Supernatural Fiction Readers discussion

Has anyone read any books by L.A. Banks? She is a New York Times and USA Today Best-Selling Author for her paranormal literature. She has a vampire series going (Vampire Huntress Legend Series) as well as her Crimson Moon series. Anyways, her vampire novels are awesome! You guys should check them out! If you want to look through her books, go to www.leslieesdailebanks.com

I know this is a vampire community. However, I thought that a few of you might be interested in L.A. Banks' upcoming release Undead on Arrival. It comes out MARCH 31st and is the third book in her werewolf series, Crimson moon. Check out the link to her youtube video, promoting the book!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFYX9LpdE...

Actually, Chelsea, we're not strictly a vampire group; our scope runs the gamut of supernatural literature (and sometimes a bit beyond, as long as it's macabre or scary :-)). But vampires are definitely included, and a thread focusing on vampire books is welcome! And werewolf books are right up our alley, too.

My daughter & I both tried reading the first in L.A.Banks "Vampire Huntress" series. Neither of us could finish the book & we read a lot in that genre. The writing was poor & it just turned us off. Neither of us is that thrilled with the Twilight series, either. Again, poor writing, an opinion shared by Stephen King.

I know there are a lot of recommendations and comments (pro and con) that people can make about books in this burgeoning branch of the supernatural literature family!

The best-known classic of vampire fiction, of course, is Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897). It popularized the vampire motif more than any other book, and set the conventions of the genre for decades. If you've never read this one, you owe it to yourself to give it a try! Less known, but a book I'd recommend as highly, is Carmilla (1872) by the earlier Victorian master of supernatural fiction, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. It's a shorter and quicker read than Stoker's opus, and features the distaff side of the Undead. Both books are written in a Victorian style that's problematic for some readers, but if this doesn't bother you, they're well worth a read. They're both on our group's "read" shelf (and you can read my reviews there, if you want to).

Hi, I'm Katrina Michaels. I'm very excited! My first books has recently become available for pre-order at Stonegarden.net. It is called Midnight Reflections and is a story of a woman struggling with being turned into a vampire. Just when she's adjusting, she becomes involved in a investigation on a serial killer. It is a tale of vampires, werewolves, warlocks and murder.

I just finished reading I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. This is an post-apocolyptic novel where possibly a new mutation of the old vampire bacteria has trashed civilization. Everyone is now a vampire, except one man.

There have been 3 movies, that I know of, made based on the book & I'm watching them in order. In 1965, Vincent Price starred in "The Last Man On Earth". It was pretty true to the book & made about a decade after the book was published, I think.

The next was "The Omega Man" with Charleton Heston in 1972. Not much resemblance to the book, but a great look at the 70's.

The latest movie stars Will Smith in "I Am Legend". Unfortunately, my copy is bad, so I'll have to get another. I tried watching it yesterday for the first time. From the little I could see of the beginning, it bears less resemblance to the book than Heston's movie & the CGI is horrible!

It's very interesting seeing the different takes on the same book.

Jim, does CGI stand for "computer-generated imagery?" I'd never run across that abbreviation before --but knowing that you're a computer specialist, I thought that interpretation would make sense! :-)

I recently watched I Am Legend starring Smith. I was, to say the least, unimpressed by the CGI, but I was pleasantly surprised to see a Hollywood movie that actually took its time telling the story without constantly throwing in action scenes and love scenes.

As for it being far from Matheson's novel... I try to see a film on its own merits. But of course, if it strays too far from the original then there's no need for the film to claim being an adaption of the novel.

Speaking of adaptions: Have anyone here seen What Dreams May Come starring Robin Williams, and also based on a Matheson novel? I personally find that movie very good--depressing, but good and very aesthetic--but I haven't read the story. Is it fairly representative to the original story?

Yes, Werner, it does. In this movie, it looks like scenes from a video game. I was waiting for an animated character to step out.

Henrick, I haven't read the story nor seen the movie with Robin Williams.

As for giving credit for derivation, that's more of a legal thing. The film "Terminator" gave credit to Harlan Ellison even though he had absolutely nothing to do with it. Ellison is known to be sue-happy, though. He also had a lot to do with several earlier shows that had some similar features. "The Man With The Glass Hand", an old Outer Limits episode had a cyborg who traveled from the future. Also, "The City on the Edge of Forever", one of the best original Star Trek episodes, had time travel & changing future events in it. They felt it was easier to give him credit ahead of time than fight him in court later.

So far, I like Price's adaptation of "I am Legend" best. They should have kept the original title for it since they followed it so well, but there were enough differences that I can see why they didn't. Heston's version is fine as "The Omega Man", based on, but nothing like the original book. Smith's version should have a different title since it also is nothing like the book from the bit I saw.

I really hate it when they make a movie about a book & then I watch it, finding out that only the title & the hero's name are in common with the book. Some Bond & all the Matt Helm flicks are like that. It's a dishonest marketing gimmick.

I don't seek out any books about Vampires on purpose. However, I did enjoy "I am Legend" by Richard Matheson. There is also a Vampire in the book: "Gil's All Fright Diner" by A. Lee Martinez. {lol, funny stuff} But I did purchase a book called "A Whisper of Blood" [a collection of modern vampire stories:]edited by Ellen Datlow.
I grew up believing Vampires were the bad guys, so that's where my tastes will remain.
8}

I like exploring the different ways vampires are pictured, including as good guys. Usually they're bad or not fully good, since they prey on humans, even when they try hard not to. Mostly I like the fantasy worlds, though. Some are full of other mythical creatures & a lot of fun.

Fred Saberhagen's books about Dracula are some of my favorite. If you like Bram Stoker's Dracula, this series continues his story in the modern (1970's when they were mostly written) world. There is also a book done from Dracula's POV about what really happened in London. It is a wonderful counterpoint to Stoker's novel. Vlad (Dracula) is a tough, but fair guy. He's had a lot of bad press.

P.N. Elrod has a series where the vampire is a good guy. A murdered reporter, he's new at it & solves crimes with a regular human in Chicago in the 1930's. This is just a well written mystery, a detective novel & one of them is a vampire.

Laurell K. Hamilton's vampires in the Anita Blake series are pretty much bad, although she's dating one. They've been legalized & Anita is a tri-state vampire executioner, as well as raising zombies for a living. A very neat world. Werewolves & other human/animals, politics & well done, although after 5 books or so, she gets into too much sex. The first few are sex free.

Kim Harrison has a good vampire who is roommates with Rachel Morgan, a witch & our heroine. There are good & bad vamps here, too.

Most of the others that I read have bad vamps, but Jennifer Rardin's Jaz Parks is the heroine & a vampire. I'm not that fond of the series, but my daughter loves it.

MaryJanice Davidson's Queen Betsy is another with a heroine vampire. She'll do anything for shoes. It was slightly amusing for one book, I couldn't stomach two, though.

There are a lot more out there. The Sookie Stackhouse novels, Anne Rice & others. Too many for me to list. None of them are great literature, but they're fun reads.

Another vampire novel, that's not as well-known as it ought to be, is Les Whitten's Progeny of the Adder (1965 --chronologically, it falls between the 19th-century classics and the modern burgeoning of the field that Jim ably sketched, above). Set in Washington, DC, it depicts a modern-day police department investigating the deaths of prostitutes at the hands of what the lead officer begins to think may actually be a real vampire. It's realistic but not grisly-gory, and (despite the victims' occupation) not particularly salacious. And yes, Always, the vampire here is most definitely a bad guy! :-)

I am reading Fangland by John Marks at the moment, it is like a modern version of Dracula. It has had mixed reviews but I'm enjoying it.

Charlie Huston has a vampire/detective series 'Already Dead, Half the Blood of Brooklyn..... I like his work but I really don't enjoy series since it can get costly if your local library doesn't carry it or the writer seems to were-out, the longer the series.
Am I right?

I've never heard of Charlie Huston. You just had to add to my To-Read pile, didn't you, Always?
;-)
Thanks.

It looks like he has several series. This list is from Fantastic Fiction, which says he is writes Noir Crime Fiction. Hmmm... Sounds like it might be good for the "Pulp Magazine" group I belong to.

Series
Hank Thompson
1. Caught Stealing (2004)
2. Six Bad Things (2005)
3. A Dangerous Man (2006)

Joe Pitt
1. Already Dead (2005)
2. No Dominion (2006)
3. Half the Blood of Brooklyn (2007)
4. Every Last Drop (2008)
5. My Dead Body (2009)

Moon Knight
1. The Bottom Premiere (2006)

Plus a couple of novels:
The Shotgun Rule (2007)
The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death (2009)

I'll see if I can't mooch a couple.

Creative slump can be a problem once an author is well into a long-running series, though it doesn't affect all the series that I've read. Since I've never read a vampire series, I can't comment on any of those directly.

Always, you mentioned that expense can be a problem with series if the library doesn't have all of the books. Even if they don't, though, they can usually borrow them for you from another library, through a service called interlibrary loan. (That's the best invention for readers since libraries came into being --and it's a lot easier to do in the Internet age!) You might want to talk to your local library staff about this.

I recently read an old copy of I Am Legend and thought it was enjoyable, especially considering the age of the story. I like Will Smith, but the adaption he did is a travesty. Not because of poor CGI, but because its a too far a departure from the source material. And next time they want to use a good authors story and CGI, get ILM to do it and get it done right!

For Vampires, my personal opinion is that the are too cliché, especially right now. But a very fine story that has vampires as main characters I would recommend
Necrosope. Lumley a fantastic author, especially good for those Cthulhu mythos lovers.

Jerrod wrote: "I recently read an old copy of "I Am Legend" and thought it was enjoyable, especially conside..."

Have you watched "The Last Man on Earth" or "The Omega Man"? See message #6 here. I still have Smith's take on this to go.

I have not yet, but I've added them to my watch list. I'll check them out in a couple of days and leave my opinions since I completed the book a few weeks ago and it's still fresh.

I'm not much of a King fan & it's been 15 or 20 years since I read any of his books.

Jerrod, I did watch Smith's take on "I Am Legend". Pretty bad, including the alternate ending. I think Price's version was the best & most true to the book.

I've read his Salem's Lot spin-off story, "One For the Road," but not the original novel. This past summer, I also read his Cthulhu Mythos tale, "Jerusalem's Lot," which is set in the same locale, but in the 1850s; I'm sort of curious as to how (or if) that story relates to the book.

Well, yes, sort of...you mean a spinoff of Salem's Lot, right? It is in the Dark Tower series, Wolves of the Calla. I go for the more nasty, brutal, vicious vampire type stories...and recently read David Wellington's first vampire novel, 13 Bullets, which was excellent. Also, for a unique twist, check out the Necroscope series by Brian Lumley...

Jo, "One for the Road" isn't a book, it's a short story. (A tip --from a librarian :-)-- on how to recognize that: book titles are conventionally written in italics, while short story or essay titles are just enclosed in quotation marks.) Yes, it's a good, well-written example of the traditional type of vampire story; any fan of the Undead would probably enjoy it! You can read it in the anthology Young Monsters (which I'm pretty sure is listed in our group's bookshelves, on the "read" shelf).

Jo wrote: "The most brutal vampire books i have read are Let The Right One In and The Strain. "

Jo, I did not know that Let The Right One In is based on a book, wow, I see the DVD each time I go to Target; there is a Vampire series on BBC America called Being Human, it is an awesome series, it is about 3 young people who are a ghost, a vampire and a werewolf, it is a great series, it comes on saturdays out here in California. Cheers.

Let the Right One In was brutal indeed; the movie version really pulled its punches, compared to the novel.

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro is often forgotten when the discussion turns to vampire stories, but with over twenty books in her series about the vampire Saint-Germain, she deserves a mention. I'd put Saint-Germain in the "romantic vampire" column, although Yarbro's novels are more historical intrigue than paranormal romance. One of the things I like about her work is that she looks at the vampire through the lens of history, how he reinvents himself over and over again and deals with a changing world. I believe her latest Saint-Germain book is A Dangerous Climate, set in Russia during the time of Peter the Great.

Let The Right One in was one of the best Vampire books or movies that I've ever seen. Creepy and beautiful at the same time!

I have seen the book on the shelves and have heard the same thing about both book and film. My only problem was 'vampire' books these days (the exception being 13 Bullets by David Wellington) is that I want to be scared of vampires...horrified of them...I am SO over the whiny, simpering, Euro-trash, romanticized blood-suckers...and the teen heart-throb ones, too. Ugghh!

Chris wrote: "I have seen the book on the shelves and have heard the same thing about both book and film. My only problem was 'vampire' books these days (the exception being 13 Bullets by David Wellington) is t..."

Trust me this isn't one of those books. In this case the vampire is a 12 year old child thats lonely and befriends another child that is bullied and lonely as well. There is no teenage romance going on here at all. There are points that will make your skin crawl, and points that will break your heart. I completely recommend it!

I was thinking about reading it this summer but never did I will try and find it sometime.

I had heard about Being Human on one of my many Podcasts I listen to, it's called Out of the Coffin Podcast (I really love it is a podcast on nothing more than vampires. They have movie and TV shows reviews and recaps and some book stuff I haven't listened to them in a while I've been to busy). SO if you have an iPod and you like vamps check it out.

Levi wrote: "I was thinking about reading it this summer but never did I will try and find it sometime.

I had heard about Being Human on one of my many Podcasts I listen to, it's called Out of the Coffin Po..."

I definitely will check it out! It sounds interesting.

Jo wrote: "The book, Let The Right One In, is a lot better than the movie. There's more to it. I love Being Human, it came out in the UK a while back "

Jo, I did not know that Let The Right One In is a book I will check it out, thanks, I love Being Human, I was disappointed in the pilot episode of The Vampire Diaries last night btw, it did not keep my interest.

I know LJ Smith's books were out long before Twilight...but I just can't do it. Let the Right One In sounds intriguing now. May have to check that one out, although I want to read The Strain soon...

'Salem's Lot was the first King I ever read and is still my favorite. A really scary book and I read it in a really scary place--at least in my imagination---alone in an 150 year old secluded house in Massachusetts on a windy Halloween night. It was spooky and I loved it.

Werner wrote: "Creative slump can be a problem once an author is well into a long-running series, though it doesn't affect all the series that I've read. Since I've never read a vampire series, I can't comment o..."

I don't know about all libraries but the one I worked in would order a requested book if it was still in print in hardback.

Jo wrote: "I thought that The Strain and Let The Right One In were as good as each other so i would read both! "
Thanks Jo, I will read Let The Right One In, first, I was stunned to know that it is almost 500 pages but I love vampires so I am sure that I will like it, I was pleased that the author wrote the screenplay of the movie though I have not seen the movie yet.

Jim wrote: "My daughter & I both tried reading the first in L.A.Banks "Vampire Huntress" series. Neither of us could finish the book & we read a lot in that genre. The writing was poor & it just turned us of..."

I wouldn't go by King's judgement necessarily. He has dissed Koontz and John Saul. Not that he might not be right about poor writing but sometimes it seems he doesn't like writers who consistently sell as many books as he does. This is of course MHO.

Twoina, in deciding what books to order for their own collections, most libraries will take into account requests they've had to borrow something through interlibrary loan. But most don't do it as automatically as yours did; a lot depends on the budget, the collection policy, the needs of the patrons as a group, etc. (On the other hand, some libraries don't insist that a book be in print in hardcover before they'll buy it --for instance, here at my library, I actually prefer to order paperback editions if I can, because they're cheaper. :-))

Twoina wrote: "I wouldn't go by King's judgement necessarily. He has dissed Koontz and John Saul. Not that he might not be right about poor writing but sometimes it seems he doesn't like writers who consistently sell as many books as he does. This is of course MHO."

Our opinion of L.A. Banks' writing had nothing to do with King. I don't think we read any opinion of his about her. We didn't like her writing style, characterization or tone. She's just not very good, IMO or my daughter's.

Stephanie Meyers' writing was another one we didn't like very much & happened to agree with King about for all the reasons he cited & more. Her description was horrible, the plot wasn't very good & the characters completely unbelievable.

Neither of us like King's writing lately, either. He's always been very wordy & has only gotten worse. He does a wonderful job of plotting & characterization, though. He has a wonderful imagination. I just don't click with his style. I prefer writers who describe in broader, quicker strokes. I don't like reading entire paragraphs of description when I already know most of it. Inefficient. There are too many words I want to read.

I've never read a book by Saul & only a couple by Koontz, the last of which I put down halfway through. It wasn't his writing mechanics that bothered me, which were all good as I recall, but I just never got invested in the story. I couldn't care less about any of the characters or the situation.

I'm not a real horror fan, though. I like some of it, but much leaves me cold. It needs to have other twists & dimensions before I can get into it. I think Koontz is pretty much straight horror & that's just something I've never been interested in. Not a failing on his part, just a taste of my own.

I didn't say King was wrong about Banks and Meyers. I just meant that his judgements weren't always about the writing. I didn't mean to say that you didn't like them because of his opinion either. Sorry if I wasn't clear.

Werner wrote: "Twoina, in deciding what books to order for their own collections, most libraries will take into account requests they've had to borrow something through interlibrary loan. But most don't do it as..."

Getting a book through ILL was a long process. The request had to go through Tallahassee which could take several weeks and the patron was charged for the process--only $1.50 but still...

It seems that many patrons think all libraries do everything the same. It used to bug me when they'd say, "Well, my library up north does it this way and I don't see why you don't do it that way, too." Sorry but this is down south and we do it different. :)

Maybe you have to live in Florida to understand how tired we get of hearing, "Well, up north...." Whatever. :)

Jo wrote: "I recently read Salems Lot. Have any of you read it? "

I haven't read it, but I have seen the movie probably 100+ times. I would like to read it though, and was wondering how much the book and movie differ. Do you think it'd still be an enjoyable read for someone who's watched the movie?

Yes, there's a great deal of variation in policies from one library to another. All of the ones I've dealt with provided ILL for free, but I know some of them charge. And if you have to pay for the service, it definitely makes it a lot less attractive!

Did you work in a public library, or a state college library? If your ILL requests had to go through Tallahassee, my guess is that they had some sort of centralized state network that handled ILL through, probably, the state library. If your experience was several years ago, you might find it faster now. The advent of the OCLC electronic system revolutionized ILL, and made a lot of the old systems obsolete.

Werner wrote: "Yes, there's a great deal of variation in policies from one library to another. All of the ones I've dealt with provided ILL for free, but I know some of them charge. And if you have to pay for t..."

I got laid off a year ago this month and as far as I know nothing has changed. I worked in a small independent city library. We were starting to do direct exchanges with other city libraries. The county system was another thing altogether. Who knows why the system works this way--this is Florida afterall. :)

Twoina wrote: "I didn't say King was wrong about Banks and Meyers. I just meant that his judgements weren't always about the writing. I didn't mean to say that you didn't like them because of his opinion either. ..."

No biggy. No offense given nor I hope taken. I was just trying to be clear. I don't rely on critics, generally. It's why I love Goodreads. I KNOW the critics & their tastes. They intersect my own at certain points & it has been a real boon for sifting through the myriad of books available.

Twoina wrote: "'Salem's Lot was the first King I ever read and is still my favorite. A really scary book and I read it in a really scary place--at least in my imagination---alone in an 150 year old secluded hous..."

I would probably put 'Salem's Lot at the top of my list of favorite vampire novels, for sure.

Jo wrote: "Michelle wrote: "Jo wrote: "I recently read Salems Lot. Have any of you read it? "

I haven't read it, but I have seen the movie probably 100+ times. I would like to read it though, and was wond..."

Thanks. I think I'll give it a shot this weekend.

I'm reading 'Salem's Lot right now, too.

Levi wrote: "I'm reading 'Salem's Lot right now, too."

Levi, did you see the movie? It's one of my favorites, and now I'd like to read the book. I hope that I find it just as scary.

No I haven't was it a made-for-TV movie?

There was an original movie that came out in the early 80's I think. The recent made for tv version wasn't as good in my opinion. I can't wait to start reading it. Stephen King's books take a while to get into but you do, they're very good.