Reading Vampire Gothic Through Blood examines the manifestations of blood and vampires in various texts and contexts. It seeks to connect, through blood, fictional to real-life vampires to trace similarities, differences and discontinuities. These movements will be seen to parallel changing notions about embodiment and identity in culture.

As seen in HBO's "True Blood", vampires have never been more edgy, gory or sexy. Since its arrival on screen in 2008, Alan Ball's adaptation of "The Southern Vampire Mysteries" by Charlaine Harris has exploited the creative freedoms of the HBO brand and captured a cult audience with its passionate, blood-drenched visuals and stories. From viral webisodes depicting vampires announcing themselves on TV to the steamy title sequence and the show's uninhibited use of language, sex and gore, "True Blood" has quickly gained status as cult TV with bite. "True Blood" posed the question of what would happen if vampires 'came out of the coffin' and this book considers the representations of sexuality, race and class in a series that engages directly with prejudice and civil rights. It also considers "True Blood's" generic roots in television horror, paranormal romance and Southern Gothic, the wider contexts of fairy tales and religion, the marketing of the series and the activities of its fans. Written for students, scholars and fans, "True Blood: Investigating Vampires and Southern Gothic" explores the hidden depths of "True Blood's" vampire bars, small town communities and haunted bayous.

Shortlisted for the Edgar Award (Critical/Biographical) Finalist for the Bram Stoker Award (Nonfiction) Finalist for the Anthony Award (Critical Nonfiction) A revelatory biography exhumes the haunted origins of the man behind the immortal myth, bringing us "the closest we can get to understanding [Bram Stoker] and his iconic tale" (The New Yorker). In this groundbreaking portrait of the man who birthed an undying cultural icon, David J. Skal "pulls back the curtain to reveal the author who dreamed up this vampire" (TIME magazine). Examining the myriad anxieties plaguing the Victorian fin de siecle, Skal stages Bram Stoker’s infirm childhood against a grisly tableau of medical mysteries and horrors: cholera and famine fever, childhood opium abuse, frantic bloodletting, mesmeric quack cures, and the gnawing obsession with "bad blood" that pervades Dracula. In later years, Stoker’s ambiguous sexuality is explored through his passionate youthful correspondence with Walt Whitman, his adoration of the actor Sir Henry Irving, and his romantic rivalry with lifelong acquaintance Oscar Wilde—here portrayed as a stranger-than-fiction doppelgänger. Recalling the psychosexual contours of Stoker’s life and art in splendidly gothic detail, Something in the Blood is the definitive biography for years to come.

The essays in this volume use a humanistic viewpoint to explore the evolution and significance of the vampire in literature from the Romantic era to the millennium."--BOOK JACKET.

SOON TO BE A MAJOR TV SHOW, FROM THE NETWORK BEHIND THE WALKING DEAD '[W]hen I found Rice's work I absolutely loved how she took that genre and (...) made [it] feel so contemporary and relevant' Sarah Pinborough, bestselling author of Behind Her Eyes '[Rice wrote] in the great tradition of the gothic' Ramsey Campbell, bestselling author of The Hungry Moon FROM INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR AND 'QUEEN OF THE UNDEAD', ANNE RICE The Vampire Chronicles continue with a riveting, rich saga - part adventure, part fairy tale - of Prince Lestat and the story of how he came to rule the vampire world From his ancestral chateau high up in the mountains of France, Prince Lestat grapples to instil a new ideology of peace and harmony among the blood-drinking community. Accustomed to welcoming the Undead from far and wide, one night he awakes to news of a ruthless attack by a group of maverick vampires. After fleeing to investigate the terror, Lestat learns of several new enemies who are intent on disrupting the harmony he tries so hard to maintain. But is Lestat strong enough to take on such evil alone or will sacrifices have to be made? Will his cry for peace be heard in a world riddled with violence?

"What you are about to read, if you so choose to, is the story of one young man's plight, of the struggle between the gothic passions of good and the horrors of evil, in which innocence is challenged by the thirst for blood of a Vampire. How does Michael Valli run away from his macabre inner nemesis Malice Nightwing? You, the reader must endure this journey through the Blood Passion. J. M. Valente"

Mina Murray returns in this suspenseful retelling of a classic tale... Transylvania, 1890. Mina and her allies have found the Transylvanian countryside dotted with empty villages and whispers of monsters who wear human skin. As Mina prepares for the final showdown with her fiance's abductors, the last descendants of the supernatural Draculesti family... She discovers her own shocking connection to the hidden world of vampires. Start reading now! This book will be of interest to readers seeking the following: free books, Dracula retellings, Dracula, Mina Harker, Jonathan Harker, Abraham Van Helsing, Mina Murray, Victorian London, gaslamp, historical mysteries, supernatural thrillers, vampires, mysteries, adventure, gothic, gothic romance, historical fantasy, gaslamp fantasy, paranormal suspense, action-adventure, historical thrillers