The Who2 Blog
The Vampire Novel of the Century
What's the most influential vampire novel from the last 100 years? The Horror Writers of America have narrowed it down to six nominees. Hint: Twilight isn't one of them.
They'll make their announcement in March. Meanwhile, the judges will ponder which vampire novel published (in English) between 1912 and 2011 had "the greatest impact on the horror genre." The award is in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the death of Dracula author Bram Stoker. He died in April of 1912 from a series of strokes. Or maybe syphillis, it's not clear.
The six novels are:
I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson. First published in 1954, this short and sometimes slow-moving novel doesn't feature a vampire in the Dracula mold at all. It's not even strictly about vampires. It's about a pandemic that leaves people vampiric, with the exception of Robert Neville, the story's hero and the last regular human alive. Matheson wrote lots of short stories and screenplays and was given the Horror Writers Association (HWA) Lifetime Achievement Award in 1990.
'Salem's Lot, by Stephen King. King's second big book was published in 1975, and it's about a vampire, Kurt Barlow, who has the run of a small New England town. Yeah, New England -- a real surprise coming from Stephen King. You know what else? The hero of the story is a writer. King was given a HWA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002.
Interview With the Vampire, by Anne Rice. This book came out just after 'Salem's Lot, in 1976, and introduced us to the vampires Louis and Lestat. An updating of the vampire myth, it preserves that same gothic flavor, thanks to Rice's elaborate prose. The book has two sequels and was made into a 1994 movie with Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and wee Kirsten Dunst. Rice was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the HWA in 2003.
Hotel Transylvania, by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. This is one of more than two dozen novels in Yarbro's series, published in 1978. Her novels follow vampire Count Saint Germain as he romps through history. Yarbro got her Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008.
The Soft Whisper of the Dead, by Charles L. Grant. Published in 1982, this is one of a series of books by the profilic Grant. Like King's novel, Grant's vampire story takes place in a small northeastern town, this time in Connecticut. Count Braslov the vampire is the guy to watch. Grant earned his Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999.
Anno Dracula, by Kim Newman. From 1992, Newman's alternate history still features Dracula. But he wasn't vanquished by Van Helsing, he went on the marry Queen Victoria and cross paths will all kinds of historical figures and well-known vampires from other vampire books. Newman continued his alternate history in subsequent books and stories, including The Bloody Red Baron (1995).
Those are the nominees. The winning novel will be announced March 31st. You can follow along at the Horror Writers Association official site.
Read more about the authors here:
The Who2 biography of Stephen King
The Who2 biography of Anne Rice
Stephen King's official site
Anne Rice's official site
Charles Grant's official site
Kim Newman's official site
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's official site
Richard Matheson's filmography
7 comments
There's no way that the vampire novel of the century could be anything other than I Am Legend. It was both extremely original and enormously influential, giving birth to the entire "living dead" subgenre utilized so well by George Romero and Christopher Nolan. Hell, it even inspired Stephen King to write. All the other novels listed are merely variations on the theme that Stoker introduced; without Matheson, vampires would still just be climbin' in your windows and snatchin' your people up.
I wonder. My immediate thought was that "Interview With the Vampire" would be a shoo-in just because of its fame in its time. It was a pretty big deal. As a non-vampire reader myself, that's one of the few that cracked my consciousness. "Salem's Lot" I've heard of, but I didn't know it was a vampire tale.
I had no idea that the original "I Am Legend" was written in the 1950s. What a fertile decade that was for fantasy and sci-fi!
My vote goes to Salem's Lot. I think it is a better overall novel than Interview. I Am Legend is a good story but technically not a vampire story. Lot has all the classic vampire analogies and dots all the i's and crosses (no pun intended) all the t's.
The trick is in the criteria -- the most influential book in the horror genre, the broader category than the vampire genre. If I read their rules correctly. If we were talking vampire novels, I'd rule out I AM LEGEND because, yeah, it's not really a vampire book exactly.
My immediate thought was then INTERVIEW, just because it made such a splash, and established a series, which is certainly the popular thing to do now in vampire novels. And it really hammered home that idea of vampires living through different historical periods.
But 'SALEM'S LOT was a book that helped established Stephen King, and there's no denying the influence his career has had on the horror genre. And it's that "terror brought to your small town" theme, which is sure popular. Well, I guess it always has been, come to think of it.
I haven't read the others, so I'm naturally dismissing them from the running (ha!). The Grant one sounds a lot like Stephen King's... a vampire running a small town. I'm curious as to how it's different. The Kim Newman one, ANNO DRACULA, sounds fun.
HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA gets high marks from guys like Neil Gaiman, but I don't know to trust him, and I pretty much think that title is pretty silly.
I'm sure the judges are pondering these same things. And that's why they won't decide for another two months.
The judges are probably undead, so two months to them is like two minutes to the rest of us.
What about Abraham vampire hunter should be nominated was very good dont think it should win but should be on the list for sure only one i have read besides it was salems lot and it was freakin awesome
I agree that 'Salems Lot is a GREAT vampire story but Robert McCammon penned a little novel by the name of THEY THIRST that is outstanding in this category. What a shame that more folks are not aware of it!