Bites: Ten Tales of Vampires {Book Review}

Today I'm reviewing Bites: Ten Tales of Vampires, a collection of ten short stories featuring, you guessed it, vampires! While I read each story, I jotted down some thoughts, reactions, and feelings, some of which I will share with you after I talk a little about the anthology as a whole.

As you might know, I'm a huge Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Angel fan, so I've got a bit of a soft spot for a well done vampire story. I do feel that the sparkly vamps have taken over a bit recently in a way I'm not fond of, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect with this book.

What I found was a terrific amount of variety. While none of the vamps in this anthology sparkled, there were a few stories, particularly Tangled Dreams by Liv Rancourt that reminded me of that variety of vampire. On the whole, I liked how different all the stories where, and the very unique mythologies many of these authors created within this not exactly new genre.

My very favorite story has to be Reality Bites by Jim Bernheimer. It was funny, but felt real, and good, distinctive characters. A close second was Why I Won't Read Song of Solomon by Douglas Kolacki. It featured a totally different variety of vampire (hint: they don't drink blood), which was refreshing, and the ending felt so, so human. I also really enjoyed Night Train by Rayne Hall, which had a wonderful writing style, and a surprise ending I enjoyed.

Since there are some many different authors here, my few critiques are about individual stories, not the book as a whole. The Fledgling Doubt  by Lana Bange was a story I wanted to like, but found too confusing. It is a story that would have benefited from a little back story.

If you find the vampire genre interesting, but are perhaps not sure what to think of the modern vampire novels, I would give this story a try. Most of the stories are relatively tame, but remember, this is a vampire anthology, so there is going to be blood and death, though two of them: The Dhampir's Kiss by Carole Ann Moleti and Exile by April Grey, include sexual content some may not wish to read.

I have a lot of fun post planned for the next few weeks, so stay tuned!

  I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.