Booktalk This! When You’re Tired of Emo Vamps (by Kearsten)

Burned out on vampire romances? Wish the creatures lurking in the dark were a little more bloodthirsty (or possessing more of a sense of humor)? Me, too!  I spent the week rereading Justin Cronin’s The Passage, an epic, sprawling novel of the build-up to and the aftermath of a completely terrifying vampire-virus apocalypse. Cronin’s vamps are deadly and truly scary, but if you’re looking for a shorter read for older teens (The Passage is a door stop), why not hand over one of these titles featuring vamps that are more interested in more than finding his/her one true love.

Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer by Dustin Higgins and Van Jensen.

Cal Thompson is parasite positive, or a peep for short, but instead of going crazy as most peeps do, he’s maintained his sanity. Unfortunately, the infection passes through saliva, and while Cal isn’t crazy dangerous…all those girls he made out with recently? Not so lucky. But as Cal sets out to hunt down his exes as well as the one who infected him, he begins to realize that something is going very wrong…  This one is good fun, and includes a lot of gross and fascinating information about very real parasites in the world around us. 

I am Legend by Richard MathesonYes, maybe you saw the movie, and yes, Will Smith was pretty awesome in it, but those weird vampire/zombie hybrids? NO. Read this vampire classic about a man fighting to stay alive and sane against hordes of vampires, all while worrying that he may be the last human alive. It’s short and intense and a must for anyone looking for scary vamps.

Dave is the night clerk at a  convenience store, and finds life to be a monotonous bore. Dave is also secretly a vampire, made because his vamp boss (and convenience store owner) needed someone to cover the night shift. The only thing that keeps Dave going through daylight sleeping, blood from a donor bag (gotten from the local blood bank) and his boring job is Rosa, the goth girl he’s crushin’ on. Yes, this vamp is in love, and he’s a little mopey, but Dave feels no romanticism towards his condition, and the story pokes a lot of fun at those overly dramatic, moody vampires of popular culture.

Filed under: Booktalk This, Booktalks, Collection Development, Reader's Advisory, Vampires