Vampires: The Evil, The Sadistic and The Bloody....or Not

   The world of Vampires seems to be getting romanticized more and more in this day and age.  I recently had a conversation with a Horror writer on this very topic.  Since most of the books I reviewed on this site have PNR, he was wondering if I read the true nitty-gritty-down-and-dirty-bloody vampire books.  Of course I do!  Its just I do not discriminate, I love all things Vampire oriented.  Let me rephrase that, I read all things Vampire with an open mind, with or without love being involved in the plot.  What truly makes a great Vampire book in my eyes is having every aspect detailed within the book; blood, origin, violence, lust, death, three dimensional characters and a decent plot.  

    The problem with a lot of todays PNR is that some of the authors aren't really even into the Paranormal or even Gothic Scene, Dark Romance is like a foreign entity to them.  They only want to break into a world that has become a huge money-maker.  It is easy to tell which writers do this by the simple fact of the story coming off as a Contemporary with a few fangs thrown in.  Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that there are tons of different views and takes on vampirsm now, more books for me to read that are indeed not repeat of someone else's work with different names.  Writing should be about passion, your own.  If you are not into the Genre you are writing about it does come off in your work.  A true Author has the ability to make the reader feel what the character is feeling; love, lust, fear, rage... Which can't be done if the author isn't feeling him/herself.  

     I am in no way knocking Paranormal/Dark Romance, and neither should true Vampire Lovers.  And yes,

real vampires love too, or has everyone for forgotten the ultimate vampire, Vlad 'The Impaler' Bassarab Dracul?  He loved first his wife like no other, then the infamous Mina.  What I don't like is when some authors have their characters do a full 360 and become a whole new person when they find their soulmate, Dracula sure didn't.  If someone is truly your soulmate, your true soulmate should love every aspect of you; the good, the bad, the deadly and even the evil.  One author who I love and indeed understands this is Krestley Cole is her series Immortals After Dark.  Even when the most heinous of her characters finds someone to love, they continue to be their same sadistic self, like Lothaire, and readers also love them too.  No-one is truly good or fully evil, some just have more of one than they have of the other.  There is also no lack of blood and gore in her books and the detail is amazing, including every faction in the Lore and not sugarcoating any one of them.   Another author who understands this is Sherrilyn Kenyon in both her Dark Hunters Series, and the spin of Chronicles of Nick.  The exquisite detail and research she has put behind this series is phenomanal, including both the Greek Pantheon and the not so much seen Atlanteon Pantheon.  There is love, there's loss, there's lust, blood, gore, death, violence, disparity, everything a girl like me could ask for.  And there are so MANY MORE Authors out there that are true PNR/Dark Romance writers that do not skimp on what a Vampire is truly about.  

     Basically PNR is one of those things that are 'Don't knock it til you try it', and don't give up on it just because you chose the wrong, Vanilla variety.  So if you do want to give it a go ask someone to recommend a book to you, I'm always open to give suggestions.  And I have read everything Vampire from Necroscope to Dracula to that dreaded Twilight.  Yes, I admit to reading the Sparkly Ones.  Like I said, I give all vampires a try, though sometimes I do live to regret it.