Welcome to the first chapter of Sylloungue, a wordplay between “Sylloge” and “Lounge”, which intends to be a blog quite vocational toward literature, however, not as much detailed as my previous publishing, rather more written in a habit that can serve as a guide to underground books that you should have as a good read, my personal selections. All in all, I hope you can enjoy it, and suggest to me topics to approach regarding the beautiful and cultural world of literature.
Plainly because a novel is on a nationwide bestseller record, or sells hundreds of thousands of copies, does not necessarily mean it is reliable. The reverse is also faithful, notably on fictional topics. The bitterness of fringe fiction, as plenty of worthy material that is published, but still, goes virtually unnoticed.
I have been examining horror and grotesque science fiction for quite some time now, and I have been reading this kind of literature at an obsessive pace since I was a youngster, and through that time, I have learned some jaw-droppingly excellent vampire novels. And the charming point is that quite a few of my most remarkable bloodsucking reads have been either self-published or published by a moderately small press, including more than half of the titles listed below.
With the anniversary of author Bram Stoker’s death coming up in a few days (he died April 20th, 1912), I deemed it would be appropriate to shine the light on some of the most under-appreciated vampire novels of all time.
Impure: Resurrection
This little self-published gem is truly a vampire-nuanced venture into the dark realms of fantasy. Darkly lyrical and deeply philosophical, it is like Robert Anthony Salvatore’s Drizzt Do’Urden saga with fangs. I admired how J. R. Bailey re-imagined the vampire mythos in a classic adventure fiction setting.
The Vampire Tapestry
Although the New York Times book review described it “among the genre’s few modern classics” and Stephen King described it as “unputdownable,” this milestone accomplishment seems to have climbed under the radar for many vampire fiction followers. I had not come across it until it was reissued it back in 2008.
Fevre Dream
How can a Locus and World Fantasy Award-nominated novel written by a living legend be under-appreciated? Numerous personalities know George R. R. Martin only for his Song of Ice and Fire saga but, in my mind, this novel, which is mainly set on the Mississippi River in 1857, is one of his best works ever.
Queen Of Kings
This remarkable debut novel from Maria Dahvana Headley, which revisits Cleopatra’s life (and death) as the Roman Empire was conquering Egypt, is unitedly a beautiful, glorious, and tragic love story; a unique work of literary fiction that fuses historical events with Egyptian and Greek mythology; and a dark fantasy that cleverly reimagines the vampire mythos.
Enter, Night
Often described as “a dark masterpiece that virtually burns the pages with a bloody incandescence”, Michael Rowe debut novel is indeed, an unexpected and wicked piece of art. Set in 1972, the story begins in the pretense of a relatively rigid fiction narrative following three broken characters on a trek from Toronto to Parr’s Landing, a little mining town in “the middle of nowhere” on the shores of Lake Superior in northern Ontario. This will be one of the greatest vampire novels you ever read.
As you can see, I did not approach any of the commercial, typically movie made vampiric fairytales that of late debuted through the theaters, with glowing in the dark characters, nor vampires that can survive without satisfying their bloodthirst, or ingratiate the youngsters. The novels suggested prime for their necromantic violence, and dramatic lust.
Have you read any of these novels? What am I missing? Feel free to share your thoughts by commenting below.
