Vampires » vampyre

Jane Bites Back: A Vampire Novel with a Little Something for Everyone

kate — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:16:00 +0000

We’ve told you about the many spins that Jane Austen books are getting with books like Mr. Darcy, Vampyre, and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. These books make me cringe just a tiny bit, only because I don’t like idea of classic characters being turned into the undead. But there’s a new Jane Austen book that I might just have to read. It’s called Jane Bites Back, and it’s written by Michael Thomas Ford. And from the looks of it, it holds a little something for everyone.

In the book, Jane Austen is a vampire. It’s the same Jane Austenthat once wrote all those literary classics. But now, she’s been turned into a vampire and owns a bookshop in New York City. But that’s not the only way Jane has carried her love of books into her new life. She also still holds a manuscript which she’s desperately trying to get published despite the fact that it’s been rejected 116 times.

Once Jane achieves the small amount of fame that she’s waited for, it’s a whole new slew of problems for her. Not only must she deal with bigger challenges when hiding who she really is, but she’s also got a crazy blogger stalker that’s determined to show her as a plagiarist. Aside from all of this, there’s the love story that involves both past and present loves, and someone is out to kill her.

Jane Bites Back really does look like a vampire novel that has something for every vampire fan. It’s got the romance factor, which is becoming obligatory it seems, plus the thrill factor of someone chasing after Jane, out for her blood. And from the sounds of it, Ford has done a good job of taking an iconic author and making her more accessible and relatable to a modern audience.Jane Austen, as a vampire, with a cyber stalker. Now that’s a twist!

- Kate

Gone with the Wind with Vampires

Moonlight — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:00:47 +0000

Mixing the old with some new comical horrors is quite the fad nowadays. You’ve got books like “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” “Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters,” “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Zombie Jim” and on and on. Below is a hilarious and very well made video that’s in the same club as the previously mentioned goodies, but this time it’s vampires and Gone with the Wind.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Creator’s note:
“In the same vein as the books “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” and “Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters”, comes “Gone with the Wind with Vampires”, an alternate reality version of the beloved Southern epic. The film tells the story of Scarlett O’ Hara, one of the last surviving human beings, who is caught in the midst of a great vampire civil war. Marvel as she outwits the forces of the undead, while she flirts with her true bloo… er… love. Complete with heartaches and staked hearts, “Gone with the Wind with Vampires” will ‘blow’ you away.

This is a fake, independent, non-profit trailer. It is not endorsed or connected to Warner Brothers or MGM. It was made as a purely technical exercise and for laughs.”

If you dig this new mixed genre then I recommend checking out these books…

Mr. Darcy, Vampyre
Amanda Grange’s novel starts where Pride and Prejudice ends and introduces a dark family curse that results in a delightfully thrilling and spine-chilling read.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
This upcoming novel written by Seth Grahame-Smith, author of the bestselling Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, tells the real story of our 16th president. Seth has reconstructed the true life story of our greatest president for the first time – all while revealing the hidden history behind the Civil War and uncovering the role vampires played in the birth, growth, and near-death of our nation.
If you like the sound of this book then enter the contest for your chance to win a copy.

- Moonlight

John Polidori and The Vampyre

annimi — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:14:00 +0000

Polidori was the friend and personal physician of the infamous rogue and poet, Lord Byron. He was also part of the close-knit circle of friends, including Mary Shelley, Percy Shelley, Byron, and Claire Clairmont, Mary’s stepsister, and also Byron’s woman of the hour. Polidori was Byron’s personal physician, and traveled with him through Europe. Though he recorded his travels with Byron in his diaries, that were later published, sadly much of the diaries were destroyed or censored by his sister, who originally had them published. A considerable loss to the literary community, and Byron lovers worldwide, the diaries would have said and revealed much more about Byron’s character. Polidori accompanied Byron to the Villa Diodati on Lake Geneva, where Byron and Polidori became fast friends with the nearby Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Godwin (later the famous Mary Shelley), and Claire Clairmont.

So one night, after reading scary stories to each other from Tales of the Dead (you can still find re-edited and re-translated versions of this book today), they decide to each write a scary story. Byron wrote ‘Fragment of a Novel’ which he later discard, and Percy took up ‘A Fragment of a Ghost Story’, –which were actually five ghost stories he wrote down. Mary soon-to-be Shelley did not participate, but most say this night inspired her to write Frankenstein. Polidori wrote The Vampyre, using Byron’s base materials in his novel Fragment, as the foundation for his own tale. The vampyre in his story was closely modeled after Lord Byron himself, at least, as Polidori saw him. The story follows Lord Ruthven, and a young man named Aubrey, who accompanies Ruthven on a trip to Rome.

Ruthven is described in the short story by Polidori as “a man entirely absorbed in himself, who gave few other signs of his observation of external objects, than the tacit assent to their existence, implied by the avoidance of their contact…” and “the light laughter of the fair only attracted his attention, that he might by a look quell it, and throw fear into those breasts where thoughtlessness reigned.” Despite the overall arrogance and malignancy of the Lord Ruthven character, Aubrey is attracted, and accompanies Ruthven to Rome, where shortly after, Ruthven seduces the daughter of a mutual acquaintance. Aubrey leaves Ruthven for Greece, where he falls for Ianthe, the innkeeper’s daughter, who tells him of the vampyre. To Aubrey’s horror, she describes perfectly the character of Lord Ruthven. Later, Ruthven arrives, and Ianthe is killed by a vampire. But Aubrey is none-the-wiser and instead accompanies Ruthven once more.

What, did you think I was going to tell you the ending? Sorry, you’ll have to read the book; some good old-fashioned extra-long and unknown English words will be good for you, expands the vocabulary. Anyway, sadly, Polidori was never quite officially credited for the story; it was published and accredited to Lord Byron. Byron attempted to publish his own Fragment, in order to show people the difference, but no such luck. It wasn’t until long after Polidori’s apparent suicide that the story finally appeared with Polidori’s name above it. He died when he was only 26 years old, and probably still with-holding plenty more scary stories.

Mr. Darcy, Vampyre

Moonlight — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 22:48:48 +0000

Looks like Jane Austin is getting another makeover, or rather, addition. With the huge success of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and the highly anticipated Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters it only makes sense to keep the momentum going. And with vampires as popular as they are nowadays the next logical step would be to mix the two – Jane Austin and vampires. That is precisely what best-selling author Amanda Grange did with her latest Jane Austin inspired book, Mr. Darcy, Vampyre.

Mr. Darcy, Vampyre starts off where Pride and Prejudice finished but adds a dark little twist, a sinister curse. It looks like the beloved Mr. Darcy has quite the secret, he is a creature of the night, a vampire. This new story truly begins during Darcy and Elizabeth’s honeymoon (after a wedding flashback), where things feel a bit off to poor Elizabeth. Her and Darcy’s relationship becomes somewhat shaky and Elizabeth begins to suspect that something isn’t right with her darling husband. Through Elizabeth’s letters to her sister Jane we learn more and more about her issues with her husband and his wicked secret. Throughout the story Elizabeth and Darcy are left to fight for their love, their marriage and their very lives in this rousing, chilling, passionate new novel.

English author Amanda Grange has a vast amount of experience when it comes to writing about Jane Austin’s much loved characters. She is a world famous historical fiction writer that specializes in reinterpreting historic events and classic novels. This is her first paranormal novel but she still holds true to Jane Austin’s tone. This book may not be for everyone, since it is written like the old Jane Austin classics but if you are an Austin fan or an Amanda Grange fan you should most definitely pick this book up.

Click here to view the embedded video.

- Moonlight

Origins of Vampires

veritas — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 09:11:37 +0000

Vampires are beings of folklore and mythology that basically exist by feeding off the lifeforce of humans and/or animals.Usually, they are “undead” or ressurrected corpses, who live off the blood of other beings. Most popular legends refer to the blood-drinking Undead in Eastern Europe, but many other various cultures and regions have similar creatures. Some are non-human, or animal, bats, dogs, spiders, et cetera. Vampires are an extremely popular inspiration for various fictional works discussed later.

Vampirism itself is the act of drinking a human or animal’s blood. It is a form of cannibalism, however less often occurring, and is popularly regarded throughout modern fiction and legend, as a way to gain supernatural powers. Historically speaking, it was also a way to intimidate an enemy, for the opposing force to claim that they ate flesh or drank blood, and can reflect a culture’s spiritual beliefs.

The word vampire is widely distributed throughout various cultures and languages. The English word vampire, could have been derived from many possible languages, the most forestanding, the German “Vampir” and French “Vampyre”. The German word, vampir, is derived of its many similar variations in most Slavic languages.

The first recorded use of the word is believed to have been used in Old Russian, Upir, in a Book of Psalms, transcribed by a priest, in 1047 AD, who stated that his name was “Upir Iikhyi”, which means “Foul Vampire”. This was debated later, as it was the translated version of the name of a famous Swedish rune carver.

In Babylonian demonology, there were vampiric beings called Lilu, and further back, in Sumerian legend, were Akhkharu, who would prowl the night killing newborns and pregnant women. The Jewish adapted Lilith from one of the demons, called Lilitu. There are vampiric beings in India, found in Sanskrit folklore, called vetalas; ghouls who inhabit corpses. The Indian religion Hinduism has various mythological legends of blood-drinking gods and goddesses, and also humans, considering reincarnation is a part of Hinduism, and one leading a sinful, or unclean life may be reincarnated as reanimated corpse attacking the living at night. The Egyptian goddess Sekhmet became enslaved to her bloodlust after killing humans, and was only sated by drinking alcohol tinted to look like blood. The strix, appearing in Roman stories, was a nocturnal bird who fed on human flesh and blood.

Vampires » vampyre

Jane Bites Back: A Vampire Novel with a Little Something for Everyone

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Gone with the Wind with Vampires

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John Polidori and The Vampyre

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Mr. Darcy, Vampyre

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Origins of Vampires

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