Teeth: Vampire Tales

Teeth: Vampire Tales (2011) edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

This is an Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling anthology, so as always, there are fascinating bits of folklore.

Rice, not garlic, was the most effective means of keeping Chinese vampires at bay, for they had a strange compulsion to count. Throwing rice at the ghost compelled it to stop; it would not move again until each grain was counted.

“Things to Know About Being Dead” by Genevieve Valentine
“All Smiles” by Steve Berman
“Gap Year” by Christopher Barzak
“Bloody Sunrise” by Neil Gaiman
“Flying” by Delia Sherman
“Vampire Weather” by Garth Nix
“Late Bloomer” by Suzy McKee Charnas
“The List of Definite Endings” by Kaaron Warren
“Best Friends Forever” by Cecil Castellucci
“Sit the Dead” by Jeffrey Ford
“Sunbleached” by Nathan Ballingrud
“Baby” by Kathe Koja
“In the Future When All’s Well” by Catherynne M. Valente
“Transition” by Melissa Marr
“History” by Ellen Kushner
“The Perfect Dinner Party” by Cassandra Clare & Holly Black
“Slice of Life” by Lucius Shepard
“My Generation” by Emma Bull
“Why Light?” by Tanith Lee

“Things to Know About Being Dead” by Genevieve Valentine is the story of a young, just turned, Jiang-shi (vampire) and her grandmother, who is the only one who knows what’s happening. This story was sweet and sad and wonderful, and one of my favorites.

“All Smiles” by Steve Berman tells of a young boy running away from reform school who learns the hard way that vampires exist.

“Gap Year” by Christopher Barzak is Loretta’s story, and how sometimes childhood friends aren’t the friends you think they are.

“Bloody Sunrise” by Neil Gaiman is a poem, and I’m a heathen and just don’t get poetry. (Apologies to all my friends who are poets.)

“Flying” by Delia Sherman was another favorite story. A young trapeze artist and her parents have to stop touring when she develops Leukemia, but Lenka misses the circus and wants more than anything to return.

“Vampire Weather” by Garth Nix was a story I had not read before. Vampirism has become an epidemic, but Amos belongs to a secluded religious community that stubbornly clings to the “old ways”. For some reason, when I first read this, I thought it ended differently than it actually did.

“Late Bloomer” by Suzy McKee Charnas follows Josh, who just can’t seem to find his place and what he is supposed to do with his life. Perhaps, being a vampire isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

It had a lovely line that made me think:

Odette snarled silently, showing a gleam of fang (Josh looked away; he hated thinking about where those teeth had been).

“The List of Definite Endings” by Kaaron Warren is Claudia’s story, and how she tries to find a different path. This was another story I especially enjoyed.

“Best Friends Forever” by Cecil Castellucci was another sad story, of illness and dying. But it also tells of friendship, and how friends can save and change each other.

“Sit the Dead” by Jeffrey Ford was an… odd story. Luke wants to be with Darlene, but there are certain things her family does that he has to do when someone dies, and Darlene asks Luke to sit with the dead with her Uncle Sfortunado.

“Sunbleached” by Nathan Ballingrud was definitely horror, and as such, one of the stories I didn’t like. Joshua has trapped a vampire under their house, and wants it to turn him.

“Baby” by Kathe Koja is another story in the horror genre. Another not for me.

“In the Future When All’s Well” by Catherynne M. Valente tells of a future time when suddenly, for reasons no one can figure out, people are turning into vampires. Especially teenagers.

“Transition” by Melissa Marr is another look at the downsides of being a vampire–the possessiveness and the inability to kill the vampire who turned you being two big downsides.

“History” by Ellen Kushner is the story of a history student in love with a vampire, and her frustration with his inability to remember events she desperately wants to know more about.

As always, she writes lines that I love:

He did have a cold once, for a couple of hours. He said he picked it up on the street. And that people should be forced to wear tags on their collars saying, DON’T BITE ME I’M DISEASED.

So in theory, people with allergies could keep themselves from being bitten by vampires, by pretending to have colds. That amuses me to no end.

“The Perfect Dinner Party” by Cassandra Clare & Holly Black is disturbing and creepy and again looks at the downsides of never growing older. Especially if you’re a child when you were turned. This story was disturbing, but I quite liked it.

“Slice of Life” by Lucius Shepard was another story that disturbed me. What would you be willing to do for you friend, and how can you be sure your friends love you for who you are, not just what you can do for them.

“My Generation” by Emma Bull is another poem.

“Why Light?” by Tanith Lee is the final story, and one I particularly liked. These vampires are born and not made, but different traits have different strengths.

As expected, this was a very good anthology, and although I didn’t like the horror or the poetry, that’s a failing of mine, not the anthology.
Rating: 8/10

Published by Harper Collins

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