#(just gave up about nora roberts the awakening; it does NOT qualify)

[nellasbookplanet]

Book recs: vampires

Listen, vampires are a classic for a reason, but they have also been done to death (pardon the pun) to the point that finding books that are creative with the premise can be a bit of a slog through tired old tropes. Hopefully this rec list can be to a bit of help for all vampire fans out there wanting something fresh!

For details on the books, continue under the readmore

Previous rec posts:

Really cool fantasy worldbuilding

Really cool sci-fi worldbuilding

Dark sapphic romances

Mermaid books

Sci-fi vampires:

Fledgling by Octavia Butler

Octavia Butler my beloved, literally you cannot go wrong with one of her books. Fledgling follows what at first seems to be a ten-year-old amnesiac girl, who finds out she is in fact a decades old vampire on the run from others of her kind. The vampires here are a separate species from human, not supernatural, and are as a whole very fascinating and unsettling. Come in prepared for fucked up power dynamics.

Blindsight by Peter Watts

Vampires and aliens and questions of the nature of consciousnesses, oh my. Not a vampire novel so much as a scifi novel about aliens in which there also happens to be vampires (one of which is captain of a spaceship sent to explore an alien ship just entering the solar system). Another example of vampires as an entire separate species, but more horror focused than Fledgling. No, seriously, this book will fuck you up, highly recommend if you're okay with a lot of techno babble and existential horror.

Peeps (Peeps duology) by Scott Westerfeld

Young adult. Vampirism as a sexually transmitted parasite that turns most people into bloodthirsty monsters. Cal is an asymptomatic carrier working to find other infected before they hurt people, including his own former girlfriends. But there is something else lurking in the dark, an ancient enemy of the vampire parasite...

Post apocalypse vampires:

The Hallowed Ones (The Hallowed Ones duology) by Laura Bickle

Young adult. Katie is an Amish girl eagerly awaiting her rumspringa, when she gets to try out the outside world. But before she has the chance, something happens to the Outside; a nearby town is wiped out, and something evil stalks the night. To protect their community, the Amish elders decide that no one can leave and no one can enter the sacred ground that makes up their home. That is, until Katie finds an injured young man and decides to help him.

The Company of Death by Elisa Hansen

Wild mix of genres, where a zombie apocalypse has struck and vampires gather up humans to keep their food source from going extinct, a robot travels across America with a young man she's tasked to keep safe, and former-vampire-hunter-recent-zombie Emily teams up with Death himself to stop the apocalypse. Features bi and ace characters! Bonus rec: the author also runs the youtube channel Maven of the Eventide, where she talks about various vampire media. Check it out!

The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden trilogy) by Julie Kagawa

Young adult. Another zombie apocalypse (well; feral vampires) scenario in which vampires gather humans up to keep their food safe. Allison Sekemoto hates vampires, but when she ends up on the brink of death and is offered a way out, she has no choice but to take it. Hunted by a mad vampire and forced to flee the relative safety of her city, Allie must enter the post-apocalyptic outside world and team up with the free humans roaming there, seeking a cure for the undead plague that ravages the world.

Urban fantasy vampires:

Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Queen of fucked up gothic horror, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, comes for vampires in this gritty novel following Domingo, a garbage collecting street kid in a Mexico City where vampires walk the streets. His life gets turned upside down when he meets Atl, a vampire descendant of Aztec blood drinkers who’s on the run and needs all the help she can get.

Sunshine by Robin McKinnley

Urban fantasy on a level of its own, where dangerous magic exists alongside humans. It keeps you guessing and much is left unexplained; if you want clear answers and explanations to everything you might be disappointed, but if you want a world that feels mysterious and dangerous and lived in you'll probably like it. It follows a baker who, after getting kidnapped by vampires, gets embroiled in a dangerous struggle and has to team up with one of them to survive. The vampires here are really inhuman and unsettling.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Young adult. After vampirism swept the land, special Coldtowns were built to quarantine anyone bitten, whether they have turned or not. After having survived a massacre at a party in which her ex-boyfriend got bit, Tana sets out with him and mysterious vampire to reach the nearest Coldtown, not knowing if she’ll ever be able to leave it again.

Modern vampires:

Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist

Swedish literary novel set in the 1980s. Follows twelve-year-old Oskar, a troubled and bullied boy who befriends his new neighbor, Eli. But there’s something strange about Eli, such as her only coming out at night. Also available as two separate movie adaptations (I highly recommend the Swedish original; the American remake is perfectly adequate standard horror fare, the original is a masterpiece).

Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda

Literary novel following Lydia, who’s grown up as a vampire under the thumb of her mother, who’s been obsessed with self-hate over their existence as blood drinkers. Finally on her own for the first time in her life, Lydia moves to London hoping to make it as an artist. But surviving alone as a vampire is harder than expected. Slow and fairly light on plot, but utterly captivating.

Companions of the Night by Vivian Vande Velde

Young adult. After Kerry saves a young man from three attackers who claim he's a vampire, she's drawn into a dangerous game and forced to work with a manipulative vampire. Pre-cursor to the modern ya vampire genre, Companions of the Night utilizes many of the same tropes but in very different ways, making it a unique experience.

Historical and fantasy vampires:

A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson

Dracula inspired novella, following Constanta, who’s turned from a medieval peasant to an undead bride. As time passes the relationship between Dracula and Constanta grows all the more strained and potentially dangerous. Teaming up with his two other consorts, she seeks to unravel her husband's secrets. Sapphic and polyamorous.

The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez

Having escaped from slavery in the 1850s, young Gilda is taken in by a vampire, and eventually finds herself turned as well. Consists of a series of novellas following Gilda throughout the centuries, from the past to the present to the future. It’s also sapphic!

House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson

In a world where the rich drink blood to preserve their health, Marion applies to a position as bloodmaid in a notorious noble house far from home. Suddenly showered with luxuries and debauchery, Marion soon gains the interest and favor of Lisavet, countess of the house. A fresh take on the idea of vampires and deliciously dark sapphic romance.

Bonus AKA I haven't read these yet but they seem really cool

The Hunger by Whitley Strieber

Ancient vampire is on the hunt for a new partner, none of which tend to last long.

My Soul to Keep (African Immortals series) by Tananarive Due

I keep seeing this one described as a vampire book, and once stumbled on the description "almost a vampire book" and listen by now I'm simply curious to see what it's about.

Team Human by Justine Larbelestier & Sarah Rees Brennan

Young adult. As far as I can tell, a satire on typical ya vampire romances.

The Madness Season by C.S. Friedman

*chanting* vampires in space vampires iN SPACE

The Lost Girls by Sonia Hartl

Young adult, sapphic. Three vampire girls turned and abandoned by the same vampire get together to stop him from turning yet another girl.

The Balance of Fates by Raquel Raelynn

Young adult, sapphic. A girl enters a competition against vampires and werewolves, complicated by her feelings for one of her vampire competitors.