Vampire Books and Southern Culture

Long before the arrival of Sookie and company in True Blood, another set of vampire books arrived on the scene set in the Deep South. Although superseded by Marilyn Ross’s Barnabus Collins as a modern interpretation of the sympathetic vampire, Anne Rice’s Interview with a Vampire, the first of her Vampire Chronicles series of vampire books, was the real beginning of the current wave of supernatural beings that walk amongst us. When it came out the reaction was anything from pure love of this new storytelling to outrage. It was dark; it was sensuous and just reading them felt dangerous. You couldn’t ignore the books, their impact was too big. For many of us the biggest disappointment was when you came up for air and realized that Lestat and company weren’t real and you would just have to live in a world without the undead until the next installment of the series of popular vampire books came out.

That particular series went on to spawn a whole genre of popular vampire books. Of course, most of us are familiar with The Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Series by Charlaine Harris, but there are plenty of other stories that play in the vampire books playground. Another one of the popular vampire books in that genre that also went on to be a hit on TV is Stephanie Meyers Twilight series. It has more vampires, more undead and lots of teenage girls getting into trouble with the undead. Seems to be a pattern here. But vampires weren’t the only thing happening in the land of books when it comes to supernatural stories. There were more than a few books about witches. Witches have their following too.

Books About Witches Thrive Also

But even with these, popular vampire books are not alone. There have long been books whose main characters were witches; it has always been a popular field to play in for many fantasy writers.  I remember reading Andre Norton’s books about witches called the WitchWorld series when I was a teenager, it has stayed with me ever since. If you haven’t read it, you should check it out because it has become a classic of the genre. But books about witches have been in and out of fashion for years, and the definition of witches in fantasy writing has moved around over time.

Just this past year we have seen a resurrection in books about witches starting with the immensely popular book by Deborah Harkness called A Discovery of Witches. More than a dramatic mystery and certainly far from your run of the mill fantasy, this is the story of a witch who wants to walk away from the world of magic, but somehow cannot. It is delightful, imaginative and completely compelling.

Witches of East End is a witch story of a different sort. Author Melissa De La Cruz calls it a witch story for adults. A story with murders, mystery and plenty of magical spells, it will fascinate readers of all ages for the wonderful women characters who happen to have some very special talents.

And for books about witches let’s not leave out Smith’s The Secret Circle, which is responsible for the show of the same name. The book took the genre by storm and it was no real surprise when this cadre of teenage witches who are seeking to recreate the powerful circle that once almost destroyed their families was rumored last year to be in development for TV. Vampires were doing well, fantasy had never been stronger and television had finally developed the technology to have witches do more impressive things then wiggle their noses. Witches on TV returns and the season of the witch had come at last.

The Arrival of Vampires on TV

When Charlaine Harris started her Southern Vampire books series in 2001, the shift began to take place of creating a creature that was sexy in a more traditional mode for a romance tale. The horror aspects were still there, but the sexual nature of the vampire began to really emerge. These popular vampire books were tales that gripped young girls hearts, with vampires that made you swoon. It was only natural that someone realized that vampires, at least the kind that Sookie hung out with, were the perfect creature for television. We began to see that these vampires on TV could work. There was plenty of soap opera drama, a bit of horror but not too much and with the violence never feeling real, and plenty of titillation. With these vampires on TV, young women flocked to the show in droves, filled websites with discussions everything from plot twists to who looks best without a shirt and introduced a whole new kind of television show. Then we knew that vampires on TV, these new kinds of vampires, would work and successfully.

With the success of the show came more vampires and other supernatural beings until it feels as if today’s television shows are either reality shows or stories with some kind of supernatural or paranormal element in them. For a fantasy fan like me, all the better! Then with the fourth season of True Blood, witches began to appear. Of course, they were in the book the season is based on, Dead to the World, and the author does say that to her the witches represent life as opposed to the vampires who are dead. But it is uncanny how witches show up on True Blood and now we see them everywhere!

Welcome to Witches on TV

Of course, we have had witches on TV before, but there is something different about these witches. In True Blood the witches are there to do battle with the vampires. Well, we are of course going to want our favorite vampires to succeed, so the witches become the evil ones who must be killed. Of course, it is a lot more complicated than that, but let’s leave that for another blog. Suffice to say that the witches in True Blood are not like the ones in say, Charmed. These are witches on TV of a different sort.

Enter The Secret Circle, a new show that is based on a set of novels by Vampire Diaries creator L.J. Smith. When teen Cassie Blake is orphaned and sent to a strange new town, she discovers she is a witch, descended from witches, and that the town is filled with other witches. Some of whom become her friends, because otherwise how could they form a coven err I mean the secret circle? Well, that last part is from me, but the idea is pretty basic, and I can see why teenage girls would love the idea of it. Much like with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the teen queens are here to fight evil, and of course to command power because what teenage girl doesn’t wish she had that? But there is plenty of mystery and dark happenings and the show is intense but never over the top. In fact, in many ways it is just a continuation of the wish fulfillment fantasy type show that started with True Blood: Teens with power hanging out with dangerous folks.

Of course, there are more witches in the wings – the Evil Queen in Once Upon A Time could be called a wicked witch. But she isn’t you know, she is the Evil Queen we all know from Snow White. But she is so close to a witch, and she does wield some wicked power when she gets all evil and mad. So it would be fair to put her in the camp of witches on TV at this point. She is deliciously evil, the way an Evil Queen should be, and I hope we get to see plenty of her in the show.

And then there is Grimm, a detective show that also plays in the world of fairy tales, but with a far darker viewpoint. So far I have not seen anything about TV witches on this show, but with the retelling of many of the tales from the Brothers Grimm, we are bound to run into one sooner or later. It will be interesting to see how they would portray, let’s say Hansel and Gretel’s witch in this show. It takes a far more imaginative spin on the concept of good and evil than they do with Once Upon A Time, and a far darker one.

More Supernatural Witches and Vampires to Come?

It does seem safe to say that instead of thinking of witches as being the new vampires, I would say that witches, vampires, werewolves and all manner of paranormal characters may be here on television and in our books for a good while to come. We will continue to have popular vampire books and plenty of tales about witches.

There has always been a place in the literary world for both witches and vampires; they are mythical creatures that stand in for the unattainable power we yearn for in our lives. For many, there will always be a pull towards these characters, demons of the night that are drawn to our light but can never be a part of it.

True- some of what is bringing the supernatural along with similar elements such as the flood of comic book based stories, science fiction shows and others like this is that we finally have the technology to show on film what we can imagine in our minds. Because we will always be able to imagine having the elemental power of a witch or can dream of a lover who is so dangerous that one bite would damn us forever, we will probably always have some kind of paranormal storyline in our entertainment. Whether we connect with our vampires and witches in books, on film or at home watching our television, it is still ultimately our own dreams that bring them to life.

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I continue to be amazed at how urban fantasy is gaining in popularity. This is evident by the number of new books that are slated to be released in June. I’ve listed the first few and will continue adding to the list over the next few days.

See also:

June 1, 2008

All Souls’ Night (Blood Ties, Book 4) (Bk. 4) by Jennifer Armintrout”Something was seriously wrong. In the past few weeks, since we had fled Grand Rapids and come to Max’s Chicago penthouse, Nathan’s entire focus had been my recovery. I’d gone mute and practically catatonic after Cyrus, once my sire, then my fledgling, had died. After I’d wake from one of my many nightmares—daymares, I supposed, since we vampires are third-shifters on account of that pesky sun thing—Nathan would hold me and try to reassure me that it had all been a dream, that he wouldn’t let anything harm me. Now, though, I felt his irritation and acute distraction through the blood tie, the telepathic and empathic connection that coursed between a fledgling vampire and their sire, and I knew something wasn’t right.”

June 1, 2008

The Mall of Cthulhu by Seamus Cooper”A decade ago, college student Laura Harker was saved from a fate worse than death at the hands (and fangs) of a centuries-old vampire priestess and her Satanic minions. Her rescuer, an awkward, geeky folklore student named Teddy, single-handedly slew the undead occupants of the Omega Alpha sorority house, spurred into heroic action by fate itself, inexorably intertwining his and Laura’s destinies. After navigating her way through law school, Laura is now a junior FBI agent assigned to the Bureau’s Boston office.”

June 3, 2008

Walk on the Wild Side (The Others, Book 5) by Christine Warren”In national bestseller Christine Warren’s Others novels, vampires, witches, werewolves, and more have come out of the supernatural closet. Now, the world as we know it will never be the same… Kitty Sugarman is a lot tougher than her name implies. Still, she’s content with how her small- town life keeps her removed from all the changes happening in the world—like the Unveiling of the Others. That is, until a near-tragedy strikes and Kitty discovers she has abilities . . .thanks to a father she never knew was alive. He also happens to be a were-lion and leader of one of the most powerful Prides out West.”

June 3, 2008

Spectre (Zoe Martinique, Book 2) by Phaedra Wheldon (Zoe Martinique Book 2)”Zoë Martinique has the extraordinary ability to travel outside her body at will. When she is drawn into an investigation of a series of bizarre murders, in which the victims are missing body parts, Zoë hopes to help her boyfriend, Atlanta homicide detective Daniel Frasier, stop the killer— one she’s sure is from the darkest levels of the astral plane—without letting him find out about her special abilities.”

June 3, 2008

Nightkeepers (Final Prophecy, Book 1) by Jessica Andersen “As a Miami narcotics detective, Leah Daniels never knows how her day will turn out. But she certainly never expected to be strapped to a stone altar, the human sacrifice in an ancient Mayan ritual meant to coax up a demon from the underworld. Or that she’d be saved by a handsome warrior-priest king who claims to recognize her from his visions… Jaguar Strike wishes he hadn’t made the mistake of reuniting his fellow warrior priests, or broken the law by saving their chosen human sacrifice. Now, he has no choice but to join forces with Leah and invoke dangerous magic in a death-defying race against the end of time.”

June 3, 2008

The Man with the Golden Torc (Secret Histories, Book 1) by Simon R. Green“All those things you hear about as a kid? The boogeyman under the bed? The creature in the closet? They’re for real, people. Eddie Drood knows they’re for real. His family has kept humanity safe from the things that go bump in the night. For ages, they’ve held back the nightmares, locked the doors, barred the gates, and put righteous boot to monster arse on a nightly basis. But now Eddie’s in trouble. One of his own has convinced the rest of the family that Eddie’s become a menace, and that humanity needs to be protected from him. So he’s on the run, using every trick in the book, magical and otherwise, hoping he lives long enough to prove his innocence. And he knows how dangerous the Droods can be-because he’s one of them.”

June 3, 2008

The Good Fairies of New York by Martin Millar”British author Millar offers fiercely funny (and often inebriated) Scottish fairies, a poignant love story as well as insights into the gravity of Crohn’s disease, cultural conflicts and the plight of the homeless in this fey urban fantasy. Due to the machinations of the obnoxious Tala, Cornwall’s fairy king, only a few humans can see the 18-inch-tall fairies who alight in Manhattan: Magenta, a homeless woman who thinks she’s the ancient Greek general Xenophon; Dinnie, an overweight slacker; and Kerry, a poor artist/musician who hopes her Ancient Celtic Flower Alphabet will win a local arts prize. Fairies Heather MacKintosh and Morag MacPherson scheme to put Dinnie and Kerry together, rescue fairy artifacts and prove that in love or war, music is essential.”

June 3, 2008

Daemons are Forever (Secret Histories, Book 2) by Simon R. Green”Second in the trilogy from the New York Times bestselling author of The Man with the Golden Torc. Eddie Drood’s clan has been watching mankind’s back for ages. And now he’s in charge of the whole kit and caboodle. But it’s not going to be an easy gig… During World War II, the Droods made a pact with some nasty buggers from another dimension known as the Loathly Ones, which they needed to fight the Nazis. But once the war was over, the Loathly Ones decided that they liked this world too much to leave. Now it’s up to Eddie to make things very uncomfortable for them—or watch everything humanity holds dear go up in smoke.”

June 3, 2008

The Cursed (Vampire Huntress Legends) by L. A. Banks”Lilith and her husband, the vampire “Unnamed One”, are caught unawares while awaiting the birth of their angel-hybrid heir. Installed as Vampire Council chairwoman, Lilith calls on vampires, witches and warlocks (including Machiavelli, Jezebel, Genghis Khan and Medusa) to combat the forces of the Covenant, the Guardians, the Neterus and both Neteru Councils. She attacks her enemies Damali and Carlos Rivera where it hurts the most: their libidos. Soon the battle involves a Valkyrie, the Ark of the Covenant and bootleg music downloads. This end of days scenario is a wild amalgam of Christianity, vampire lore, world myth, functional morality, street philosophy and hot sex.”

June 3, 2008

Blood Colony: A Novel by Tananarive Due”There’s a new drug on the street: Glow. Said to heal almost any illness, it is distributed by an Underground Railroad of drug peddlers. But what gives Glow its power? Its main ingredient is blood — the blood of immortals. A small but powerful colony of immortals is distributing the blood, slowly wiping out the AIDS epidemic and other diseases around the world. Meet Fana Wolde, seventeen years old, the only immortal born with the Living Blood. She can read minds, and her injuries heal immediately. When her best friend, a mortal, is imprisoned by Fana’s family, Fana helps her escape — and together they run away from Fana’s protected home in Washington State to join the Underground Railroad. But Fana has more than her parents to worry about: Glow peddlers are being murdered by a violent, hundred-year-old sect with ties to the Vatican. Now, when Fana is most vulnerable, she is being hunted to fulfill an ancient blood prophecy that could lead to countless deaths.”

June 3, 2008

Blood and Iron: A Novel of the Promethean Age (Book 1) by Elizabeth Bear”Ancient grudges and ruthless schemes are simply business as usual to the Faerie court in Bear’s complex and involving contemporary fantasy. Seeker, formerly Elaine Andraste, is a changeling bound to the Mebd, the queen of the Daoine Sidhe, to find other changelings and bring them to the Faerie court. There, like legendary Tam Lin, and Seeker’s own son, Ian, they entertain the queen until she tires of them. Now the queen needs Seeker to find and win the heart of the new Merlin, latest incarnation of a being who, in the hands of the Prometheans, could be used to destroy the Fae. Pragmatic college professor Carel Bierce, the first female Merlin, is not easily swayed by Fae or Promethean advances. Long-forgotten rivalries and unsuspected blood ties arise to tug at Seeker’s loyalties, even as the queen promises to free Ian when she succeeds.”

Vampire Love Poem #4

When we were in love you called me “your Sookie”,
But you betrayed me and taking you back would be kooky.
Now the Fellowship is after my head,
They truly hate the undead,
So spending time with your vamp queen can be quite spooky.

Which female character from a popular urban fantasy vampire book series would say these words?

For more Vampire Love Poems see:

Vampire Love Poems Part 3

Vampire Love Poems

I’m a vampire, yes dear I confess,
I’m newly made and my life is a mess.
I hope you can understand,
You’re still my DEA man,
But I don’t know if our relationship can progress.

Here’s the new poem with many more clues:

I’m a newly turned vamp whose last name is Strong,
I’m struggling to separate the right from the wrong,
I’d like to keep my 9-to-5,
‘Cause it makes me feel alive,
Darlin’ please tell me you’ll tag along.

Got it? Post your answer in comments.

For more Vampire Love Poems see:

Vampire Love Poems Part 4

See also:

May 1, 2008

Darkness Everlasting (Guardians of Eternity, Book 3) by Alexandra Ivy “Darcy Smith always sensed she was different from everyone else-if only she knew how different. Possessing a secret strong enough to end an entire race of demons, Darcy unwittingly becomes a pawn in an epic battle between the vampires and the weres as she discovers a new world filled with ecstasy-and dark passions.”

May 6, 2008

The Host: A Novel by Stephanie Meyer The author of the best selling Twilight Series has written a book specifically for adults. “Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that takes over the minds of their human hosts while leaving their bodies intact, and most of humanity has succumbed.”

May 6, 2008

From Dead to Worse (Southern Vampire Mysteries, No. by Charlaine Harris “After the natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina and the manmade explosion at the vampire summit, everyone—human and otherwise—is stressed, including Louisiana cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse, who is trying to cope with the fact that her boyfriend Quinn has gone missing. It’s clear that things are changing—whether the weres and vamps of her corner of Louisiana like it or not. And Sookie—Friend to the Pack and blood-bonded to Eric Northman, leader of the local vampire community—is caught up in the changes.”

May 27, 2008

The Touch of Twilight (Sign of the Zodiac, Book 3) by Vicki Pettersson “On the surface she’s a sexy, sophisticated socialite, at home among the beautiful people of the Las Vegas upper crust. But Joanna Archer inhabits another world: a place ordinary humans can’t see and could never enter … a dangerous dimension where an eternal battle rages between the agents of Light and Shadow. And Joanna is both.”

May 27, 2008

Blood Noir (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 16) by Laurell K. Hamilton “A favor for Jason, vampire hunter Anita Blake’s werewolf lover, puts her in the center of a fullblown scandal that threatens master-vampire Jean-Claude’s reign—and makes her a pawn in an ancient vampire queen’s new rise to power.”