The Mammoth Book of Vampire Stories by Women

3.6/5 ( ratings)

Featuring the only vampire short story by Anne Rice, the undisputed queen of vampire literature, and an autobiographical introduction by Ingrid Pitt, star of the films The Vampire Lovers and Countess Dracula, this Mammoth collection brings together thirty-four uncanny and erotic tales by women who have redefined the genre of vampire fiction. From classic stories of the undead by writers like Edith Nesbit, Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman, and Mary Elizabeth Braddon to the work of such acclaimed contemporary authors as Poppy Z. Brite, Nancy Kilpatrick, Tanith Lee, Caitlin R. Kiernan, and Pat Cadigan, this terrifying and tantalizing volume turns the conventions of vampire fiction on their head and inside out as it refashions, and revamps, Bram Stoker's urbane Count Dracula in smart, modern, sexy terms. Original and inventive, the tales in this anthology offer a wide and varied range of undead heroines and doomed heroes, from the tormented good to the unspeakably evil. At large among them in the gardens of literature's longest night are Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's Byronic vampire Saint-Germain, Nancy A. Collins's "Vampire King of the Goth Chicks," Tanya Huff's vampiric detective Vicki Nelson, and Freda Warrington's age-old lovers Karl and Charlotte. In all, the quest continuesfor blood to drink, for souls to steal, for life among the undead.

CONTENTS
Introduction: My Life Among The Undead by Ingrid Pitt
The Master Of Rampling Gate by Anne Rice
Homewrecker by Poppy Z. Brite
When Gretchen Was Human by Mary A. Turzillo
The Vengeaful Spirit of Lake Nepeakea by Tanya Huff
La Diente by Nancy Kilpatrick
Miss Massingberd and the Vampire by Tina Rath
The Raven Bound by Freda Warrington
Vampire King of the Goth Chicks by Nancy A. Collins
Just His Type by Storm Constantine
Prince Of Flowers by Elizabeth Hand
Service Rendered by Louise Cooper
Aftermath by Janet Berliner
One Among Millions by Yvonne Navarro
Luella Miller by Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman
Sangre by Lisa Tuttle
A Question of Patronage by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Hisako San by Ingrid Pitt
Butternut and Blood by Kathryn Ptacek
Sleeping Cities by Wendy Webb
The Haunted House by E. Nesbit
Turkish Delight by Roberta Lannes
Venus Rising on Water by Tanith Lee
Year Zero by Gemma Files
Good Lady Ducayne by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
Lunch At Charon's by Melanie Tem
Forever, Amen by Elizabeth Massie
Night Laughter by Ellen Kushner
Bootleg by Christa Faust
Outfangthief by Gala Blau
My Brother's Keeper by Pat Cadigan
So Runs The World Away by Caitlin R. Kiernan
A North Light by Gwyneth Jones
Jack by Connie Willis
Vampyr by Jane Yolen