Blood Lines: Vampire Stories from New England

American Vampire

by Lawrence Schimel (Editor), Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Stephen King

Frightening, heart-stopping, and often shocking...
Blood Lines New Englanders have a sense of lineage unmatched in any other region of America. This fondness for ancestry is akin to the longevity of the vampire, whose life (or unlife) is extended by draining the lives and blood of others. The stories in Blood Lines explore the ancient mysteries of vampirism, along with the rich literary tradition begun with Lord Byron and with Bram Stoker's Dracula , first published in 1897 long after New England's aristocratic bloodlines were established. The stories―all set in New England―are written by master storytellers.

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

224 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1997

About the author

I'm a full-time author, anthologist, and translator (Spanish->English) living in Madrid, Spain.

Writing in both Spanish and English, I've published over 90 books in a wide range of genres, including poetry (DESAYUNO EN LA CAMA and FAIRY TALES FOR WRITERS), children's books (LA AVENTURA DE CECILIA Y EL DRAGÓN, COSAS QUE PUEDO HACER YO SOLO, LITTLE PIRATE GOES TO SCHOOL, etc.), short stories (TWO BOYS IN LOVE, HIS TONGUE, THE DRAG QUEEN OF ELFLAND), graphic novels (VACATION IN IBIZA), and many anthologies (STREETS OF BLOOD: VAMPIRE STORIES FROM THE AMERICAN SOUTH, SWITCH HITTERS: LESBIANS WRITE GAY MALE EROTICA AND GAY MEN WRITE LESBIAN EROTICA, KOSHER MEAT, FOUND TRIBE: JEWISH COMING OUT STORIES, CAMELOT FANTASTIC, etc.)

I've twice won a Lambda Literary Award, for FIRST PERSON QUEER and PoMoSEXUALS: CHALLENGING ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT GENDER AND SEXUALITY.

My picture book ¿LEES UN LIBRO CONMIGO? was selected by the International Board of Books for Young People for Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities 2007 and my picture book NO HAY NADA COMO EL ORIGINAL was selected by the International Youth Library in Munich for the White Ravens 2005.

My poem "How to Make a Human" won the Rhysling Award for Best Science Fiction Poem.

I am also the publisher of A Midsummer Night's Press, a small poetry publisher, which has published THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED IN OUR OTHER LIFE by Achy Obejas, THE GOOD-NEIGHBOR POLICY: A DOUBLE CROSS IN DOUBLE DACTLYS by Charles Ardai, BANALITIES by Brane Mozetic, translated by Elizabeti Zargi, and FORTUNE'S LOVER: A BOOK OF TAROT POEMS by Rachel Pollack, as well as the annual series BEST GAY POETRY and BEST LESBIAN POETRY.

Reviews

[Phil Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it, You kinda knew where the stories were going but still enjoyable

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typical anthology with some stories better than others.

[Tlingit · Rating 3 out of 5]

My brother gave me this book and quickly reading the title I surmised it was about the New England states' histories of Vampirism. It isn't, it's a book with Vampire stories in it. It's a good collection.
Luella Miller is a very interesting story that I read in a different anthology. It's not necessarily about vampirism per se but a good read none the less. The Shunned House is a well known H. P. Lovecraft story and I was glad to read it again. The others in this book are written by some well known authors while some others are not so well known to me. I was not amazed by the stories but found the collecting and organizing of stories by topic and location interesting.
If you know your New England history about vampires you might find this book entertaining but not altogether informative on the topic. If you don't know the history, that's alright, it's a good read just not deeply informative.

[Wendi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short stories. A couple of them I didn’t really care for - one due to the writing style and the other because there were so many characters it was hard to keep track of who was who. Others weeny bad and I enjoyed them well enough.

[AJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book overall was pretty good, in my opinion. But I didn’t not like the very last one written by H.P. Lovecraft. I’ve never read any of his work and I probably never will after that. It was just really long winded.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with most anthologies, some stories were better than others.

[Brett]

Anthology,Horror