Vampires: Classic Tales

Book excerpt: Drawing on a 200-year-old tradition, this original collection features a deft combination of vintage vampire tales with more contemporary stories. Anthologist Mike Ashley introduces a dozen fantasies that weave together dark, psychological elements with well-recognized vampire themes. His notes trace the development of vampire fiction, illustrating the genre's life beyond the well-known conventions established by Bram Stoker's Dracula. Selections range from Lord Byron's contribution to the legendary storytelling session that produced Mary Shelley's Frankenstein to Nancy Holder's "Blood Gothic," a modern perspective on the corrupting influence of the romantic vampire image. Additional contributors include Alexandre Dumas, Karl von Wachsmann, Tanith Lee, Elizabeth Lynn Linton, Julian Osgood Field, R. Murray Gilchrist, Dick Donovan, Brian Stableford, Sidney Bertram, and Ernst Raupach.