The Vampire Almanac (Vol. 2)
THE VAMPIRE ALMANAC (VOLUME 2)
edited by Jean-Marc & Randy Lofficier
cover by Mike Hoffman
stories by Matthew Baugh, Henri Bé, Anthony R. Cardno, Matthew Dennion, Win Scott Eckert, Brian Gallagher, Micah S. Harris, John Peel, Steven A. Roman, Brian Stableford, and Jared Welch with a foreword by Roger Vadim (director of Barbarella and Blood and Roses).
US$24.95/GBP 14.99 5x8 tpb, 368 p.
ISBN-13: 978-1-61227-383-9
Contents:
Introduction by Roger Vadim
THE GYAOS: Matthew Dennion: Hercules in the Shadow of Evil
LORD RUTHVEN: Micah Harris: May The Ground Not Consume Thee... (TOTS 5)
THE VIRGIN VAMPIRE: John Peel: Blood Calls For Blood
THE VAMPIRE COUNTESS: Jared Welch: The Vampire of New Orleans (TOTS 10)
CARMILLA: Brian Gallagher : Carmilla and the Witch
Henri Bé : You Will Die Sweetly
THE VAMPIRE CITY: Matthew Baugh: The Heart of the Moon(TOTS 3)
CAPTAIN VAMPIRE: Brian Gallagher: The Trial of Van Helsing (TOTS 11)
COUNT DRACULA: Anthony R. Cardno: So Much Loss (TOTS 10)
THE VAMPIRE BROTHERS: Brian Stableford: The Titan Unwrecked; or, Futility Revisited (TOTS 1)
COUNT ORLOK (NOSFERATU): Steven A. Roman: Night's Children (TOTS 4)
PRINCESS ASA VAJDA: Matthew Dennion: Soul Sisters
COUNTESS CARODY: Win Scott Eckert: Nadine's Invitation(TOTS 7)
Win Scott Eckert: Marguerite's Tears (TOTS 8)
Win Scott Eckert: Violet's Lament (TOTS 9)
THE ORPHAN VAMPIRE GIRLS: Henri Bé: The Girls of Midnight
This dual nature of the vampire, stretching between love and death, creates a moral ambiguity which is omnipresent in its literary treatment, incorporating and contrasting seduction and horror, heroism and villainy. It only reflects the nature of life after death, and how it is perceived by its surrounding culture. Is it a desirable dream, or a hateful abomination? A reward or a punishment? And what price must one pay for such survival?
The stories contained in this collection, featuring some of the most famous vampires in literary history, incorporate all of these contradictions; in them, vampires can be both super-human and sub-human, sexual predators and impotent, romantic and passionate, and yet devoid of soul. Ultimately, the vampire is our own face, reflecting in the mirror of our beliefs, the incarnation of our spiritual choices.