Diverse. A lot on interesting takes on an old myth. Even for those that thought they had read it all. ( )

Totally read this for the Clare, Black and Valente stories, which were brilliant as always. These three always love to surprise me with what they do from their view point inside all of these surpernatural places. ( )

I've read the majority of vampire novels out there - the good and the bad - but many of the stories in this collection still felt fresh. "Why Light?" and "Transition" were probably my favourites, since they drew on traditional vampire lore to infuse modern characters with some intensity. Both stories were centred around the romantic aspects of recent vampire stories, but both had opposite and therefore surprising twists that made the characters more unique.

I was less fond of stories like "Sit the Dead" and "The Perfect Dinner Party" because while the setting and characters were modern the mythos felt quite stilted. Both could have been much better with a little more character development, but I guess not everything can be perfect. ( )

"Things You Need To Know About Being Dead" by Genevieve Valentine: I really liked this, but I felt like there were all these extra bits to the story that were left out-I just expected to learn more about a couple of things that seemed to be going somewhere but then they didn't? Idk it was still great and the format worked out really well. 5/5
"All Smiles" by Steve Berman: I would read more Saul SO HARD. A-hem. There is vampire slayage in this one, which I always enjoy. 5/5

"Flying" by Delia Sherman: Really nice circus novel compressed into 35 pages with engaging characters and some small twists. The ending was kinda predictable, though. 4/5
"Vampire Weather" by Garth Nix: Disturbing on several different levels, a clever take on the vaccination debate, and a REALLY scary vampire. 4/5

"In The Future When All's Well" by Catherynne Valente: I really liked the world in this, where the tiniest things make people turn into vampires and the population is like half human and half vampire and all the humans are completely freaked out. The narrator, though, was one of those cynical and preachy teenagers, and that annoyed me. Still good. 4/5

"History" by Ellen Kushner: Bittersweet. I liked how many tiny hints we got toward the vampire's personal history, alongside his pretended ignorance of actual history. 4/5.
"The Perfect Dinner Party" by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black: The narrator reminded me a lot of Maureen from Clare's City of Fallen Angels. If you like these authors, you'll probably like this story. 3/5.

"Why Light" by Tanith Lee: THIS IS THE FLUFFIEST VAMPIRE STORY OF ALL TIME. OF ALL TIIIIIIIIIME. 5/5 ( )

"Things You Need To Know About Being Dead" by Genevieve Valentine: I really liked this, but I felt like there were all these extra bits to the story that were left out-I just expected to learn more about a couple of things that seemed to be going somewhere but then they didn't? Idk it was still great and the format worked out really well. 5/5
"All Smiles" by Steve Berman: I would read more Saul SO HARD. A-hem. There is vampire slayage in this one, which I always enjoy. 5/5

"Flying" by Delia Sherman: Really nice circus novel compressed into 35 pages with engaging characters and some small twists. The ending was kinda predictable, though. 4/5
"Vampire Weather" by Garth Nix: Disturbing on several different levels, a clever take on the vaccination debate, and a REALLY scary vampire. 4/5

"In The Future When All's Well" by Catherynne Valente: I really liked the world in this, where the tiniest things make people turn into vampires and the population is like half human and half vampire and all the humans are completely freaked out. The narrator, though, was one of those cynical and preachy teenagers, and that annoyed me. Still good. 4/5

"History" by Ellen Kushner: Bittersweet. I liked how many tiny hints we got toward the vampire's personal history, alongside his pretended ignorance of actual history. 4/5.
"The Perfect Dinner Party" by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black: The narrator reminded me a lot of Maureen from Clare's City of Fallen Angels. If you like these authors, you'll probably like this story. 3/5.

"Why Light" by Tanith Lee: THIS IS THE FLUFFIEST VAMPIRE STORY OF ALL TIME. OF ALL TIIIIIIIIIME. 5/5 ( )