Four Vampire Novels that I Love,

Dracula 

The classic “Dracula” that has been fundamental in the way we picture Vampires in the modern day.

It is why we have most of the other stories in this list. Bram Stoker gave us the fearsome aristocrat, who symbolizes sensuality, death, and blood. 

Bela Legosi from 1931's Dracula

A Dowry of Blood 

S.T. Gibson gives an incredible story told by letters to Dracula in “A Dowry of Blood,” written by his bride after she kills him.

The formatting of the story via letters is such a beauty homage to the original story.

The way this author used a supernatural life to allude to the real-world horrors of domestic abuse had me is such a chokehold, that I read it twice in a span of two days. 

Carmilla 

Often referred to as Stokers influence, “Carmilla” by Sheridan Le Fanu is the story of a young woman being seduced by a vampire in the female form.

While Dracula went mainstream, we have this short story to possibly thank for our modern-day love for the vampire. 

The Vampire Lestat 

“The Vampire Lestat,” by Anne Rice the second book in the Vampire Chronicles, and the one that really got the story moving for me. 

I adored the background in the villain Lestat's life, then vampire life.

He is the main character, and I refuse to listen to anyone who says that he is not a villain.

He is a villain, and we love him for it. 

All of these books have a special place in my heart, and are much of the reason I have re-fallen in love with the gothic genre as an adult.