Vampires Never Get Old...and They Should Never Die

I have been waiting for this anthology collected by Zoraida Cordova and Natalie C. Parker for ages. And by ages I mean a year when whispers of it started to hit the web and I realized that Laura Ruby, one of my all time favorite writers, was going to have a story included. A vampire story. By my favorite writer. Heck. yes.

I really enjoyed this anthology, not every story will stick with me through eternity, but I've never read an anthology where every story was my favorite. It's all subjective, especially when it comes to short stories.

The starting story by Tessa Gratton "Seven Nights for Dying," was shocking and had a beautifully done twist.

"A Guidebook for the Newly Sired Desi Vampire" by Samira Ahmed was dry, dark, funny, twisted, all in the best ways. We never actually meet said newly turned vampire, but this guiding narrator gives us all we need to know, along with a new vampire narrative in India. So unique!

Kayla Whaley's "In Kind" just shook me. About a severely disabled girl whose solo father decides to "mercy kill" her is saved by a vampire in the woods before the drugs stop her heart. This story was precise and powerful and took vampire power to a whole new level.

"Bestiary" by Laura Ruby shook me. I love her anyways, and this story just reinforced that. Following a vampire girl (though she never actually says the word vampire) who works in a zoo in the alternative future and can talk to the animals. It was creepy and dark, slightly gruesome and made my heart fuzzy all at the same time.

Dhonielle Clayton's "The House of Black Sapphires"--hell yes for black vampire women in New Orleans. I loved the idea of a kind of moving coffin, of a secret ward in New Orleans only for the magical people, and Clayton's luscious version of New Orleans had me dreaming of the city all over again. I'm so intrigued by her idea of a new type of vampire hunter/not hunter, the Shadows.

I don't want to talk too much about V.E. Schwab's story because anything I say will reveal the twist and I really don't want to reveal the twist because it was so well done. So that's all I'll say.

This anthology was diverse, imaginative, and totally unique. I love that we're resurrection vampires in this year that never seems to end. Each story is enjoyable, worth your time, and the perfect read for this spooky season. Don't be a fool, vampires never get old. So read their stories before you do!