Review: Vast Variety of Vampires Tales
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 17, 2013
This anthology provides the reader with 18 different short stories and 1 poem on vampires,  Like all anthologies, you get a mixed bag of tricks, because everyone has different reading preferences.  My one complaint about this volume is with the included six excerpts.  With the exception of "Touch the Sun", an excerpt that was more of a prequel discussing the vampiric origin of the fictional character of Narain Khan, the excerpts left me disappointed at the lack of any conclusion normally expected in a short story.  However, the remaining stories more than made up for that frustrated feeling.  My favorites in the anthology were "The Guest" about a vampire living with a group of monks; "A Different Kind of Vampire", where a trio of cave explorers find more than they were bargaining for; "The Merciful Miracle", about a vampiric appearance during the Christmas season; and finally "More Than Friends" about a supposed vampire stalker.  This last, written by Terri Reid, is the only author that I have previously read, being a fan of her paranormal Mary O'Reilly series, and the story definitely did not disappoint me.  As a matter of fact, I can see her expanding on the characters in this story.  Overall, this was an enjoyable read and I am sure that if you are a fan of vampires, you will find at least one of these tales delightfully wicked.  Disclosure:  I was provided an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.