Isabelle Peterson ‘28
Staff Writer
It’s that time of year again. The days grow shorter, the nights longer, and talk of the supernatural is nearly inescapable. Unsurprisingly, much of this talk concerns a certain, bloodsucking, creature of night:; Tthe vampire. While stories like “Dracula,” “The Vampire Chronicles,” and “Twilight,” are understandably considered classics of their genre, they all portray an extremely specific type of vampire. To compensate, various other artists have interpreted the myth of the vampire with fresh tales of the undead. In this list, you will find books encompassing a wide range of genres and styles with preference given to contemporary authors. Some are closer to sci-fi than fantasy, some are just about as traditional as it gets, and in some, vampirism is embedded in the structure of the text itself.
So, in the unlikely scenario that you ever find yourself on a dark and stormy night, and miraculously without any tasks to complete, consider checking one of these books out from the Williston Memorial Library! Or, you can embrace the deliciously sinful feeling of ignoring your emails in favour of a novel about VAMPIRES. The choice, dear reader, is yours.
1. “Woman, Eating” by Claire Kohda
Lydia is adrift. She’s just graduated from art school, her internship isn’t what she thought it would be, and her social life is negligible, at best. In the comfort of her windowless apartment, she binge watches Japanese cooking videos on YouTube in an attempt to feel connected to her deceased father, who always placed a special significance on food. Unfortunately, Lydia inherits her mother’s more complicated relationship with eating. She is a vampire, making her unable to consume the human foods her father once loved to cook. Despite the Caravaggio painting on the cover, the style of “Woman, Eating” feels remarkably modern. Kohda’s writing is sparse and tight, and her plot is mainly character-driven. Although this novel is far from the gothic camp that many have come to expect from media concerning vampires, it is a thoughtful examination on the nature of love, family, and food, which, for Lydia, sometimes happen to be the same thing.
2. “Vampires of El Norte” by Isabel Cañas
The meticulously researched page turner, “Vampires of El Norte” takes place during the Mexican-American War and tells the story of the childhood friends, Nena, the daughter of a ranchero, and Néstor, a vaquero. When searching for buried treasure, the thirteen-year old Nena and Néstor are attacked by a vampire, and Nena appears gravely injured. Néstor, believing his friend dead, and anticipating that he will be harshly punished due to his lower class status, flees the scene. When the United States lays claim to the land between the Rio Nueces and the Rio Grande, Nena and her family find themselves caught in the middle. Her training as a curandera — a healer — allows her to follow her father into the auxiliary forces of the Mexican army, and it is here that she reunites with Néstor Nestor. Together, they make their way through horrors both human and supernatural and slowly begin to untangle a plot tying vampires to the encroaching forces of American imperialism.
3 and 4. “The Gilda Stories” by Jewelle Gomez and “Caramelle & Carmilla” by Jewelle Gomez and J. Sheridan Le Fanu
Technically, “The Gilda Stories” and “Carmelle & Carmilla” are three separate books, but really, can you ever have too many sapphic vampires? In the early 90s, Jewelle Gomez’s debut novel “The Gilda Stories” won two Lambda Literary Awards, instantly cementing itself as a classic of queer speculative fiction. “The Gilda Stories” is composed of a series of vignette-like sections that stretch from 1850s Louisiana to the “Land of Enchantment” in 2050. The stories follow Gilda, as she escapes slavery and is taken in by a group of women who run a brothel. She becomes a vampire, assuming a role that transforms her into an arbiter of life and death. As she matures, she attempts to find ways to ethically navigate her immortality and desire for human blood. “The Gilda Stories” contains an incredibly poignant depiction of immortality, and is ultimately a wonderful meditation on the nature of gender, race, sexuality, and ultimately, power.
Make sure to check out Jewelle Gomez’s recently released novella “Caramelle & Carmilla” as well, which juxtaposes a work of original fiction — set in the same universe as “The Gilda Stories” — with Le Fanu’s infamous lesbian vampire novella “Carmilla.”
5. “R E D” by Chase Berggrun
Blackout poetry is on display in its highest form in “R E D,” a book-length erasure poem of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.” Berggrun describes erasure poetry as an act of violent extraction, a difficult, and at times infuriating method which is not to be used lightly. In order to firmly establish her own sense of voice, Berggrun created a series of precepts that would become the cardinal rules of her writing process. She never allows herself to use more than five words in a row, always preserving them in their original form and order. In this way, “R E D” is more a vampiric poem than it is a poem about vampires. Berggrun transforms “Dracula,” a novel deeply rooted in the fear of emasculation and female sexuality, into an exploration of womanhood and social erasure.
6. “Fledgling” by Octavia Butler
Shori wakes up with debilitating injuries, and no memory of who she once was, or what exactly, she is. As the nature of her past identity is slowly revealed to her, she gathers friends and lovers in an attempt to return to some semblance of a home. However, mysterious arsonists seem intent on destroying her at every term, and the idea of finding a place where she truly belongs begins to seem ever further out of reach. In typical Octavia Butler fashion, the vampires of “Fledgling” are more science fiction than fantasy, leading to a unique interpretation of how a society of extremely long-lived beings that require human blood for survival might function. “Fledgling” attempts to present a depiction of vampires that actually makes sense, leading to the exposure of some pretty amusing plot holes in the more widely accepted mythos.
Karishma Ramkarran ’27 contributed-fact checking.