A Whisper of Blood: 18 Stories of Vampirism

by Ellen Datlow (Editor), Jonathan Carroll, Suzy McKee Charnas

An anthology of stories dealing with vampires features eighteen tales by such science fiction and fantasy writers as Suzy McKee Charnas, David J. Schow, Robert Silverberg, and Thomas Tessier

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Vampires, Fantasy, Anthologies, Short Story Collection, Historical Fiction

287 pages, Hardcover

First published October 28, 1991

About the author

Ellen Datlow has been editing science fiction, fantasy, and horror short fiction for forty years as fiction editor of OMNI Magazine and editor of Event Horizon and SCIFICTION. She currently acquires short stories and novellas for Tor.com. In addition, she has edited about one hundred science fiction, fantasy, and horror anthologies, including the annual The Best Horror of the Year series, The Doll Collection, Mad Hatters and March Hares, The Devil and the Deep: Horror Stories of the Sea, Echoes: The Saga Anthology of Ghost Stories, Edited By, and Final Cuts: New Tales of Hollywood Horror and Other Spectacles.
She's won multiple World Fantasy Awards, Locus Awards, Hugo Awards, Bram Stoker Awards, International Horror Guild Awards, Shirley Jackson Awards, and the 2012 Il Posto Nero Black Spot Award for Excellence as Best Foreign Editor. Datlow was named recipient of the 2007 Karl Edward Wagner Award, given at the British Fantasy Convention for "outstanding contribution to the genre," was honored with the Life Achievement Award by the Horror Writers Association, in acknowledgment of superior achievement over an entire career, and honored with the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award at the 2014 World Fantasy Convention.

Reviews

[Shawn]

Quick placeholder review here:

In Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's "Do I Dare To Eat A Peach?" a man - possibly an operative for an intelligence organization - is being held - after possibly having been "turned" to the "other side" - in a hospital setting (or maybe not) - after having been retrieved (possibly) by "his side" suffering from amnesia and flashes of corpses and atrocities (which he may have witnessed, caused or be imagining). Yarbro does a fine job with this very PRISONER-esque scenario, although the ending is a bit ambiguous - which is funny because as I was reaching the 3/4 mark on this one I was already expecting to have to compose a review that included "the problem with a story like this one, based on missing or possibly false memories and questions of identity, lies not in its writing or conception, which is solid and well-written, but in its placement in THIS specific anthology, which gives the game away." But, as it turns out, there was no game to give away - it's ambiguity all the way and the only hint at why it would be included in a themed anthology like this one is a minor detail about dietary habits (or lack thereof). So, I liked it better than I expected to, but I wonder what the rest of this anthology will be like...

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this anthology of short horror stories up on mostly a whim. Vampire stories by Karl Edward Wagner and Kathe Koja were enough to entice me. Like most anthology collections, it’s a mixed bag. Some of these authors are able to deliver in the short story format, others are not, are frustratingly vague, like a half-remembered dream.

What makes this vampire anthology different, though, is that the stories all push vampirism to its limits, trying to see how far you can push the vampire mythology. My favorites were the Ballardian Home By the Sea, the wonderfully chilling tapestry of The Ragthorn Tree, and K.E.W.’s sarcastic take on inspiration-vampires, The Slug.

[Janne Heinonen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hyviä ja huonoja novelleja, mutta nekin hyviä kuten roskaruoka. Hämärän rajamailla liikkuvat tuotokset ovat heikkouteni.

[Tammy · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Should the title A Whisper of Blood have given me a clue that the stories in this book would have been more subtle than I usually prefer? In hindsight, yes.

I read all but a couple of the stories in this book & I didn't really enjoy them - I just kept reading, hoping for a good one. There were lots of clever tales for sure, but after reading this it's plain that I prefer traditional vampire stories, none of which appeared. If I had picked this one up without the promise of reading about vampires, I may have liked it more as a book of short creepy stories.

[Tatjana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Datlow is a terrific editor, so I think I must have vampire fatigue when I type phrases like, "The stories just seemed fine". Nothing to write home about, but again... vampire fatigue.... Hey, at least none of them sparkle.

[Riite · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kirja on kokonaisuutena jokseenkin epätasainen, mutta olen varma, että jokainen löytää parinkymmenen tarinan seasta ainakin yhden, joka puhuttelee *juuri sinua*. Itse löysin jopa kaksi.

Osassa tarinoista on ihan mielenkiintoinen ajatus, mutta jokseenkin pitkäveteinen toteutus, osan suorastaan hotkin. Muutama oli puolestaan niin ällöttävä, että oli pakko pitää välillä taukoa. Älkää ymmärtäkö väärin ja luulko, että koin sen huonona asiana. Tietynlainen ällöttävyyshän vähän kuuluu asiaan, eikö vain? Kunhan se ei vain jää kummittelemaan mieleen...

[Edwina Book Anaconda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Strange ... just ... strange ... and not in a good way.

[Heidi Fogelberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short horror stories with vampire-adjacent themes. Some were ok, some were less successful to my mind. My favorites were by Wagner, Tessier, Jeter, and Cadigan.

[Jeff McIntosh · Rating 1 out of 5]

In his story "The Girl with the Hungry Eyes"......Leiber wrote "There are vampires and vampires, and not all of them suck blood". Which, I suppose is a good description of the contents.

I read this collection in 2 days....couldn't make an emotional connection to any of them.....in fact, when reading Chelsea Quinn Yarbo's story...I thought I was reading about the main character in Charnas' "Unicorn Tapestry" (forgive me if I'm wrong on this......I'm not going back to the original story...LOL).

A disappointing anthology.

[Harold]

I've read the first three stories so far. Good stuff. I particularly enjoyed the first story, Carrion Comfort. A little research revealed that it had been extended into a novel that many readers thought was overlong. Hmmmmm. As with most short story anthologies, I'll be reading it over a long time frame- coming back to it between books, etc.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent collection which includes the story "The Ragthorn," by Robert Holdstock and Garry Kilworth, as well as stories by Thomas Ligotti, Kathe Koja, and David J. Schow.

[Aricelys]

slighlty confused at first but gett'n the jist now- i've go high hopes :)

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some stories were good, some not as good. The one that freaked me out, for some reason, was "The Ragthorn Tree."