Amanda’s Thoughts on How Vampire Novels Never Died

Hi, lovelies! Today I want to talk about books with vampires. We all know that books like Twilight and Vampire Academy started a trend of young adult books about vampires becoming extremely popular. People on the bookish internet are always talking about how we need to bring vampire books back. But the question I had (which prompted this post) is: bring them back from where? I firmly believe that vampire novels never died. There have been so many great ones since Twilight and some of those published in the early 2000s still hold up today. But there are also new vampire novels, for both adults and young adults, and some are slated to be published this year. So, today I’m here to share with you some of the more recent (by recent I’m going with the last ten years) and upcoming vampire stories. I have some that I’ve read, some that I want to read, and some that have yet to be published.

Vampire Stories I’ve Read and Recommend

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa (2012)
This one is another vampire dystopian novel. But in this one, the cities are controlled by vampires. It’s a fascinating story about a girl that hates vampires, until one night, she becomes one. Kagawa is a long-time favorite author of mine and her vampire series is one of the more interesting ones.

A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forrest (2012)
I absolutely devoured this series when I found it on Kindle Unlimited. This is one of those series that just went on for so long that things got incredibly weird. But I continued to devour these books. They’re fast reads, with compelling plots and interesting characters.

Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black (2013)
Dystopian books are my favorite. They have been for a long time. So, this story where vampires are known to the world and segregated into their own cities called ‘Coldtowns’ was such an interesting story. I loved how this world was built and how fast paced the story was. It was a really interesting twist on the more traditional vampire stories.

Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare (2016)
While this isn’t only a vampire novel, there are lots of other paranormal people in this series. There are vampires and I love them all.

Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire (2017)
This is technically the second book in a series, but it can be read as a standalone. This is one of my favorites in the series. Aside from my love for the Wayward Children, the vampire aspects of this story are both terrifying and appealing. I highly recommend this one if you like darker stories.

Hotbloods by Bella Forrest (2017)
This is another pretty bizarre series. It somehow is paranormal and science fiction at the same time. There are vampires, but it’s also about other planets. I don’t think I ended up finishing this series, but I definitely want to.

Slayer by Kiersten White (2019)
More from the Buffyverse? I was never a super fan. But I did really enjoy this continuation of that world. I liked the twin sisters. I liked the mythology of the world. I think this was a really fun way of looking into a world that many are familiar with.

From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout (2020)
This is one of my new favorite series. I am eagerly anticipating the third book in this series (which you will see named later in this post). I fell so quickly in love with these characters and the world they live in. Poppy is such an interesting character to follow and the romance is absolute perfection.

The Fell of the Dark by Caleb Roehrig (2020)
I borrowed this one randomly from my local library and I was so surprised by how much I enjoyed it and how little I’ve seen people talking about it. I hear “why don’t we bring vampire stories back” so often, which is such a shock when there’s gems like this book out there. It’s queer. It’s historical. It’s awkward. It’s complete perfection and I need everyone to read it now.

The Southern Book Clubs Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix (2020)
This was a book club read for me. I read this as one of my first real horror novels. Since then I’ve explored a little more into the genre. This one was a wild ride. It’s dark and a bit gruesome. But I still somehow enjoyed it. The whole time I was reading, I couldn’t quite tell if there was actually a vampire in the story or not (there is).

Crave by Tracy Wolff (2020)
So many people love this book. I thought it was entertaining, but not anything groundbreaking. I don’t know that I’ll ever manage to continue or finish the series. I don’t like using the phrase ‘guilty pleasure’ when I’m talking about reading books, but this book definitely fits the bill. It’s easy to read and entertaining, but it’s a lot like Twilight where tons of people really love the books even though they’re objectively not great books.

Vampire Stories Still on my TBR

Dark Lover by J.R. Ward (2005)
Glass Houses by Rachel Caine (2006)
The Deathless Girls by Kiran Millwood Hargrave (2019)
Vampires Never Get Old: Tales With Fresh Bite edited by Natalie C. Parker & Zoraida Cordova
Metallic Red by Jennifer Ann Shore (2020)
Love Bites by Ry Herman (2020)
The Afterlife of the Party by Marlene Perez (2021)

Vampire Stories on my Anticipated Releases List

Vampire Hearts and Other Dead Things by Margie Fuston (2021)
A Crown of Gilded Bones by Jennifer L. Armentrout (2021)
Certain Dark Things by Silvia Morena-Garcia (2021)
The Coldest Touch by Isabel Sterling (2021)

There you have it. These are some vampire books I’ve read and enjoyed, some that I want to read, and some that are soon to be published. Hopefully, after this list, some of you reading this will agree with me when I say that vampire novels never died. They are still here in creative and unique ways, in stories that are compelling and full of characters waiting to be loved. This is also by no means an extensive list. These are just the ones personally on my list. So, there are many more vampire stories out there. What’s your favorite book with vampires?

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.