The Mammoth Book of Vampire Stories by Women [Paperback]

The Mammoth Book of Vampire Stories by Women is pretty much what it claims to be. Stephen Jones is one of the better anthologists in the horror business and here he provides a handy selection of the never-before-read and the specially written, as well as an introduction and a story by one of the queens of cinematic vampirism, Ingrid Pitt. Vampirism has always been a productive metaphor for seduction or rape, for being taken out of one's own self and put in a new realm of passionate desire--Anne Rice's "The Master of Rampling Gate", her only published short story, is not so much predictable as classic in its use of the haunted mansion and the woman freed from repression. It has also often stood for the glamour of outsider status and the strange subcultures that go with that--both Christa Faust and Caitlin Kiernan make luscious Gothery out of old standbys. Quite a few of the writers here are ones we do not associate with these themes--Pat Cadigan, Gwyneth Jones, Connie Willis. What is fascinating about this anthology is that vampirism is a myth so many fine writers inhabit so naturally, whether it is a habit with them or not. Few anthologies are essential--this one is definitively so. --Roz Kaveney

Got garlic? Silver bullets? A handy stake or a cross? Vampire fans take heart. Despite naysayers who believe the genre has been literally sucked dry of all creativity and originality, British horror maven Jones has assembled an impressive volume packed with period classics and fresh takes before and after the 21st century. This toothsome anthology opens with Anne Rice's only vampire short story, "The Master of Rampling Gate," a traditional romantic piece from 1986; other selections meet, or surpass, this fine beginning. One of the best original tales is "Outfangthief," a stylish debut from Gala Blau, about lost children, a topic also brilliantly explored by Roberta Lannes's "Turkish Delight." Melanie Tem's "Lunch at Charon's" and Nancy Kilpatrick's "La Diente" feature biting social commentary. "Forever Amen," by Elizabeth Massie, provides a magical time-traveling twist. Outstanding reprints include "Jack," by Connie Willis, exploring WWII; "Aftermath," by Janet Berliner, a dark biblical piece; Kathryn Ptacek's "Butternut and Blood," a Civil War horror; and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's elegant Saint-Germain tale, "A Question of Patronage." But the most exciting reprint has to be Mary Elizabeth Braddon's "Good Lady Ducayne," an 1896 novella published a year before Bram Stoker's Dracula. Apart from a few anemic originals and dubious reprints, this is a robust anthology sure to satisfy even the most jaded blood thirst. (Nov. 1)Forecast: The misleadingly cheesy jacket art may attract Buffy fans, who will discover the rich, literary tradition of which the teenage female vampire-fighters on the small screen form only the latest popular manifestation.

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--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

This Mammoth anthology, unified only by subject and the authors' gender, is broad in scope and very lively. Victorian "sensation" author Mary Elizabeth Braddon puts in an appearance with "Good Lady Ducayne," in which a young woman becomes a companion to a strange older woman whose previous companions have fallen ill under mysterious circumstances. In Yvonne Navarro's "One among Millions," a vampire stalks a young mother, wanting her to be the mother of his children. The collection concludes with Jane Yolen's eerie poem "Vampyr," in which the vampires "Drink the night. / Rue the day." Fun, ghoulish stuff. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

'Fashions change, and the urbane vampire created by Byron and cemented in place by Stoker has had to move on... Are you, like me, ready for the new dusk?' -Ingrid Pitt

Collected here for the first time are 34 strange and erotic tales of vampires, created by some of supernatural fiction's greatest mistresses of the macabre. From the classic stories of Edith Nesbit, Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman and Mary Elizabeth Braddon, to modern incarnations by such acclaimed writers as Poppy Z. Brite, Nancy Kilpatrick, Tanith Lee, Caitlin R. Kiernan and Pat Cadigan, these blood-drinkers and soul-stealers range from the sexual to the sanguinary, from the tormented good to the unspeakably evil. Among these children of the night you will encounter Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's Byronic vampire Saint-Germain, Nancy A. Collins' undead heroine Sonja Blue, Tanya Huff's vampiric detective Vicki Nelson and Freda Warrington's age-old lovers Karl and Charlotte. Featuring the only vampire short story written by Anne Rice, the undisputed queen of vampire literature, and boasting an autobiographical introduction and original tale by Ingrid Pitt, the star of Hammer Films' The Vampire Lovers and Countess Dracula, this is one anthology from which every vampire fan will want to drink deeply.

Stephen Jones is the winner of two World Fantasy Awards, three Horror Writers Association Bram Stoker Awards and two International Horror Guild Awards. He is also the anthologist of the acclaimed Mammoth Book of Best New Horror series. Ingrid Pitt was born in Poland and has lived in Germany, America, Spain, Argentina and Britain, where she now lives with her husband. She has one daughter and one granddaughter. Having made a career for herself as an actress she is now enjoying her second career, as a writer of both fiction and non-fiction.