What do you think?
Rate this book
Otherworld Stories
The Bitten Word
From modern suburbia to the baking deserts of Africa, from the foggy streets of old London to the grand homes of Antwerp, from an alternative world where vampires have ‘come out’ to vampirism among a society of sentient insects, from ravening hordes of the undead to skulking haunters of the night… Here There Be Vampires!
Seventeen original tales of vampires as you’ve never seen them before…
1. Ian Whates -- Introduction
2. Simon Clark – Vampithecus
3. Kelley Armstrong – Young Bloods
4. Sarah Singleton – A Winter’s Tale
5. Gary McMahon – Those Damned Kids
6. Storm Constantine – Where the Vampires Live
7. John Kaiine – English Spoken
8. Chaz Brenchley – Hothouse Flowers
9. Nancy Kilpatrick – Traditions in Future Perfect
10. Andrew Hook – Red or White
11. Freda Warrington – Fall of the House of Blackwater
12. Tanith Lee – Taken at His Word
13. Kari Sperring – Cold Rush
14. Donna Scott – Lord of the Lyceum
15. Sam Stone – Fool’s Gold
16. Jon Courtenay Grimwood – Wuthering Bites
17. Ian Whates – The Abomination of Beauty
18. Gail Z Martin – Vanities
19. Ian Watson – My Vampire Cake* (*Available only in the special signed limited edition)
Seventeen original tales of vampires as you’ve never seen them before…
1. Ian Whates -- Introduction
2. Simon Clark – Vampithecus
3. Kelley Armstrong – Young Bloods
4. Sarah Singleton – A Winter’s Tale
5. Gary McMahon – Those Damned Kids
6. Storm Constantine – Where the Vampires Live
7. John Kaiine – English Spoken
8. Chaz Brenchley – Hothouse Flowers
9. Nancy Kilpatrick – Traditions in Future Perfect
10. Andrew Hook – Red or White
11. Freda Warrington – Fall of the House of Blackwater
12. Tanith Lee – Taken at His Word
13. Kari Sperring – Cold Rush
14. Donna Scott – Lord of the Lyceum
15. Sam Stone – Fool’s Gold
16. Jon Courtenay Grimwood – Wuthering Bites
17. Ian Whates – The Abomination of Beauty
18. Gail Z Martin – Vanities
19. Ian Watson – My Vampire Cake* (*Available only in the special signed limited edition)
Paperback
First published March 26, 2010
1 person is currently reading
469 people want to read
About the author
Ian Whates
122 books81 followersIan Whates lives in a comfortable home down a quiet cul-de-sac in an idyllic Cambridgeshire village, which he shares with his partner Helen and their pets – Honey the golden cocker spaniel, Calvin the tailless black cat and Inky the goldfish (sadly, Binky died a few years ago).
Ian’s earliest memories of science fiction are fragmented. He remembers loving Dr Who from an early age and other TV shows such as Lost in Space and Star Trek, but a defining moment came when he heard a radio adaptation of John Wyndham’s The Chrysalids. From that moment on he was hooked and became a frequent haunter of the local library, voraciously devouring the contents of their SF section.
This early love of science fiction manifested most tellingly during his school days, when he produced an SF murder mystery as homework after being set the essay title “The Language of Shakespeare”, much to the bemusement of his English teacher.
Ian’s first published stories appeared in the late 1980s in small press magazines such as Dream and New Moon Quarterly, after which he took a break from writing in order to research his chosen fields of science fiction and fantasy. In other words, he read copious amounts of both. Clearly the research was extensive, because he published nothing further for some seventeen years. In the early 2000s he made the decision to pursue writing seriously, joining the Northampton SF Writers Group in 2004 after being introduced to its chairman, Ian Watson.
In 2006 he started submitting stories again, and has subsequently been surprised at how many otherwise eminently sensible people have chosen to publish him. A couple have even appeared in the science journal Nature, and one, “The Gift of Joy”, even found its way onto the five-strong shortlist for best short story in the British Science Fiction Association Awards. And it didn’t come last! Ironically, the award was actually won by Ken MacLeod’s “Lighting Out”, a piece Ian had commissioned, edited and published in the NewCon Press anthology disLOCATIONS (2007).
In 2006 Ian launched independent publisher NewCon Press, quite by accident (buy him a pint sometime and he’ll tell you about it). Through NewCon he has been privileged to publish original stories from some of the biggest names in genre fiction, as well as provide debuts to some genuinely talented newcomers. The books, their covers and contents have racked up an impressive array of credits – four BSFA Awards, one BSF Award to date, inclusion in ‘Year’s Best’ anthologies and recommendations and honourable mentions from the likes of Gardner Dozios and Locus magazine.
In addition to his publishing and writing, Ian is currently a director of both the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA) and the British Science Fiction Association (BSFA), editing Matrix, the online news and media reviews magazine, for the latter.
His first two completed novels are both due to appear in early 2010: City of Dreams and Nightmare via Harper Collins’ imprint Angry Robot, and The Noise Within from Rebellion imprint Solaris, with sequels to follow. When not pinching himself to make sure this is all really happening, Ian is currently beavering away at the sequels… honest!
Ian’s earliest memories of science fiction are fragmented. He remembers loving Dr Who from an early age and other TV shows such as Lost in Space and Star Trek, but a defining moment came when he heard a radio adaptation of John Wyndham’s The Chrysalids. From that moment on he was hooked and became a frequent haunter of the local library, voraciously devouring the contents of their SF section.
This early love of science fiction manifested most tellingly during his school days, when he produced an SF murder mystery as homework after being set the essay title “The Language of Shakespeare”, much to the bemusement of his English teacher.
Ian’s first published stories appeared in the late 1980s in small press magazines such as Dream and New Moon Quarterly, after which he took a break from writing in order to research his chosen fields of science fiction and fantasy. In other words, he read copious amounts of both. Clearly the research was extensive, because he published nothing further for some seventeen years. In the early 2000s he made the decision to pursue writing seriously, joining the Northampton SF Writers Group in 2004 after being introduced to its chairman, Ian Watson.
In 2006 he started submitting stories again, and has subsequently been surprised at how many otherwise eminently sensible people have chosen to publish him. A couple have even appeared in the science journal Nature, and one, “The Gift of Joy”, even found its way onto the five-strong shortlist for best short story in the British Science Fiction Association Awards. And it didn’t come last! Ironically, the award was actually won by Ken MacLeod’s “Lighting Out”, a piece Ian had commissioned, edited and published in the NewCon Press anthology disLOCATIONS (2007).
In 2006 Ian launched independent publisher NewCon Press, quite by accident (buy him a pint sometime and he’ll tell you about it). Through NewCon he has been privileged to publish original stories from some of the biggest names in genre fiction, as well as provide debuts to some genuinely talented newcomers. The books, their covers and contents have racked up an impressive array of credits – four BSFA Awards, one BSF Award to date, inclusion in ‘Year’s Best’ anthologies and recommendations and honourable mentions from the likes of Gardner Dozios and Locus magazine.
In addition to his publishing and writing, Ian is currently a director of both the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA) and the British Science Fiction Association (BSFA), editing Matrix, the online news and media reviews magazine, for the latter.
His first two completed novels are both due to appear in early 2010: City of Dreams and Nightmare via Harper Collins’ imprint Angry Robot, and The Noise Within from Rebellion imprint Solaris, with sequels to follow. When not pinching himself to make sure this is all really happening, Ian is currently beavering away at the sequels… honest!
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 2, 2012
I didn't like all the stories, I bought it mainly for Kelley Armstrong's short story in it but also cause it was a celebration of the Vampire genre with all different takes on Vampires from different writers. The two that stood out for me were Kelley Armstrong's 'Young Bloods' story which had a nice twist in it and Nancy Kilpatrick's story 'Traditions in Future Perfect' about how Vamps find their place in the world eventually by offering a euphanasia service to the dying, it was a nice take on vampirism!
January 18, 2022
One good thing about The Bitten Word overall is that all of the pieces were created for The Bitten Word. They’re not excerpts of longer pieces drawn from elsewhere. One of the things I’ve learned throughout my readings last year is that excerpts of a novel read very differently than short stories, even when they’re equal word counts.
This anthology was disappointing, I forgot to add it to my read list until several weeks (and books) later. It centers privileged people and it shows. A lot of the pieces are just boring. They go through the expected plot twists with no real examination of the tropes they’re engaging in. This leads to the pieces focusing on the spectacle of the horror rather than the horror of the horror. Spectacle-enjoyers will enjoy The Bitten Word, but it’s just too shallow for me.
There are pieces that I really enjoyed, but they’re not served well by their neighbors. It’s baby’s first collection of vampire stories. If you have an adult friend who’s just gotten into vampires and / or more "scandalous" literature, they’ll enjoy it; but vampire literature connoisseurs should skip it unless they have absolutely no other vampiric things to spend their money on.
I'll give it two stars because it's not incompetent, it's just boring. And boring is highly subjective. Pretty much any story you find in here, you can find on AO3 for free―with characters you care about―instead of $40 or however much I paid for it. I remember thinking I vastly overpaid for this thing.
This anthology was disappointing, I forgot to add it to my read list until several weeks (and books) later. It centers privileged people and it shows. A lot of the pieces are just boring. They go through the expected plot twists with no real examination of the tropes they’re engaging in. This leads to the pieces focusing on the spectacle of the horror rather than the horror of the horror. Spectacle-enjoyers will enjoy The Bitten Word, but it’s just too shallow for me.
There are pieces that I really enjoyed, but they’re not served well by their neighbors. It’s baby’s first collection of vampire stories. If you have an adult friend who’s just gotten into vampires and / or more "scandalous" literature, they’ll enjoy it; but vampire literature connoisseurs should skip it unless they have absolutely no other vampiric things to spend their money on.
I'll give it two stars because it's not incompetent, it's just boring. And boring is highly subjective. Pretty much any story you find in here, you can find on AO3 for free―with characters you care about―instead of $40 or however much I paid for it. I remember thinking I vastly overpaid for this thing.
August 6, 2020
Read for the Kelley Armstrong story. Which was a bit of a clever twist on hunter and prey, between vamps. But unless read in the context of the other books. One might not readily recall the main character whatsoever, like myself. But was a quick read that got me back to reading a bit, so I appreciate it, for that.
August 16, 2023
A great book for vampire lovers lots of fun anthology stories
April 30, 2025
I couldn't really gel with any of the short vampiric horror stories in this anthology. They were okay, but none really stood out for me.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews