It’s a truth universally acknowledged that in a collection of short stories, there will be some you love and some you can’t stand. That’s just the way the cookie crumbles. Or at least, that’s what I thought, until I read Vampires Never Get Old. In one sitting… because I could not put this down!
Vampires Never Get Old is a curated short story selection featuring some of the crème de la crème of fiction writing. From Julie Murphy to Victoria Schwab, Samira Ahmed to Mark Oshiro, and Tessa Gratton to Dhonielle Clayton, chances are you will recognise a few, if not all of the names flipping through this collection of eleven short stories that ponder age-old questions surrounding vampires in new tales.
The fun thing in this short collection is that, despite all the twists the authors take on their given topic, you can tell they’re all just fans like us, drooling over vampires because they are just so dang entertaining. Each of the authors takes one topic related to vampirism and puts their own spin on it – a much-needed queer, diverse, and inclusive spin, nonetheless!
This just shows how much more space there is to talk about vampires in new contexts. What does the transition to become a vampire look like when the person is disabled? Is it a “cure-for-all” or are there disabled vampires? How long does a transition take? An hour, a day, a week? What’s it like being a new vampire as a Desi woman? What might one look out for? What happens when you summon a group of vampires you’ve only heard about in ghost stories with a song? Or how about what happens to a trans boy who digs up a vampire in a graveyard who’s a major bully?
Though I loved all the stories and could gush about all of them, In Kind by Kayla Whaley was one of those that just blew me away. It is a story dealing with a single father caring for his disabled teenage daughter and eventually deciding to put her out of her misery with a lethal dose of morphine only for her to turn into a vampire and making his life hell. It basically ticked all my boxes without me knowing I wanted those boxes to be ticked! It discussed ableism and caregiving responsibilities (and the lack of funding for that) in real terms with a nice spin on how that attempted murder was portrayed in the media as an act of mercy with a dash of revenge for the more bloodthirsty readers of this collection. Compelling and thought-provoking, that story was one of my highlights.
A queer, star-crossed lovers romance between a vampire and a vampire hunter; a vampire who can communicate with the animals at the zoo she works a;, a gay Hispanic boy who was born as a vampire rather than bitten, isolated and hidden by his parents finds an outlet and support through a blog; a sapphic, trained vampire slayer finds herself conflicted when she encounters a teenage vampire she does not want to kill; and a family of black vampires who moves around the world and lands in New Orleans to find all sorts of trouble. All of these stories bring a breath of fresh air (not that the vampires need it) to catapult vampires back into our reading lives.
Proving that vampires never go out of style and that revered yet ancient topics can be bold and cheeky with the right voice behind it, Vampires Never Get Old is perfect for any and all lovers of vampires, be it Twilight stans or Dracula fans!
Vampires Never Get Old is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of September 22nd 2020.
Will you be picking up Vampires Never Get Old? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
Eleven fresh vampire stories from young adult fiction’s leading voices!
In this delicious new collection, you’ll find stories about lurking vampires of social media, rebellious vampires hungry for more than just blood, eager vampires coming out―and going out for their first kill―and other bold, breathtaking, dangerous, dreamy, eerie, iconic, powerful creatures of the night.
Welcome to the evolution of the vampire―and a revolution on the page.
Vampires Never Get Old includes stories by authors both bestselling and acclaimed, including Samira Ahmed, Dhonielle Clayton, Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker, Tessa Gratton, Heidi Heilig, Julie Murphy, Mark Oshiro, Rebecca Roanhorse, Laura Ruby, Victoria “V. E.” Schwab, and Kayla Whaley.
