From the Haunted Stacks: Scary Vampires are Back

Butler, more well-known for her science fiction, did take one stab at horror and she will always be remembered for it with this suspenseful, terrifying, and thoughtful story of Shori, a 53-year-old vampire housed in the body of a young girl.

Waking up injured and with amnesia, Shori journeys to discover who she really is and where she belongs.

Butler offers readers an original take on the vampire mythos introducing the Ina, a race of vampires who have lived alongside humans for centuries, feeding off of human blood, but trying not to kill their meals.

Originally published in Sweden in 2005 as Let the Right One In, this novel is as compelling as it is dark.

12-year-old Oskar is a serial killer-obsessed outcast who befriends Eli, a young, pale, foul-smelling girl who happens to also be a vampire.

The two develop a macabre friendship which leads down violent paths as Eli tries to protect Oskar. A haunting tale that will stay with readers long after they finish it and begs for them to check out the Swedish movie adaptation. 

The world has been decimated by a virus that turns people into vampires. Aband of survivors, no longer willing to live in fear, huddled behind a wall that may not continue to hold, hook up with a mysteriously ageless young girl, and begin their attempt to defeat the monsters and regain control of the world for humanity.

The Passage is the first in an absorbing, immersive, and bone-chilling series that captivated Americans in 2010, including Stephen King himself.

Charlotte travels to London to search for her beloved brother, a shy Victoria poet who has disappeared without a trace. Her quest has her stumbling into an unexpected world of intrigue, dominated by the secretive Aegolius Club, featuring vampires.

The dominance of Meyer’s sparkly vampires meant that women writers were pitching and publishers releasing a series of copy-cat paranormal titles in her wake. But with Owen’s novel best described as Dickens meet Dracula, the stage was set for women to be a part of the menacing vampire comeback.

For over 100 years Charlie Manx has been kidnapping children, sucking out their souls to preserve his life, and stashing them in his terrifying parallel world known as “Christmasland.” Manx exacts revenge on Vic McQueen, the only person to ever escape from his clutches, by kidnapping her son.

This epic tale of good vs evil is dripping with unease on every page as it builds to a fear so pervasive that even Christmas becomes something to fear.

Much like his father did with Salem’s Lot, Hill’s NOS4A2 transformed the vampire game and opened up a path for more writers to begin actively expanding the rules within Stoker’s established tropes.

Before Mexican Gothic made Moreno-Garcia a household name, she had a critically acclaimed hit with this bittersweet, issue-oriented vampire story.

Alt, a descendant of Aztec blooddrinkers, is forced into hiding in Mexico City. Alt has lived a life of luxury, kept safely away from the human world, but after the Necros, a vicious subspecies of vampires, kills her entire family, Alt is forced to go on the run.

Although Certain Dark Things ended up on many year-end best lists, it was not a commercial success at the time, and it went out of print.

However, it was re-released in a hardcover edition with new content from the author in 2021.

Desperately trying to escape his past, Travis is left bloodied and weak after an encounter with a pale-skinned girl. No longer able to tolerate the light of day, and tormented by an overpowering hunger he stumbles to a local motel where the widowed owner, Annabelle, and her son offer him a job in exchange for board.

The three lonely souls strike up an awkward friendship, but monsters, both real and imagined, can’t be hidden forever. The plot and characters play with the mind, and the pacing reflects the story’s harsh landscape—a slow, riveting burn.

Interestingly, Davidson’s novel also has ties to the renewed interest in the weird Western subgenre.

Hendrix’s take on the vampire trope pitted demeaned housewives against a centuries-old evil. Surban Charleston in the 1990s and Patricia and her friends live completely in service to their families.

To insert some intrigue into their lives, they start a true crime book club. When children begin to go missing in their own bland neighborhood, the book club wants to use their newly acquired true crime skills to help.

However little do know that they are entering a battle against a centuries-old, powerful, and truly evil vampire. 

This cult classic, first published in 1998 in Mexico and appearing in English for the first time in 2021, focuses on a pivotal section of Stoker’s Dracula. This is the point when the ship, The Demeter, with Dracula as cargo arrives in England with no crew and the dead, unnamed captain lashed to his wheel.

Zárate, fills in the missing information, crafting an eerie, disorienting, and hypnotic tale of homoerotic desire and vampire menace.

While the original work was lost to an American audience for decades, Silvia Moreno-Garcia put her resources and small press behind the project at just the perfect time. 

Using her background as a historical, Cañas brings readers to the lands in Southern Texas and Northern Mexico, areas whose borders have moved back and forth between the two countries for decades.

In 1837 Nena, the young daughter of a wealthy Mexican rancher is attacked by a mysterious creature while sneaking around at night with her best friend, Néstor, the son of a ranch worker.

After Néstor disappears and Nena is saved, she goes on to become a healer, but harbors a grudge against her friend who fled in her time of greatest need.

Nine years later, he returns and they must fight together against class norms, the American enemy, and the vampires that enemy has enlisted. 

Cassidy combines the horror of NYC real estate, antisemitism, new parenthood, grief, and vampires into an engrossing and disturbing novel.

Ana and Reid spent years trying to have a baby, but when they finally succeed and have a daughter Charlie, the difficult birth put Ana in a wheelchair.

Ana and Reid's names come up in a housing lottery, landing them an apartment in the luxurious, famous, and mysterious Deptford. They take it as a sign of their luck changing, even if Ana is concerned about being on such a high floor.

But once they move it is worse than Ana could have imagined for her and Reid, and yet, Charlie appears to be getting more comfortable with each passing day.

Cassidy’s original take on established vampire lore enhances both this book—and all of the stories that have come before.