very tempting tale of terror that starts off with a sudden death of a traveling companion in Egypt, ramping up, then ending. Dr. Polidori's “The Vampyre” is basically a finished version of the same story, with some altered particulars, including location, but is still engaging, if less polished.

You've already read “Carmilla” and I don't need to tell you it deserves its positive reputation, as does Le Fanu, I'd already read it twice, so I skipped it here. I think it's more important that we get a fragment of James Malcolm Rymer's classic penny dreadful “Varney the Vampyre”, which is full of the sensation that made that medium the popular entertainment of the day. Also, “The Mysterious Stranger”, written in English by an anonymous German, is a delightful trip to a land of castles, dense forests, wolves, and horribly scarred battle-hardened men who fascinate a petulant girl who is destined to be a victim.

M.R. James and E.F. Benson are here, along with a wonderfully fantastic story by Clark Ashton Smith, involving a magic castle, “A Rendezvous in Averoigne”. Manly Wade Wellman's “School for the Unspeakable” is also very good, which is typical of Wellman.

I could complain at great great length about Yarbo's “Cabin 33” and how it reads like a bad 70s TV disaster movie, cramming in too many characters and relationships and back stories. I'm not really a modernist about these things, but I feel like the attitudes about sex and such in it have aged very badly and may well have carried some cringe at the time. The vampire's first, underaged victim is basically shamed by all involved and she was barely more than a parody of a character.

Suzy McKee Charnas has “The Unicorn Tapestry” with a patient of a psychologist who admits to being a vampire and is somehow equated to being a unicorn... in some odd choice of metaphor. The author apparently has a reputation for being a feminist science-fiction writer, but I detected no feminism here being the bare fact that we have a female protagonist. The trouble is that this is basically a rom-com plot given a weak “serious” treatment, in that she is a busy career woman and all her problems must be solved by a man.

Does this book track an evolution in the vampire story/myth? Pretty much, although two of the later stories are more like throwback pastiches. I wouldn't advise actually reading it in order at all.

[Ethan Nahté · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although Vampires: Two Centuries of Great Vampire Stories had a large selection of stories I have read in other anthologies such as the books edited by Marvin Kaye, there were some stories I had never read before. Not only that, editor/author Alan Ryan includes some biographical and bibliographical information that leads to other vampire stories (and more) by some of the authors in the book.

The anthology includes, and begins, with the snippet of Lord Byron's story that he began in 1816, when he set a challenge for his fellow authors Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, as well as his physician John Polidori. Byron gave his story up after a few hundred words, Shelley didn't bother and Mary ended up penning Frankenstein, which outdid them all, of course. Polidori took Byron's story (whether consciously or subconsciously) and changed up the names, continued the story and created "The Vampyre." The story was first attributed to Byron, but was later discovered to be that of Polidori. Granted, he did create the villainous vampyre to emulate the character of Byron. The two had a very cantankerous friendship, to say the least.

There is also an excerpt from the penny dreadful piece "Varney the Vampyre" but not the entire story because that would be a massive book unto itself. There are plenty of other Victorian tales that continue on in a chronological order as the book includes pieces from le Fanu, Stoker, Blackwood, C. L. Moore, Clark Ashton Smith, Robert Bloch, Lieber, Derleth, Matheson, Chetwynd Hayes, Yarbro, Tanith Lee, Charnas and more.

Since Vampires was published in 1987, it doesn't include many "modern" writers that younger readers might be more familiar with, but for any fan of vampire lore and it's history, this book is a very good way to familiarize one's self with upturned earth and trails of blood.

[Bailey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel bad giving this anthology only three stars, but I wasn't feeling as many of the stories like I did with the Gothic Tales collection. I feel like this suffered the curse of niche fiction; there's a ton of stories, but after a while, you feel like you're reading a variation of the same one; please keep your stakes at bay! I did love the fact that this showed off a new kind of vampire in one of my favorite stories, "The Girl with the Hungry Eyes". Truth be told, that's kind of why I bought the collection in the first place; I'd seen the Night Gallery adaptation and wanted to read for myself this sort of soul/energy seeking vampire, given we're so used to seeing those of the blood sucking variety. I was caught in the same situation as I was with my previous story set; I loved the earlier entries and drifted away from the later ones. That being said, there's a little something for the all the vampire fans out there. If you read my review of Gothic Tales, my advice still stands. Here are my favorites:

*"Varney the Vampire" or " The Feast of Blood"
*"The Mysterious Stranger"
*"Carmilla"
*"For the Blood is the Life"
*"The Room in the Tower"
*"Shambleau"
*"Revelations in Black"
"The Girl with the Hungry Eyes"
*"The Living Dead"
*"The Werewolf and the Vampire"
*"Love Starved"

[Mike TowpathTraveler · Rating 5 out of 5]

My paperback version is now some 30 years old. But the stories within, especially the old classics by Sheridan, Stoker and Benson, are evergreen. It's the imagery within The Room In The Tower, Dracula's Guest and Carmilla that remain to this day. Terrifying stuff. of something horrible lurking about near your bed in that room in the tower, the seeking of shelter in an awful winter night's storm and the nightmare vision of "something" on top of the funeral bier, illuminated in that darkness by a strike of lightning......and the light footsteps heard close to you, years removed from that vision of Mircalla in her grave. These great writers of their day created nightmares that chill and delight even to this day and for years beyond when the next young person discovers these classics within this great book.

[Terry McFadden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting to read stories that proceed "Dracula." My favorite story was "Over the River" (1941) by P. Schuyler Miller, which tells the story of a someone reviving alone in a forest and figuring out how the world works as a vampire (the need for blood, the burning caused by sunlight, etc.)— tragic and well written. I also enjoyed Le Fanu's "Carmilla" (1872), a lesbian-vampire story that felt somewhat modern with its psychological descriptions. Some stories are funny, especially Aickman's pastiche "Pages from a Young Girl's Journal" and Chetwynd-Hayes' "The Werewolf and the Vampire" (both from 1975). I read this collection (mostly) in chronological order and enjoyed seeing how the tropes of the vampire stories developed over almost 200 years.
I bought this at a Thriftstore attracted by Edward Gorey's simple but beautiful cover illustrations.

[Maik Civeira · Rating 4 out of 5]

El libro recoge nada menos que 33 relatos sobre vampiros escritos entre 1816 y 1984. Entre los autores se encuentran John Polidori, Sheridan Le Fanu, Bram Stoker, Algernon Blackwood, MR James, Clark Ashton Smith, CL Moore, August Derleth, Richard Matheson y otros grandes. Es la antología de literatura vampírica más completa con la que yo me haya tropezado.

Las interpretaciones del mito van desde lo macabro hasta lo romántico e incluso lo cómico, desde variantes realistas a las totalmente fantásticas. Es una excelente oportunidad para apreciar la evolución de esta figura arquetípica en la literatura anglosajona a lo largo de casi 170 años. Estoy seguro de que muchos de los cuentos les dejarán un impacto difícil de borrar.

[Daniel Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Covers a wide range of setting and genres, with stories published between 1816 and 1984. Insightful for anyone who enjoys vampire tales. Recommended to dip into now and again though, as this is a hefty volume with some of the older tales being quite dry! Would have had the editor produce a second volume from the mid eighties onward, but sadly he passed in 2011.

[Franky · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's fun to read the development of vampires through the centuries; from their inception up to the mid 1900's they were always this dark and sexy figure, praying on the weak and innocent, a similar storey told a hundred times. Jumping to the last 70 years the stories become more colourful and spread across genres such as thriller and sci-fi.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really solid array of 20th century vampire fiction across genres. I didn't love every story in here, but some of them were rad af and made me eager to read more from those authors. I'd looooooove to find a more contemporary and more diverse vampire anthology...alas, maybe I'll just collect one myself!

[James S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

The editor goes for a comprehensive approach, eschewing stories with literary quality in favor of including anything that has VAMPIRE. Most of the stories are dull. Are there even that many good vampire stories to begin with, if the pinnacle of the genre is Dracula?

[David Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This included a great range of stories over a long span of history in the genre. While most were good, a few stood out as great, and will be leading me down a rabbit hole of some of those particular authors other works.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Again similar to the Horror book.most of these stories were only average with.some been good.but only a few exchanges somewhat annoying.that.rhe compiler decided to.include the full novel Carmilla which I.have only recently read!

[Callie Stockman]

A really good collection and I'm enjoying watching the vampire develop over the years.
I think I'll pick this up every October until it's finished, I'm just kind of over it right now.

[Onorio Catenacci · Rating 4 out of 5]

A terrific selection of stories from the genre

[Matthew Latourette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of most of the classic vampire stories.

[Animetart · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 3.5 stars. The first 5 or 6 stories were fantastic. 2nd half of the book was more meh.

[Charles Fortune · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uneven. All of the stories are worth a read.

[Ghogie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bampire!!!!! Ooooooooo