October and vampires have always gone together, but this year the connection extends well beyond Halloween. A new collection of vampire novels is arriving throughout the month, taking the undead into everything from Gothic horror and historical fiction to romantasy, supernatural mystery and romantic comedy.
Among the most intriguing is Calvin Cherry’s Stoker, which turns Dracula author Bram Stoker into the protagonist of his own Gothic nightmare, imagining the events that might have inspired literature’s most famous vampire. Abigail Moyer takes a very different approach with One of My Patients Is a Vampire, in which a forensic psychiatrist begins wondering whether the seemingly impossible diagnosis suggested by a child might actually be true.
Elsewhere, Briar Boleyn brings her Bloodwing Academy saga to a conclusion with With Hearts of Flame, while Steve McHugh returns to the supernatural world of The Assembly with The Song of the Vampire. Charlotte Stein provides a considerably lighter spin on immortality with Falling for a Villainous Vampire, involving an ancient vampire, a witch and a memory spell that works much too well.
Taken together, October’s new vampire novels demonstrate something the genre has proven repeatedly: there are still plenty of new ways to sink your teeth into the undead.
Milkteeth (October 20)
Author: Caitlin Starling
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
What it’s about: Beatrice isn’t simply a vampire; she’s a “broodmother,” charged with nursing newly created vampires through the dangerous first years of their undead existence. Hidden beneath her patron’s skyscraper, she cares for two difficult fledglings before accepting a third whose transformation has gone badly wrong. At the same time, something is happening to Beatrice herself. Her hunger is changing, her body is transforming and she has begun craving flesh—an appetite considered abhorrent even among vampires. Her search for answers brings her into contact with a mortal OB-GYN, creating a relationship that could expose both Beatrice’s coven and the creatures dependent upon her.
Stoker (October 20)
Author: Calvin Cherry
Publisher: Histria Fiction
What it’s about: Bram Stoker becomes a character in his own nightmare in this 700-page historical Gothic novel. Here, Stoker’s fascination with the macabre leads to a mysterious summons to Transylvania, where he encounters Count Dracula himself. The vampire wants Stoker to tell his story, turning the creation of Dracula into the result of a terrifying pact between author and monster. Cherry mixes Victorian history, Vlad the Impaler and the mythology surrounding Stoker’s novel into a fictional origin for one of literature’s most enduring vampires.
Calvin Cherry says: “I would have to go back to when I was seven years old and read Dracula in a comic book form. It fascinated me. And as I got older, I read an abridged version in my teenage years. Then in my young adult life, I read the full unabridged version. And it just really sparked something in me. I’ve always found it to be a fascinating book. And I got more interested in Bram Stoker because of it, and I always wondered what it would’ve been like to have been a fly on the wall while Bram Stoker was researching and writing this book and the motivation behind it.”
“I read everything I could find on Bram Stoker. And at the time there was only a couple biographies out there, but over the years now I think there’s close to half a dozen. So I read everything I could find, including Bram Stoker’s notes on Dracula, his own journal, and his own reference materials that he used. It took me about four years to research, then about 10 years to get a draft. And I went through several different drafts. This ended up being the third draft.”
With Hearts of Flame (October 20)
Author: Briar Boleyn
Publisher: MIRA Books/Harlequin
What it’s about: The fourth and concluding installment of Boleyn’s Bloodwing Academy series returns to its world of vampires, dragon riders, dark academia and dangerous romance. Following the events at Veilmar, the characters are scattered across several fronts: a secret quest is underway, Bloodwing itself is caught between its highblood elite and a growing revolution, and an ancient prophecy threatens to change the balance of power. It’s the October selection that sits most firmly in the romantasy camp.
One of My Patients Is a Vampire (October 26)
Author: Abigail Moyer
Publisher: Scarlet
What it’s about: Dr. Ian Greyson is a disillusioned forensic psychiatrist practicing in Hershey, Pennsylvania, when a child tells him that one of his patients is a vampire. That’s easy enough to dismiss—until a blood-drained body appears outside his office. Suspicion falls on Alexandra Abrams, Ian’s newest patient, who was once acquitted of murder but has nevertheless been transformed into a monster by the town’s imagination. Ian becomes increasingly fascinated by Alexandra while trying to determine whether he’s defending an innocent woman, falling under the spell of a killer—or dealing with something genuinely supernatural.
Abigail Moyer says: “I was actually re-reading Dracula when I finally decided to commit this version of my novel to paper. Reading it again, I realized there really is no better way to generate suspense than vampires. None. The mystery is built in—shelf-ready in the very core of the creature. Of course, it’s easy to get lazy and generic and simply rely on the crutch of the lore. It can feel like we’ve seen it all before. That’s why my vampirism is practical—if it’s possible to be practical when it comes to things on the spectrum of sci-fi. The book leans heavily on the medical aspect, and I wanted to keep things as realistic as possible. I like the idea of ‘diagnosis’ and ‘crime-solving’ being one and the same. House, M.D. was a favorite show of mine—and I do think that shows here, tonally.”
“If you’re a psychiatrist and a body turns up drained of blood outside your office, it might be fair to wonder if the murderer is one of your patients. To top it off, a little boy tells you, ‘One of your patients is a vampire.’ Is it paranoia to wonder? Everything starts looking like vampirism.”
The Song of the Vampire (October 27)
Author: Steve McHugh
Publisher: Podium Publishing
What it’s about: The fourth book in McHugh’s Assembly urban-fantasy series brings vampires to the forefront. Miles Watson becomes involved in an attempted assassination surrounding a famous singer, a dangerous new weapon and trouble within the organization charged with maintaining the uneasy relationship between humans and supernatural beings. The novel arrives October 27 and runs approximately 360 pages.
Falling for a Villainous Vampire (October 27)
Author: Charlotte Stein
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
What it’s about: Marley Maples has spent lifetimes being pursued by Halsten, her vampire enemy. When he finally finds her again, Marley’s witch friends attempt to cast a spell that will make him forget her. It works a little too well: Halsten forgets virtually everything. Now all the centuries-old vampire Viking knows is that Marley is his beloved witch and that his purpose is to protect her. Unfortunately for Marley, the terrifying enemy she’s always hated becomes considerably harder to hate—and there’s no guarantee Halsten’s original memories won’t eventually return. It’s the third standalone novel in Stein’s Sanctuary for Supernatural Creatures series.