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Vampire Archives #2
Fangs: The Vampire Archives, Volume 2
The second immortal volume in this dark and fantastic series, Fangs is a scintillating and sinister collection of vampire stories and part of the now legendary Vampire Archives. Including Clive Barker, Anne Rice, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Many Many More. . .
· bloody fangs
· dark and foreboding crypts
· mysterious nighttime apparitions
· languid ladies
· bloody fangs
· dark and foreboding crypts
· mysterious nighttime apparitions
· languid ladies
548 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 31, 2010
10 people are currently reading
287 people want to read
About the author
Otto Penzler
374 books532 followersOtto Penzler is an editor of mystery fiction in the United States, and proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City, where he lives.
Otto Penzler founded The Mysteriour Press in 1975 and was the publisher of The Armchair Detective, the Edgar-winning quarterly journal devoted to the study of mystery and suspense fiction, for seventeen years.
Penzler has won two Edgar Awards, for The Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection in 1977, and The Lineup in 2010. The Mystery Writers of America awarded him the prestigious Ellery Queen Award in 1994, and the Raven--the group's highest non-writing award--in 2003.
Otto Penzler founded The Mysteriour Press in 1975 and was the publisher of The Armchair Detective, the Edgar-winning quarterly journal devoted to the study of mystery and suspense fiction, for seventeen years.
Penzler has won two Edgar Awards, for The Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection in 1977, and The Lineup in 2010. The Mystery Writers of America awarded him the prestigious Ellery Queen Award in 1994, and the Raven--the group's highest non-writing award--in 2003.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
February 19, 2017
This was my very first "dipping my toe" reading classic writers like Barker and Lovecraft, not to mention "Carmilla". I'm still very fond of this story collection, and I'd like to read volumes 1 and 3 as well.
December 22, 2019
As with the previous volume, the twenty stories in this book present some of the best vampire short fiction ever written. I noticed a slight dip in the overall quality but it's nothing much, really. There is not one tale which I felt was a waste of my time. This is high praise indeed, for a majority of the horror anthologies that I've encountered were for the most part mixed bags, and it's rare that I read one without a piece that I'm at most indifferent to.
Some stories stretch the vampiric theme but not to the point of absurdity. Many of them are actually refreshingly creative variations on the motif.
I especially recommend the following tales:
Princess of Darkness - a stolid British gentleman is stalked by a seductive aristocratic monstress, so he decides to bring the battle to her home turf with the aid of an Eastern European doctor of the occult. Sounds familiar eh? This is anything but a by-the-numbers vampire adventure though. . .
Human Remains - initially included in Barker's seminal Books of Blood and one of my favorite horror stories of all time. It's about a gorgeous hustler who's trailed by a doppelganger bent on assuming his life, warts and all.
The Stone Chamber - the final crimes of an extinct dynasty are resurrected in the irregularities attending the impending engagement of the new lord of the family seat.
Aylmer Vance and the Vampire - evil sleeps in the blood, and a curse passed on through generations has the young husband of one of its scions in its malevolent grip.
I'm rating this 9/10 or 4 stars out of 5.
Some stories stretch the vampiric theme but not to the point of absurdity. Many of them are actually refreshingly creative variations on the motif.
I especially recommend the following tales:
Princess of Darkness - a stolid British gentleman is stalked by a seductive aristocratic monstress, so he decides to bring the battle to her home turf with the aid of an Eastern European doctor of the occult. Sounds familiar eh? This is anything but a by-the-numbers vampire adventure though. . .
Human Remains - initially included in Barker's seminal Books of Blood and one of my favorite horror stories of all time. It's about a gorgeous hustler who's trailed by a doppelganger bent on assuming his life, warts and all.
The Stone Chamber - the final crimes of an extinct dynasty are resurrected in the irregularities attending the impending engagement of the new lord of the family seat.
Aylmer Vance and the Vampire - evil sleeps in the blood, and a curse passed on through generations has the young husband of one of its scions in its malevolent grip.
I'm rating this 9/10 or 4 stars out of 5.
January 1, 2025
I always love a good vampire story!
These were fun but, of course, dark. A wide range of styles and narratives. Some of these stories were racist though. I don’t want to repeat it but there were two stories from two different authors that had a very….dated and dehumanizing phrase and I was like, what??? People talk like that??? And no, it’s time a time/era thing, it was just a weird thing.
I loved Carmilla. A classic! And I didn’t expect to love, but I LOVED the love story/fairy tale of the vampire and the werewolf! And the holocaust-nazi vampire story was interesting as well—I took that as possible commentary on how even when we are preyed upon by people stronger than us, some of us still use our advantages to hurt other people that are disadvantaged rather than targeting the actual people who are hurting all of us and putting us in these positions.
Some other stories were “typical” stories of a survivor escaping a vampire girl just before she kills him.
These were fun but, of course, dark. A wide range of styles and narratives. Some of these stories were racist though. I don’t want to repeat it but there were two stories from two different authors that had a very….dated and dehumanizing phrase and I was like, what??? People talk like that??? And no, it’s time a time/era thing, it was just a weird thing.
I loved Carmilla. A classic! And I didn’t expect to love, but I LOVED the love story/fairy tale of the vampire and the werewolf! And the holocaust-nazi vampire story was interesting as well—I took that as possible commentary on how even when we are preyed upon by people stronger than us, some of us still use our advantages to hurt other people that are disadvantaged rather than targeting the actual people who are hurting all of us and putting us in these positions.
Some other stories were “typical” stories of a survivor escaping a vampire girl just before she kills him.
May 31, 2017
It was pleasant to re-visit Carmilla and The Master of Rampling Gate, the former I read as a young girl and the latter was my first audiobook purchase.
Considering the snobbishness of the foreword, some of these stories are no better than Dr Polidori’s The Vampyre, however there’s some wonderful stories in here. Necros by Brian Lumley was a let-down considering how fantastic his Necroscope series is. Clive Barker’s Human Remains is a good one, H B Marriott Watson’s The Stone Chamber is appropriately gothic and my favourite was R Chetwynd Hayes’ “The Werewolf and the Vampire” – this one reminded me of some of Bradbury’s short stories.
Considering the snobbishness of the foreword, some of these stories are no better than Dr Polidori’s The Vampyre, however there’s some wonderful stories in here. Necros by Brian Lumley was a let-down considering how fantastic his Necroscope series is. Clive Barker’s Human Remains is a good one, H B Marriott Watson’s The Stone Chamber is appropriately gothic and my favourite was R Chetwynd Hayes’ “The Werewolf and the Vampire” – this one reminded me of some of Bradbury’s short stories.
August 6, 2017
Vampire books in general, aren't always my thing, but this anthology was a nice compilation of short stories. I was already familiar with the work of several of the authors in it, so that made it more interesting for me. Two of the tales were very different concepts on the idea of Vampirism, which I enjoyed. Overall, if you're looking for a book that you can easily read in small bites, then anthologies like this is worth investing your time in.
October 29, 2024
A few genuinely eerie and macabre tales, but at some point, the sheer number of stories featuring Victorian English narration, while initially charming, became quite a monotonous slog. Perhaps a few more modern stories would’ve lent this book a bit more stylistic balance.
October 25, 2017
Excellent book. Looking forward to #3.......
August 2, 2018
Some new stories and authors to me, some very different takes on vampires.
March 6, 2023
Interesting collection of stories. Some ran along the lines of the typical vampire stories, while the others were a bit more out there. I enjoyed reading them nevertheless.
September 9, 2025
Another good collection! I liked this one more than the first
Read
November 12, 2025dnf….
March 15, 2014
I am a anthology junkie, I have a slew of short story collections, and this one has got to be one of the worse. Sure, there are a few good reads in there, but the issue wasn't just with the stories, but the editor's lack of work.
I try not to bully editors and authors, I don't want to be one of those people. But I have to mention the fact that he seriously dropped the ball on this one.
Here's a bulleted list of lameness:
- Not all of the stories are vampire stories. It's a vampire anthology!
- There's an eclectic mix of modern tales and classic tales, which would be fine if there was some sense of balance. Usually when you have a mix of time periods there is some kind of organization - first half is classic and the second is contemporary or whatever. But in this book everything is mixed and it makes for a choppy read. Putting together an anthology is an art form. There has to be a rhythm.
- There is no editor intro for each story. That's not a big deal in all anthologies, but it is in one like this when you have such a drastic mix of stories - some of which are very important to the history of vampire literature. A little bio and a date before each one would have helped the flow and showed readers the importance of stories like Carmilla or The Master of Rampling Gate. But there was no bio or dates. The editor just threw in a hodge podge of random vampire stories with no explanation or purpose.
- Too much rape. I hate rape stories, that's a personal preference, and personally, this collection had too many of them.
Honestly, I don't think any effort went into this anthology. I think a bunch of sub-par vampire or vampire-like stories were picked and thrown into a book with no rhyme or reason.
I try not to bully editors and authors, I don't want to be one of those people. But I have to mention the fact that he seriously dropped the ball on this one.
Here's a bulleted list of lameness:
- Not all of the stories are vampire stories. It's a vampire anthology!
- There's an eclectic mix of modern tales and classic tales, which would be fine if there was some sense of balance. Usually when you have a mix of time periods there is some kind of organization - first half is classic and the second is contemporary or whatever. But in this book everything is mixed and it makes for a choppy read. Putting together an anthology is an art form. There has to be a rhythm.
- There is no editor intro for each story. That's not a big deal in all anthologies, but it is in one like this when you have such a drastic mix of stories - some of which are very important to the history of vampire literature. A little bio and a date before each one would have helped the flow and showed readers the importance of stories like Carmilla or The Master of Rampling Gate. But there was no bio or dates. The editor just threw in a hodge podge of random vampire stories with no explanation or purpose.
- Too much rape. I hate rape stories, that's a personal preference, and personally, this collection had too many of them.
Honestly, I don't think any effort went into this anthology. I think a bunch of sub-par vampire or vampire-like stories were picked and thrown into a book with no rhyme or reason.
November 30, 2025
These Archives have been good as I’m trying to build and expand my literary background when it comes to vampires. I have some ideas of where to go from here now.
The ones in the collection that made an impression on me/that I remember details of the plot for a month later now are: Down Among the Dead Men, The Parasite, The Girl with the Hungry Eyes, Carmilla, and The Drifting Snow.
I have to say that although I remember it, I did not like Special.. I thought it was weird and if I had time I’d look into the author’s background/other work more, because the story seemed kinda paranoid about, yet also having sexualized fantasy for, women in power -- and not in the usual 'vampires bring out the social anxieties/suppression of sexuality' type of way. IDK.
The ones in the collection that made an impression on me/that I remember details of the plot for a month later now are: Down Among the Dead Men, The Parasite, The Girl with the Hungry Eyes, Carmilla, and The Drifting Snow.
I have to say that although I remember it, I did not like Special.. I thought it was weird and if I had time I’d look into the author’s background/other work more, because the story seemed kinda paranoid about, yet also having sexualized fantasy for, women in power -- and not in the usual 'vampires bring out the social anxieties/suppression of sexuality' type of way. IDK.
February 3, 2011
Horror anthologies, especially ones that center on a particular monster like vampires or zombies, often rehash old ideas and wallow in cliches but this book manages to expertly avoid these pitfalls. In light of the current trend of humanizing vampires - as typified by some TV shows and movies - it was refreshing to see these mythic creatures doing horrific things. (And I don't mean breaking people's hearts.) Notable highlights include Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann's "Down Among the Dead", Alice and Claude Askew's "Aylmer Vance and the Vampire", and Lovecraft's "The Hound". There were a few stories that weren't up to par but overall this anthology is a good read for horror fans looking for genuine chills and solid storytelling.
September 6, 2011
This anthology wasn't bad, but there were stories I'd read in earlier books (i.e., "Carmilla" by Le Fanu) and I thought it was interesting how they had H P Lovecraft AND August Derleth in the same volume (August Derleth is an HPL autobiographer and does a lot about the works of Lovecraft). Pretty good, though. (I recommend "Special"....one of the good stories).
Read
July 23, 2014Just bought the book!
Got hooked with the narration in an instant! And that was just a paragraph in the middle of the book!
I dont know if my country just doesnt appreciate vampire stories or if it's bad when i was looking at it cause the price went from P350 to P50 to P30! Haha but based on the reviews here, the book might be nice!
Got hooked with the narration in an instant! And that was just a paragraph in the middle of the book!
I dont know if my country just doesnt appreciate vampire stories or if it's bad when i was looking at it cause the price went from P350 to P50 to P30! Haha but based on the reviews here, the book might be nice!
Read
August 12, 2015The second immortal volume in this dark and fantastic series, Fangs is a scintillating and sinister collection of vampire stories and part of the now legendary Vampire Archives. Including Clive Barker, Anne Rice, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Many Many More. . .
Featuring:
bloody fangs
dark and foreboding crypts
mysterious nighttime apparitions
languid ladies
September 21, 2016
I haven't really read any vampire stories, except for Dracula (and Twilight, obviously), so as a "newbie" in this genre I must say that I really enjoyed this collection. I only read a couple of stories a day and it was just the right amount for me.
December 12, 2025
This is the second collection of vampire short stories in this anthology series, and the stories vary a bit in quality. As there must be thousands of vampire stories in the world, that is no surprise. It was a good read, and I like the short story format.
January 8, 2012
Human Remains was excellent.
The Werewolf and the Vampire was so great, so funny.
The Werewolf and the Vampire was so great, so funny.
August 25, 2012
wanted to read Carmilla after reading Anno Dracula, and my wife had this anthology which included it. Handy!
nice mix of classics and contemporary (Conan Doyle and R. Lay in the same anthology!)
nice mix of classics and contemporary (Conan Doyle and R. Lay in the same anthology!)
April 17, 2013
I loved this book. It reminded me of why vampires were scary. I had one hell of a bloody good read. Can't wait yo buy the third one Coffins.
November 10, 2013
Fangtastic fun
February 25, 2015
Another great collection of vampire tales. Dome better than others, but a great collection.
September 12, 2016
Looking for the hard cover edition.
A good blend of traditional and unorthodox vampire stories.
A good blend of traditional and unorthodox vampire stories.
February 2, 2015
Amazing!! Super collection of vamp stories. ;)
July 14, 2014
...you like short scary stories?...try this!
February 5, 2015
Some amazing stories.
March 20, 2015
Not as good a selection as in the first book.
December 18, 2016
Lovely collection of stories, with enough variety to never get monotonous. Interesting characters and changes of vampyre mythos. Looking forward to the next instalment.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews