Top Vampire Posts 2023
“The neighbors can see you flying around the house. Do you want to draw attention to this house, hmm?”
Over at my website Monster Complex I cover a lot of vampire fiction—including books, movies, TV, music, games, comic books and more. As I’m still becoming acquainted with my author account at Substack, I’m now going to list some of the popular vampire-related articles that folks were reading on Monster Complex over the past year. Take a look at the list and maybe find something you really want to read or watch…
A Great Place to Start (One Stop Shop)
One of my earliest projects over on Monster Complex was my page dedicated to The Vampire Issue: Faith Hunter, L.A. Banks, Anne Rice, Buffy vs. X-Files. This online catalog features exclusive interviews with urban fantasy authors Faith Hunter (Jane Yellowrock) and Delizhia Jenkins (Vampire Hunters Academy), my tribute to L.A. Banks (Vampire Huntress Legend), and overviews of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles and Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter. Test your knowledge of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the X-Files, and the Universal Monsters, check out the Top 5 Underrated Vampire Movies, and peruse my list of more than 60 Vampire Book Series. If you want even more—you can also check out my BONUS links to other websites about vampire books, vampire movies, vampires on television, and vampires in comics. Find all the articles on this webpage!
But if you’d like some individual articles…
#1) True Blood: Charlaine Harris Sookie Stackhouse Books In Order: The Southern Vampire Mysteries, also known as The True Blood Novels and The Sookie Stackhouse Novels, is an urban fantasy novel series written by Charlaine Harris. that revolves around a world inhabited by supernatural characters, including vampires, werewolves, and magical beings. This post include a complete of the books in the series plus more inside info from interviews with the author about the vampire mystery series.
#2) Dracula: Complete Universal Monsters Movies: “Listen to them. Children of the night. What music they make.” Since its publication in 1897, Bram Stoker's novel Dracula has enthralled generations of readers with the alluring malevolence of its undead Count, the most famous vampire in literature. In this post, we talk about the original novel, about Bela Lugosi's classic portrayal in 1931’s film Dracula, and offer a complete list of Universal Monsters movies with Dracula. Find out more about the original novel and the Universal movies about Dracula (and his family) here.
#3) 60+ Special Vampire Book Series—from Anne Rice, L.A. Banks, Charlaine Harris, more: Vampire fiction has captivated readers and audiences for more than a hundred years. Some of these vampire novels lean into horror or paranormal romance, while others fall in between. The list includes notable vampire authors like Anne Rice, Kim Harrison, Nalini Singh, L.A. Banks, Charlaine Harris, Kenesha Williams, Stephenie Meyer, Jessica Cage, L. J. Smith, Delizhia Jenkins, Laurell K. Hamilton, P.C. Cast, MaryJanice Davidson, and so many more!
#4) Top 31 Vampire Comedy Movies (Ranked by IMDb): Vampires are scary monsters a lot of the time (setting aside romantic stories for the moment). But vampires can also turn up in some uproarious comedies, from the 1948 classic Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein and 1987’s Lost Boys to more modern gems like What We Do in the Shadows and Hotel Transylvania. Check out our list below starting our countdown of thirty-one comedies with vampires. Each entry includes some behind-the-scenes details for the movie, plus several videos that offer even more info. Find the whole list here! (PS—Although I have not yet added Renfield, I also thought that was hilarious. Just sayin’.)
#5) Complete Guild Hunter series by Nalini Singh: Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter novels take place in a world where archangels hold sway over both mortals and immortals—with the Guild Hunters caught in between, tasked with retrieving vampires who break contracts with their angelic masters. Nalini Singh is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of the Psy-Changeling, Guild Hunter, and Rock Kiss series. Find out more about the Guild Hunter series here!
#6) Monster Mash: 13 Movies Where Dracula Meets Frankenstein’s Monster Dracula Meets The Wolf Man: Here are key movies that team up the iconic Universal Monsters. From the 1920s through to the 1950s, Universal Studios was the go-to place for classic monster movies. However, as the Universal Monsters films latched onto iconic franchise characters that could carry a film series, soon came the urge to have the various monsters meet up. So they did—to varying degrees of success. Read on for a list of 13 monster movies that feature some combination of Frankenstein’s monster, Count Dracula, the Wolf Man, and assorted vampires, werewolves, mummies, and more. Find the list here!
#7) Complete Vampire Huntress Legend Series by L.A. Banks: Damali Richards is a successful hip-hop artist by day, but come nightfall, she hunts vampires and demon-predators. Author Leslie Esdaile Banks (1959-2011) wrote the Vampire Huntress Legend series under the pen name L.A. Banks. Find out more info from author interviews plus a complete list of books in the Vampire Huntress Legend series.
#8) The Munsters: 5 Best Grandpa Dracula Episodes: Classic sitcom The Munsters (1964-1966) featured a regular, suburban family that just happened to also be related to the Universal Monsters. The family of monsters included the retired Count Dracula, the daughter of Dracula, a version of Frankenstein’s Monster, a werewolf and a niece that was normal. (Granted, the family thought she was the weird one.) Find out more about their version of vampire Count Dracula here.
#9) Complete Kate Daniels Series by Ilona Andrews in Order + Q&A: The Kate Daniels series from Ilona Andrews takes place in a magical version of Atlanta where the world has suffered a magic apocalypse. Monsters prowl the ruined streets, werebears and werehyenas stalk their prey; and the Masters of the Dead, necromancers driven by their thirst of knowledge and wealth, pilot blood-crazed vampires with their minds. In this world lives Kate Daniels, who likes her sword a little too much, and has a hard time controlling her mouth. The magic in her blood makes her a target, and she spent most of her life hiding in plain sight. Find out the book list and quotes from the author team here.
#10) Count Dracula: 13 versions—from dizzy to daring: The most famous vampire is one of the most adapted characters in history. The title character from Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula has been popular over time, and has appeared in so many adaptations, riffs, and parodies in all kind of media. More than 200 films have been made that feature Count Dracula, a number that is reportedly only second to films featuring Sherlock Holmes. Click through to see 13 versions of the Count worth paying attention to from a variety of media.
#11) Urban Fantasy Author Faith Hunter: The Monster Complex Interview: “She goes from hating vampires to working with her worst enemy.” New York Times bestselling author Faith Hunter has written more than 40 books in a variety of genres, including urban fantasy, thrillers and mysteries. Her Jane Yellowrock novels are part of a dark urban fantasy series starring a Cherokee who is a shape-shifter and vampire hunter for hire. In this exclusive interview, urban fantasy author Faith Hunter shares how her shapeshifting Cherokee vampire hunter Jane Yellowrock has grown over the course of the books, explains why she doesn’t write sex scenes, and reveals how she’ll know when it’s time to end the series. Read the interview here.
#12) How “Total Eclipse of the Heart” turned out to be a vampire love song: Eclipse? More like a STAKE through the heart… Bonnie Tyler’s classic pop hit “Total Eclipse of the Heart” sounds like a heartbreak song for regular people. But it turns out that the song was written about vampires. Songwriter Jim Steinman had originally written the song for a musical based on the 1922 vampire movie Nosferatu. Click here for more info!
#13) ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ Fans—16 Vampire Books You Should Check Out: For fans of vampire stories that break into new territory, check out these 16 vampire books that offer their own unique spin on vampire mythology. Including clever anthologies, a Buffy reboot from Kendare Blake, and key titles from Octavia E. Butler, Terry Pratchett, Tanya Huff, Kim Newman, Kenesha Williams and several more authors. See the whole list of books here.
Macabre Monday
Looking for more authors who write or write about horror fiction? Check out the Macabre Monday page and these participating members: haunting the staircase Jenovia Honeygloom John Coon reinancruz Koshmarov Michael S. Atkinson Author Michele Bardsley L.L. Ford A. B. Frank Patricia J.L. 👻🧶🖊️ Jessica Maison Jennifer Morrow Stirling S Newberry Nicolina Torres Lauren Salas Susan Earlam Jon T Daniel W. Davison Daniel O’Donnell Michael P. Marpaung Buck Weiss Leigh Parrish Macey Cole Noble Olivia St. Lewis EJ Trask Joshua T Calkins-Treworgy Skyla Anna C. Webster Carla Pettigrew V Kelly-Sibley Kathrine Elaine Renee George Alec Worley haunting the staircase ReddOscarWrites Slasher EJ Trask Josh Tatter The Man Behind the ScreenHamish Kavanagh
This was an awesome read, Chris!! SO THOROUGH. Mad respect. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼