{"id":5294,"date":"2015-06-22T20:12:11","date_gmt":"2015-06-23T00:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=5294"},"modified":"2021-12-16T09:08:38","modified_gmt":"2021-12-16T14:08:38","slug":"vampires-the-recent-undead-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5294","title":{"rendered":"Vampires: The Recent Undead"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vampires: The Recent Undead<\/a><\/em> (2011) edited by Paula Guran<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Vampires-The-Recent-Undead\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Coldest Girl in Coldtown\u201d by Holly Black<\/a>
\n\u201cThis Is Now\u201d by Michael Marshall Smith
\n\u201cSisters\u201d by Charles de Lint<\/a>
\n\u201cThe Screaming\u201d by J.A. Konrath<\/a>
\n\u201cZen and the Art of Vampirism\u201d by Kelley Armstrong<\/a>
\n\u201cLa Vampiresse\u201d by Tanith Lee<\/a>
\n\u201cDead Man Stalking\u201d by Rachel Caine<\/a>
\n\u201cThe Ghost of Leadville\u201d by Jeanne C. Stein<\/a>
\n\u201cWaste Land\u201d by Stephen Dedman
\n\u201cGentleman of the Old School\u201d by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro<\/a>
\n\u201cNo Matter Where You Go\u201d by Tanya Huff<\/a>
\n\u201cOutfangthief\u201d by Conrad Williams
\n\u201cDancing with the Star\u201d by Susan Sizemore
\n\u201cA Trick of the Dark\u201d by Tina Rath
\n\u201cWhen Gretchen was Human\u201d by Mary Turzillo
\n\u201cConquistador de la Noche\u201d by Carrie Vaughn<\/a>
\n\u201cEndless Night\u201d by Barbara Roden
\n\u201cDahlia Underground\u201d by Charlaine Harris<\/a>
\n\u201cThe Belated Burial\u201d by Caitlin R. Kiernan<\/a>
\n\u201cTwilight States\u201d by Albert Cowdrey
\n\u201cTo the Moment\u201d by Nisi Shawl<\/a>
\n\u201cCastle in the Desert: Anno Dracula 1977? by Kim Newman
\n\u201cVampires in the Lemon Grove\u201d by Karen Russell
\n\u201cVampires Anonymous\u201d by Nancy Kilpatrick<\/a>
\n\u201cThe Wide, Carnivorous Sky\u201d by John Langan<\/p>\n

It has taken me an almost embarrassingly long time to finish this. How long you ask? I purchased it a couple months after it was published–that long ago.<\/p>\n

The problem is I hit a point where I wasn’t interested in a story, and instead of just skipping to the next story, I put the whole thing down. I know, rookie mistake. (But you’ll see I made it several times, so I decided to just finish off these anthologies, and if I didn’t like a story? SKIP.)<\/p>\n

Let’s see how many of these I remember, shall we?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Coldest Girl in Coldtown\u201d by Holly Black<\/a><\/p>\n

I read this one before, and purchased the book because of it. Except that I’ve not actually read the book.<\/p>\n

Both of the guys laughed. She tried to laugh with them even though she knew she wasn\u2019t included in the joke. She was the joke. The trashy little slut. The girl who can be bought for a big fat wine cooler and three cranberry-and-vodkas.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And I don’t know why, because to grab that quote I ended up starting to re-read the story. Which is not helpful when writing a review.<\/p>\n

\u201cSisters\u201d by Charles de Lint<\/a><\/p>\n

This one I have read multiple times, and very much like.<\/p>\n

I figure if the people writing the books and making the movies actually do have any firsthand experience with vampires, they\u2019re sugar-coating the information so that people don\u2019t freak out. If you\u2019re going to accept that they exist in the first place, it\u2019s much more comforting to believe that you\u2019re safe in the daylight, or that a cross or a fistful of garlic will keep them at bay. <\/p>\n

About the only thing they do get right is that it takes a vamp to make a vamp. You do have to die from the bite and then rise again three days later. It\u2019s as easy as that. It\u2019s also the best time to kill a vamp\u2014they\u2019re kind of like ragdolls, all loose and muddy-brained, for the first few hours. <\/p>\n

Oh, and you do have to invite us into your house. If it\u2019s a public place, we can go in the same as anyone else. <\/p>\n

What\u2019s that? No, that wasn\u2019t a slip of the tongue. I\u2019m one, too. So while I like the TV show as much as the next person, and I know it\u2019s fiction, blond cheerleader types still make me twitch a little.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You want to read that, don’t you?<\/p>\n

\u201cZen and the Art of Vampirism\u201d by Kelley Armstrong<\/a><\/p>\n

Cultural assimilation is a lofty goal, but every minority needs a place to kick back with her own kind, a place to trade news and gossip that wouldn\u2019t interest anyone outside the group. For supernaturals in Toronto, that place is Miller\u2019s.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I remember that I liked this one.<\/p>\n

\u201cLa Vampiresse\u201d by Tanith Lee<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cMadame Chaikassia.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cAh,\u201d she said. \u201cAt last. One who knows how to say my name.\u201d <\/p>\n

Naturally he knew. He had known from the day he saw her in the interview on TV. Rather as he had seen the actress Bette Davis in an interview years before and she had been asked how her first name was pronounced. So that he therefore knew it was not pronounced, as most persons now did, in the French way, Bett, but\u2014for he had heard the actress herself reply\u2014as Betty. And in the same way he knew the female being before him now did not pronounce her name as so many did: not Che\u00b4-kasee-ah, but Ch\u00b4-high-kazya.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This story was both lovely and terribly sad.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Ghost of Leadville\u201d by Jeanne C. Stein<\/a><\/p>\n

I have survived as a vampire for two hundred years. Living in big cities, mostly. Able to last as long as forty years in one guise\u2014the latest a museum curator in New York. My specialty was early Americana. Convenient since I was born to missionary parents in the American west in 1809.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWaste Land\u201d by Stephen Dedman<\/p>\n

I wish I knew what sort of vampires they all are. You can\u2019t trust the movies to get these things right. Russian vampires have purple faces. Mexican vampires have fleshless skulls. Albanian vampires are supposed to wear high-heeled shoes. Bulgarian vampires have one nostril, and they\u2019ve been eaten inside by some sort of fungus, so they\u2019re solid but squishy the whole way through, and they don\u2019t cast shadows. German vampires, nosferatu, control rats and so bring the Black Death, as though I don\u2019t have enough to worry about already.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I particularly liked this bit, as the different vampire traditions are very different.<\/p>\n

\u201cGentleman of the Old School\u201d by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone\u2019s looking for a new angle on the case, and the Center was a good place to start. That led me to the Count, and I only found out about the Count through the Donations Administrator\u2019s secretary, and that was over a very expensive lunch.\u201d She frowned. \u201cI was told that the Count only visited the facilities twice: shortly after construction began and just before it was opened: The Vancouver Center for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Blood Disorders. Ms. Saunders said the Count\u2019s donation covered more than seventy percent of the cost of building and equipping the facility, and that he provides an annual grant for on-going research. That\u2019s got to be a lot of money. I was wondering if the Count would care to confirm the amount? Or discuss the body found on the roof of the Center two days ago?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cNo Matter Where You Go\u201d by Tanya Huff<\/a><\/p>\n

I really liked the Vicki Nelson stories when I first read them. Then I tried to jump into a later book, after not having read the books for years, and felt lost.<\/p>\n

I might go back and start again and see how I feel about things.<\/p>\n

\u201cA Trick of the Dark\u201d by Tina Rath<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat job finishes just at sunset?\u201d Margaret jumped slightly. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a weird question, darling. Park keeper, I suppose.\u201d Something made her turn to look at her daughter. She was propped up against her pillows, looking, Margaret thought guiltily, about ten years old. She must keep remembering, she told herself fiercely, that Maddie was nineteen. This silly heart-thing, as she called it, was keeping her in bed for much longer than they ever thought it would, but it couldn\u2019t stop her growing up . . . she must listen to her, and talk to her like a grown-up.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cConquistador de la Noche\u201d by Carrie Vaughn<\/a><\/p>\n

This is perhaps my favorite Carrie Vaughn short story. It is the story of how Rick-Ricardo de Avila–became a vampire.<\/p>\n

Ricardo smiled. \u201cI am a loyal subject of Spain and a child of God who has been saddled with a particularly troublesome burden.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Rick has always been a particularly enigmatic character in the Kitty books, and I loved this glimpse into how he was turned.<\/p>\n

\u201cEndless Night\u201d by Barbara Roden<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you so much for speaking with me. And for these journals, which have never seen the light of day. I\u2019m honoured that you\u2019d entrust them to me.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s quite all right.\u201d Emily Edwards smiled; a delighted smile, like a child surveying an unexpected and particularly wonderful present. \u201cI don\u2019t receive very many visitors; and old people do like speaking about the past. No\u201d\u2014she held up a hand to stop him\u2014\u201cI am old; not elderly, not \u2019getting on,\u2019 nor any of the other euphemisms people use these days. When one has passed one\u2019s centenary, \u2019old\u2019 is the only word which applies.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cDahlia Underground\u201d by Charlaine Harris<\/a><\/p>\n

I’d read this previously, and found Dahlia an interesting character, especially as I was getting tired of Sookie.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Belated Burial\u201d by Caitlin R. Kiernan<\/a><\/p>\n

Brylee did object to the casket, and also to the hole in the frozen earth. She did object, in a hesitant, deferential sort of way. But, as they say, her protestations fell upon deaf ears, even though Miss Josephine fully acknowledged that none of it was necessary. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt will do you good,\u201d the vampire said, and, too, she said, \u201cOne day you\u2019ll understand, when you are older.\u201d And, she added, \u201cThere is far too little respect for tradition these days.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cTwilight States\u201d by Albert Cowdrey<\/p>\n

By then Pearl Harbor had happened and Daddy was signing papers so that Ned could volunteer for the Navy. \u201cOne less mouth to feed,\u201d remarked Mr. Warmth. <\/p>\n

Ned vanished into the alternate dimension that people called The Service, and Mama locked up his room, saying it must be kept just as he left it or he\u2019d never return alive. <\/p>\n

\u201cCrazy bitch,\u201d said Daddy, whose comments were usually terse and always predictable. <\/p>\n

Night after night for weeks afterward, Milton opened his window, slipped out onto the cold balcony that connected the three bedrooms, lifted the latch on Ned\u2019s shutters with a kitchen knife, and silently raised the sash. <\/p>\n

One at a time he took Ned\u2019s trophies, wrapped them in old newspapers, and put them out with the trash. He threw away Ned\u2019s magazines, books, and posters.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cTo the Moment\u201d by Nisi Shawl<\/a><\/p>\n

This is a really, really, really disturbing story.<\/p>\n

\u201cCastle in the Desert: Anno Dracula 1977? by Kim Newman<\/p>\n

Whatever relation you are to a person who was once married to one of your parents, Racquel Loring Ohlrig was to me. In Southern California, it\u2019s such a common family tie you\u2019d think there\u2019d be a neat little name for it, pre-father or potential-parent.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This was an amusing story.<\/p>\n

\u201cVampires in the Lemon Grove\u201d by Karen Russell<\/p>\n

This story stuck with me, and has come back to mind every once in awhile, Which is, I believe, a sign of a good story.<\/p>\n

\u201cVampires Anonymous\u201d by Nancy Kilpatrick<\/a><\/p>\n

This one was also amusing.<\/p>\n

So, it was an uneven anthology for me, but there were some very good stories that are well-worth the price of the anthology.
\nRating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Published by Prime Books<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vampires: The Recent Undead (2011) edited by Paula Guran \u201cThe Coldest Girl in Coldtown\u201d by Holly Black \u201cThis Is Now\u201d by Michael Marshall Smith \u201cSisters\u201d by Charles de Lint \u201cThe Screaming\u201d by J.A. Konrath \u201cZen and the Art of Vampirism\u201d by Kelley Armstrong \u201cLa Vampiresse\u201d by Tanith Lee \u201cDead Man Stalking\u201d by Rachel Caine \u201cThe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[18,2,291,16],"tags":[83,297,71,547,311,313],"class_list":["post-5294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anthology","category-fantasy","category-paper","category-supernatural","tag-carrie-vaughn","tag-charlaine-harris","tag-charles-de-lint","tag-napoleonic-era","tag-tanya-huff","tag-vampires"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-1no","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2524,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/2524","url_meta":{"origin":5294,"position":0},"title":"Vampires: The Recent Undead","author":"Michelle","date":"September 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Vampires: The Recent Undead (2011) edited by Paula Guran As with many anthologies, this one has some stories I especially liked, and others I didn't care for at all. I believe I'll focus on the ones I liked. The anthology opens with Holly Black's story, \"The Coldest Girl in Coldtown.\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/vampires-the-recent-undead.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1637,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/1637","url_meta":{"origin":5294,"position":1},"title":"The Undead Kama Sutra","author":"Michelle","date":"February 28, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The Undead Kama Sutra (2008) Mario Acevedo Felix Gomez is again on the case--or rather cases as his luck would have it. First a dying alien asks Felix to find his killer, then orders come down from the Araneum too looking into a plane crash. Meanwhile, he'd come to Florida\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/Undead-Karma-Sutra.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":35,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/35","url_meta":{"origin":5294,"position":2},"title":"Waifs and Strays","author":"Michelle","date":"July 21, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Waifs and Strays (2002) Charles de Lint Charles de Lint's latest short story collection is not as much for young adults as it is about young adults. As I recognized several titles in this collection from other collections, I hadn't been in a hurry to get this collection. That was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anthology"","block_context":{"text":"Anthology","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/anthology"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2004\/07\/Waifs-and-Strays.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5995,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5995","url_meta":{"origin":5294,"position":3},"title":"Jack the Giant-Killer","author":"Michelle","date":"August 6, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Jack the Giant-Killer (1987) Charles de Lint Jackie Rowan is stunned when her boyfriend walks out on her, and stumbling home after a binge, she sees the unbelievable and is pulled into a world just under the surface of her own world, that she never knew existed. The map was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Jack_the_Giant-Killer","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Jack_the_Giant-Killer.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":17534,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/17534","url_meta":{"origin":5294,"position":4},"title":"Bloody Acquisitions","author":"Michelle","date":"June 26, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Bloody Acquisitions (2016) Drew Hayes (Fred, the Vampire Accountant) Despite what film and television might have led to you believe, joining the undead does not inherently make one suave, cool, or even particularly more socially competent. Apparently, I need to become a vampire. While in life my reaction speed was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bloody Acquisitions","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Bloody-Acquisitions.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":767,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/767","url_meta":{"origin":5294,"position":5},"title":"Undead and Unwed","author":"Michelle","date":"November 3, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Undead and Unwed (2004) MaryJanice Davidson Betsy thought things couldn't get much worse when she got fired from her job. She soon discovered that was wrong, when she woke up in a coffin (after being smashed by a truck) dressed in pink and wearing her step-mother's castoff shoes. So, first\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/undead_and_unwed.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5294\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}