Top 5 Vampire books for those waiting for Vampire the Masquerade: Swansong

If you, like myself, are eagerly waiting for a chance to play Vampire the Masquerade: Swansong, but will have to wait past the release date, and then some (it’s released today, on consoles and Epic Games platform for PC), then here’s a few of my favorite, a top 5 of best vampire books that I can recommend to pass the time:

Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff | goodreads:
A big, dystopian, dark fantasy book where one day sun simply never rose. Then they came. They came, and took over. Now humanity huddles in a few remaining cities where they can be free, if fighting for their survival, their lives, their freedom not to be cattle, slaves, servants… This is currently one of my all-time favorite vampire books, a beautiful and unique piece that deserves all the love it gets. Warrior casts, vampire blood addicts, sly and almost human like vampires, their politics.

‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King | goodreads:
A cult classic. Strange and eerie murder-house, nightmares Ben hopes are just that – nightmares. But upon his return, the darkness seeps back in, awakens, and the horrors start all over again. People start disappearing, dying in the strangest ways… It’s one of the must-reads, I think, for everyone who love horror, vampires, or just classics. Has that King’s usual taste of despair, as the protagonist is plunged into a situation with, seemingly, no exit, and where human brutality is equal to anything supernatural monsters can do.

An Unattractive Vampire by Jim McDoniel | goodreads:
Imagine you’re an ancient warrior, so brutal and evil that you simply refused to die. So you live on, as this nasty nosferatu, bloodsucker, until you fall asleep that nice long vampire nap. Just to wake up in your own home. Painted pink. With a family living upstairs… This is a gem more people need to discover, a humorous, satirical work that throws some grave dirt onto the popular vampire media.

Vampires: The Occult Truth by Konstantinos | goodreads:
Between reality and fiction, a must-read for the Vampire the Masquerade fans, as this book too pokes holes into the veil of what’s true and what’s not. A good short little summary on all the vampire mythos across the world, what types of vampires existed where, historical figures that were and/or are assumed to be vampires, and so on.

Three for One:

A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson | goodreads:
A unique book on Dracula, his harem-like approach to spouses of all genders, his disregard for things that do not suit him, and absolute fascination with people. A book told similarly to Interview with the Vampire, with that classic vampire vibe, and a whole new take on the Vampire King. I’m very happy I’ve discovered this book, and even more happy it got onto the mainstream radar, as it means higher popularity, and possibly more books on Dracula, as he becomes a more prominent topic.

The Dracula Tape by Fred Saberhagen | goodreads:
Remember how Interview with the Vampire ended? With Lestat driving away, turning on a tape recorder? This is how this book starts. In his place – Dracula, ready to tell his side of the tale, and you better believe he’s got dirt on everyone, ready to sling some for the slanderous book… This book, at times, was horribly funny, as you can definitely sense Dracula having taken great offense at it all. A very fun read.

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice | goodreads:
The original of “like Interview with the Vampire” – Interview with the Vampire. A tale Louis tells some journalist, fascinated and scared, in a darkened room. Of the lost will to live, then lost life, at the hands of a creature immortal, deprived. This book is a vampire classic, so hopefully you’ve already read it, but if you haven’t, I highly recommend it, even if you’ve no plans to read the rest of the Vampire Chronicles. It’s a very good read.

Please feel free to add if you know any more, link to your own reviews and such, I’d be happy to see and hear!

book review | An Unattractive Vampire by Jim McDoniel

I feel like thanking so many people and so many circumstances that led me to this book. I assume that the dumb smile it left on my face basically means one thing:”An Unattractive Vampire” by Jim McDoniel (ISBN 1941758649; 309p.; Goodreads) is one damn good book. Never have I laughed so much out loud.

Yulric Bile is an ancient saxon vampire, a master of survival and deception, a true evil mastermind of the kind that was neither pretty, nor good. The type that does not get “sired” or “created“, but rather is too evil to stay dead. He lived this long thanks to his cunning, and, of course, immortality, so when an angry mob with pitchforks and torches marches towards his home: Yulric doesn’t break a sweat. After all, everything is going according to plan. Right?

Right. Until the witchhunter out there to get him figures this is a far too old, and far too cunning beast he’s dealing with, so he walks an extra mile to imprison Yulric for as long as possible, if not forever. And thus, in our modern times, vampire wakes in a suburban pink house basement, and is greeted by a brand new world. A world where vampires are show stars, attractive, sexy, and bweh – good! A good vampire! Unheard of! He needs to find out who is making these awful creatures, right now! Which just happens to fit okay with the plans of immortality his house inhabitants had themselves, when they were digging him out. Of course, they didn’t expect someone like Yulric: ugly, bony, with jagged sharp teeth and horror for a face. But if he really wants to meet these “vampires“, well, they’re happy to oblige. Especially if it gets him out of their house. Which, apparently, is actually his.

The book is not a parody. It is its own thing, and just happens to mock some other vampiric pop shit we got. I have laughed my butt off reading it, there are so many good jokes, and the fact that Yulric is terrible to behold gives such a wonderful relief of lack of love interest! No love triangles, no sparkly vampires, no overly-handsome… I take that back, there are those, but Yulric made the same face you probably did, when thinking of it. The “ew, what stinks so bad?” face. So anyway, 5 out of 5, goes right to my favs, and I’ll be looking into getting a physical copy. I have to own this. Anyone know the author? I want to thank him.