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I am considering writing my Master's dissertation on gothic fiction, especially vampire fiction.

Anne Rice is definitely seen by some as the "Vampire Queen." There is also the original Dracula by Bram Stoker. Stephen King has also written about vampires, and I really enjoyed Robert McCammon's book They Thirst.
I think Anne Rice is your best bet though, considering that she covers vampires plus other gothic topics.
GL!!

I agree that Anne Rice and "Interview with a vampire" is excellent, very atmospheric and yet sensitve and sensual. However, i think "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova is equally as good, very different and much more threatening it is a real epic story. Also, Joanne Harris wrote "The Evil Seed" one of her first books and one she herself felt was not one of her best. Nevertheless, it is a good Vampire story and worth a browse if you are looking at Vampire fiction. Also "I am Legend" by Richard Matheson is a classic, it shows Vampires as a disease and is very violent in its nature (the film substituted Zombies for vampires - I think - have not seem the film). I think books about vampires are fascinating and the time in which they were written tells us a lot about the views of peole at the time, I believe they are a good mirror of social issues.

I have to agree that Ann Rice is your best bet, though I have read the historian too and loved that book.

You may also want to check out books by Melissa Marr, very gothic in nature, but not vampire related. The series about faeries.

I would have to disagree that Anne Rice is the best writer of vampire fiction. My favorite author of vampire novels is Laurel K. Hamilton. While her work is not as old as Anne Rice's, I think that it is much more broad and detailed. She has more of an open mind when it comes to changing the typical vampire. There is also another author that addresses vampires. Her name is Sunny and the first book in the series is called Mona Lisa Awakening. While these people are not really typical vampires, the author explains that they are where the thought of the vampires came from. Using Sunny may be a different approach to the topic of Vampire Fiction.

Bram Stoker has the highest rank, I've never found an equal. What's less known is that he took a lot of inspiration from a short story entitled "Carmilla" by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, which I have read, and it is definitely rife with classic Gothic elements and good vampire lore. I wished it were so much longer!

I also know of another, "The Vampyre" by John Polidorim, which is considered a classic of vampire fiction, and "Varney the Vampire" (don;t laugh, it's real) by James Rymer, but I'm afraid I can do no more than inform you of their existence, I haven't read either yet.

And for the more general Gothic, doubtless you'll learn soon enough that the first was Horace Walpole's "The Castle of Otranto." "Vathek" is also supposed to be very dark and classic. But if you're at the master's level, I'm afraid you'll probably know a lot more than me about Gothic fiction by now.

My two favorite vampire novels are Dracula by Bram Stoker and The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. I've read one Laurell K. Hamilton (Anita Blake series), one Charlaine Harris (Southern Vampire series), and the Twilight series. None of those authors compares to Bram Stoker and Elizabeth Kostova's books. However, all those novels have huge followings. Bram Stoker and Elizabeth Kostova wrote traditional vampire stories.

I can't say anything about Anne Rice. I've never read her.

I'd have to say Bram Stoker - the original authority on vampire novels. Interview with a Vampire is also a fascinating novel and I've only just begun The Historian so no thoughts there yet.
I personally did not enjoy the Twilight series but then again if you are writing for your Masters then perhaps they are worth reading to discover why they are such a phenomena.

Good Luck with your piece!



The fact of knowing how to read is nothing, the whole point is knowing what to read. - Jacques Ellul[/quote]

I have to agree with Ann Rice and also Bram Stoker too.

I think it depends on what kind of vampire you are looking for. Laurel k. Hamilton isn't as much about vamps as it is about sex. I like Charlaine Harris because she shows a more political side of vampires, Stephenie Meyer is more whimsical in the Twilight series, but a series I've read recently is called Blue Bloods by Melissa de la cruz which reads that vampires are actually angels who fell with Lucifer. A very interesting read. I hate to admit it but Bram Stoker does give the best portrayal of a vamp. creepy, sexy, mysterious. all very good.

Anne Rice

Bram Stoker
where vampires are really VAMPIRES and not all the variations we see on different books by differente authors ~

I consider Bram Stocker the best vampire writer as the writer was one of the fisrst to touch the topic and the writer suceeded so much and the images are so vivid.

Anne Rice is my favorite author, and her vampire novels are superb. They actually ruined vampire fiction for me in a way, because I have never been able to find anything else I like as much. Amelia Atwater-Rhodes writes fine vampire fiction too, even though her work is more suited for teenagers.