What do you think?
Rate this book
Bite: A Vampiric Anthology
328 pages, Paperback
Published December 31, 2024
4 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 8, 2025
Bite was the second vampire anthology I've ever read. The other one is A Brood of Vampires, which contains one of my stories. When I was submitting stories, that story was submitted to both Bite and Brood (and also Spooky Magazine 2) but was rejected by Brood & Spooky. However, I am a Graveside Press author, and this is my favorite horror house, so I definitely wanted to read Bite. Thank you Graveside Press for providing a free eBook ARC copy of this book!
One thing I was curious about when I started reading Bite was what would the similarities & differences of Bite & Brood. After reading through both anthologies, the difference is Bite is a horror anthology while Brood is a mixture of horror & fantasy. There are a few dark ones in Brood (Occurrence on the Delaware Farm is the darkest imo) but Brood is much darker on average. Thankfully, there are trigger warnings at the end of the book for every story that requires one. The Halloween Girl of Coldsprings trigger warning should be edited to add death of children, instead of just death of one child - as death of the child the trigger warning is referring to is not nearly as gruesome as the death of several children later on. Other than that, though, this section contains all the information that readers need to make the right decision on what to read or not read. I wish more horror anthologies contained trigger warnings like this. As someone who refuses to read certain topics (SA) I have been disturbed to accidentally stumble upon other stories that I wish included trigger warnings. So, I'm glad Bite has them!
I'll talk about four stories here in spoilery detail, but I talk about several more on my Threads profile. Let's begin!
The Halloween Girl of Coldsprings - This is one of my favorites. A macabre story that is written as a newspaper article reporting on a nine year old girl who visits a town in Ohio every Halloween. I like the way things escalate.
Medusa Evermore - It's about a vampire (?) who is looking for the Elephant's Foot in Chernobyl. The story is very interesting & I learned about the Foot for the first time. Though, I would never have guessed the MC was a vampire if not for the fact that this is Bite. He seems more like Wolverine & never refers to himself as a vampire nor does he display any vampiric power other than immortality - which could make him many other things too. Also... the MC is implied to be Jesus He mentions things not going well 2,000 years ago when he revealed himself, but that he didn't die. He mentions all the ways he tried to die, but none of them are the traditional methods of killing vampires. I could be completely wrong, but I think maybe the author (P.R. O'Leary) didn't intend for us to think of him as a vampire when he wrote the story? Anyway, it was interesting!
The Belly of the Beast - This tense story hooked me from the start. Full of satin and silk dresses, I love the look and vibe of this story. I will say, though, I ended up turning against the MC because of how easily she forgives the one responsible for the murder of her friends. What kind of BFF was she anyway? Anyway, this was a very tense and exciting story to read.
Man on Porch - This is a horror comedy, and it's my favorite of the bunch. It's about a woman homeowner who gets a series of bizarre, unwelcome visitors on her porch one night. I really like the MC, she was level-headed & did the smart thing unlike many horror characters. I felt sorry for the mosquito! This story also appeared in Monsters Next Door, which is cool!
I recommend Bite for sure. Looking forward to Howl, the werewolf anthology by Graveside Press!
One thing I was curious about when I started reading Bite was what would the similarities & differences of Bite & Brood. After reading through both anthologies, the difference is Bite is a horror anthology while Brood is a mixture of horror & fantasy. There are a few dark ones in Brood (Occurrence on the Delaware Farm is the darkest imo) but Brood is much darker on average. Thankfully, there are trigger warnings at the end of the book for every story that requires one. The Halloween Girl of Coldsprings trigger warning should be edited to add death of children, instead of just death of one child - as death of the child the trigger warning is referring to is not nearly as gruesome as the death of several children later on. Other than that, though, this section contains all the information that readers need to make the right decision on what to read or not read. I wish more horror anthologies contained trigger warnings like this. As someone who refuses to read certain topics (SA) I have been disturbed to accidentally stumble upon other stories that I wish included trigger warnings. So, I'm glad Bite has them!
I'll talk about four stories here in spoilery detail, but I talk about several more on my Threads profile. Let's begin!
The Halloween Girl of Coldsprings - This is one of my favorites. A macabre story that is written as a newspaper article reporting on a nine year old girl who visits a town in Ohio every Halloween. I like the way things escalate.
Medusa Evermore - It's about a vampire (?) who is looking for the Elephant's Foot in Chernobyl. The story is very interesting & I learned about the Foot for the first time. Though, I would never have guessed the MC was a vampire if not for the fact that this is Bite. He seems more like Wolverine & never refers to himself as a vampire nor does he display any vampiric power other than immortality - which could make him many other things too. Also... the MC is implied to be Jesus He mentions things not going well 2,000 years ago when he revealed himself, but that he didn't die. He mentions all the ways he tried to die, but none of them are the traditional methods of killing vampires. I could be completely wrong, but I think maybe the author (P.R. O'Leary) didn't intend for us to think of him as a vampire when he wrote the story? Anyway, it was interesting!
The Belly of the Beast - This tense story hooked me from the start. Full of satin and silk dresses, I love the look and vibe of this story. I will say, though, I ended up turning against the MC because of how easily she forgives the one responsible for the murder of her friends. What kind of BFF was she anyway? Anyway, this was a very tense and exciting story to read.
Man on Porch - This is a horror comedy, and it's my favorite of the bunch. It's about a woman homeowner who gets a series of bizarre, unwelcome visitors on her porch one night. I really like the MC, she was level-headed & did the smart thing unlike many horror characters. I felt sorry for the mosquito! This story also appeared in Monsters Next Door, which is cool!
I recommend Bite for sure. Looking forward to Howl, the werewolf anthology by Graveside Press!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 8, 2025
BITE: A vampiric anthology was a deeply fun story to sink my teeth into (see what I did there?) The collection of authors whose stories reside within the book bindings have all done a fantastic job highlighting all that's good about my favorite genre within horror. There is something for everyone, and as you delve into this collection, I'm sure will. as I did, find a new blood-drunk happy place.
May 6, 2025
Such twisty tales of vampires. The traditional and unconventional rise from the history of coffins and crucifixes. I imagine Anne Rice and Charlaine Harris applauding from a theatre balcony as this collection of authors dance lovingly upon the old immortal bones of Bram Stoker and John Polidori.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews