The Vampire Archives

The Most Complete Volume of Vampire Tales Ever Published

By: Clive Barker, Robert Bloch, Stephen King, Kim Newman - foreword, Neil Gaiman - preface, Otto Penzler - editor

Narrated by: Scott Brick, Jonathan Cowley, Erik Davies

Length: 61 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

The Vampire Archives is the biggest, hungriest, undeadliest collection of vampire stories, as well as the most comprehensive bibliography of vampire fiction ever assembled. Dark, stormy, and delicious, once it sinks its teeth into you there’s no escape. 

Vampires! Whether imagined by Bram Stoker or Anne Rice, they are part of the human lexicon and as old as blood itself. They are your neighbors, your friends, and they are always lurking. Now Otto Penzler—editor of the best-selling Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps—has compiled the darkest, the scariest, and by far the most evil collection of vampire stories ever, with over 80 stories, including the works of Stephen King and D. H. Lawrence, alongside Lord Byron and Tanith Lee, not to mention Edgar Allan Poe and Harlan Ellison. The Vampire Archives will drive a stake through the heart of any other collection out there. 

Other contributors include Arthur Conan Doyle, Ray Bradbury, Ambrose Bierce, H. P. Lovecraft, Harlan Ellison, Roger Zelazny, Robert Bloch, and Clive Barker.

©2009 Otto Penzler (P)2011 Random House

Table of Contents:

Foreword: Kim Newman
Preface: Neil Gaiman
Introduction: Otto Penzler


PRE-DRACULA

Good Lady Ducayne: M. E. Braddon
The Last Lords of Gardonal: William Gilbert
A Mystery of the Campagna: Anne Crawford
The Fate of Madame Cabanel: Eliza Lynn Linton
Let Loose: Mary Cholmondeley
The Vampire: Vasile Alecsandri
The Death of Halpin Frayser: Ambrose Bierce
Ken's Mystery: Julian Hawthorne
Carmilla: Sheridan Le Fanu
The Tomb of Sarah: F. G. Loring
Ligeia: Edgar Allan Poe
The Old Portrait: Hume Nisbet
The Vampire Maid: Hume Nisbet

TRUE STORIES

The Sad Story of a Vampire: Eric (Count) Stenbock
A Case of Alleged Vampirism: Luigi Capuana
An Authenticated Vampire Story: Franz Hartmann

GRAVEYARDS, CASTLES, CHURCHES, RUINS

Revelations in Black: Carl Jacobi
The Master of Rampling Gate: Anne Rice
The Vampire of Kaldenstein: Frederick Cowles
An Episode of Cathedral History: M. R. James
Schloss Wappenburg: D. Scott-Moncrieff
The Hound: H. P. Lovecraft
Bite-Me-Not Or, Fleur De Fur: Tanith Lee
The Horror at Chilton Castle: Joseph Payne Brennan
The Singular Death of Morton: Algernon Blackwood
The Death of Ilalotha: Clark Ashton Smith

THAT'S POETIC

The Bride of Corinth: Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
The Giaour: Lord Byron
La Belle Dame Sans Merci: John Keats

HARD TIMES FOR VAMPIRES

Place of Meeting: Charles Beaumont
Duty: Ed Gorman
A Week in the Unlife: David J. Schow

CLASSIC TALES

Four Wooden Stakes: Victor Roman
The Room in the Tower: E. F. Benson
Mrs. Amworth: E. F. Benson
Doctor Porthos: Basil Copper
For the Blood Is the Life: F. Marion Crawford
Count Magnus: M. R. James
When It Was Moonlight: Manly Wade Wellman
The Drifting Snow: August Derleth
Aylmer Vance and the Vampire: Alice and Claude Askew
Dracula's Guest: Bram Stoker
The Transfer: Algernon Blackwood
The Stone Chamber: H. B. Marriott Watson
The Vampire: Jan Neruda
The End of the Story: Clark Ashton Smith

PSYCHIC VAMPIRES

The Lovely Lady: D. H. Lawrence
The Parasite: Arthur Conan Doyle
Lonely Women Are the Vessels of Time:
Harlan Ellison

SOMETHING FEELS FUNNY

Blood: Fredric Brown
Popsy: Stephen King
The Werewolf and the Vampire: R. Chetwynd-Hayes
Drink My Red Blood: Richard Matheson
Dayblood: Roger Zelazny

LOVE . . . FOREVER

Replacements: Lisa Tuttle
Princess of Darkness: Frederick Cowles
The Silver Collar: Garry Kilworth
The Old Man's Story: Walter Starkie
Will: Vincent O'Sullivan
Blood-Lust: Dion Fortune
The Canal: Everil Worrell
When Gretchen Was Human: Mary A. Turzillo
The Story of Chugoro: Lafcadio Hearn

THEY GATHER

The Men & Women of Rivendale: Steve Rasnic Tem
Winter Flowers: Tanith Lee
The Man Who Loved the Vampire Lady: Brian Stableford
Midnight Mass: F. Paul Wilson

IS THAT A VAMPIRE?

The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire: Arthur Conan Doyle
A Dead Finger: Sabine Baring-Gould
Wailing Well: M. R. James
Human Remains: Clive Barker
The Vampire: Sydney Horler
Stragella: Hugh B. Cave
Marsyas in Flanders: Vernon Lee
The Horla: Guy De Maupassant
The Girl With the Hungry Eyes: Fritz Leiber

THIS IS WAR

The Living Dead: Robert Bloch
Down Among the Dead Men: Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

MODERN MASTERS

Necros: Brian Lumley
The Man Upstairs: Ray Bradbury
Chastel: Manly Wade Wellman
Dracula's Chair: Peter Tremayne
Special: Richard Laymon
Carrion Comfort: Dan Simmons
The Sea Was Wet as Wet Could Be: Gahan Wilson

The Vampire: A Bibliography: Compiled by Daniel Seitler

This caught my attention and held it!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I got this merely for the genre and the length. I am not typically a huge "vampire" fan. Other medias have worn me out with the same old portrayals and analysis of the legend. But it was days long and I figured I would find at least a couple of stories that would be worth hearing. I usually listen on my way to and from work. I have an hour drive each way. I have a 16 year old son who's very socially active, a 4 year old grandson who keeps me running and a full time job. Those things unfortunatly have robbed me of my much loved reading time. That's when I found audible. While it wasn't reading, it did allow me to listen to books and that was better than nothing. When I started this, I started it with the expectation of the same old vampire steals in sucks girls blood may or may not change and or kill her while people chase him to kill him. I couldn't have been more wrong. There are stories here that captured my attention and held it in a way I would have never expected. Everything from the usual vampire tales straight forward in nature. Then there are stories that you have to remind yourself it's a vampire story. Then there are the ones that are so subtle that you find yourself destracted in a way that you'd never expected. I've found so many authors in this archive that I'd over looked, hadn't heard of or frankly never considered my type of author. LOL I guess that lends to the whole book by the cover thing doens't it lol. If you like a good story, if you like straight in your face or a more subtle nuance in a story; this book is for you.

What did you like best about this story?

The uniqueness of the stories. From the bold and expected to the unexpected and subtle stories.

Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have and so often the narrotor is judged on the story. This is that way as well. If you like the narrator doing one story you may not care so much for them doing a different one. But you will find something you like.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I loved loved loved Popsy. It's such a simple straight forward story. You find yourself feeling sorry for the child and understanding that in this instance the vampire isn't the "bad guy". The bad guy is the non vampire, the human who would sacrifice a small child for an addiction he can't understand or beat. It moves quite nicely and keeps you interested. There are actually alot of stories like Popsy. It's really hard to say just this one or that one. I think Popsy stands out to me because of the visuals that my mind created with the telling. Plus I have kids and isn't that one of a parents greatest fears?

Any additional comments?

This book is truly worth the credits and more. It gave me hours and hours of enjoyment. However more importantly it showed me not to judge a book by the cover, the author by a previous story or a narrator by his last job. If you like supernatural stories, rather you prefer hot blood spashed across your face or that tingle at the base of your neck from something you can't see, I promise you will find more and more in this book to like than you ever thought you could. GET IT NOW! :-)

Table of Contents - revised

Thanks to reviewer TB for accurately typing out all the chapter and story titles. I have added the audiobook part numbers (it downloads in 8 parts) and track numbers for the beginning of each story. I have begun adding the publication year of each story, and will update this review when I have completed collecting the dates. Enjoy.

THE VAMPIRE ARCHIVES

–PART 1–
1. Foreword— Kim Newman
Preface— Neil Gaiman
2. Introduction— Otto Penzler

PRE-DRACULA
3. Good Lady Ducayne— M. E. Braddon, 1896
6. The Last Lords of Gardonal— William Gilbert, 1867
8. A Mystery of the Campagna— Anne Crawford, 1886
10. The Fate of Madame Cabanel— Eliza Lynn Linton, 1880
11. Let Loose— Mary Cholmondeley, 1890
12. The Vampire— Vasile Alecsandri, 1886
13. The Death of Halpin Frayser— Ambrose Bierce, 1893
17. Ken’s Mystery— Julian Hawthorne, 1883
–PART 2–
2. Carmilla— Sheridan Le Fanu, 1872
18. The Tomb of Sarah— F. G. Loring, 1900
19. Ligeia— Edgar Allan Poe, 1838
20. The Old Portrait— Hume Nisbet, 1890
21. The Vampire Maid— Hume Nisbet, 1890

TRUE STORIES
22. The Sad Story of a Vampire— Eric (Count) Stenbock, 1894
23. A Case of Alleged Vampirism— Luigi Capuana, 1907
24. An Authenticated Vampire Story— Franz Hartmann, 1909

GRAVEYARDS, CASTLES, CHURCHES, RUINS
25. Revelations in Black— Carl Jacobi, 1933
–PART 3–
2. The Master of Rampling Gate— Anne Rice, 1984
3. The Vampire of Kaldenstein— Frederick Cowles, 1938
7. An Episode of Cathedral History— M. R. James, 1914
8. Schloss Wappenburg— D. Scott-Moncrieff, 1948
9. The Hound— H. P. Lovecraft, 1924
10. Bite-Me-Not or, Fleur De Fur— Tanith Lee, 1984
16. The Horror at Chilton Castle— Joseph Payne Brennan, 1963
17. The Singular Death of Morton— Algernon Blackwood, 1910
18. The Death of Ilalotha— Clark Ashton Smith, 1937

THAT'S POETIC
19. The Bride of Corinth— Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe , 1797
20. The Giaour— Lord Byron
21. La Belle Dame Sans Merci— John Keats

HARD TIMES FOR VAMPIRES
22. Place of Meeting— Charles Beaumont
23. Duty— Ed Gorman
24. A Week in the Unlife— David J. Schow

CLASSIC TALES
26. Four Wooden Stakes— Victor Roman, 1925
27. The Room in the Tower— E. F. Benson, 1912
–PART 4–
2. Mrs. Amworth— E. F. Benson, 1923
3. Doctor Porthos— Basil Copper, 1968
9. For the Blood Is the Life— F. Marion Crawford, 1905
10. Count Magnus— M. R. James, 1904
11. When It Was Moonlight— Manly Wade Wellman, 1940
12. The Drifting Snow— August Derleth, 1939
13. Aylmer Vance and the Vampire— Alice and Claude Askew, 1914
14. Dracula’s Guest— Bram Stoker, 1914
15. The Transfer— Algernon Blackwood, 1912
16. The Stone Chamber— H. B. Marriott Watson, 1899
17. The Vampire— Jan Neruda, 1920
18. The End of the Story— Clark Ashton Smith, 1930

–PART 5–
PSYCHIC VAMPIRES
2. The Lovely Lady— D. H. Lawrence
3. The Parasite— Arthur Conan Doyle
7. Lonely Women Are the Vessels of Time— Harlan Ellison

SOMETHING FEELS FUNNY
8. Blood— Fredric Brown
9. Popsy— Stephen King, 1987
10. The Werewolf and the Vampire— R. Chetwynd-Hayes
11. Drink My Red Blood— Richard Matheson
12. Dayblood— Roger Zelazny

LOVE... FOREVER
13. Replacements— Lisa Tuttle
14. Princess of Darkness— Frederick Cowles
–PART 6–
2. The Silver Collar— Garry Kilworth
3. The Old Man’s Story— Walter Starkie
4. Will— Vincent O’Sullivan
6. Blood-Lust— Dion Fortune
10. The Canal— Everil Worrell
11. When Gretchen Was Human— Mary A. Turzillo
12. The Story of Chugoro— Lafcadio Hearn

THEY GATHER
13. The Men & Women of Rivendale— Steve Rasnic Tem
14. Winter Flowers— Tanith Lee
15. The Man Who Loved the Vampire Lady— Brian Stableford
16. Midnight Mass— F. Paul Wilson

–PART 7–
IS THAT A VAMPIRE?
2. The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire— Arthur Conan Doyle
3. A Dead Finger— Sabine Baring-Gould
7. Wailing Well— M. R. James
8. Human Remains— Clive Barker
10. The Vampire— Sydney Horler
11. Stragella— Hugh B. Cave
12. Marsyas in Flanders— Vernon Lee
15. The Horla— Guy De Maupassant
16. The Girl with the Hungry Eyes— Fritz Leiber

THIS IS WAR
17. The Living Dead— Robert Bloch, 1967
–PART 8–
2. Down Among the Dead Men— Gardner Dozois & Jack Dann

MODERN MASTERS
3. Necros— Brian Lumley
8. The Man Upstairs— Ray Bradbury
9. Chastel— Manly Wade Wellman
10. Dracula’s Chair— Peter Tremayne
11. Special— Richard Laymon
12. Carrion Comfort— Dan Simmons
14. The Sea Was Wet as Wet Could Be— Gahan Wilson, 1967
The Vampire: A Bibliography— Compiled by Daniel Seitler

Fabulous!

This audiobook contains runs for more than 60 hours. Not every of the story hits, but what does that matter if there is always another one? From poems to short stories to novelettes and covering more than 200 years, there is something here for everybody who likes a good vampire story. The initiated will find something he knows and likes, and the uninitiated will be introduced to something awesome. Definitely worth its two credits.

The technical quality is very good, and so are most of the narrators. Very little to complain here.

GOTTA LOVE THOSE VAMPIRES...

What made the experience of listening to The Vampire Archives the most enjoyable?

Most of these stories are REALLY OLD. I love the old vampires... vile odors, dust, crumbling stuff...some of these stories were very creepy, all were fabulous.

I see some complaints that it is kind of the "same old stories", sorry, if that's how you look at it. For me, it's a collection of classic literature, I love Poe, Lee, Doyle, James...so this is perfect for me.

I didn't like the few modern ones. For me, modern vampire stories come across as amusing or just stupid. Thankfully, there's only a few here.

Which character – as performed by the narrators – was your favorite?

I was very happy with all the narrators, each seemed appropriate for the story to me. I liked that each story was prefaced with a little info and each narrator was named.

Simon Vance did quite a few, I think he's got the best vampire narration, his almost whisper voice, perfect pauses...for my taste, he's a very frightening narrator.

Any additional comments?

Great for fans of old traditional horror. Wonderful for a stormy night, with a candelabra and a glass of red....Oh, "I don't drink...wine."

History of the Vampire

Any additional comments?

The Vampire Archives will delight you, especially if you're interested in the history of the vampire story.

This is a very comprehensive compilation that spans across cultures and draws from the perspective of varied writers. I was enchanted by nearly every story and I found the biographical material that precedes each writer's work very engaging and informative.

No Sparkle Here!

What did you love best about The Vampire Archives?

These are classic, old school vampire tales. Modern bloodsuckers aren't vampires - they're fairies with bad attitudes. Herein lies the template of all that's come before and should come again.

Spectacular Stories Abound

This is a wonderfully compilation of diverse narrators delivering volumes of picturesque renditions of vampire-themed stories! Each "chapter" is a different story. There are 161 chspters. Each reading distinctly begins with an interesting "snapshot" of information about the author and the story's background. This audiobook is a PRICELESS collection item for those who respect vampire lore and mystery. I love audiobooks and, also, I read. I have added the "Vampire Archives" series of books to my widely assorted personal library.

loved it

give it a whirl. I loved it and would recommend to others. my opinion and I am bit strange and think this book is one of the best

YAWN!

Many (if not most) of these stories are very, very old and, needless to say, very very simplistic. I am sure they were incredibly imaginative and scary at the time, but now they make a very boring read.

There's so much

If you like to work on a cost per minute basis then you won't be disappointed by this. The download is in 8 parts of 7-8 hours each making over 61 hours of listening. There are over 80 stories and poems and I've enjoyed the majority of them.



It's nice that there's a mixture of styles. As well as horror there's sci-fi, fantasy, humour, psychological etc. Some of the stories are classics that date back to before Bram Stoker's Dracula (in fact one of the stories is a chapter that wasn't incuded in the published version of Dracula). I was particularly pleased to come across a Stephen King short story that I don't recall coming across before.



I did find myself wondering when each story started when would the vampire be revealed? I guess that's to be expected though :).



My only serious negative observation is that the way that iTunes burns the tracks to CD it makes it difficult to skip to the start of then next story on a car CD player when you don't like a particular story.

A huge volume of tales, sound good some not so goo

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would recommend this audiobook to a friend although some of the stories aren't that great a lot of them are well worth a listen.

Would you be willing to try another book from the authors? Why or why not?

Yes I would try other books by some of the authors as there are so many different styles of writing and I'm sure that full length stories would be much better.

Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Too many narrators to mention.

Did The Vampire Archives inspire you to do anything?

No not really, these stories are good if you only have a short time to listen each day.

Any additional comments?

Good collection of tales (some seem unfinished) and I know these are short stories but some of them seem rushed & muddled.

WOW!

What an interesting and varied book! So many different types of vampires. Lovely to hear stories from the not too distant past, but out of print or vogue, although this subject is anything but!
Haven't been this glued for a long time! Thanks

Credits well spent

If you could sum up The Vampire Archives in three words, what would they be?

Value Quality Dark - Great stories and narrators, stories from 17th Century to present day with stoires and authors from across cultures and the world.

What other book might you compare The Vampire Archives to, and why?

Vampire lestat, the ann rice series, dracula by bram stoker - so many stories it covers all vampire and horror stories.

Which character – as performed by the narrators – was your favourite?

too many to say

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes but its huge, still listening after 6 weeks of near constant use.

Any additional comments?

Great value for your monthly credits.

EXCELLENT COMPILATION OF STORIES

This is an excellent compilation of Vampire stories written by some of the great masters of Horror Fantasy & Fiction. Many hours of great listening.

Almost perfect, but for one thing...

Jonathan Cowley should not be given voice over work again. Writers of the quality of D.H. Lawrence deserve better. His sub-stage school delivery ruins all his reads, without any depth of understanding; emphasis in the wrong places, consistently. Painful to listen to. All else is excellent.

"I'm going to suck..... Your blood!"

I found this to be a very bloated and uninspired listen that offered nothing new to vampire enthusiasts like myself. This is a case of quantity over quality to me as very few of the stories were engaging and performed to a high standard. For vampire die hards I would say give this a miss and listen to the big finish version of Dracula with Mark Gatiss instead. This is not terrible by any means but is no where near paying over £60 for!!

would definitely recommend this book

If you're into vampire stories. I really enjoyed it. The narration was excellent. Some of the stories were a bit hit and miss but you're going to get that in such a large volume of work. Its still really worth the listen

Impressive collection

After reading the mixed reviews I was expecting this to be very hit and miss, so I was pleasantly surprised to find a high quality and well read collection of macabre short stories... I really enjoyed the listen.

Never mind the quality, feel the width

Three stars as an average. As with anything this size the quality varies exceedingly from the excellent to the execrable. The quality of the narration is similarly varied and some stories are not only poor but poorly narrated. I would also quibble that a couple aren’t vampire stories.

That said there are some real gems in here and I was pleased to find a good Brian Stableford tale I didn’t know. There were also a few authors new to me that I will be following up.

All in all well worth a credit, but not the cash price.