Forget Hot Girl Summer. It’s (About to Be) Cold Undead Autumn! There’s been a resurgence of all kinds of classic creature features over the past few years, but this year turned the trickle of new offerings into a deluge, so I thought I’d celebrate with a list. Of particular note are the number of sapphic vampires, and I may follow this up later with an ode to the many authors who have lovingly queered the undead.
Rachel Harrison, So Thirsty
The latest from Rachel Harrison is an utter delight and feels a bit like if Erica Jong had written a vampire novel; the bored and put upon protagonist finds not suffering but independence and self actualization when she’s turned by a quiet soul who—unlike the non-vampirical men in her life—actually appears to be listening to her. If I was bored at an orgy in upstate New York while fuming over my husband’s infidelity and met a handsome stranger who promised me eternal life, I, too, would be very interested in taking him up on that offer.
Lindy Ryan, Bless Your Heart
(Minotaur)
In this charmingly eccentric vampire novel set in small-town Texas, three generations of women must confront an epidemic of bloodsuckers using only their wits and their surprisingly well-equipped funeral parlor. Lindy Ryan has crafted a laugh-out-mystery that also revived my interest in small-town mysteries (a feat I once thought was impossible).
V. Castro, Immortal Pleasures
(Del Rey)
Immortal Pleasures, the latest sultry stunner from rising horror star V Castro, lifts from history in its inspirations: Castro’s heroine is La Malinche, the much maligned translator to Hernan Cortes, blamed for betraying her people yet also violently and sexually exploited by her new masters. 500 years later, the vampire Malinche now acts as a vigilante agent of justice in the dark world of antique smuggling, returning sacred objects to their proper homes. She’s also, finally, decided she’s ready for love. But her blossoming new romance with an Irish horror writer is interrupted by a sinister figure in hot pursuit: Cortes, turned vampire as well, and full of nefarious plans.
Marina Yuszczuk, Thirst
Translated by Heather Cleary
(Dutton)
The Latin American horror wave continues! If you liked last year’s Our Share of Night, the 1970s-set literary vampire novel from Mariana Enriquez, then you’ll want to read Thirst immediately. In Marina Yuszczuk’s gorgeously written gothic, a centuries-old vampire living in Buenos Aires forms a magnetic connection with a haunted mother as both seek endless nourishment for an impossible-to-fill void.
Kiersten White, Lucy Undying
(Del Rey)
Justice for Lucy Westenrea! Kiersten White finally gives us a version of the Bram Stoker character we can respect and love, in just one of the many excellent lesbian vampire novels coming out this year (is it hot lesbian vampire summer? Or perhaps, undead lesbian fall?). I loved Mister Magic, White’s strange and beautiful horror novel about childhood trauma and children’s television shows, and Lucy Undying is just as good—although waaay more gory.
Rachel Koller Croft, We Love the Nightlife
(Berkley)
What’s better than a psychological thriller about vampires? A psychological thriller about disco vampires! In Rachel Koller Croft’s sophomore novel, Nicola and Amber have been vampirical companions since Nicola first spotted Amber on the dance floor. Decades later, Amber wants to move on, and Nicola tries to keep her interested by proposing that the two open a new club together. Koller Cr0ft is at her sly, sardonic best in this suspenseful tale of friendships gone sour.
Liz Kerin, First Light
(Tor Nightfire)
In this sequel to Liz Kerin’s emotional vampire horror Night’s Edge, Kerin’s heroine is finally rid of her toxic, abusive mother, and ready to go after the monster who made her mother that way. Kerin is skillful at depicting monstrosity as a metaphor for addiction and domestic violence, and showing the contradictions between loving impulses and engrained bad behavior.
