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

You Have to Really Like Vampire Stories

Wow, this is the longest read ever. Some of the stories were good but not many were very good. A trip through the history of vampire stories.

SO MUCH CONTENT!!

I like most of what I've read so far, but some of these stories are better than others. A few of these are slow, but I'd definitely recommend this overall. Especially when THERE'S SO MUCH OF THIS STUFF TO GET THROUGH! You might want to use a subscription point for this one!

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."

Some of the stories weren’t great. Some of the narrators were horrible.

Just know there are some hidden beauties. Listen for them. And watch out for the stinkers.

An almost exhaustive collection of vampire stories.

This was a fantastic, long listen that took me almost 6 months to complete. I enjoyed hearing old favorites and finding some new ones. These aren’t just greatest hits, there are some obscure stories and unfamiliar authors in the mix. It does point up the fact that popular authors and stories are popular for a reason. There’s a lot that can be done within the confines of the definition of “vampire story”, and some very good ones are very “traditional”, but many of the best tales are only just so. My only complaint that there were too few women narrators in this production. Men read stories by women, and portrayed female characters, so why not use men and women narrators equally?

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

good

some storeys were a bit lame but on a hole it was good listning and i will listen to it often

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Would you consider the audio edition of The Vampire Archives to be better than the print version?

I haven't read the print version. The audio version was great though. Lots of different performers, but they all did a great job. This is ridiculously long though as a serious of short stories, so break it up. I tried to do in all together and it wore me out.

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

I can't think of anything

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

too many to name

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I liked it

The best vampire anthology

I love it. I was cooking and focused more on the book then actually getting around to cooking. Absolutely worth hearing each story 10/10.

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.