The Vampire Megapack: 27 Classic Tales

by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, David Anderson, Bram Stoker

The Vampire Megapack collection 27 tales of vampires!

The complete contents are:
"The Bats," by David Anderson
"Dracula's Guest," by Bram Stoker
"The Room in the Tower," by E. F. Benson
"Mrs. Amworth," by E. F. Benson
"Clarimonde," by Theophile Gautier
"The Secret of Kralitz," by Henry Kuttner
"Lost Epiphany," by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
"Renfield's Syndrome," by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
"Siren Song," by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
"Weeping Willow," by T. A. Bradley
"The Greater Thirst," by Marilyn "Mattie" Brahen
"Waiting for the Hunger," by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
"Kvetchula," by Darrell Schweitzer
"A Vampire," by Luigi Capuana
"Omega," by Jason Andrew
"Accommodation," by Michael R. Collings
"The Art of the Smile," by John Gregory Betancourt
"The Pimp," by Lawrence Watt-Evans
"Runaway," by Darrell Schweitzer
"Sympathy for Vampires," by John Gregory Betancourt
"The Fourth Horseman," by Peter Darbyshire
"Cravat of the Damned," by Zach Bartlett
"Help Wanted," by Michael McCarty and Terrie Leigh Relf
"An Authenticated Vampire Story," by Franz Hartmann
"Dracula's New Dress," by Ray Cluley
"Four Wooden Stakes," by Victor Rowan

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

311 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2012

About the author

A professional writer for more than forty years, Yarbro has sold over eighty books, more than seventy works of short fiction, and more than three dozen essays, introductions, and reviews. She also composes serious music. Her first professional writing - in 1961-1962 - was as a playwright for a now long-defunct children's theater company. By the mid-60s she had switched to writing stories and hasn't stopped yet.

After leaving college in 1963 and until she became a full-time writer in 1970, she worked as a demographic cartographer, and still often drafts maps for her books, and occasionally for the books of other writers.

She has a large reference library with books on a wide range of subjects, everything from food and fashion to weapons and trade routes to religion and law. She is constantly adding to it as part of her on-going fascination with history and culture; she reads incessantly, searching for interesting people and places that might provide fodder for stories.

In 1997 the Transylvanian Society of Dracula bestowed a literary knighthood on Yarbro, and in 2003 the World Horror Association presented her with a Grand Master award. In 2006 the International Horror Guild enrolled her among their Living Legends, the first woman to be so honored; the Horror Writers Association gave her a Life Achievement Award in 2009. In 2014 she won a Life Achievement Award from the World Fantasy Convention.

A skeptical occultist for forty years, she has studied everything from alchemy to zoomancy, and in the late 1970s worked occasionally as a professional tarot card reader and palmist at the Magic Cellar in San Francisco.

She has two domestic accomplishments: she is a good cook and an experienced seamstress. The rest is catch-as-catch-can.

Divorced, she lives in the San Francisco Bay Area - with two cats: the irrepressible Butterscotch and Crumpet, the Gang of Two. When not busy writing, she enjoys the symphony or opera.

Her Saint-Germain series is now the longest vampire series ever. The books range widely over time and place, and were not published in historical order. They are numbered in published order.

Known pseudonyms include Vanessa Pryor, Quinn Fawcett, T.C.F. Hopkins, Trystam Kith, Camille Gabor.

Reviews

[Cyndi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well rounded anthology with quite a few new (to me) above average vignettes.

[Stanley Mortensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable stories; a nice mixture of classics and newer material.

[Mr Calum I MacIver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good selection of old and new vampire tales from Wildside Press. Like every anthology there are hits and misses, but overall, the standard is strong. Of particular note is "Mrs Amworth" by E. F. Benson, a tale of nefarious goings on in rural Sussex; "Clarimonde" by Theophile Gautier, an opiated arabesque of doomed love; "Renfield's Syndrome" by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, a cleverly structured tale of grisly inevitability and "The Bats" by David Anderson, a fun little story of a churchman with bats (not quite) in the belfry. Overall, a hugely enjoyable collection.

[Richard Kettlewood · Rating 4 out of 5]

RA

The memory drinking vampire in "The Pimp" was an outstanding original take on the vampire trope. The stories by E F Benson are classic homely, but horrifying tales only a Brit could pen. Benson is subtle. Some of the other stories start well, but go way over the top with childish gore. The final story, "Sympathy for Vampires" was the perfect cure for taking vampire stories too seriously, as some writers in the collection did.

[Jock MacTavish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scared me!

[Mary Short · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb anthology of old and new.

[Margery Dawes · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun read. Well selected.

[Jody Roche · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice collection.

[Mac Delaney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scared the crap outta me.

[Joely Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good stories.

[Max Richter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome.

[Mike Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cheap Kindle fodder!

[Aylmer Dennison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun read, and quality too.

[Richard MacDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cheap but quality stories.

[Hal Hartnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cheap and good.

[John Clarke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice selection of old and new.

[Mario Lambretta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cheap and good.

[Justin Hastings · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good value and well chosen.

[Elmer Fogle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked 'The Bats' best.

[Mike Diamond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great quality and terrific value.

[John Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damned fine collection.

[Jason MacDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good value and great selection.

[Cyber Killer · Rating 3 out of 5]

An average anthology, some good stories, some bad stories. The later ones are better than the first few.

[Terry Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

A big collection of classics and newer stories, such as David Anderson's 'The Bats' which is both funny and chilling (probably a hard act to pull off!). Good stuff at a great price.

[Susan]

Mrs. Amworth • (1922) • shortstory by E. F. Benson
Lost Epiphany by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Weeping Willow • (2009) • novelette by T. A. Bradley
The Greater Thirst Marilyn Mattie Brahen
Clarimonde by Théophile Gautier
♦Waiting for the Hunger by Nina Kiriki Hoffman RE-read 8/29/2015
Kvetchula • (1997) • shortstory by Darrell Schweitzer
A Vampire • shortstory by Luigi Capuana
Omega • (2008) • shortstory by Jason Andrew
Accommodation • shortstory by Michael R. Collings
The Art of the Smile • (1997) • shortstory by John Gregory Betancourt
Renfield's Syndrome • (2002) • shortstory by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
The Pimp • (1999) • shortstory by Lawrence Watt-Evans
Runaway • (1995) • shortstory by Darrell Schweitzer
The Secret of Kralitz • (1936) • shortstory by Henry Kuttner
The Fourth Horseman • (1998) • shortstory by Peter Darbyshire
Cravat of the Damned • (2009) • shortstory by Zach Bartlett
Help Wanted • (2009) • shortstory by Michael McCarty and Terrie Leigh Relf
Siren Song • (2002) • shortstory by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
An Authenticated Vampire Story • (1909) • shortstory by Franz Hartmann
Dracula's New Dress • (2010) • shortstory by Ray Cluley
Dracula's Guest • [Dracula] • (1914) • shortstory by Bram Stoker
The Vampire of Croglin Grange • (1896) • shortstory by Augustus Hare
The Room in the Tower • (1912) • shortstory by E. F. Benson
The Bats • (2011) • shortstory by David Anderson (I)
Four Wooden Stakes • (1925) • shortstory by Victor Rowan
Sympathy for Vampires • (1998) • shortstory by John Gregory Betancourt

[Steve Lowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, but needed more stories

I personally like morbid, gruesome stories. Ms. Yarbro chose a generally light-hearted collection. I would have liked more stories, and a darker selection.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fun Wildside Press anthology. Wide range of vampire stories.

[Brent Goodman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this cool collection. Contains some of the old time greats, plus some new writers such as David Anderson.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun anthology.