Teeth: Vampire Tales

by Ellen Datlow (Editor), Terri Windling (Editor), Holly Black (Contributor)

Sink your teeth into these bite-sized tales exploring the intersections among the living, dead, and undead. Features stories by Neil Gaiman, Melissa Marr, Cassandra Clare, Holly Black, Garth Nix, and many more.

Genres: Vampires, Short Stories, Fantasy, Young Adult, Anthologies, Horror, Paranormal

452 pages, Paperback

First published April 17, 2011

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

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The new anthology TEETH, edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, includes a delectable assortment of bite sized vampire stories that should be tasted and savored. Yes, all of the stories are that good. One of the best things about TEETH is that the stories consistently establish strong, unique worlds filled with characters who are compelling and interesting. Plus, you’re sure to find a few new vampiric details and treasures that are not part of the standard mythology in today’s vampire literature.

While the stories differ in voice, tone, and style, they each offer something significant and unique for readers to enjoy. Tender friendships, lost potential, arranged marriages, fights for survival, and coming of age stories are just a few of the themes within this anthology. Some stories will stick with you well beyond “The End,” especially the stories that should only be read in full daylight. While all of the stories are good reads, there are several stand outs. A few of those standouts include, but are not limited to:

Things to Know About Being Dead by Genevieve Valentine is a touching story about a newly undead girl who is learning the ropes of her new undead existence with the help of a ghost and her aging grandmother. This is one of two stories that are available online as a free preview.

All Smiles by Steve Berman is also available online as a free sample. After reading All Smiles, you will think twice about hitching a ride from someone with a perfect pearly white smile. This fight for survival story will have you cringing and running for the door.

Vampire Weather by Garth Nix brings an interesting spin on the world after vampires make themselves known. When the fog comes rolling into one of the remaining pockets of pure human societies, a young man learns the truth about vampires and the world that could either kill him, set him free, or both.

Sit the Dead by Jeffrey Ford is an inventive story with a new twist the blends old cursed bloodlines, modern day family responsibilities, and ultra creepy vampires. Long after the story is over, the ending will stick with you as you wonder whether or not the story ended “right,” and you will inevitably keep coming back to the same conclusion. It couldn’t have ended any other way. The real question is what happens next.

Sunbleached by Nathan Ballingrud brings the vampire back to bad. Dark and dangerous, the beautiful imagery used to compare the hideously burned vampire is reminiscent of a graceful caged spider ready to pounce.

The Perfect Dinner Party by Cassandra Clare & Holly Black is a superbly written story about a brother and sister pair of vampires who struggle to find how they fit into the world and with each other – all told against a backdrop that reads like a clever Miss Manners guide. It’s rare to find such an exquisitely told story written in second person. It’s a must read.

Why Light? by Tanith Lee is a lovely story about two young vampires from vastly different families who are forced into an arranged marriage. There is a strong sense of new and old world coming together in Why Light. This convergence of old and new, light and dark, evil and good plays with parallels inherent in both historical and contemporary vampire fiction in an interesting way.

All in all, Terri Windling and Ellen Datlow built a wonderful collection of stories that is a true pleasure to read. As sweet and tender as some of the stories are within TEETH, you may need to keep the light on for a few of the darker pieces. TEETH is an anthology that will keep you coming back for more, story after story until the last page is turned.

THE END

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Things to Know About Being Dead by Genevieve Valentine
Interesting and dark, I thought the inclusion of the rules was fun.

All Smiles by Steve Berman
I liked this one. Especially the idea that a tattoo of holy script would sour someone's blood for a vampire.

Gap Year by Christopher Barzak
Another one that I liked. I was hoping for more of a happy ending as things moved along, but I loved the look at how friends grow apart and move on as they grow up.

Bloody Sunrise by Neil Gaiman
I love Neil Gaiman's writing but I'm not a big fan of freestyle poetry. Or any poetry, really.

Flying by Delia Sherman
I wasn't sure about this one when I started it, but it really picked up and ended up being interesting.

Vampire Weather by Garth Nix
This one was interesting in the "I'd really like to read more about this" sort of way.

Late Bloomer by Suzy McKee Charnas
I liked the idea here that once you've died you can no longer create. You can mimic, you can copy, but you can't make something original.

The List of Definite Endings by Kaaron Warren
The life of a vampire who chooses only terminal patients to feast on. Sad and weirdly sweet.

Best Friends Forever by Cecil Castellucci
Huh. A dead vampire and a dying girl. One wants to die and one wants to live. I liked the revelation Amy had that maybe she was one of the mean girls when she had been in school and how the two girls found a way to be best friends despite their differences. Overall, though, it wasn't one of my favorites.

Sit the Dead by Jeffrey Ford
Old World vampires where the disease is passed down family lines through the blood. Interesting.

Sunbleached by Nathan Ballingrud
Another dark one. No cuddly vampires here. I liked this one just because of the brutality of what was done. What can I say? Sometimes I like my vampires bloody.

Baby by Kathe Koja
Definitely more on the creepy end, but that might just be me having issues with little kids and vampire-like creatures. Is that weird? Don't answer that.

In the Future When All's Well by Catherynne M. Valente
I loved the disjointed musings of this story, how one thought bled into the next. I was totally confused over some of the mythology that was presented but it was a damn fun ride while it lasted. Totally random, totally amusing - "I heard about this one guy, like, two towns over, who was a seventh son with a unibrow and red hair and was born backward, and he just turned by himself." Like I said, random and amusing.

Transition by Melissa Marr
Absolutely stunning story about betrayal, resurrection and the lengths one will go to to set themselves free. My favorite of the bunch.

History by Ellen Kushner
Sad and oddly sweet, this story has a slow, melancholy feel to it.

The Perfect Dinner Party by Cassandra Clare & Holly Black
Wonderfully creepy with a dark ending. Now, I do tend to love everything that Cassandra Clare and Holly Black write, though, so I might be prejudiced in their favor.

Slice of Life by Lucius Shepard
A dark look at life on the edge of poverty in a dying town that happens to house a vampire. I'm not a huge fan of when authors use non-standard writing conventions- in this case there were no quotation marks used during conversations just a dash to indicate that someone was talking. It didn't detract from the overall story, but it distracted me while reading.

My Generation by Emma Bull
Once again, poetry isn't my favorite medium so this one didn't do much for me.

Why Light? by Tanith Lee
I liked the overall feel to this one. It showed us a woman on the verge of losing everything she's ever known in her life and how she lets it build these pre-conceived notions of those around her.

Final Thoughts: I had a really tough time with this anthology. It wasn't that the stories weren't entertaining or anything bit I found myself putting the book down and having a hard time picking it up again. Here's the thing, short stories are always hit or miss with me. Especially if they're not part of a larger series. That might not make sense but it's how I feel. I enjoyed most of the stories in an abstract way and I thought several of them were wildly imaginative and well-written but I'm not deeply obsessed with the book overall. I think a large part of it is the size of this anthology. There's a lot of stories here and by the time I worked my way to the last one ( I read them out of order, btw) I was ready to put the book down and be done with it. On the other hand, I love the cover. Pretty.

Standout stories:
In the Future When All's Well by Catherynne M. Valente
Transition by Melissa Marr

-Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal

[Alysha DeShaé · Rating 4 out of 5]

My full review is here on my personal website. I'll post a few excerpts here, though:

3.5 out of 5.0 stars

The very worst thing about this book is that it actually gets boring. :-/ The next time I read this, I’m going to make sure that I space all the stories out a bit instead of one immediately after another. They’re all interesting stories, but there are just so many of them that I got tired of hearing about vampires that were just slightly different from the traditional stereotype… *sigh* This was the first time I’ve read a short story collection with a specific topic and not just a specific genre or world. I wasn’t prepared for the vampire overload and I think that was my only issue with this anthology.

The very best thing about this book is how creative some of the stories are. Honestly, because of that worst thing I mentioned, they tended to run together in my mind, but some of them were truly interesting and I will be rereading these stories in the future.

[Karissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got an advanced reading copy of this book through Book It Forward ARC Tours. This was an excellent anthology with a lot of really great vampire stories. It is young adult, but I would recommend for older young adults because of swearing and sexuality. Most of the stories were more horror/urban fantasy than paranormal romance.

I am going to highlight some of the stories I really enjoyed, and there were a lot of them that I really enjoyed. The first story "Things to Know About Being Dead" by Genevieve Valentine, was hilarious and bittersweet; I really loved it. The title pretty much explains what the story is about. I also loved "Flying" by Delia Sherman, it was a wonderful story about young girl who is a trapeze artist with Luekemia and struggling to find a way to join the circus. "Vampire Weather" by Garth Nix was another highlight; an excellent story about a young man who lives in an almost Amish like society in a world where vampires are everyday occurrences.

Then there was "The List of Definite Ending by Cecil Castelucci" where a vampire finds a more merciful way to take her prey; this was a sweet story and well written. "Sit the Dead" by Jeffrey Ford gives us a gruesome story about recessive genetic vampirism that was interesting and action packed. "Slice of Life" by Lucius Shepard gives a look into the life of a lonely girl who is contemplating becoming a serial killer to free a vampiric friend. "Why Light?" by Tanith Lee was one of the best stories in the anthology, it was a beautiful and touching story about vampires in an arranged marriage.

There were also a number of stories in here that, while not outstanding, were very good and engaging. I have listed the complete set of stories with brief synopsis/thoughts below.

Overall if you love vampires and creative takes on vampires, I think you will love this anthology. It starts out strong, there is a bit of a lull two third's of the way through, but it also ends strong. Give it a read is short stories and vampires are your thing.

- Things to Know about Being Bead by Genevieve Valentine: Very funny story that I enjoyed a lot. About a girl finding herself as a vampire. Bittersweet. (5/5)

- All Smiles by Steve Berman: About a boy who flees a vicious boarding school only to find out it is not what he thought it was. Entertaining and action packed. (4/5)

- Gap Year by Christopher Barzak: A story about vampires being revealed to the human world and how it affects a young girl. I loved the irony in this one. (4/5)

- Bloody Sunrise by Neil Gaiman: Short poem by Gaiman from a vampire's point of view. (4/5)

- Flying by Delia Sherman: An excellent story about a trapeze artist with Luekemia who joins an unlikely troupe. I loved this story. (5/5)

- Vampire Weather by Garth Nix: An interesting story about a young man who lives in an Amish-like community in a country threatened by vampirism...or is it. Also really enjoyed this story! (5/5)

- Late Bloomer by Suzy McKee Charnas: About a kid who doesn't know what he wants to do with his life. While working at an antique shop that all changes. It was okay but the story was kind of scattered and I didn't like the characters much. (3/5)

- The List of Definite Ending by Kaaron Warren: About a vampire who has find another way to satisfy her need for blood. I enjoyed this story and the way it was written a lot. (5/5)

- Best Friends Forever by Cecil Castellucci: This is a story about two best friends: one who is dying and one who is dead. I enjoyed it, the characteres, and the irony. (4/5)

- Sit the Dead by Jeffrey Ford: Excellent urban fantasy about a family's dark genetic secret, loved the strange open ending on this one. (5/5)

- Sunbleached by Nathan Ballingrud: Gory and disturbing story about a boy who has a vampire living under his house. To be honest it was a bit too disturbing and creepy for me. (3/5)

- Baby by Kathe Koja: A disturbing story about a girl who has a special doll. This was okay and well-written but extremely creepy. (4/5)

- In the Future when All's Well by Catherynne M. Valente: About a future where vampirism is as contagious as the flu and as preached against as teen pregnancy. A bit vague, like Valente's stories often are, but I enjoyed it all the same. (4/5 stars)

- Transition by Melissa Marr: About a girl who gets turned into a territorial sort of vampire. It was okay and I liked the irony. (3/5)

- History by Ellen Kushner: A historian student is dating a vampire and constantly frustrated by the vampire's inability to remember all of the important events he took part in. (4/5)

- The Perfect Dinner Party by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black: A vampire girl (who appears to be fourteen) explains dinner party etiquette. I liked the twist at the end, but thought the rest of the story was only so so. (4/5)

- Slice of Life by Lucius Shepard: A girl who wants nothing more than a friend has to decide if she will become a serial killer to release her vampire friend from its curse. Great description, I loved the writing and really enjoyed the story.(5/5)

- My Generation by Emma Bull: An excellent poem about how a vampire views the passing generations. (4/5)

- Why Light? by Tanith Lee: Absolutely beautiful and heartwarming story about a vampire girl who is sent off for an arranged marriage. She dreads meeting the man she is forced to marry but ends up finding out that things are different than they at first seem. Absolutely wonderful writing, captivating characters and story. (5/5)

[Claire Blind Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Things to Know About Being Dead By: Genevieve Valentine
Very good story. I loved the integration of a different lore for the story.
Rating: 5 Stars

All Smiles By: Steve Berman
Interesting story. Loved the ending. A little confusing. I THINK the main character's gay...
Rating: 4.5 Stars

Gap Year By: Christopher Barzak
TWIST ENDING! I loved it. I wasn't sure because it looked like it was going in a gay direction but it pulled through in the end.
Rating: 5 Stars!

Bloody Sunrise By: Neil Gaimen
ummm, I think it's a poem.
Rating: I didn't really read it...

Flying By: Delia Sherman
I loved the story all the way through, the ending was a little depressing though. I wanted a happier ending...
Rating: 5 for most of it, 4 for the end

Vampire Weather By: Garth Nix
Pretty cool story. It took me a second to realize they were in like an Amish country thing. But not a bad story. The ending was a little weird. I don't know if I liked the end or not...
Rating: 3.5 Stars

Late Bloomer By: Suzy Mckee Charnas
awesome story through out. Interesting ending although it makes me a little depressed. Cool twist though.
Rating: 4.5 Stars

The List of Definite Endings By: Kaaron Warren
I LOVE THIS STORY! Interesting plot all the way through and the ending made me warm all over. Definitely a sad ending but its a sweet sad kind of thing.
Rating: 10 STARS!!!

Best Friends Forever By: Cecil Castellucci
Interesting ending. I didn't expect it for sure. But I think it was pretty awesome anyway. and albino and a vampire. very cool.
Rating: 5 Stars

Sit the Dead By: Jeffrey Ford
Leave me hanging much? At least finish the story! I wasn't as into this one. I didn't think it was worth reading.
Rating: Like, 2

Sunbleached By: Nathan Ballingrud
Totally depressing. Kind of saw the end coming but it was still really sad. Don't read if your in a good mood.
Rating: 1 or 3, i haven't decided

Baby By: Kathe Koja
I'm not really sure what happened in the story but it was pretty cool to read. The ending was kind of sad, if I read it right.
Rating: About 5ish

In the Future When All's Well By: Catherynne M. Valente
The lingo is definitely getting on my nerves. it's hard to read.
I love the ending though :)
Rating: 5

Transition By: Melissa Marr
Very weird story and it threw me for a while in the beginning but then I got it. But the ending was pretty bad ass. Not what I expected but I liked it.
Rating: 4.5

History By: Ellen Kushner
I loved the story and the characters. There's no twist ending, it's pretty straight forward. I kept expecting a weird ending like someone dieing but it was actually kind of nice.
Rating: 5

The Perfect Dinner Party By: Cassandra Clare and Holly Black
I actually picked up this book because these two authors were in it. I think I would've liked it better if they had each written a story but it was still good. I wasn't crazy about the story. The story had a pretty good twist ending and was funny but I enjoyed it.
Rating: 3.5

Slice of Life By: Lucius Shepard
Weird story and I was even more weirded out that the story was written by a dude. That was a little strange since there's some explicitness written from a girls perspective. I don't know if i'm sold on the ending. It was kind of weird and i'm not sure how it ended so I think it lost some stars for that but it was pretty creative.
Rating: 3.90

My Generation By: Emma Bull
I generally don't like poems but this one was pretty good. It really made sense and made a statement. Really good.
Rating: 4

Why Light? By: Tanith Lee
Really good, I loved the story and I fell in love with Zeev. I loved the ending and I loved the twist on how vampires work. Superb job Tanith!
Rating: 5

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

I plan to come back and write a full review early next week, but for now: another great anthology from the Datlow-Windling team, featuring a large number of great stories. While they all deal with teenagers and vampires (and sometimes, teenage vampires), they don't feel repetitive at all. Really really loved the Steve Berman, Delia Sherman, Garth Nix, Ellen Kushner, Tanith Lee and Catherynne M. Valente stories -- but then again, those are authors whose work rarely lets me down!

* * * * *

Full review:

I don't think there's a single bad story in this collection. There were one or two that didn't work for me quite as well as the rest (Cecil Castellucci's "Best Friends Forever," and Suzy McKee Charnas' "Late Bloomer") and I'm always honest about the fact that I struggle with poetry even at the best of times (and thus, Neil Gaiman's "Bloody Sunrise" and Emma Bull's "My Generation" were not highlights for me personally), but even the stories that didn't totally click still had some aspect I lilked (in Castellucci's story it was the ending; in Charnas' it was the twists on the way there).

My favorite stories in the collection? The lead-off by Genevieve Valentine, "Things To Know About Being Dead" and the closer by Tanith Lee, "Why Light?" prove why Datlow and Windling are such great editors -- they know how to start strong and end strong. The stories are very different in tone and text, but both leave a strong impression. Steve Berman's "All Smiles" introduces us to a possible new YA series protagonist who happens to be gay, and by the end of the story I absolutely wanted to see and know more about Saul. Nathan Ballingrud's "Sunbleached" felt like a lost chapter from Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot; coming from me that's high praise indeed. Garth Nix's "Vampire Weather," Delia Sherman's "Flying" and Ellen Kushner's "History" were also high on my favorites list.

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed by Theresa L. Stowell for TeensReadToo.com

This eerie collection features nineteen pieces by authors such as Neil Gaiman (THE GRAVEYARD BOOK), Melissa Marr (WICKED LOVELY series), Cassandra Clare (CLOCKWORK ANGEL) and Holly Black (THE CURSE WORKERS and GOOD NEIGHBORS series).

The first story in the anthology is “Things to Know About Being Dead” by Genevieve Valentine. After surviving a car accident, Suyin discovers that she’s not quite alive and not quite dead. She has become a jiang-shi, and she must drink blood to experience any kind of life. In this darkly ironic story, Suyin details twenty-three things she learns about life once she’s dead.

In “Sunbleached” by Nathan Ballingrud, Joshua finds out the hard way that vampires do exist and that taunting one that has been caught in the sun is not a good idea. Frustrated by his parents’ divorce and his mother’s new boyfriend, Joshua is looking for a change. But, the change he gets is not necessarily the one he wants.

Cassandra Clare and Holly Black collaborate on the story “The Perfect Dinner Party” to create one of the creepiest vampires in the collection. Their story follows six twisted rules of etiquette for the newly-formed vampire who wants to please his/her master. Readers who enjoy first-person narrators will find this tale an intriguing one!

If you’re looking for paranormal romance, avoid this book. However, if you want to read stories that could keep you awake at night, this is a great choice! It is a truly enjoyable romp through the afterlife!

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

* Introduction - Quite interesting! Things about certain vampires having to count grains of spilt rice, which is an interesting distraction.

* Things to Know About Being Dead - Started off okay, but I got bored as it went along. The ending wasn't much of an ending either.

* All Smiles - This was okay. About a boy running away from camp who hitchhikes, and gets picked up by two vampires, who then go to a gas station and kill the person at the counter and drink his blood.

* Gap Year - Slightly odd. About two best friends and some vampires come to town. Retta is interested in the vampires, but Lottie thinks she's crazy.

* Bloody Sunrise - Random short poem where the word 'bloody' is used a lot.

* Flying - About a trapeze artist who has leukaemia, but is in remission and wants to go back to the circus, so runs away from her parents and joins a circus which turns out to be a vampire circus.

* Vampire Weather - Another strange one, where a boy who lives in a small village, goes out to collect mail, meets a girl called Tangerine, and ends up attacked by a vampire.

* Late Bloomer - About a boy who works for his uncle selling antiques, gets involved with a couple of vampires, and ends up getting turned into a vampire himself.

* The List of Definite Endings - Kinda weird, a vampire girl who doesn't like to kill people because it makes her lose her memories, starts only killing people who are about to die anyway.

* Best Friends Forever - About two girls, one who is a vampire and wants to die, and one who is human and doesn't want to die but has a terminal condition. They agree to turn the human into a vampire, and kill the vampire, but decide they don't want to inflict their curses on the other.

* Sit The Dead - Odd again. About a boy who is asked to sit with a dead relation of his girlfriend's and gets more than he expected when the dead girl turns into a vampire and tries to kill him.

* Sunbleached - Weird. About a boy who has a vampire living under his house, and he wants to become a vampire, and also wants the vampire to eat his mother's new boyfriend.

* Baby - Odd. Story about a girl who finds a baby doll vampire in her grandmother's loft, and takes it home and lets it feed from her. Then she ends up burning it when she gets fed up of it.

* In The Future When All's Well - Kinda random story about a future when people are all turning into vampires, for totally random reasons, like not have well-groomed eyebrows, and being conceived on a Saturday. The main character chooses to become a vampire at the end, because she took loads of risks, and knows she turn eventually.

* Transition - Sure I've read this before, probably in Faery Tales & Nightmares. Still only okay on the second read.

* History - About a girl who is studying to be a historian, and her boyfriend who is a really old vampire, but won't tell her anything about history at all.

* The Perfect Dinner Party - About a girl and her brother who are vampires. He brings a girl home who he wants to turn, but the girl doesn't like her.

* Slice of Life - Strange. About a girl who has split personalities or something? She is supposed to be helping this girl called Sandrine, who is a vampire, but doesn't really want to bring her 5 people to eat.

* My Generation - Short and fairly pointless poem.

* Why Light? - About a dark-skinned girl, who is a vampire, but is still able to go out in sunlight, who is supposed to be marrying a light skinned boy, who is also a vampire, who can't go out in the sun at all. They don't want to marry each other until they get to know each other a little better, and then they decide that they do like each other after all.

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Average rating: 2.9/5 🌟

Individual ratings:

2/5 🌟 All Smiles by Steve Berman

3/5 🌟 Gap Year by Christopher Barzak

2/5 🌟 Bloody Sunrise by Neil Gaiman

4/5 🌟 Flying by Delia Sherman

4/5 🌟 Vampire Weather by Garth Nix

3/5 🌟 Late Bloomer by Suzy McKee Charnas

5/5 🌟 The List of Definite Endings by Kaaron Warren

5/5 🌟 Best Friends Forever by Cecil Castellucci

2/5 🌟 Sit the Dead by Jeffrey Ford

2/5 🌟 Sunbleached by Nathan Ballingrud

1/5 🌟 Baby by Kathe Koja

1/5 🌟 In the Future When All's Well by Catherynne M. Valente

2/5 🌟 Transition by Melissa Marr

4/5 🌟 History by Ellen Kushner

4/5 🌟 The Perfect Dinner Party by Cassandra Clare & Holly Black

4/5 🌟 Slice of Life by Lucius Shepard

2/5 🌟 My Generation by Emma Bull

3/5 🌟 Why Light? by Tanith Lee

[Jay Daze · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay let me tally this one up. Around the middle section I was getting impatient. There was a hunk that seemed pretty average or lower - it picked up by the end. Unfortunately there is some YA that is just good writing and other YA which only exists to be YA, which is fine but boring.

Introduction - I don't really pay attention to introductions unless they are really stand out. Don't remember this one!

Things to Know About Being Dead by Genevieve Valentine
Sorta suffers from the Y.A. voice thing. To me it doesn't sound like a teen, it sounds like a style. Lists are very popular in this type of story and this one has a lists inter cut throughout. Liked Grandma.

Grade: C+

All Smiles by Steve Berman

Don't hitchhike kids! Actually this one has the makings of a kick-ass first chapter in a vampire hunter novel. Interested in the ranch, and how twisted the vamp hunter organization is.

Grade B

Gap Year by Christopher Barzak

Mmmm more YA voice, but not as arch as Valentine. It just seems such a 'high-school concerns' story, but it serves me right for reading the book.

Grade C

Bloody Sunrise by Neil Gaiman

Please don't confuse poetry with this stuff. I guess it is doggerel but I just don't understand what it is doing in this book.

grave/misbehave
prowl/owls
flying/dying

Grade D

Flying by Delia Sherman

Ah the circus one with the sick circus girl! I really liked this one. Like that it is very nuts and bolts about circus life and the acts. Youtube is a very useful resource for ANYTHING. And yummm 'special high-engery tasty blood'!

Grade A

Vampire Weather by Garth Nix

I find Nix's short stories very hit and miss. Stuff like 'Infestation' (another vampire story) I really, really loved, but then he'll do stuff that just doesn't seem like a whole story. Actually I'm still waiting for 'Infestation' to be turned into a novel but I still love the story. This tale of Amish folk who won't get their shots was fine, but incomplete for me. Which is a shame cause he's the reason I picked up the collection.

Grade C+

Late Bloomer by Suzy McKee Charnas

Oh yeah, the one with the antiques mall. Really liked the idea of the sterility and deadness of vampires that was explored in this one. Yes, you get to live forever, but you lose the creative spark that would make life worth living as anything other than a parasite - which I guess is the definition of a creature that lives off of human blood. Excellent.

Grade B+

The List of Definite Endings by Kaaron Warren

Yes, the ethical vampire. It was rather wispy for me. Looking back through the table of contents on my e-reader it took me a little bit to remember this one.

Grade C


Best Friends Forever by Cecil Castellucci

Vampire goes to night school. I liked the relationship between the two girls. I like the non-action at the end. Solid story.

Grade B


Sit the Dead by Jeffry Ford

The one in the church with the dead ?aunt? I believe. Liked how hapless Luke was and that he DIDN'T get better. I'm right there with you buddy, blanket over my head too.

Grade C+

Sunbleached by Nathan Ballingrud

Ah, more attractions to the vampire-undead-lifestyle. Haven't these kids read the stories that came before them in this collection? I guess not. Unfortunately I have so the dissatisfied teen toying with the idea of going vamp is starting to wear at this point. It might be the weakness inherent in the theme anthology or this might be a weaker story. Will give it a plus to be on the safe side.

Grade C+

Baby by Kathe Koja

Oh, the weird freaky baby/doll that likes to drink the girl's blood story. Oh, yeah the one with the smoker at the end. A freaky girl as well. Short but very odd.

Grade B+

In the Future When All's Well by Catherynne M. Valente

Now this is a story in YA voice that I liked. Mostly because it is a teen's reaction to all the anti-vampire propaganda. It captures the hysteria over drugs and teens sexuality all in the guise of a vampire plague. Not subtle and minimal character creation, just that YA voice.

Grade B

Transition by Melissa Marr

More teens getting turned into vampires cause they are just so damn sick of their crappy teen lives and don't see a way out. Or at least I think that was this one, it could have been one of the others too.

Grade C

History by Ellen Kushner

Goddamned vampires! If they were going to be useful for one thing it would be as an amazing resource for historians, but it turns out that their memory is about as good as mine. Don't ask me what I was two years ago, much less in the 80s. (Oh yeah, suffering through high school, so why am I reading this book???) Well this one doesn't happen in school or to a teen, this is actually a young adult, a historian who has a vampire boyfriend who is damned illusive - like all the really dangerous relationships in our lives. Sort of the anti-YA story of the bunch. It isn't dense or difficult, but it feels mature, well written and rises above the others.

Grade A

The Perfect Dinner Party by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black

Like Garth Nix was the draw for me I'm sure that Holly Black was the name that enticed others to buy this collection. In my estimation they got a better deal. Yes, the structure is a list again - something that I'm tired of. But I like the siblings and how they found a structure to order their lives. I would totally slurp the soup and get eaten. Nothing like creepy vampire kids who are chronologically older - being frozen in time too young would suck as much as being 85 and ailing, well not as much, but pretty close.

Grade B

Slice of Life by Luicius Shepard

My favourite story of the collection. I first heard it on Podcastle (believe it was Podcastle, that or Pseudopod) and really really enjoyed reading it again here. I love the humid, oversexed, southern (what ever the hell region that is down there, I'm in Canada so y'all are all south to me) of True Blood in its first two seasons and this story captures that for me. And I believe entirely in Louie and Sandrine. Perhaps the many personalities in the mirror at the end was a bit rote, but I really loved her. Now this all flies in the face of me bitching about discontented teens flirting with the vamp-lifestyle cause their lives suck so much, but perhaps it just goes to show that if you have chops as good as Mr. Shepard you can (perhaps) do what you like.

Grade A+

My Generation by Emma Bull

Another poem. Well, this one didn't try to rhyme, which I appreciate. It did reference The Who. Is Pete Townsend a vampire? Stay tuned.

Grade C-


Why Light? by Tanith Lee

I think this should have been longer! I really liked the - gasp - romance in this one. Tanith Lee is an awesome writer, really loved her Birthgrave books, the first one was published in 1975 and she seems to be going strong. It really felt like this story was cut short though. I was waiting for the reveal and then the novel that would result in it. If I had the rest this would be an A.

Grade B+


Excluding poem #2 this collection ended strong for its last four stories. But my overall impression is still a weak collection. Just out of curiosity (and obsessiveness) lets enter into the spirit of soul sucking school and add up and average the hopelessly arbitrary scores I've generated.


1 Things to Know About Being Dead by Genevieve - C+ 78
2 All Smiles by Steve Berman - B 85
3 Gap Year by Christopher Barzak - C 75
4 Bloody Sunrise by Neil Gaiman - D 65
5 Flying by Delia Sherman - A 95
6 Vampire Weather by Garth Nix - C+ 78
7 Late Bloomer by Suzy McKee Charnas - B+ 88
8 The List of Definite Endings by Kaaron Warren - C 75
9 Best Friends Forever by Cecil Castellucci - B 85
10 Sit the Dead by Jeffry Ford - C+ 78
11 Sunbleached by Nathan Ballingrud - C+ 78
12 Baby by Kathe Koja - B+ 88
13 In the Future When All's Well by C.M. Valente - B 85
14 Transition by Melissa Marr - C 75
15 History by Ellen Kushner - A 95
16 The Perfect Dinner Party by Cassandra Clare
and Holly Black - B 85
17 Slice of Life by Luicius Shepard - A 95
18 My Generation by Emma Bull - C- 72
19 Why Light by Tanith Lee - B+ 88

---
Total 1563

Total divided by # of stories = percent = Overall Letter Grade

1563 / 19 = 82.263157 = B

And that would be what on Good Reads? Like four stars? 4/5 = .8 * 100 = 80%

Which goes to show that math and grading don't know nothing. There were only a few outstanding stories for me. The best of the lot (Slice of Life) I'd encountered already. There simply isn't enough for me to recommend the book as a whole to someone else. Screw high school. I give this puppy two stars. Class is out.

[Gala · Rating 4 out of 5]

Хороша книжечка для вечірнього читання вихідного дня. Елен Датлоу - моя улюблена редакторка фентезі збірок. І у такій специфічній темі як вампірські історії з ГГ підлітком вона теж зробила чудову підбірку.

[Vittoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was asked for a recommendation on interesting vampire books and while I thought about vampire stories that "don't suck" Late Bloomer by Suzy Mckee Charnas came to mind.
I'll re-read the collection someday - I've rated it 4 stars because any collection has some duds.

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't find the majority of these short stories to be anything particularly special. A few were the same old vampire tales redone. However, I was very much intrigued by a few--oddly enough, by the authors whom I had never read before. The best, I thought, by far was "Best Friends Forever" by Cecil Castellucci. It was unexpected and actually seemed to be about something much more than vampires. "Sunbleached" by Nathan Ballingrud was probably the most "horrific", which I found fantastic, since most of the stories aren't really horrors. Lastly, I enjoyed "History" by Ellen Kushner, mostly because it seemed to be exactly what I would imagine my encounter with a vampire would be. Most of the stories portray the vampires as protagonists, often those who don't have to kill to live, which I found annoying, because that is one of the things that really gives the vampires with human emotions some really difficult emotional conflict.

[branewurms · Rating 5 out of 5]

An uncommonly good collection. Highly original, fun stuff from a bunch of authors I already loved and some new-to-me ones I now want to check out. Only two or three entries really fell flat for me, which considering my usual ambivalence towards short story collections is impressive. (And this after Steam Powered! I hope this is the start of a trend.)

I think my favorites were Genevieve Valentine's "Things to Know About Being Dead," Delia Sherman's "Flying," and Catherynne Valente's "In the Future When All's Well." (Neil Gaiman's poem "Bloody Sunrise," however, made me wonder if he was even trying, but hey, can't win 'em all, I guess.)

[Emily Fagans · Rating 3 out of 5]

A friend gave me an uncorrected proof to read. I went strong for 310 pages. Then I needed to take a break. Short stories are not usually a genre I love as I like to follow character development for long periods of time. Still, there were some really fun new approaches to vampires.

[Tehani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic anthology! As good as Zombies bs Unicorns which was my favourite international antho of last year. This is darkly brilliant and definitely worth your while!

[Bryce · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love short story collections as a palate-cleanser after reading intense books and as a way to discover new authors. Ellen Datlow is the gold standard when it comes to Science Fiction and Fantasy collections and she comes through once again with all these stories about vampires.

Can I just say that I love how lurid and trashy the cover of this book is and how little about the cover actually does to indicate that the stories inside are about vampires? I really do. The cover actually looks like rejected art from a late-90s/early-2000s Evanescence-wannabe album. Someone said "Eh, good enough" and slapped it on this book. Is this girl a vampire? Is she being hunted by a vampire? Is she showing off the cool Baroque-esque tapestry she bought from Hot Topic? Who knows and who cares!!

Anyway. Stories.

Here are my highlights and low-lights:

All Smiles by Steve Berman
A kid gets sent to a "scared straight" summer camp only to find out that it's secretly training teens to be paramilitary vampire hunters. The twist in this wasn't mind-blowing or anything, but it was one of the few stories in the collection that focused on hunting vampires rather than being vampires and i liked it.

Gap Year by Christopher Barzak
This struck me as an example of a male author writing teenage girls really, really poorly. The mythology in this also made no sense to me -- what were the vampires' powers and weaknesses? How did anyone really ever know if they were a vampire or not?

Flying by Delia Sherman
A big thumbs up from me, for combining vampires with circuses in a way that felt new and interesting.

The List of Definite Endings by Kaaron Warren
I was prepared not to enjoy this story, because I am so very tired of the mopey self-hating vampire trope, but this was sweet and sensitive.

Sit the Dead by Jeffrey Ford
Funny! This is a weird fish-out-of-water story that I liked a lot. Meeting your girlfriend's family is already stressful, but it's so much worse when you have to impress them with your vampire slaying abilities.

Baby by Kath Koja
This is the one story in the collection that was legitimately creepy to me. Baby is a living, vampriric doll and it does things for the narrator... and makes the narrator do things for it. The story ended perfectly, with a building and unreleased feeling of dread. I have a feeling that things aren't going to go particularly well for the narrator.

Why Light by Tanith Lee
I wanted this to be an entire novel. Yes, it's supernatural romance fluff that I've seen over and over again... but I'm a sucker for it every time.

[Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides · Rating 4 out of 5]

My main thought is that every vampire story that came after Twilight will in some way be in response to it. Whether you're trying to do better, making fun of it, or trying to cash in on the trend by imitating it, you're still responding to it. That said, there are many good and deep and powerful stories in this anthology. Maybe the vampire mythos hasn't been completely disinfected by the sunlight yet. But if you only read and want stories with hot sexy happily ever after vampire romance, or hot sexy unresolved sexual tension and danger, and will be unhappy without one or both of those things, then this is probably not the anthology for you.

The introduction has a good introduction to vampire stories through the ages, starting with myths and legends and going through Buffy and Twilight. (Though I think it could have been interesting to try to work White Wolf's Vampire: the Masquerade gaming setting in there somewhere.) For my thoughts on the individual stories, keep reading. :)

"Things to Know About Being Dead" by Genevieve Valentine — a strong start. I liked it. One hilarious poking-fun-at-Twilight moment. But it'd be easy to miss if you hadn't read Twilight, and it made perfect sense within the story context.

"All Smiles" by Steve Berman — had some very poignant and true moments. But the ending was weird and confusing. I understood it, it just didn't quite compute for me. Something that is initially present as an abusive boot camp for juvenile offenders/troubled boys is actually a boot camp/proving ground/whatever for potential vampire hunters? That's how this works? I'm sorry, my brain is gibbering. More than usual.

"Gap Year" by Christopher Barzak — Even though Barzak's short stories have their moments of heavy-handed moralizing, I find that I can count on them to be basically well-crafted and enjoyable. He's good.

"Flying" by Delia Sherman — Had its moments. A bright note of humor I don't want to say too much about, because you should get to appreciate it for yourself. The way/reason the heroine runs away to join the circus is just too awesome. But I saw the reveal coming. Would I have if this weren't a vampire anthology? Maybe.

"Vampire Weather" by Garth Nix — excellent. A really awesome story of how an Amish/Mennonite-type community might change, and not change, after a vampire apocalypse. (But also a story with people doing interesting things.)

"Late Bloomer" by Suzy McKee Charnas — Oh hey, it's that trope I can never remember the name of. (Yes, I'm writing this review at a dumb time of night and I did get up partly to see if I could find the name of that trope.) I did think the ending was just right and conveyed the feelings of the moment perfectly. Even if I am sort of exasperated or bored with that trope. Which, for the record, is this one.

"The List of Definite Endings" by Kaaron Warren — a really excellent piece. Grappled with the difficulties of the vampire existence in a way that didn't seem hackneyed.

"Best Friends Forever" by Cecil Castellucci — a good one. I don't think I can say too much about it without giving too much away, though.

"Sit the Dead" by Jeffrey Ford — At first I was expecting a stereotypical insipid happily ever after ending. I should have known better, because after all, it's Jeffrey Ford. That's not a complaint; it's praise. Though there were some things that seemed faintly ... orientalist? You know, look, they're from the old country, it's so quaint. Oh, and this seemed more like a zombie story than a vampire story. But I liked it.

"Sunbleached" by Nathan Ballingrud — this one was pretty creepy. And it had one image which actually upset my stomach. Definitely more toward the horror end of things.

"Baby" by Kathe Koja — not bad but not really my particular cup of tea, either.

"In the Future When All's Well" by Catherynne M. Valente — this was a good one. Very YA but also very true to itself. A nice feeling of suspense and doom hanging over the whole story.

"Transition" by Melissa Marr — a story with some interesting relationship dynamics.

"History" by Ellen Kushner — decent work. An interesting premise, but somehow it didn't feel like a very broad or deep story.

"The Perfect Dinner Party" by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black — There was nothing that really felt unexpected here, but all in all it's a pretty good short story.

"Slice of Life" by Lucius Shepard — This was the first short story in here that really lost me. Not because it was confusing but because it just wasn't holding my interest. And unfortunately, the same was generally true of the last story, "Why Light?" by Tanith Lee.

[Margit · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was disappointed that they advertise a Neil Gaiman story in this anthology when what's really there is a 2-page poem. It's a good poem (4*), but short. Having said that, I thought the anthology started with a great introduction about vampire mythology, literature and cinema/television over time.

The following are my reviews of the individual stories as they appear in the anthology:
3* - Genevieve Valentine "Things to Know About Being Dead" - Interrupted flow, weak language, but good imagery, creativity, and use of Chinese mythology.
4* - Steve Berman "All Smiles" - Very good detailed descriptions, but awkward dialogue.
5* - Christopher Barzak "Gap Year" - Fun story. Very creative, vivid details, excellent dialogue, witty humor.
4* - Neil Gaiman "Bloody Sunrise" - Poem, vivid imagery.
3.5 * - Delia Sherman "Flying" - Creative, if a little random, well-written, but too predictable.
5* - Garth Nix "Vampire Weather" - Creative, well-written, evocative writing style, unexpected ending.
5* - Suzy McKee Charnas "Late Bloomer" - Excellent imagery: "His feet kept inching his chair backward, but his head wanted to lean closer to her." Creative ideas, witty (vampires are known as "the Quality" among themselves), with a haunting unexpected ending that fits all the puzzle pieces together.
2* - Kaaron Warren "The List of Definite Endings" - It flowed pretty well, but there were what I would call plot holes for lack of a better expression. She introduced an idea and didn't fully explain it and then left something else unresolved with practical questions hanging, and not in a good way.
2.5* - Cecil Castellucci "Best Friends Forever" - It started off promising, but then she used a ridiculous new vampire myth and didn't explain it at all, and had the vampire invited into a coffee shop by a customer. I didn't think the invitation myth worked for public places in most stories, but you can put anything into a story. Even so, it's always the owner of the establishment who has to invite the vampire in, not a guest. Maybe I'm being nitpicky, but these things really annoyed me. She also mentioned "impossibly hip-looking kids with colored hair, tattoos, and piercings, who sipped espressos and chai green teas with attitude." Not to mention the fact that's the second time she used the word "hip" in the same sentence, that just sounds like a prejudiced outsider's opinion. In addition, chai is almost always black, or occasionally decaf. I've never seen it green (not that it can't be, but it's not what you'll find at a cafe).
5* - Jeffrey Ford "Sit the Dead" - Interesting ideas. Fresh imagery " He threw his head back and laughed. The echoes rained down..." nice detailed humorous descriptions. Good ending.
4* - Nathan Ballingrud " Sunbleached" - Dark, gruesome, vivid imagery. He jumps all over in time between the present, four days ago, and numerous flashbacks and he doesn't do a very good job always of transitioning, so it gets confusing in places to follow the timeline.
4* - Kathe Koja "Baby" - A very different take about a mostly powerless, or rather, helpless vampire and a cruel, heartless human. Koja uses voice and POV very well.
4* - Catherynne Valente "In the Future When All's Well" - A parody that starts off with a comical list of most common causes of vampirism followed by a list of high risk factors. Valente has a unique voice and style that don't always resonate with me, but I do love this paragraph: "They all think I don't get it, that I'm just a dumb kid who thinks vampires are cool because they all grew up reading those stupid books where some girl goes swooning over a boy vampire because he's so <italic>deep</italic> and <italic>dreamy</italic> and he lived through centuries waiting for <italic>her</italic>. Gag. I guess that's why that crap is banned now. No one wants their daughters getting the idea that all this could ever be hot. But guess what? They don't have body fluids. They only have blood. You do the math. And then come back when you're done throwing up. No one dates vampires."
4* - Melissa Marr "Transition" - fun story
4* - Ellen Kushner "History" - Sweet, sentimental love story
4* - Cassandra Clare & Holly Black "The Perfect Dinner Party" - Written as a letter using 1st and 2nd person POV; a mild, cute story with dinner party "advice" mixed in with a tale of a disastrous last dinner party.
3* - Lucius Shepard "Slice of Life" - A crude depiction of life as white trash in a small Florida town. Interesting description of how a "Djadadjii," a dumb, beautiful creature, can trap a vampire in a shack of mirror shards.
3* - Emma Bull "My Generation" - A decent poem.
2* - Tanith Lee "Why Light?" - Wow. I have never read such over-the-top metaphors/similes. "Her slanting eyes are the dark bleak blue of a northern sea, seen in a foreign movie with subtitles." It has to be with subtitles. The author mixes tenses when describing this character, too, using present and past in the same paragraph. Since the story is told in the past tense, she can be described in the past tense (at the end she says she's writing a letter, but it doesn't seem like it at all and it's written in two parts--who writes "Part One" when they start a letter?). Another simile: "The lake across the busy grasslands was like a gigantic vinyl disk dropped from the sky, an old record the moon had played, and played tonight on the spinning turntable of the Earth." Busy grasslands? How did the moon play the record? The scale of things just doesn't work for me. The story also seems to be heavily influenced by Octavia Butler's Fledgling. It gets better in the middle, but then ends meh...

[Lauren Shawcross · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Review edited for syntax and spelling Sept 2017.)

Since this book was made up of a collection of short stories, which were very different from each other, I reviewed them separately. Overall, the stories were very hit-or-miss with me, but when they hit, boy, did they. Like a sledgehammer to my gut. Some of these stick under my skin years later. (Like a puncture wound to the jugular, anyone?)





Introduction
I normally wouldn't review an introduction, but I really enjoyed it. Stuffed with vampire history/lore and I learned a lot. I could have done without all of what amounted to, practically, the worshiping of Twilight. It's not that I have anything against Twilight, but I feel like drawing a comparison of every vampire-related book to Twilight does a disservice to Twilight itself, which is a fun romp if you're into that kind of book and shouldn't be the touchstone of comparison for all vampire literature. If you're going to herald a work as the cornerstone of the capitalization of vampires, talk about Anne Rice first. Anyway.


things to know about being dead- 4 stars. Not what I was expecting, a nice break from overdone European-suave vamps. This was sweet and slightly sad, but not at all scary. The writing is average, and so are the characters.

all smiles- 2 stars. This was straight up strange. The ending was a bit confusing, but I also didn't see it coming, and I think it generally accomplished what it was trying to do (be surprising). There is brief but enhancing character development via backstory.

gap year- 4.5 stars. This short story fit in a wonderful amount of character development. I also loved how it portrays relationships changing over time. I don't know how I feel about the idea of vamps being able to feed from things that are not blood- that's kinda what makes a vampire, isn't it? However, I felt the concept was very original and well executed.

bloody sunrise- 5 stars. I am a huge poetry fan, and this freeform piece was a gorgeously written poem about loss, regret, and of course vampires.

flying- 5 stars and a hug. There was backstory but it didn't feel like an infodump. This should have been an entire novel, and the writing was beautiful. I couldn't get enough. The cherry on the top, the icing on the cake, the - blood on the scrape? - a happy ending that felt genuine and uncontrived.

vampire weather- 3.5 stars. The concept of the religious compound was cool, and really captured the cultish vibe inherent to vampire lit. The cliffhanger, while having the possibly to "work" if concluding a lengthier story, didn't do it for me here.

late bloomer- 4 stars. Interesting concept (that vampires can't create once they've died). Visible character development- showing, not telling! Creative story with a creative ending and sympathetic characters.

the list of definite endings- 4.5 stars. A sentimental, sympathetic vampire. This was the sweetest, saddest story.

best friends forever- 3 stars. Written from two perspectives, sort of choppy but the style works for the case. Interesting backstories. The ending was lacking and felt rushed. I think the author was trying to be poetic, but it just felt cliche.

sit the dead- 1.5 stars. Creepy, but the writing style is awkward and choppy, with several lines bordering on incoherence. The ending is a cliffhanger of the worst sort- a story left unfinished. Half a star for creepy factor, half a star for originality, and half a star because there are some kick-ass characters (Darene).


sunbleached- 3 stars. Creepy, very very creepy. The character depth of all the characters, excluding the vampire, is the best in this story.


baby- 3.5 stars. Writing style flows very well, captivating and creepy. Added scare factor since the vampire is a baby and that was just weird, somehow. I didn't like the narrator, and the way she described past events was choppy and disengaging.

in the future when all's well- 4.5 stars. Captivating writing style, drew in the reader, relatable characters. The vampires practically outnumber the humans. Nice to have the perspectives flipped. The vamps are portrayed as sort of normal, not either romantic, creepy or gory, which I appreciated. The writing style was disjointed and sort of choppy, but somehow it was pulled off and worked to the advantage of the plot and emphasized character development.


transition- 1.5 stars. Long and tedious. The writing was decent, but I skimmed it. I guess personally I just didn't really find it absorbing.

perfect dinner party- 3 stars. This is the first Cassie Clare work I've read, and I'm not impressed. It was just mediocre, from everything to the characters to the writing.

slice of life- 3.5 stars. Absorbing writing style and world. The character depth was enormous, and the MC felt very real and flawed in the best way. I didn't really feel the vampire element of the story, and felt the narrative focused too much on the town and MC, but it would have made a great story without the vamps, an element that almost seemed an afterthought.


my generation- 4.5 stars. Beautiful poem that would have a place in any poetry anthology. My favorite line is Life is change./New songs, new bands./ New stories, new dreams./Death is one old song on repeat play. This vampire poem focuses heavily on music and the passage of time.


why light- 4 stars. The writing is absorbing and the world would have been very enthralling had it been developed a bit more. This is the most romantic story, and has a relatively happy ending. I liked the concept that some vampires are more light-tolerant than others.


Overall, you could do worse than this collection, and it definitely makes other vampire books pale (ha!) in comparison.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read a few of these with titles and authors that interested me, and it seems like a strong collection. Fans of the genre should find a lot to enjoy.

The stories I read seemed to fit the "Young Adult" genre: definitely pretty "bloody" but not overly gory, I would say more "death-obsessed" and focusing on the emotional, ethical, and relationship contradictions of vampire... er, life.

Things to Know about Being Dead by Genevieve Valentine - 5 stars

The List of Definite Endings by Kaaron Warren - 4 stars

In the Future When All's Well by Catherynne M. Valente - 5 stars

Transition by Melissa Marr - 5 stars

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a good vampire tale and there were some good ones in here. This collection was geared at teens, but the writing was good and this book was very enjoyable.

(It's about 10 years old, and there was some dated language in the book).

[Julie H. Ernstein · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short story anthologies can, by definition, be very hit-or-miss affairs. Taken as a whole, Teeth: Vampire Tales, definitely falls within the "mixed bag" heading. That is, some of the stories are great, others are so-so, while a few were just plain not ready for publication.

Most troubling for me, of course, was the fact that Windling and Datlow's somewhat patronizing introduction to the work makes a couple of unfortunate assumptions: (1) first, that only 'tweens read Young Adult fiction and (2) that anyone likely to pick up their anthology has, at most, caught a few rerun episodes of Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer on TV or read/viewed Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series. Seriously?! This work's introduction even goes so far as to claim that, "The extraordinary success of the Twilight series has placed a huge spotlight not only on modern vampire tales but on the urban fantasy genre as a whole--and that, in turn, is bringing new readers, and some terrific new writers, into the field" (pp. xxv-xxvi).

Instead of dividing YA vamp fiction into the pre- and post-Twilight periods, perhaps readers would benefit from some mention--and direction to them if these works/authors are not yet known to them--of Heather Brewer's Chronicles of Vladimir Tod, Rachel Caine's Morganville Vampire series, P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast's House of Night series, Susan Hubbard's Ethical Vampire series, or Rachelle Meade's Vampire Academy books, as just a few notable examples. Such a glittering generalization regarding 21st-century vampire fiction seems to be suggesting that the genre has sprung full grown from the head (or pen) of Stephanie Meyer. And for those of us adult readers of YA fiction who were raised on such vampire fare as that provided by Nancy Collins, P.N. Elrod, Barbara Hambly, Laurell K. Hamilton, Charlaine Harris, Tonya Huff, and Anne Rice, for instance, this abbreviated history and its overstated claim regarding the centrality of the Twilight series, seems a disservice to the very demographic it purports to be addressing.

Between the somewhat off-putting introduction and the mishmash of quality of entries in the volume, this anthology would by no means be a book I'd recommend to anyone trying to get an otherwise reluctant reader hooked. Any of the YA series I mentioned above would, I think, be more effective in that regard.

[Armand · Rating 3 out of 5]

The contributors to this collection were given a simple directive: to write YA vampire stories that are smart and unusual. It succeeded to a degree but tbh they are not very compelling. They're still OK though, and the book was a pretty quick read given that the prose is almost invariably clear and straightforward as most YA fiction are.

The Introduction is not the navel-gazing exercise found in most anthologies. It's actually informative, giving a succinct sampling of vampire myths and lore from ancient to modern cultures and how they were depicted in various media. It ran the gamut from the Oriental to the African to the various Western vampires that we're familiar with. And no this is not a dry, boresome treatise - I actually learned a lot from it, like how in many cultures vampirism is not spread via infectious vectors but by the means of death (e.g. violent ones) or through improper burial.

As with Datlow's other vampire anthologies, there are many kinds/species presented here. There are jiangshi, vampires that feed on emotions, on sunlight (?), shapeshifters, etc. But really, what surprised me about this collection is how only a few stories here just focus on romance, budding or full-blown. Cringey syrupy tripe this definitely is not.

The pieces that left a mark (heh) on me are:

The List of Definite Endings - a conscientious vampire chooses her prey only among the dying

Best Friends Forever - two girls - one undead and one terminally ill - forge a deep bond, with each one determined to grant her best friend's most fervent wish

Baby - all girls eventually outgrow their dolls

Slice of Life - a vampiress chained by a djadajii's magic seeks to manipulate a messed up girl that she once saved into helping her escape.

Why Light? - I liked the title's play on Meyer's Twilight, but this elegant gothic tale is actually the most polished of the lot.

I'm rating this 6.5/10 or 3 stars out of 5.

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I ended up randomly choosing to check this book out at the library last week, not expecting much from it as I haven't been very into vampires lately. Not because of a specific book, just . . . tired of it all, I guess. But I was sucked in by seeing the great authors mentioned on the cover (which I suppose was the intended purpose of them doing such a thing) and ended up not just enjoying but loving this!

I listed a few of my favorite stories above and it was hard to even narrow it down to four out of . . . nineteen? I think there is something like that many stories. I liked every one of them. Really. How often can you pick up a collection and say that? And one where every story is about vampires! And they were all unique! I loved how some of them took the idea of a vampire from various cultures around the world, all slightly differing from one another, and made it their own. There were funny stories that had me laughing uncontrollably, devastating ones that made me want to cry, ones that were hopeful and ones where you lost all hope . . .

Altogether, a great mix. There wasn't too much of any one thing. Male and female protagonists and antagonists, first person narration as well as third and a bit of second thrown in one. (Read it to see what I mean. Come on. Do it.) Love and romance and betrayal and creepy creatures that will definitely give me nightmares.

It's hard to find many things to be critical of because each short story was so unique and interesting and I definitely can't analyze each in turn. Maybe I can just say that I was sad that it ended? This anthology really surprised me in the best way, coming up and getting me addicted. Just goes to show that once you think you're done with a certain topic, authors unite to drag you back into it. I'm not going to complain.

FANG-TASTIC. 5/5 stars

[Arogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Teeth Vampire Tales by Genevieve Valentine, Steve Berman, Christopher Barzak, Neil Gaiman, Delia Sherman, Garth Nix, Suzy McKee Charnas, Kaaron Warren, Cecil Castellucci, Jeffery Ford, Nathan Ballingrud, Kathe Koja, Catherynne M. Valente, Melissa Marr, Ellen Kushner, Cassandra Clare, Holly Black, Lucius Shepard, Emma Bull, Tanith Lee. Edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling.
Harper Collins, 2011, 452 pp. fiction (p’back)

There is a mixture of many different vampire stories in one book. Most of the stories are based off of legends from many cultures, while others are just the author’s view of what a vampire is like in his/her mind. There are poems two poems in it, which go with the stories that were before and after the poem. Nineteen stories that have a range of emotions, such as romance to fear to happiness. Like most vampire stories, all the vampires in this book desire blood.
All together this was an amazing book; I could not put it down. The age group I recommend this to would be teens. Although my favorite stories in Teeth was, The Perfect Dinner Party, Transition, Sunbleached, Sit The Dead, and Things To Know About Being Dead. I bought it April 23rd, and finished it on April 26th. This has become my new favorite vampire book, it was way better than the Twilight Saga. No offence to anyone who likes the Twilight Saga, or the author. This is a must read if you love vampire stories.

Ashley Rogers

[Devon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Things To Know About Being Dead by Genevieve Valentine
This story centers around Suyin or Sue as she's called. She had gotten into a car with a student from her school, who was drunk and crashed the car. Suyin died and came back as a Jiangshi (it's sort of a chinese zombie-slash-vampire that hops. Though that doesn't happen in this story or in Raven by Alison Van Diepen) the only person who knows what's going on with her is her grandmother. As an addition to the plot, is Jake (or was it Jack?) who's kind of like Casper. Apparently, when Jiangshi's comeback (at least in the story) spirits can hitch a ride.

I really enjoyed this story, I really liked how Valentine kept to some of Chinese beliefs in this (if you study Chinese mythology you'll know what I'm talking about. I don't want to say what it is cause it's kind of a spoiler). This was a sweet one and I liked the 'things to know about being dead' list that was dispersed throughout the story

Transitions by Melissa Marr
This is is about Eliana who's made into a vampire. It's dark and so Marr. I adore it. I love her Fey stories, but it was really cool to see her write something a little bit different.

Out of all of the other stories there were the only two I really liked and enjoyed.

[heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a delightfully cracky little book, full of authors that I also read in other contexts. actually, it's not a little book at all, it's a big monster book, but somehow short story books feel like popcorn to me.

Early on, I had ambitions of saying something about each of these stories, then about just the ones that especially struck me, then I gave up and read for three hours straight.

The stories are haunting, sometimes funny, sometimes sad. Most of the characters are kids or teenagers, people of what I think of as "vampire age". I think the mythos of vampires speaks to the immortality feeling of teenagers, and the unknowable grave of growing up. Maybe we adults look like the living dead to them, doing the same things year after year, sustained on who-knows-what after a whirl of excitement.

The stories were varied, and interesting. I have always loved Datlow's anthologies. She has a good eye for both selection and assembly.

Read if: You are longing to cross a dark threshold. You have liked Datlow's other collections. You would like to look at vampire mythos from a number of viewpoints.

Skip if: You don't like vampires. You don't like the decision-making inherent in being a teenager.

My first book on Overdrive from my library! Yay!

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprisingly diverse anthology that mixes a contemporary entertainment topic such as vampires with influences from a broad cultural spectrum. Compared to other YA anthologies like Enthralled, Teeth has a surprising amount of literary writing going on within it - and the host of critically acclaimed science-fiction and fantasy writers within the collection plays no small role in that type of writing being present. Young-adult heavyweights like Melissa Marr prove themselves on equal footing with these authors, though, and in some cases seem vibrantly ahead in how they tell a short story. Some of the stories felt like they missed out on something - stories that felt more like the beginning to something that just faded away, something that isn't in itself a complete entity, which a short story really should be able to be read as - and others just felt off. However, those stories are minor, and the amount of depth and variety within the collection is enough to recommend any YA or fantasy fan towards this collection.

[Mary BookHounds · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, this one is packed with adventure. This one is best suited for older teens since there seems to be a bit more violence, sexual situations and language than the average vampire tale. Three stories really stood out for me:
Best Friends Forever by Cecil Castelucci which is a twisted tale about a girl who is allergic to the sun becomes BFFs with a vampire when they meet at night school. Both yearn for a normal life and seem to find a bit of happiness in each others company.

Transition by Melissa Marr in which a newly minted vampire learns the way of her new world and with a lot of wit and sarcasm finds a new path.

The Perfect Dinner Party by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black is almost a Victorian short story with a wicked twist at the end. I guess when you look at who the writers are, it completely makes sense.