Vampires: The Greatest Stories

by Martin H. Greenberg, Robert Bloch (Contributor), Karl Edward Wagner (Contributor)

This is an alternate cover for ISBN 1567311679

Genres: Horror, Anthologies, Vampires, Fiction, Short Stories, Paranormal, Fantasy

308 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Martin Harry Greenberg was an American academic and speculative fiction anthologist. In all, he compiled 1,298 anthologies and commissioned over 8,200 original short stories. He founded Tekno Books, a packager of more than 2000 published books. In addition, he was a co-founder of the Sci-Fi Channel.

For the 1950s anthologist and publisher of Gnome Press, see Martin Greenberg.

Reviews

[James S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

A pretty bad anthology. Mostly poorly written and forgettable stories, with 2 exceptions.

I gave a score of 2/5 to the following stories, chiefly for clumsy writing:

- "The Bat is my Brother", Robert Bloch
- "In Darkness, Angels", Eric Lustbader
- "Dayblood", Roger Zelazny
- "No Such Thing as a Vampire", Richard Matheson
- "The Vampire of Mallworld", S.P. Somtow

"The Miracle Mile", Robert McCammon, 2, was too sentimental, "Valentine for a Vampire", Daniel Ransom, 2, and "Something Had To Be Done", 3, David Drake, were silly, and "Beyond Any Measure", Karl Edward Wagner,2, was too hip and slick for its own good (in addition to being concerned with hypnosis and reincarnation, both topics that immediately turn me off of a story)."Red as Blood", Tanith Lee, 2, and "Child of an Ancient City", Tad Williams,2, were just uninteresting.

That leaves the following stories:
- "The Man Who Loved The Vampire Lady", Brian Stableford - 3/5, interesting premise, but not really a short story
- "The Cookie Lady", Philip K. Dick - 3.5, short and sweet, but rather thin
- "Mama Gone", Jane Yolen - 5/5, the best story in the book, William Faulkner writing a vampire story
- "Shave and a Haircut, Two Bites", Dan Simmons - 4/5, the second-best story in the book, with a satisfyingly twisted ending

So, out of 15 stories, only 2 were really worth reading. Averaged together, the book gets a score of 1.9.

[Rycke Foreman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three and a half stars.

Vampires don't usually entice me to pick up a book, but with names like Robert McCammon, Richard Matheson, Dan Simmons, Robert Bloch and Philip K. Dick, I thought I'd give it a shot.

Nothing groundbreaking here, but there were a few nice twists on the old myth, and most of the stories were entertaining in one way or another. Good for a quick diversion...if you're not too bored with vampires.

[Vasha7 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm well aware that putting "greatest stories" in the title is standard publisher's hype, but really, I'd hope that the contents would live up to that claim just a little better than this mostly-routine lot does. Starting with my least favorites, there was the painfully bad prose of "In Darkness, Angels" by Eric Lustbader; "The Bat Is My Brother" by Robert Bloch, which induced unintentional snickers by its grandiosity; and "Beyond All Measure" by Karl Edward Wagner, a standard piece which depended on the depiction of lesbianism as depravity for its effects. "Valentine from a Vampire", by Daniel Ransom, is a forgettable piece of silliness. S. P. Somtow goes into the futuristic-satire mode in "The Vampire of Mallworld", using vampirism as a symbol of messy human urges contrasted with sterile, glitzy, mediatized and plasticized culture; I suppose it may be a good story but this sort of thing always gets a shrug from me. On the better side, there was the mildly amusing perspective flip of Roger Zelazny's "Dayblood", and Richard Matheson's clever "No Such Thing as a Vampire" which, however, I don't think would repay rereading after you know the final twist. Dan Simmons's gruesome story of monstrosities lurking among the seemingly ordinary, "Shave and a Haircut, Two Bites", carefully controlled its tone and revelations but got a bit strained toward the end I thought. "Something Had to Be Done" by David Drake is a short Vietnam War story in the hard-bitten tone of this military sci-fi writer, not original but competent. Philip K. Dick's "The Cookie Lady" is another fright piece that makes a metaphor literal. Also "Red as Blood" by Tanith Lee, which uses Lee's usual extravagantly lush style to tell a version of Snow White with her as a vampire defeated by Christianity... A bravura piece of writing but I'm honestly not sure if it means much.

I greatly enjoyed "Child of an Ancient City" by Tad Williams -- it is not a new idea to use an Arabian Nights setting for a story about storytelling, and the language of it is of a familiar sort ("Some of the men again laughed loudly, but this time it rang false as a brass-seller's smile"); the conventions are very well used, however. This is a tale where a monster who has lost his humanity is turned aside by taking pity on the humanity of his victims, as revealed through nights of storytelling; a warm-hearted story. "The Man Who Loved the Vampire Lady", by Brian Stableford, is a very fine allohistorical story about the discovery of the origins of diseases and the effects that scientific discoveries may have on power relations. The pick of the anthology were Jane Yolen's heartwrenching "Mama Gone", and "The Miracle Mile" by Robert McCammon, a profoundly unease-provoking piece which is partly an elegiac lament for a lost world after a "biological incident" transforms much of humanity, while a man and his family walk among ruins, but the nature of the new world might be different if not seen through his eyes.

[Patricia Gomes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This anthology, like most, contains a fair amount of good and mediocre stories. There is one gem, one outstanding story: The Miracle Mile by Robert McCammon. Within an apocalyptic setting, one young family strives for normalcy in insanely abnormal environment. His vampires are not run-of-the-mill vamps. The story was first published in 1991, and if you have not read any of McCammon's work, this is THE story to start with; you'll be an instant McCammon fan.

[Amber M · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am very easily entertained so it takes a lot for me to give something a two star rating. First I'll start on the positive, a couple of the longer stories in this book were good like "Valentine From a Vampire" and "Beyond Any Measure". These had well thought out storylines and made sense. Most of the others though were not well written and their storylines didn't make sense. In my opinion the biggest problem was that when dealing with vampires I think you have to set up what time frame you are writing about. Especially since vampire can be "alive" anywhere between today and the beginning of time. A lot of the stories didn't specifically state what year the story took place or describe the clothing or surroundings in a way that made it clear when the story took place. The other minor issue was in this one book I have seen the most spelling and grammatical errors I have ever scene. So, even though there are a couple good stories your time would be better spent reading Anne Rice, Charlaine Harris or Laurel K. Hamilton.

[Gerry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fifteen short stories and novelettes about vampires or something like them. At six pages each, “Dayblood,“ “Something Had to Be Done” and “Mama Gone” are the shortest; “Beyond Any Measure” is the longest at forty-nine. The stories were first published from 1944 through 1991. I'm not an expert at sci-fi, but I recognize Robert Bloch (Psycho) and Richard Matheson (I Am Legend) among the writers. The book’s a quick read. Whatever readers’ tastes and interests in literature, there is probably something for everyone. There is pathos in “Mama Gone” and “Child of an Ancient City” that made me like those two tales, and “The Miracle Mile,” “No Such Thing as a Vampire,” and “The Bat Is My Brother” may have made good Twilight Zone episodes. “Beyond Any Measure” is a fair mystery. I tore through the whole book in three evenings. Look for this on Amazon or a used bookshop; I don’t think one needs to buy it new.

[J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this collection a lot. There were a couple stories that I felt weren't up to par with the rest of the collection. One, because the vampire concept used was too cliché. The other I didn't like was uber futuristic and silly. The rest were really good, and each very unique.

Especially loved the old world middle-east tale.

If anyone can recommend another collection of short stories primarily focused on vampires, I would appreciate it.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good read. But, I would hazard to say, there is always a weak link in an anthology, one story that just doesn't flow with the rest. Unfortunately, this anthology has two stories I struggled through, which diminished the pleasure of reading the whole. If it were not for this, I would have given it four stars.

[Hauntie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Meh. I'll lend it to CJ just b/c it's vampires but really only one or maybe two stories really were worth it. There was one that was so over-the-top sci-fi/futuristic bull that I skipped it altogether. At your own risk!

[Erinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice collection of short stories. I bought it mainly because it had a Tanith Lee story in it, her Snow White story from her collection called Tales from the Sister's Grimmer ~ which I finally found a copy of at Half Price.

[Bill Borre]

"Valentine from a Vampire" by Daniel Ransom - Sam attempts to warn Felicia that her boyfriend Karl is a vampire.

"No Such Thing As a Vampire" by Richard Matheson - wc
"Shave and a Haircut, Two Bites" by Dan Simmons - wc
"Dayblood" by Roger Zelazny - wc

[Brett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anthology,Horror

[bluetyson]

Vampires: The Greatest Stories (1997)

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

A must read set of short stories for any vampire fan. Good stuff.

[Nicole Poest · Rating 1 out of 5]

I stopped reading this one after about 4 stories. I just did not like it at all. Could not keep my interest. :(

[Arlene Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best story: Blood Libel by L. A. Hussey.