If you don't know already I am in love with vampires. Above all other mythical creatures in fact. Sure elves are sexy. Something about those pointy ears do turn me on, but vampires have my heart. I actually think I fell in love with them when I saw Dracula with Gary Oldman for the first time. Admittedly he was scary as hell in that film and I never, ever want to meet Dracula I did fall in love with vampire lore.
Here is a small list of my favorite vampires.
These warriors take the top spot because not only are they all drop dead gorgeous and incredible sexy they are the defenders of their race. The love hard and fight with fury. There is something about a male that knows what he is and accepts it that is admirably. Too often I run into vampire series with vamps who either hate who they are and mop left and right or they are total brutes trying to drain the human world dry. The fact that vampires can only drink from other vampires is nice. It takes the fear out vampires being among. Well just a little bit. The Brotherhood has no qualms about killing humans if they threaten or get in the way of the Brotherhood or the vampire race.
The story is told from the point of the view of the men. Well there are chapters that feature their shellans (wives) but the plots are about the evolution of the brothers. I like that.
Each male is a tortured soul. Damaged beyond all reason. Zdasist was kidnapped as a baby and made a blood slave. Raped till he had no soul Bella was able to bring him back from the brink of destruction. Vishous was turned over into the hands of the Bloodletter and his warrior camp. Rhage pissed off the Scribe Virgin and she cursed him. Wrath had to endure the slaughter of his family while he had been powerless to do anything. Butch watched his sister get into the car of her rapist and killers. Phury had to live without his twin for a hundred years only to find a hollowed out body where Zadaist used to be on top of fighting against his own raging drug addiction. Tohrment had to deal with the suicide of a woman he went through hell to rescue only to turn around and deal with the murder of his shellan and unborn young. John Matthews was born in the bathroom stall of a bus station without a voice only to be raped by a human in a dirty stairwell. Qhuinn born with one blue eye and one green eye in a world where a wrinkled shirt earns you a lifetime of scorn. Blaylock, the perfect male and the perfect son, except for the fact that he is gay.
Nothing nice and rosy for these males, and yet over the course of the series each of them finds the capacity to love and be loved. While kicking a lot of tail and taking names.
Blade Series Though Blade is a comic book hero I love him to death. First of all there aren't that many black superheroes to choose from so Blade holds a special place in my heart.
Blade is one sexy vampire. Well daywalker as they like to call him. I love his devotion to the cause. It is all consuming for him. His everything. His reason for living. There is not compromising with him. If you drink blood to live you have to die. And I love that the vampires in this series like being vampires. No one is crying about living forever.
Blade, born after a vampire attacked his mother was gifted with all the strengths of the vampires and none of their weaknesses. Well except for the thirst which he quenches with a serum. He is super strong, self healing, extremely fast, ages at a slower rate and he isn't allergic to silver and garlic and can walk in daylight. Which makes hunting vampires all the easier.
Southern Vampire SeriesI love the fact that the vampires live out in the open. I think that it one of the biggest things that I love about the series. These vampires are a proper cultural and subculture. Its not just a gang of blood thirty animals running around. They have structure, rules, rituals and customs. I do think having kings and queens then sheriffs is a bit confusing, but not to the point where its distracting.
In the beginning I did like Sookie though she is only a human, but as the series has progress I've grown to really hate her. I think Harris really lost Sookie's voice somewhere between Dead in the Family and Dead Reckoning. Good thing this post isn't about her. Its about the vampires.
Each vampire is a very different creature. Sure they are all blood sucking predators. We know that, but they are still different from one another. Eric is one of the oldest in the series. He was turned before the known world was created. His surname is Northman for a reason. The vamp started life out as a Viking. Bill Compton was turned during the Civil War, Pam was an aristocrat during Victorian times. It gives each vampire a personality.
I started off really liking this series. Anything that has women on top is good for me. I liked this series in spite of its protagonist. I just couldn't keep reading it. Its like the never ending story. There has been 11 books so far and the story arc is till going. I just can't keeping reading through Zoey's eyes anymore. She is one of the most annoying characters ever, and that is saying something since I read all four Twilight books.
The reason I like these vampires is one because its a matriarchal system. The women are on top. They run things and have all the power. The men do what they do best. Look good and beat up things.
In this series no one is born a vampire or turned. you either have the vampire gene or you don't. Even then there isn't a guarantee that you will survive the change over to become a vampire. And the goddess Nyx is the start of all vampires. I love the inclusion of the mythical in this series.
I tip my hat to the Casts for the inclusion of characters of color. We need more of that in the fantasy genre and I love that vampires are getting the color treatment.
The Dresden Files
I love Harry Dresden. Absolutely love him. What's more I love the supernatural creatures in the Dresdenverse. Since this is a vampire post we will focus on the vampires in the Dresdenverse.
No two vampires are alike. There are several different courts of vampires each with their own powers and abilities. White court vampires suck on the emotions of their victims. Some white vampires suck on sexual tension, others suck on the fear. Little is know about Jade court vampires. They seemed to be highly secretive and cult like. Red court vampires wear skin suits to look more human, but when they are feeding their true selves are reveled and there is nothing sexy about it.
Butcher created this awesome world of magic, fae, demons, shifters and the like to delight and titillate his readers. I wholly appreciate his efforts and I look forward to many bloody returns from Harry Dresden.
The Vampire ChroniclesWho can say they love vampires without loving Louis de Pointe du Lac. The vampiric son of the infamous Lestat. Usually I hate vampires how hate being vampires. I mean you either like who you are or you end it all and save us listening to you whine, but I love Louie. I mean I think he was my first vampire crush to be sure.
Louie though looking to die was turned against his will. He wanted to die not live forever. Especially living on the blood of the living. What I liked most was his fatherly instincts toward Claudia. Though he was responsible for her death, its a better way to die than she would have gotten with the plague. He takes responsibility for her in a way that any father would have. Lestat was more concerned with turning her into the perfect killer. Louie just wants her to be happy. Her death scene tore at my heart.
With Rice we get back to the quintessential vampire. Tall, dark and deadly. These vampires aren't looking to mainstream or come out of the coffin. They like living in the night, pretending to be human while draining the world dry. They suave predators that I am sure many men and women would love to be lying under as they died. When I think of the classic vampire I think of Anne Rice.
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