The Vampire Archives

The Most Complete Volume of Vampire Tales Ever Published

By: Otto Penzler - editor, Kim Newman - introduction, Neil Gaiman - preface

Narrated by: Various

The Vampire Archives is the biggest, hungriest, undeadliest collection of vampire stories, as well as the most comprehensive bibliography of vampire fiction ever assembled. Dark, stormy, and delicious, once it sinks its teeth into you there’s no escape.

Vampires! Whether imagined by Bram Stoker or Anne Rice, they are part of the human lexicon and as old as blood itself. They are your neighbors, your friends, and they are always lurking. Now Otto Penzler—editor of the bestselling Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps—has compiled the darkest, the scariest, and by far the most evil collection of vampire stories ever. With over eighty stories, including the works of Stephen King and D. H. Lawrence, alongside Lord Byron and Tanith Lee, not to mention Edgar Allan Poe and Harlan Ellison, The Vampire Archives will drive a stake through the heart of any other collection out there.

Other contributors include:
Arthur Conan Doyle • Ray Bradbury • Ambrose Bierce • H. P. Lovecraft • Harlan Ellison • Roger Zelazny • Robert Bloch • Clive Barker

You Have to Really Like Vampire Stories

Wow, this is the longest read ever. Some of the stories were good but not many were very good. A trip through the history of vampire stories.

SO MUCH CONTENT!!

I like most of what I've read so far, but some of these stories are better than others. A few of these are slow, but I'd definitely recommend this overall. Especially when THERE'S SO MUCH OF THIS STUFF TO GET THROUGH! You might want to use a subscription point for this one!

GOTTA LOVE THOSE VAMPIRES...

What made the experience of listening to The Vampire Archives the most enjoyable?

Most of these stories are REALLY OLD. I love the old vampires... vile odors, dust, crumbling stuff...some of these stories were very creepy, all were fabulous.

I see some complaints that it is kind of the "same old stories", sorry, if that's how you look at it. For me, it's a collection of classic literature, I love Poe, Lee, Doyle, James...so this is perfect for me.

I didn't like the few modern ones. For me, modern vampire stories come across as amusing or just stupid. Thankfully, there's only a few here.

Which character – as performed by the narrators – was your favorite?

I was very happy with all the narrators, each seemed appropriate for the story to me. I liked that each story was prefaced with a little info and each narrator was named.

Simon Vance did quite a few, I think he's got the best vampire narration, his almost whisper voice, perfect pauses...for my taste, he's a very frightening narrator.

Any additional comments?

Great for fans of old traditional horror. Wonderful for a stormy night, with a candelabra and a glass of red....Oh, "I don't drink...wine."

Some of the stories weren’t great. Some of the narrators were horrible.

Just know there are some hidden beauties. Listen for them. And watch out for the stinkers.

An almost exhaustive collection of vampire stories.

This was a fantastic, long listen that took me almost 6 months to complete. I enjoyed hearing old favorites and finding some new ones. These aren’t just greatest hits, there are some obscure stories and unfamiliar authors in the mix. It does point up the fact that popular authors and stories are popular for a reason. There’s a lot that can be done within the confines of the definition of “vampire story”, and some very good ones are very “traditional”, but many of the best tales are only just so. My only complaint that there were too few women narrators in this production. Men read stories by women, and portrayed female characters, so why not use men and women narrators equally?