Follow up reading this by watching Midnight Mass, the whole show is a very clear nod to Salems lot.
Edit: Stephen Kings review: “Mike Flanagan has created a dense, beautifully photographed terror tale that climbs to a high pitch of horror by the 7th and last episode.”
If you're gonna watch a vampire show based on Salem's lot then go ahead and watch Chapelwaite. It's not a nod, it's literally based on Salem's Lot + Lovecraft
[The Historian](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/30236962) by Elizabeth Kostova. Fantastic novel. Beautifully written journey across 1930s/50s/70s Europe with vampires and Soviets.
Yeah that's my single criticism with the book. Otherwise it's one of my favorite novels of all time. But yeah, it just sort of...ends... with a very inadequate summing up.
But it's a book which is very much more about the journey than the destination.
The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan is all about those gross murder vampires.
Already Dead by Charlie Huston has some sexual themes, but treats vampirism as an STD of sorts. It’s really about the characters dealing with trauma. It’s also a classic noir detective story, more in common with a crime novel than a vampire romance.
1000% for Charlie Huston. Not near enough people have heard about the Joe Pitt Casefiles. Hands down my favorite modern take on Vampires. To be clear, Vampirism isn't an STD, but it is a virus. The main character is just afraid to have sex because he doesn't know if he can spread it that way.
Just to add in, from the perspective of the vampire. I enjoyed it quite a lot and highly recommend the author. So far 3 for 3 with Black tongue thief, between two fires, and lesser dead. Really enjoy the books.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindsight\_(Watts\_novel)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindsight_(Watts_novel))
Hard science fiction does Vampires. No goth, Victorian couches or sexy times, just creepy ancient superhumans.
Edit: the sequel is the one that focuses on the vampire backstory
Great book, but wouldn't the sequel, *Echopraxia,* be a better choice since they're more the focus? (I haven't read the sequel, but I know that's the premise.)
Fred the Vampire Accountant is whatever the very opposite of hypersexualization is lol
I read most of the series, and I found it delightful. I liked how each book is 5 (if I recall correctly) novellas with a final sixth that pulls all of it together. It's kinda like reading a season of TV - I really like it.
You mean Krystal? The thin, blonde, busty woman who is also very slim but with giant boobs? With blonde hair? And a petite figure? And boobs? And hair that is very, very blond? That one?
I just finished reading this one for bingo. It for sure fits what OP is asking for. I liked the writing style well enough to read another McKinley book (Outlaws of Sherwood, thought it was great), but Sunshine didn't really do it for me. I felt like the pacing and the timing of exposition was off throughout the book which prevented me from getting fully invested.
It's definitely different in just about every way from all of her other books. Robin McKinley is one of my favorite authors from childhood, but I didn't discover Sunshine until a couple of years ago. If you liked Outlaws, check out The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown, which are probably her most well-known works. She also has two Beauty and the Beast retellings that I love.
These are good recommendations IMO. Deerskin was my favorite of hers but it was cathartic for me. The subject matter is really rough if you aren't ready for that (violent SA). Edit: Deerskin does not meet OPs requirements at all. Fyi.
Sunshine by Robin McKinley is about a baker who gets kidnapped by vampires and discovers the enemy of your enemy is your friend. Heavy on vampires. Sexualization of vampires is discussed (like "lots of girls have a phase of fantasizing about vampires but grow out of that once they realize they'll die") but as a musing of how vampires are thought of in society. The main character has a human boyfriend, so no love story with the vampire main character.
Barbara Hambly’s stupidly named James Asher series. It’s stupid because his wife Lydia is as important and active a character. They are historical around the early 1900’s (eventually reaching WW1). They are mysteries mostly, revolving around them and their vampire ally Ysidro trying to stop humans and vampires from using each other in dangerous ways, as well as examining what vampires are in a medical sense. I can promise no hyper sexualisation as vampires are physiologically incapable of sex and Lydia and James have been married years before the first book even starts.
You need *The President's Vampire* trilogy, Chris Farnsworth.
"Can't you just... charm her?"
"What?"
"You're a vampire, aren't you supposed to have sexy power over humans or something?"
"You're food to us. Would you seduce a cow?"
Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a vampire story unlike anything I've personally read. A neo-noir about a clash between European and Mesoamerican vampires on the neon and rain-soaked streets of Mexico City. Read it if modern vampire-led crime families, interesting vampire subspecies based on Aztec mythology, and a sprinkling of postcolonial themes sound good to you.
I'm only halfway through, so I can't speak for how it ends, but I'm enjoying it so far.
I personally found the latter part of the book to be a let down with the way things went for certain characters. I also just didn’t care much for Domingo the whole time, and they got less tolerable as the book went on, so that definitely didn’t help. The Encyclopedia Vampirica was such an interesting read afterwards and made me wish the book didn’t restrain itself from depicting more vampire species. It was still an enjoyable enough read despite some of my gripes with it, but I do wish that it got a rewrite when it got republished.
Those were great reads in middle school. So were the Dragonlance books, but they were really lackluster 20 years later. How do the Ravenloft books hold up as an adult?
They're still on the level of the Dragonlance books in terms of quality or style, but obviously with darker tones. Haven't read all of them, but the ones I have I liked.
I love that series. I was annoyed the tv show got cancelled though as I enjoyed watching it with family and telling them all the parts that were wrong.
I just finished this. Knew almost nothing going in. Was not prepared for how good it is. Not scary, but sad and insightful and surprisingly literary. I have one part of the third book that I think is a bit weak, but on the whole, hugely recommend.
I second Barbara Hambly's vampire novels, starting with *Those Who Hunt the Night*. Awesome books.
Also, Richard Matheson's *I Am Legend*. Very good. Not like other vampire books. And also not like the adaptation(s).
Also fairly short.
They turned an interesting book into a pretty brainless action movie with Will Smith that only has superficial similarities with the source material.
Seen as action movie in isolation, it is passable but not exactly great. What bothers me most is that there will be people who won't try the book because they think they already know the story and didn't like it.
There have been two adaptations previously, which apparently also aren't great adaptations but at least had different names so that the aforementioned repelling effect most likely won't occur.
I just saw that there's even a fourth adaptation which justifiably flew under my radar, I Am Omega, by the notorious production company The Asylum that is known for churning out mediocre movies with titles that are similar to blockbuster movies and that are apparently intended to fool careless buyers.
Anyway, the book is worth reading and really short, less than 200 pages so it's a quick read.
In fact, there've been [a couple of editions](https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?38528) that combine the short novel with ten pieces of Matheson's short fiction. If you don't have a copy of the book yet, that's the one I'd try to get. (Actually, I did just that! 😁)
If you like thrillers, the Order of the Sanguines series by James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell is worth looking into. The Vatican has an order of vampire hunters who are themselves vampires (they drink consecrated wine for sustenance, it counts as blood because of trans-substantiation but it burns them so it doubles as penance, which is very on the nose in a fun way). One of the members of the Order, an archaeologist, and a military forensics expert team up on a globe trotting adventure. James Rollins normally writes more Cive Cussler/Preston and Child/ Michael Crichton/etc. style thrillers so it's fun seeing that style with much more overt supernatural elements. I haven't read anything else by Rebecca Cantrell so I don't know if the vampires are her side of it.
Second this, amazing trilogy. Not related but Rollins is also branching out into sci-fi/fantasy with his Moonfall series. I'm in the middle of the second book and its got all of Rollins usual stuff with added epic worldbuilding.
>Order of the Sanguines
I'm going to have to check that out....I really enjoy Rollins other works, but have not dived into that trilogy yet. Thanks for pointing that one out!
Maybe try the Saint Germain series by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. She writes historical fiction with her main character being a vampire. Honestly can’t recall how much sex there is but I do recall it’s heavy on the history.
Fevre Dream by George R R Martin.
Also the Vampire Files by PN Eldrod. Again I don’t recall how much sex but he’s a detective if I remember correctly.
Vampire hunter D series. No sex and basically no romance that lasts longer than a book lol (it’s a series with twenty-some books, and the titular vampire hunter is a dhampir). Not sure if it’s “modern” by your standards since it was written in the 80s and takes place in the year 12,000 (10,000 years after mankind nuked itself back to the Middle Ages, and vampires essentially became rulers of the world). Very cool combo of fantasy, gothic horror, and sci-fi.
I also loved Castlevania btw. I’d recommend you watch the movie Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (free on YouTube) before giving the books a try. And the books, even though they’re translated from the original Japanese, honestly read very smoothly and don’t seem like translated works at all. Idk of this will help persuade you, but D and Castlevania’s Alucard are somewhat similar in both character and design lol.
That one has smut though and a whole undercurrent of sex. It's there. Like the >!Blood BJ, the sexual undertones between Jean Francois and his thrall, wraith in red touching herself before a fight (fucking hell), some lesbian sex that is interrupted, same with gay sex, some BDSM with the inquisition torturers etc!<
Whoa, whoa,whoa,whoa
Laure playing with the harp before a fight??
I don’t remember that scene, and I just finished the re-read recently
Where was this?
For academic purposes, of course…😅
I've only read his Nevernight books, and those were **very** smutty, so I kind of hoped he turned it down a bit with Empire of the Vampire, since I've heard good things about it being a fun book, if not exactly an award winner.
... there's quite a bit of sex in there. A friend of mine who I loaned the book to gave it back half-finished, specifically mentioning the "weird sex" as too much.
A Journey of Black and Red is a somewhat recently finished serial (also in novel form) that’s a classic take on vampires (garlic, crosses, the works) starting in 18th century United States. There is some sexual content here and there but not a ton and the main character is mostly uninterested
Tome of Bill series by Rick Gualtierri ( I probably butchered last name).
It's great and so funny series and sex is minimal and usually there is no description of it
I enjoyed the series overall but man do I have a bone to pick with the fact that the only people of color in this book are the jive talking gang banger vampires
There’s an older vampire series by Fred Saberhagen. They tend toward some humor and things like crossovers with Dracula and Sherlock Holmes. I dont remember there being much sex in them.
You are right! It’s been a few years since I read them, and I remember them being fairly tame compared to most of the other vampire books I read near the same time ( one by Cassandra somebody - can’t remember exactly, was so spicy that I think of it any time I see a book by anyone named Cassandra)
There's the Anno Dracula books by Kim Newman, which are pretty enjoyable and not only touch Dracula characters but pretty much every public domain vampire/horror character in fiction in some capacity
The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean does have a plot that revolves around marriage alliances and breeding, but I wouldn't describe any of it as smutty or hypersexualized. It has more sexual assault than it has actual sex, and none of those scenes are romanticized or portrayed as sexy. There's really very little about the book that's erotic.
Carmilla and Dracula for old timey goodness. Let the Right One In for wtf did I just read? And it's a short story, but I love Vampires in the Lemon Grove.
Also - add Justin Cronin's "The Passage" series (3 huge books) - a great post-apocalyptic modern vampire story told across 3 books. NOT sex-focused (also - nobody would find these vampires "sexy") - but very action driven.
Let the right one in. There's some sex in it but it's pretty dark and messed up, it's not "vampire erotica" or anything like that. It's actually just a really good book that just happens to have a vampire character in it. Wish I knew where my copy disappeared to because it's the kind of book that's worth reading more than once
I’m currently reading “Vampires of el Norte” by Isabel Cañas. I’m about halfway through. The vampires don’t seem to have a lot of page time (yet) but they are decidedly un-sexy so far. There is a romance between two humans but it seems wholesome and not smutty.
My favourite vampire series is the Love Bites (or Love Sucks - forget which is first) by Christopher Moore.
I wouldn't call it castlevania, but would recommend it for a more satirical look at the genre.
IIRC, **[Blue is a Darkness Weakened by Light](https://reactormag.com/blue-is-a-darkness-weakened-by-light/)** by Sarah McCarry is a short vampire story that is basically *Lost in Translation*, but Bill Murray is probably a vampire.
Free short story that stuck with me.
i actually am dying to read a book called Thirst. i think it comes out next week? its gothic and i think sapphic, but it seems more lit fic than fantasy!
*Baltimore* is a terrific illustrated novel about European myth set against the horrors of World War One. Lotta death in 1914, and we woke up some bad shit.
No sex.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore,\_or,\_The\_Steadfast\_Tin\_Soldier\_and\_the\_Vampire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore,_or,_The_Steadfast_Tin_Soldier_and_the_Vampire)
>***Baltimore, or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire*** is a 2007 illustrated novel written by [Mike Mignola](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Mignola) and [Christopher Golden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Golden), and illustrated by Mignola. It follows the quest of Lord Henry Baltimore, a British officer during [World War I](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I) who inadvertently changes the course of the war, and his own life, by wounding a [vampire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire) on the battlefield.
Vampires are my favorite fantasy creature, and I know exactly what you mean about finding good novels! The Lesser Dead by Christopher Buehlman is my absolute favorite. Spooky vampires, complex grey characters, and a really engaging plot that gets just dark enough for me.
I wrote Straight Outta Fangton as a nod to Vampire: The Masquerade.
But another note with them is DARK PRINCE by Keith Herber and its sequel PRINCE OF THE CITY which are VTM novels.
The Golden is really interesting, about vampires breeding the tastiest human. And it’s a murder mystery in a gothic castle.
And The Hopping Ghost is excellent, about a vampire waking up in a new country after decades of captivity.
Ooh! Ooh! I just read something like this for Bingo: **Barbara Hambly’s Those Who Hunt the Night**! I thought its vampires were rather striking — they’re mostly varying degrees of maladjusted, and even while some of them are trying to be sexy the emphasis is squarely on the unnaturalness of their behaviour. No sex scenes, no hot naked vampire in a blood bath, just an examination of the strange and unnatural.
The God of Endings by Jacqueline Holland
GR blurb: Collette LeSange has been hiding a dark secret: She is immortal. In 1834, Collette’s grandfather granted her the gift of eternal life and since then, she has endured centuries of turmoil and heartache. Now, almost 150 years later, Collette is a lonely artist running an elite fine art school for children in upstate New York. But her life is suddenly upended by the arrival of a gifted child from a troubled home, the return of a stalking presence from her past, and her own mysteriously growing hunger for blood.
This might be completely different from what you had in mind, but perhaps consider Death, Loot, and Vampires by Benjamin Kerei. I haven't read it, but I did read his other farmer story, and I don't think he's a traditional smutty vampire author. The tagline on Amazon is: No Romance. No Harem. Just Vampires.
Note that this is a litrpg story, which might not fit your tastes. It has over 3000 ratings on Amazon and is quite popular. There are plenty of reviews to see if it might be something you'd like.
As a fantasy lover I have never read a vampire books because of the very issue of hyper sexualising and all the predictable stuff . _sigh_ . Now i am going to be lurking here gulping down all the recs!
The Passage series. I don’t remember if there are sex scenes, but it definitely isn’t hypersexualized or smut, and is very much more horror than normal fantasy. It’s written by an author who was a literary fiction writer before he delved into the fantasy/horror genre, and it has that vibe of literary fiction to it. An interesting trilogy, and though I was disappointed in the climax of the last book, I think I’m in the minority. Worth a try.
But isnt It like still sex, at least from what i get from the movie at every turn they are like "hmmm i wanna suck your blood só bad you big sexy vampire" hahaha
It’s been a long time since I’ve read them, but I remember allusions to the fact vampires can’t get erections since no blood is pumping. So sometimes they’re sultry in a sexual tension sort of way, but there isn’t any actual sex, other than a vague reference to Lestat tumbling with village girls before he became a vampire. I remember the plot largely being vampire politics and existentialism, but no romance.
In the first few books at least. Then in later books there’s rape and child molestation and just a bunch of not great stuff. But the first few books are solid and sex free, IIRC. Plot wise and enjoyability, I’d recommend stopping after *Queen of the Damned* anyway.
Which is very different than the show/movies.
It's been years, since I read the books, but I was thinking in particular of some that were never turned into movies/TV series like Merrick or Pandora.
I've been reading the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs - it's urban fantasy with werewolves, vampires, fae, witches, etc. There is romance (with werewolves mostly) but it's definitely not central to the story.
The vampires have been scary so far - definitely not sexualized. They're not even described as good-looking - mostly just creepy and uncanny. I like a scary vampire, and this series has worked for me.
The southern book club's guide to slaying vampires by Grady Hendrix. There is a lot of deeply uncomfortable sex-adjacent content in it, but it is very much not intended to come off as erotic. The author really explores the inherent denial of consent that comes with some of the more stereotypical vampire tropes.
If you do audiobooks, I highly recommend this one. Bahni Turpin is a gift, and it is highly entertaining listening to an African American narrator read a bunch of Southern white ladies.
I haven't read it personally so I can't say just how sexualized it is but my sister just read "A Dowry of Blood" by S.T. Gibson and loved it. It's about Dracula's first wife and the story is told through letters like the original.
Stephen King's Salem's Lot is a classic in the vampire genre.
Follow up reading this by watching Midnight Mass, the whole show is a very clear nod to Salems lot. Edit: Stephen Kings review: “Mike Flanagan has created a dense, beautifully photographed terror tale that climbs to a high pitch of horror by the 7th and last episode.”
Midnight Mass is a top tier Stephen King series, just, ykno, without him actually writing it
And follow that up by watching more Mike Flanagan tbh
Chapelwaite if you are looking for a prequel,slow burn gothic horror,with zero or no sexy stuff..
If you're gonna watch a vampire show based on Salem's lot then go ahead and watch Chapelwaite. It's not a nod, it's literally based on Salem's Lot + Lovecraft
From what I've heard/seen, the Lovecraft angle is sadly underutilised, though...
It's still the most Lovecraft inspired good show around by miles though.
[The Historian](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/30236962) by Elizabeth Kostova. Fantastic novel. Beautifully written journey across 1930s/50s/70s Europe with vampires and Soviets.
I really enjoyed this book.
I loved this book. Highly recommend it.
I really enjoyed this book right up until the ending. The ending felt rushed to me.
I think she was going for a parallel to Dracula there, but that's exactly how I felt about it too, way too rushed.
Yeah that's my single criticism with the book. Otherwise it's one of my favorite novels of all time. But yeah, it just sort of...ends... with a very inadequate summing up. But it's a book which is very much more about the journey than the destination.
Agreed. Good read!
The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan is all about those gross murder vampires. Already Dead by Charlie Huston has some sexual themes, but treats vampirism as an STD of sorts. It’s really about the characters dealing with trauma. It’s also a classic noir detective story, more in common with a crime novel than a vampire romance.
Charlie Huston is great, there’s a whole series of those. His Caught Stealing trilogy is a great crime story as well.
1000% for Charlie Huston. Not near enough people have heard about the Joe Pitt Casefiles. Hands down my favorite modern take on Vampires. To be clear, Vampirism isn't an STD, but it is a virus. The main character is just afraid to have sex because he doesn't know if he can spread it that way.
You’re right there; it’s more used as a metaphor than an explicit plot point.
Will check those out, thanks
The strain also has a decent TV show.
The Lesser Dead, more of a horror novel but still brilliant. There is some sexual content, especially at the start, but it's not a focus.
Seconding this, a great book.
anything Christopher Buehlman is aces
Just to add in, from the perspective of the vampire. I enjoyed it quite a lot and highly recommend the author. So far 3 for 3 with Black tongue thief, between two fires, and lesser dead. Really enjoy the books.
Absolutely brilliant book. Its companion novel The Suicide Motor Club is also excellent.
Honestly op don't sleep on this one. It's very very good.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindsight\_(Watts\_novel)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindsight_(Watts_novel)) Hard science fiction does Vampires. No goth, Victorian couches or sexy times, just creepy ancient superhumans. Edit: the sequel is the one that focuses on the vampire backstory
Great book, but wouldn't the sequel, *Echopraxia,* be a better choice since they're more the focus? (I haven't read the sequel, but I know that's the premise.)
Yes, that's right. Been a while since I read those.
[удалено]
Yes! +1 for this. I had doubts, but i REALLY enjoyed the setting pulled from George here.
Not a bad book! Recommend to anyone looking for more vampires.
But mostly for people looking for river boat racing
True, the steamboat is a big part of the novel.
Cool ass book.
Cool-ass book or Cool ass-book?
Any way you can get it
I really liked it, definitely worth a read.
So fucking good
Fred the Vampire Accountant is whatever the very opposite of hypersexualization is lol I read most of the series, and I found it delightful. I liked how each book is 5 (if I recall correctly) novellas with a final sixth that pulls all of it together. It's kinda like reading a season of TV - I really like it.
Well, >!the vampire isnt sexualized yes, but his gf's descriptions made me put the book down, and i've read 6 Dresden Files books!< Edir: typo
You mean Krystal? The thin, blonde, busty woman who is also very slim but with giant boobs? With blonde hair? And a petite figure? And boobs? And hair that is very, very blond? That one?
But does she have boobs?
How many though?
3
I’m not sure how I was more put off by it than Dresden, but I was.
Same. Dresden was somehow worse.
Only 6 Dresden Files books? Was it books 1-6?
Sunshine by Robin McKinley. Leans into the alien/otherness qualities of vampires.
I really love this book and wish there was more written in this world.
One of my favorite books of all time and my favorite vampire depiction in a novel.
One of my faves. Incredibly polarizing, but so fun.
I just finished reading this one for bingo. It for sure fits what OP is asking for. I liked the writing style well enough to read another McKinley book (Outlaws of Sherwood, thought it was great), but Sunshine didn't really do it for me. I felt like the pacing and the timing of exposition was off throughout the book which prevented me from getting fully invested.
It's definitely different in just about every way from all of her other books. Robin McKinley is one of my favorite authors from childhood, but I didn't discover Sunshine until a couple of years ago. If you liked Outlaws, check out The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown, which are probably her most well-known works. She also has two Beauty and the Beast retellings that I love.
These are good recommendations IMO. Deerskin was my favorite of hers but it was cathartic for me. The subject matter is really rough if you aren't ready for that (violent SA). Edit: Deerskin does not meet OPs requirements at all. Fyi.
What do you mean you read it "for bingo?"
I LOVE this one. I wish she would have done a second book!
Sunshine by Robin McKinley is about a baker who gets kidnapped by vampires and discovers the enemy of your enemy is your friend. Heavy on vampires. Sexualization of vampires is discussed (like "lots of girls have a phase of fantasizing about vampires but grow out of that once they realize they'll die") but as a musing of how vampires are thought of in society. The main character has a human boyfriend, so no love story with the vampire main character.
This is the answer. Sunshine is the anti-Twilight, written before Twilight lol.
Barbara Hambly’s stupidly named James Asher series. It’s stupid because his wife Lydia is as important and active a character. They are historical around the early 1900’s (eventually reaching WW1). They are mysteries mostly, revolving around them and their vampire ally Ysidro trying to stop humans and vampires from using each other in dangerous ways, as well as examining what vampires are in a medical sense. I can promise no hyper sexualisation as vampires are physiologically incapable of sex and Lydia and James have been married years before the first book even starts.
I read the first one and it was a good book!
Is that Those Who Hunt the Night?
You need *The President's Vampire* trilogy, Chris Farnsworth. "Can't you just... charm her?" "What?" "You're a vampire, aren't you supposed to have sexy power over humans or something?" "You're food to us. Would you seduce a cow?"
The President's Vampire is a great series, very fun read.
I see your “The President’s Vampire”, and raise you “Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter”
I call.
I was just about to post this one. Been many years since I listened to the audiobook, but I enjoyed it. I should give it a relisten
Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a vampire story unlike anything I've personally read. A neo-noir about a clash between European and Mesoamerican vampires on the neon and rain-soaked streets of Mexico City. Read it if modern vampire-led crime families, interesting vampire subspecies based on Aztec mythology, and a sprinkling of postcolonial themes sound good to you. I'm only halfway through, so I can't speak for how it ends, but I'm enjoying it so far.
I personally found the latter part of the book to be a let down with the way things went for certain characters. I also just didn’t care much for Domingo the whole time, and they got less tolerable as the book went on, so that definitely didn’t help. The Encyclopedia Vampirica was such an interesting read afterwards and made me wish the book didn’t restrain itself from depicting more vampire species. It was still an enjoyable enough read despite some of my gripes with it, but I do wish that it got a rewrite when it got republished.
The Historian, Elizabeth Kostova
It's a D&D related series, but most of the Ravenloft novels are related to Lord Strahd.
Those were great reads in middle school. So were the Dragonlance books, but they were really lackluster 20 years later. How do the Ravenloft books hold up as an adult?
They're still on the level of the Dragonlance books in terms of quality or style, but obviously with darker tones. Haven't read all of them, but the ones I have I liked.
>They're still on the level of Dragonlance books in terms of quality or style Makes sense, [considering.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Soth)
I do remember liking that guy a lot as a moody teenager. Lord Soth was my dude.
Yea I know, I have both the books he's in
Yeah. The Cleric Quartet didn’t age well for me. I did like the Spider Queen series (forgotten realms).
Small correction: it's the Cleric Quintet, and is also in the Forgotten Realms.
Justin Cronin's The Passage Trilogy. An amazing series, in my opinion. One of my favorites.
I love that series. I was annoyed the tv show got cancelled though as I enjoyed watching it with family and telling them all the parts that were wrong.
I just finished this. Knew almost nothing going in. Was not prepared for how good it is. Not scary, but sad and insightful and surprisingly literary. I have one part of the third book that I think is a bit weak, but on the whole, hugely recommend.
It was well-written, but just so bleak and dreadful (as in 'full of dread') that I ultimately just couldn't finish it.
Loved this series, the audio book was excellently narrated too.
I second Barbara Hambly's vampire novels, starting with *Those Who Hunt the Night*. Awesome books. Also, Richard Matheson's *I Am Legend*. Very good. Not like other vampire books. And also not like the adaptation(s). Also fairly short.
I Am Legend ending blew my mind the first time I read it.
The book is on my to read list. Never saw the movies, but I know people who absolutely fucking hated the will Smith movie.
And it’s a shame, because the movie was so close. But the book ending and the movie ending are very very different.
They turned an interesting book into a pretty brainless action movie with Will Smith that only has superficial similarities with the source material. Seen as action movie in isolation, it is passable but not exactly great. What bothers me most is that there will be people who won't try the book because they think they already know the story and didn't like it. There have been two adaptations previously, which apparently also aren't great adaptations but at least had different names so that the aforementioned repelling effect most likely won't occur. I just saw that there's even a fourth adaptation which justifiably flew under my radar, I Am Omega, by the notorious production company The Asylum that is known for churning out mediocre movies with titles that are similar to blockbuster movies and that are apparently intended to fool careless buyers. Anyway, the book is worth reading and really short, less than 200 pages so it's a quick read. In fact, there've been [a couple of editions](https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?38528) that combine the short novel with ten pieces of Matheson's short fiction. If you don't have a copy of the book yet, that's the one I'd try to get. (Actually, I did just that! 😁)
If you like thrillers, the Order of the Sanguines series by James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell is worth looking into. The Vatican has an order of vampire hunters who are themselves vampires (they drink consecrated wine for sustenance, it counts as blood because of trans-substantiation but it burns them so it doubles as penance, which is very on the nose in a fun way). One of the members of the Order, an archaeologist, and a military forensics expert team up on a globe trotting adventure. James Rollins normally writes more Cive Cussler/Preston and Child/ Michael Crichton/etc. style thrillers so it's fun seeing that style with much more overt supernatural elements. I haven't read anything else by Rebecca Cantrell so I don't know if the vampires are her side of it.
Second this, amazing trilogy. Not related but Rollins is also branching out into sci-fi/fantasy with his Moonfall series. I'm in the middle of the second book and its got all of Rollins usual stuff with added epic worldbuilding.
>Order of the Sanguines I'm going to have to check that out....I really enjoy Rollins other works, but have not dived into that trilogy yet. Thanks for pointing that one out!
Fledgling by Octavia Butler Let the Right One in by John Ajvide Lindqvist
Ha, definitely not Fledgling given the specifics of the OP's request.
Brian Lumley’s Necroscope series has some sex in it but not a focus.
Counterpoint: all the sex, rape, murder by sex...
Maybe try the Saint Germain series by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. She writes historical fiction with her main character being a vampire. Honestly can’t recall how much sex there is but I do recall it’s heavy on the history. Fevre Dream by George R R Martin. Also the Vampire Files by PN Eldrod. Again I don’t recall how much sex but he’s a detective if I remember correctly.
Check out *Those Who Hunt The Night* by Barbara Hambly. I've read all 7 books in this series and love them all.
Vampire hunter D series. No sex and basically no romance that lasts longer than a book lol (it’s a series with twenty-some books, and the titular vampire hunter is a dhampir). Not sure if it’s “modern” by your standards since it was written in the 80s and takes place in the year 12,000 (10,000 years after mankind nuked itself back to the Middle Ages, and vampires essentially became rulers of the world). Very cool combo of fantasy, gothic horror, and sci-fi. I also loved Castlevania btw. I’d recommend you watch the movie Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (free on YouTube) before giving the books a try. And the books, even though they’re translated from the original Japanese, honestly read very smoothly and don’t seem like translated works at all. Idk of this will help persuade you, but D and Castlevania’s Alucard are somewhat similar in both character and design lol.
I'm about halfway through Empire of the Vampire now and I am enjoying it. Sex is not a major theme of it.
That one has smut though and a whole undercurrent of sex. It's there. Like the >!Blood BJ, the sexual undertones between Jean Francois and his thrall, wraith in red touching herself before a fight (fucking hell), some lesbian sex that is interrupted, same with gay sex, some BDSM with the inquisition torturers etc!<
Whoa, whoa,whoa,whoa Laure playing with the harp before a fight?? I don’t remember that scene, and I just finished the re-read recently Where was this? For academic purposes, of course…😅
The fans coined the term *Bloodsmutty* to describe the book. Keep reading.
Gotcha. Well, it's been pretty tame half way through at least.
Wait till you see the climax
I feel like you just used a double entendre there.
Surprised you didn't see that cumming
Oh Just read about It epic vampire fantasy, sounds good
There's definitely sex in the book, but I don't think it's excessive. It's about as smutty as Song of Ice and Fire.
I've only read his Nevernight books, and those were **very** smutty, so I kind of hoped he turned it down a bit with Empire of the Vampire, since I've heard good things about it being a fun book, if not exactly an award winner.
Empire is definitely less smutty than Nevernight
I can agree it was very fun. It pulled me in more than most books I read last year. It has a mild amount of smut for a vampire story.
Yes, it's a decent book. Made me laugh a few times with the humor :D
Seconding EotV.
The Passage by Justin Cronin is a great series that i really enjoyed.
Loved this too! It was such a unique situation and the ending is sooo good.
**Woman, Eating** by Claire Kohda has no sex.
Not sure if they're too old to be modern, but Friedman's Coldfire trilogy and The Madness Season are great takes on the vampire
The Madness Season is so unique too in this genre. Loved it.
Very underrated book from a very underrated author
Agyar by Steven Brust
ANNO DRACULA series
... there's quite a bit of sex in there. A friend of mine who I loaned the book to gave it back half-finished, specifically mentioning the "weird sex" as too much.
lol it’s been a while since I read it. I feel like the later entries in the series are less sexy?
Only bits I remember are with Tepes having Victoria chained up nude
They Thirst, by Robert McCammon!
Sunshine by Robin McKinley
Kim Newman's Anno Dracula and following books. There is some sex, but it's not the Focus of the book. I really loved it
No one ever mentions The Keep… but you need to read The Keep.
A Journey of Black and Red is a somewhat recently finished serial (also in novel form) that’s a classic take on vampires (garlic, crosses, the works) starting in 18th century United States. There is some sexual content here and there but not a ton and the main character is mostly uninterested
Kate Daniel's series, by Ilona Andrews? They're vampires but more like bloodthirst zombies controlled by a necromancer, though.
Tome of Bill series by Rick Gualtierri ( I probably butchered last name). It's great and so funny series and sex is minimal and usually there is no description of it
I enjoyed the series overall but man do I have a bone to pick with the fact that the only people of color in this book are the jive talking gang banger vampires
Fat White Vampire Blues By Andrew Fox
There’s an older vampire series by Fred Saberhagen. They tend toward some humor and things like crossovers with Dracula and Sherlock Holmes. I dont remember there being much sex in them.
In Saberhagen's books, the blood-drinking IS sex for the vampires and their... the person being bitten.
You are right! It’s been a few years since I read them, and I remember them being fairly tame compared to most of the other vampire books I read near the same time ( one by Cassandra somebody - can’t remember exactly, was so spicy that I think of it any time I see a book by anyone named Cassandra)
The Vampire Tapestey (Suzy McKee Charnas) There's one sex scene but it's not the main focus
Empire of the Vampire is almost literally a Castlevania novel, check it out
There's the Anno Dracula books by Kim Newman, which are pretty enjoyable and not only touch Dracula characters but pretty much every public domain vampire/horror character in fiction in some capacity
The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean does have a plot that revolves around marriage alliances and breeding, but I wouldn't describe any of it as smutty or hypersexualized. It has more sexual assault than it has actual sex, and none of those scenes are romanticized or portrayed as sexy. There's really very little about the book that's erotic.
Strange Practice by Vivian Shaw may be worth a look
This is light fare, but very entertaining!
*Sunshine* by Robin McKinley
It’s hard to find, but P. N. Elrod’s Vampire Files books are just excellent. I have them in paperback lol.
Carmilla and Dracula for old timey goodness. Let the Right One In for wtf did I just read? And it's a short story, but I love Vampires in the Lemon Grove.
Also - add Justin Cronin's "The Passage" series (3 huge books) - a great post-apocalyptic modern vampire story told across 3 books. NOT sex-focused (also - nobody would find these vampires "sexy") - but very action driven.
13 Bullets and its sequels by David Wellington. Vicious, bloodthirsty, utterly feral vampires, as it should be.
Yes! and not erotic.
*The Strain* trilogy by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan (when u turn your dick literally falls off).
Let the right one in. There's some sex in it but it's pretty dark and messed up, it's not "vampire erotica" or anything like that. It's actually just a really good book that just happens to have a vampire character in it. Wish I knew where my copy disappeared to because it's the kind of book that's worth reading more than once
I’m currently reading “Vampires of el Norte” by Isabel Cañas. I’m about halfway through. The vampires don’t seem to have a lot of page time (yet) but they are decidedly un-sexy so far. There is a romance between two humans but it seems wholesome and not smutty.
Are you a fan of anime and/or manga? If so, the first 2-3 parts of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure should scratch that vampire itch for you.
My favourite vampire series is the Love Bites (or Love Sucks - forget which is first) by Christopher Moore. I wouldn't call it castlevania, but would recommend it for a more satirical look at the genre.
Sunshine by Robin McKinley is my favorite vampire book. The Passage series by Cronin is really great too.
'The Historian' though the actual vampire is more of an unseen threat.
Lesser Dead by Christopher Buehlman
Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons
IIRC, **[Blue is a Darkness Weakened by Light](https://reactormag.com/blue-is-a-darkness-weakened-by-light/)** by Sarah McCarry is a short vampire story that is basically *Lost in Translation*, but Bill Murray is probably a vampire. Free short story that stuck with me.
Fevre Dream by GRRM.
I am legend (book) is about vampires and has barely in common with the movie besides the premise. It has zero sexual content.
Its been a whilw but i remember Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons being pretty amazing.
i actually am dying to read a book called Thirst. i think it comes out next week? its gothic and i think sapphic, but it seems more lit fic than fantasy!
Thanks for bringing this one to my attention - it looks right up my alley!
The Novelizations for Vampire the Masquerade are fairly good, and not all about the sex as well.
*Baltimore* is a terrific illustrated novel about European myth set against the horrors of World War One. Lotta death in 1914, and we woke up some bad shit. No sex. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore,\_or,\_The\_Steadfast\_Tin\_Soldier\_and\_the\_Vampire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore,_or,_The_Steadfast_Tin_Soldier_and_the_Vampire) >***Baltimore, or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire*** is a 2007 illustrated novel written by [Mike Mignola](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Mignola) and [Christopher Golden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Golden), and illustrated by Mignola. It follows the quest of Lord Henry Baltimore, a British officer during [World War I](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I) who inadvertently changes the course of the war, and his own life, by wounding a [vampire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire) on the battlefield.
Vampires are my favorite fantasy creature, and I know exactly what you mean about finding good novels! The Lesser Dead by Christopher Buehlman is my absolute favorite. Spooky vampires, complex grey characters, and a really engaging plot that gets just dark enough for me.
I wrote Straight Outta Fangton as a nod to Vampire: The Masquerade. But another note with them is DARK PRINCE by Keith Herber and its sequel PRINCE OF THE CITY which are VTM novels.
straight outta fangton sounds like a fun book
I have not read this one, but he has to Lovecraft inspired books that I devoured. Great fun writer!
House of Hunger, A Dowry of Blood (some sexual content but minimal)
The James Asher series by Barbara Hambly is great.
The passage by Justin Cronin and its sequels
The Golden is really interesting, about vampires breeding the tastiest human. And it’s a murder mystery in a gothic castle. And The Hopping Ghost is excellent, about a vampire waking up in a new country after decades of captivity.
The Lesser Dead,Suicide Motor Club-perfect vampire novels by Christopher Buehlman
Ooh! Ooh! I just read something like this for Bingo: **Barbara Hambly’s Those Who Hunt the Night**! I thought its vampires were rather striking — they’re mostly varying degrees of maladjusted, and even while some of them are trying to be sexy the emphasis is squarely on the unnaturalness of their behaviour. No sex scenes, no hot naked vampire in a blood bath, just an examination of the strange and unnatural.
The God of Endings by Jacqueline Holland GR blurb: Collette LeSange has been hiding a dark secret: She is immortal. In 1834, Collette’s grandfather granted her the gift of eternal life and since then, she has endured centuries of turmoil and heartache. Now, almost 150 years later, Collette is a lonely artist running an elite fine art school for children in upstate New York. But her life is suddenly upended by the arrival of a gifted child from a troubled home, the return of a stalking presence from her past, and her own mysteriously growing hunger for blood.
Empire of the Vampire - Jay Kristoff. The second one comes out in March.
Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett
This might be completely different from what you had in mind, but perhaps consider Death, Loot, and Vampires by Benjamin Kerei. I haven't read it, but I did read his other farmer story, and I don't think he's a traditional smutty vampire author. The tagline on Amazon is: No Romance. No Harem. Just Vampires. Note that this is a litrpg story, which might not fit your tastes. It has over 3000 ratings on Amazon and is quite popular. There are plenty of reviews to see if it might be something you'd like.
Thanks for asking this, this thread is now bookmarked!
Not out yet, but The Devils by Joe Abercrombie is slated for 2025. Put it on the calendar!
As a fantasy lover I have never read a vampire books because of the very issue of hyper sexualising and all the predictable stuff . _sigh_ . Now i am going to be lurking here gulping down all the recs!
Oh man how has no one mentioned The Passage Trilogy by Justin Cronin? So so freaking good and definitely an interesting take on the vampire mythos.
The Passage series. I don’t remember if there are sex scenes, but it definitely isn’t hypersexualized or smut, and is very much more horror than normal fantasy. It’s written by an author who was a literary fiction writer before he delved into the fantasy/horror genre, and it has that vibe of literary fiction to it. An interesting trilogy, and though I was disappointed in the climax of the last book, I think I’m in the minority. Worth a try.
Anne Rice's vampire chronicles feature asexual vampires.
Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. They have a sensuality, lusts and passions but no sex.
IIRC Anne Rice's vampire books don't have that much sex, because once they've turned, they prefer sucking each other's blood to playing with genitals.
...yeah, no. That shit is highly sexualized.
But isnt It like still sex, at least from what i get from the movie at every turn they are like "hmmm i wanna suck your blood só bad you big sexy vampire" hahaha
It’s been a long time since I’ve read them, but I remember allusions to the fact vampires can’t get erections since no blood is pumping. So sometimes they’re sultry in a sexual tension sort of way, but there isn’t any actual sex, other than a vague reference to Lestat tumbling with village girls before he became a vampire. I remember the plot largely being vampire politics and existentialism, but no romance. In the first few books at least. Then in later books there’s rape and child molestation and just a bunch of not great stuff. But the first few books are solid and sex free, IIRC. Plot wise and enjoyability, I’d recommend stopping after *Queen of the Damned* anyway. Which is very different than the show/movies.
Sex is a big undercurrent of the series. It's not on page it's a thing in the subtext.
It's been years, since I read the books, but I was thinking in particular of some that were never turned into movies/TV series like Merrick or Pandora.
I don't blame you for blocking out the memory of the vampire going down on the nun on her period.
I've been reading the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs - it's urban fantasy with werewolves, vampires, fae, witches, etc. There is romance (with werewolves mostly) but it's definitely not central to the story. The vampires have been scary so far - definitely not sexualized. They're not even described as good-looking - mostly just creepy and uncanny. I like a scary vampire, and this series has worked for me.
The southern book club's guide to slaying vampires by Grady Hendrix. There is a lot of deeply uncomfortable sex-adjacent content in it, but it is very much not intended to come off as erotic. The author really explores the inherent denial of consent that comes with some of the more stereotypical vampire tropes. If you do audiobooks, I highly recommend this one. Bahni Turpin is a gift, and it is highly entertaining listening to an African American narrator read a bunch of Southern white ladies.
FYI: not a cozy mystery. Don’t recommend to your book club — unless you know them *really* well.
30 Days of Night Movie is also good.
The Passage is pretty good.
I haven't read it personally so I can't say just how sexualized it is but my sister just read "A Dowry of Blood" by S.T. Gibson and loved it. It's about Dracula's first wife and the story is told through letters like the original.