Is this not the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?!?

The Vampire Archives: The Most Complete Volume of Vampire Tales Ever Published
edited by Otto Penzler
Vintage
Paperback, 1034 pages
Released October 29, 2009

The Vampire Archives is the biggest, hungriest, undeadliest collection of vampire stories, as well as the most comprehensive bibliography of vampire fiction ever assembled. Dark, stormy, and delicious, once it sinks its teeth into you there’s no escape.

Vampires! Whether imagined by Bram Stoker or Anne Rice, they are part of the human lexicon and as old as blood itself. They are your neighbors, your friends, and they are always lurking. Now Otto Penzler—editor of the bestselling Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps—has compiled the darkest, the scariest, and by far the most evil collection of vampire stories ever. With over eighty stories, including the works of Stephen King and D. H. Lawrence, alongside Lord Byron and Tanith Lee, not to mention Edgar Allan Poe and Harlan Ellison, The Vampire Archives will drive a stake through the heart of any other collection out there.

Other contributors include:
Arthur Conan Doyle • Ray Bradbury • Ambrose Bierce • H. P. Lovecraft • Harlan Ellison • Roger Zelazny • Robert Bloch • Clive Barker

I'm sure the librarian and the library's patrons think I'm an absolute teenage fangirl now, thanks to my delighted little squeal when I saw this book. Yep, small town ... small library ... all sounds echo. This is my little vampire heaven - a compilation of vampire tales from some of my very favorite authors -- and this includes the preface by Neil Gaiman! Reading through the titles of the stories, I'd say I only knew about a fifth of the authors/stories. I'm looking forward to reading this off and on while I'm reading other books. Since this is such a huge book with so many different stories, I don't know if I'll do a true review on it - maybe a mini-review just to outline a few things to look forward to in the book? Decisions, decisions. In any case, I can already tell you guys from the stories that I *have* read ... if you like the old school vampires that are creepy and not always chivalrous like a certain Cullen, I'm going to go ahead and tell you guys to pick up the novel. It's a little under $25 at Book Depository (don't forget free shipping!), and that's a steal for all of the stories you get!!

Edit: Be sure to check out the Google Preview by clicking the icon under the book cover!