Honestly I was underwhelmed by this book. There were a few stories I really loved and alot of them...meh. I also wanted them to be about 10 pages longer but maybe that's just me. Didn't fill my vampire love sadly.

Story Ratings

Seven nights for dying by Tessa Gratton: 3

Mirrors, Windows & Selfies by Mark Orshio: 3


The House of Black Sapphires by Donielle Clayton: 4

The boys from blood river by Rebecca Roanhorse: 3

Senior Year Sucks by Julie Murphy: 4

The Boy and the Bell by Heidi Heilig: 3

In Kind by Kayla Whaley: 4

A Guidebook for the Newly Sired Desi Vampire by Samira Ahmed: 2

Bestiary by Laura Ruby: 2

Vampires Never Say Die by Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker: 4


First Kill by Victoria “V. E.” Schwab: 4

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan for this free ARC.

A new and refreshing take on the classic Vampire. I love the stories and the quick snippets of history after each one.

Anthologies are always a tricky thing for me to review/rate. I want to review each of the individual stories, but at the same time, I feel that the overall vibe from the anthology is more important. You aren’t going to necessarily buy an entire anthology just for one story.

The stories in this anthology are modern, and some of my favorite authors contributed to this anthology. I loved Victoria’s Schwab’s story the most. To find out that it was bought by Emma Roberts to be translated to television is amazing and I am super excited for it.

I received an advanced copy of this title in exchange for my honest opinion.

I fell in love with Vampires Never Get Old at first bite (well, first story). Book opener Tessa Gratton manages to seduce readers into the world of vampires, just as the bisexual protagonist of her story has to make the choice whether to let herself be seduced by the pair of vampires and the allure of eternal life or stay human. Every story is accompanied by a short commentary by the editors about central themes of the story, how they relate to vampire lore and what the editors particularly liked – which I really enjoyed, as it gives insight into their thought process about putting together this anthology.

As a whole, the anthology is incredibly strong and does not have any stories that are particularly weak – I did not love all of them but I didn’t dislike any. Vampires Never Get Old is also an incredibly diverse anthology, which is wonderful – I think every single story features marginalised characters in one way or another, doing so organically. And damn, we need more books like this. Zoraida Cordova and Natalie C. Parker did a wonderful job chosing the authors and stories and putting together a great anthology.

Interestingly, my favourite story of them all wasn’t one of the ones I was expecting, but the one by probably the least well-known author out of the bunch: Kayla Whaley’s “In Kind”. The story of a so-called mercy killing, where a father murdered his severely disabled teenage daughter – only for her to be resurrected as a vampire was harrowing and emotional and raised many moral and ethical considerations that society needs to reconsider. Incredibly well-written, the frustrations of disabled people struggling to be heard in today’s society become clear in “In Kind”. If you only read one story out of this anthology, make it this one.

Of course I also loved V.E. Schwab’s “First Kill” – a Romeo and Juliet-esque story about a vampire and a vampire-hunter falling in sapphic love. I don’t think the woman can write anything I won’t adore, to be honest. Two girls, doomed love, secrets, what more is there to want! There are many other stories in this anthology that are wonderful, looking at so many different facets of vampires and the vampire mythology of the past few decades – the stories do tend to be based on modern vampires rather than the concepts taken from Dracula or Nosferatu. I won’t go into detail about all the stories here, but do rest assured that Vampires Never Get Old is an anthology you shouldn’t miss!

This anthology full of superstar writers is a powerful reminder that vampires aren’t over! We’re swept away in tales from all over the globe and all walks of life, to remind readers that vampire media can be incredibly white and heteronormative, but doesn’t have to be that way!

Typically for anthologies, I’ll give one to two line reviews of each story and bold my favorites, without assigning star ratings. To be upfront, Vampires Never Get Old earned a 4/5 star rating from me. Some stories I really enjoyed, but others didn’t quite hit their mark.

Seven Nights for Dying by Tessa Gratton
I loved the agency given to our main character in her choice of whether or not to become a vampire! Gratton delays the transformation process in an interesting way, letting the MC take her time and think about the decision. Does this allow more room for regret, uncertainty? I’m not sure! But I really enjoyed this one.

Mirrors, Windows & Selfies by Mark Oshiro
This was cute, but I wish I had more information! Told through the blog posts of a young vampire who’s not supposed to exist and therefore must move around with his family, the story obsesses over the idea of reflection and what it means to look at oneself. I was left confused at the end… there was some implied consequence for the main group of vampires discovering Cisco’s existence, but we don’t know what it is and the story misses its mark.

The House of Black Sapphires by Dhonielle Clayton
YES. Yes, yes yes. Give me so much more of this! Dhonielle’s description of New Orleans (a fascinating city by all accounts) and its vampiric underbelly is beautiful, and I loved Bea’s relationship with her family. I just wish it hadn’t ended so abruptly—a common desire with stories in this collection.

The Boys From Blood River by Rebecca Roanhorse
Cowboy… vampires… ? I really liked the beginning of this story! Set in a diner, and our lead is a Native boy who is bullied for being gay. Then, a creepy jukebox and a gang of vampires show up, and it just gets weirder from there. I wish the folkloric grounding of this story had continued to guide its ending, because I could have gotten into that.

Senior Year Sucks by Julie Murphy
"Revamped” (haha) Buffy! Slayers and monster-hunters rank pretty high on my list of favorite tropes, so I super enjoyed this sapphic story that shows you don’t need a certain type of body to hunt vampires. I did think it was a little odd that our MC was also a cheerleader named Jolene (was this supposed to be a Dumplin’ reference?) but that’s a minor quibble.

The Boy and the Bell by Heidi Heilig
What would you do if you were blackmailed for being trans? This historical short story features a boy in medical school seeking cadavers in a local cemetery, when he hears a grave bell ringing—someone’s been buried alive. The atmosphere of this one is completely spooky and fall-appropriate, but it’s a great read all year round!

In Kind by Kayla Whaley
This is my favorite story of the entire anthology. It’s half epistolary, half narrated, and we see a 17 year old girl killed by her father in a “mercy killing” because she was disabled, and her body is missing. She’s the vampire in this story which doesn’t take away her neuromuscular disorder, only enables her to gain power and survive! I loved the idea that vampirism isn’t a “cure” for earthly diseases and the MC is already who she needs to be.

A Guidebook for the Newly Sired Desi Vampire by Samira Ahmed
This is easily another one of my favorites. Hilarious, ironic, and sarcastic, this short story is literally a guidebook to being a “Newly Sired Desi Vampire.” The anonymous support system outlined has suggestions for who to eat (colonizers, always!), who might have turned you (a British tourist in all likelihood), and how you can keep living in your culture. I was smiling the whole way through and it was a much-needed light moment in the middle of the anthology.

Bestiary by Laura Ruby
I’m sorry to say I just couldn’t understand this story. A young vampire lives in a zoo and has a telepathic connection with the animals (I think?). There’s also some sort of water crisis, possibly due to underfunding? Some parts were hard to connect with and the plot bounced all over the place, so I just wasn’t a big fan. If you’re into anti-capitalism messages and animal rights, though, it’s worth a read.

Vampires Never Say Die by Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker
I wasn’t quite sure how to feel about this one. On the one hand, the dramatic irony is interesting, but on the other hand… why would a 200 year old vampire think it’s okay to befriend a 15 year old on Instagram? That just rubbed me the wrong way—the story takes place two years after they met, so she’s 17 now, but still. I’d have to reread and see if that still bugged me.

First Kill by Victoria “V. E.” Schwab
Oooh this one definitely hit me! I can’t say anything because there’s a really awesome plot twist that I’d hate to spoil for you, but it makes such a good ending to this collection!

These stories are truly phenomenal and completely get me in the mind frame of the spooky season. Each story is told with a fresh perspective, but still feels like a collective work of art where everyone writing was on the same page. Loved it and you will too!

Scheduled to post 10/13/20.

Okay, I really loved VAMPIRES NEVER GET OLD. Never mind that I practically squealed when I found out about it because VAMPIRES ARE MAKING A COMEBACK. But Donna, it's one book, you say. I DON'T CARE. There are actually like 4 or 5 vampire books getting put out by traditional publishers (that I'm aware of), but that's beside the point. This one was awesome.

Written by a compendium of diverse people who each provided a much-needed breath of fresh life back into this genre, VAMPIRES NEVER GET OLD is everything we need in the genre. While I adore vampires and I, on the surface, liked a lot of those older vampire stories, there's certainly room to provide more flavors in this bowl of mashed potatoes. Not all vampires are tall, pale, and glittery and the world would be damn boring if they were, even factoring in the realness of vampires themselves.

Some of my favorites were The House of Black Sapphires by Dhonielle Clayton that takes the 'needs homeland dirt' idea and flips it completely on its head. Senior Year Sucks by Julie Murphy is a nod to Buffy with more meat on her bones. A Guidebook for the Newly Sired Desi Vampire by Samira Ahmed is hilarious and quirky. First Kill by Victoria Schwab really blurs the line between the vampire and slayer and which is actually good and which is actually bad, if either. And The Boys from Blood River by Rebecca Roanhorse has this Near Dark grit to it that I loved.

So that's like half the book and that's not helpful. So just read it. If you're a vampire fan you'll appreciate all the nods and if you're a fan of good storytelling you'll appreciate the variety and perspective that makes you look at vampires from a whole new light. If you're looking for a movie that holds on to those old vampire tropes while simultaneously flipping it on its head and makes gentrification an even greater horror than it already is, may I recommend Vampires vs the Bronx, especially if you're a Lost Boys fan. So many easter eggs!

5

I read this for a blog tour.

This is a really enjoyable selection of vampire stories that play with the conventions of the mythology that starts before Dracula, exploring issues of race, sexuality and gender.

As a massive Buffy fan my favourite two stories dealt with slayers - Julie Murphy's Senior Year Sucks and V.E. Schwab's First Kill.

They were different from each other but explored the difficulties of juggling your secret identity and high school, getting a crush on inappropriately fanged hot girls, and not ending up friendless and alone as the "weird girl".

I loved the twists on the genre and the interplay of various themes around identity and the ultimate outsider - the blood drinking, nightwalking vampire.

This collection of short stories revives the vampire tale with new twists and a modern take on a creature older than time. Like most collections of short stories, I liked some of them more than others. I think this book is worth picking up if you love a good vampire story, but I can't say every story was as engaging as I would have liked.

An anthology chock full of author faves writing about one of fiction’s favorite supernatural beings, Vampires Never Get Old: Tales with Fresh Bite is a tome teeming with love stories to the genre by vampire lovers. Each author — 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 — presents us with visions of what a vampire revival could look like if helmed by Desi, Black, Latinx, queer, and disabled writers, and what a vision it is! Every story truly makes points, but I’ll use this review to sum up the stories that stand out to me.


Friend of BGC Mark Oshiro’s Mirrors, Windows, and Selfies places us in an unknown town with a boy whose entire life has gone purposefully unacknowledged, because he’s not supposed to exist. After finding community in blogging what seems to be fanfic, Cisco, goes from living a life half glanced through poor reflections in the nearby river or windows to understanding more about his atypical, yet not uncommon, vampire existence. Similar in its exploration of hidden identity — yet placing the vampire as the villain and a grave robber as the protagonist — Heidi Heilig’s The Boy and the Bell is the historical fiction remix to the buried alive vampire superstition that I didn’t know I needed. In this story we follow aforementioned grave robber and medical student Will as he encounters a rich, snotty and adversarial vampire willing to out Will’s gender to serve his ends — and it all happens in a graveyard. The Boy and the Bell is definitely a story to read at night if you enjoy being spooked, and leads into what this anthology also does well: contrasting the horror of human interaction with the lethal nature of vampires.

In Kind by Kayla Whaley, A Guidebook for the Newly Sired Desi Vampire by Samira Ahmed, and Vampires Never Say Die Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker work through the ways vampirism can be salvation for those threatened with death. Grace Williams, protagonist of In Kind, is victim of society’s abhorrence of the disabled existence which literally shows up when (CW) her father premeditates to murder her via morphine, due to her disability. The praise he receives by the media and their community afterwards reinforces responses we’ve seen in real life. Luckily, a guardian vampire intervenes before Grace’s death and she is turned, but not in such a way that disposes of her disability, giving her the opportunity to work through what vengeance may mean. Cruelty perpetrated by vampires is explored in A Guidebook for the Newly Sired Desi Vampire, a story told through app tutorial, for a teenage protagonist who has been turned by a colonizer vampire bucking the international restrictions decided by vampire society, as colonizers are wont to do. Unfortunately in this story, this cruelty has occurred so much in India that an app has been developed to teach new vampires the way during the day when the network has to remain away from the sun. We see vampires on both sides of human treatment in Vampires Never Say Die, which introduces us to Instagram friends Brittany and Theolinda who become more than friends when Theo’s surprise birthday party for Brittany goes all kinds of wrong.

Once upon a time (in the 2000s), the world felt overrun by vampires in books, on TV, and in movie after movie. The populace was so oversaturated with tales that there seemed to be a backlash against the genre, with vampires being staked into dust across these mediums almost as abruptly as they’d appeared. Vampires Never Get Old is a beacon to those who wanted more from the vampire stories of yore or would just like to spice up their vampire-loving lives. Authors included in this anthology make apt observations and build intricate worlds that provide us such wisdom as: Samira Ahmed’s “And we’re not technically your aunties. We’re actually teenagers, like you. But we’ve been teenagers for decades, some of us even longer, so our pop-culture references are sometimes off. Don’t criticize. One day you’ll be us.” It’s a quote that captures so much of my former teenage fears and my current 30-something-year-old acceptance as well as summing up vampire existence in a resonant tongue-in-cheek way.

From Dhonielle Clayton’s majestic The House of Black Sapphires, we get insight into an immortal heroine who is no less enchanted by life: “But sometimes Bea wanted trouble. Anything that made her eternal existence a little more entertaining. Her stomach tangled with all the things she might unravel and uncover in this peculiar version of this peculiar city [New Orleans].” It’s a testament to the apropos name of this anthology, acknowledging that though vampires may live through ages, they never have to become old.

Córdova and Parker give us a call out of male abuse of power with Brittany’s consideration of being sired: “He may have been the catalyst of my transformation, but I was the architect. Every choice I made thereafter was a response to his opening argument. If his argument was something along the lines of being more powerful than me by virtue of his sex and his circumstance, then I have been crafting my answer ever since.”

Vampires Never Get Old truly calls to those with love for vampire tales outside of the typical pale. May these quotes lure you into reading these stories, much like a glamour draws those beset by a vampire’s gaze.

*Special thanks to Hear Our Voices Book Tours and Macmillan Imprint for giving us access to the advance review copy of this book.*

Not only is this book filled with some of my favorite authors, but it was also the vampire content that I have been craving. Each story had such a unique point of view that I never felt bored or like I was reading the same story over and over again. It was also refreshing to see some authors expand out of their usual genre - I know want Julie Murphy to write a new age Buffy. Everything about this book was amazing, it was a great read to pass the time.

DNF.

I have to be honest. I wanted to read this because of V.E. Schwab's story. I read through 4 or 5 of the first stories and then skipped right to V's (which is the last story). The stories I read (other than hers) were boring, typical, and mostly forgettable. I didn't find anything noteworthy about them. The characters were stale.

The editors have interludes between stories that describe certain aspects of vampire lore. These are short and unnecessary. It seems as though they just wanted to talk about vampires, but failed to adequately achieve that via this medium.

V’s story was well-written. It concerns two teenagers who had crushes on each other- but one is a vampire and the other is a hunter. They both have to complete a rite of passage: feed on a human and kill a vampire, respectively. They choose to accomplish this on the other, which directly contradicts their feelings for one another. The ending was dissatisfying because I was just...confused. I’ll have to reread it to see if I understand it better. It almost seemed like they had both decided to neglect their amorous feelings, but at the same time it felt like they were about to have the “chase”, that the conflict between them might bring them closer? We’ll see.

I can not love this book enough. There are so many diverse stories from 11 authors. This small book is jam packed with vampire stories like you’ve never seen them. From queer rep to disabled rep, I’m eternally grateful for this work of art.

2.5/5💫

A huge thank you to the publisher for providing me with an e-arc of this this title

Are vampires truly making their comeback? In this 12 short story anthology you will be able to see some of your favourite authors putting their own touch on vampires. Sadly this wasn’t the anthology for me, for most anthology you have your highs and your lows but for this one I just had too many lows, leaving me handing out more 2 stars to the individual stories and only highly rating 2. Maybe vampires just are still not for me, 10 years ago I wasn’t a big fan of them and now I still don’t see a huge appeal for them. I love seeing vampires in the background of stories, in a world where there are multiple fantastical characters, vampires just happen to be there, so I will say the low rating definitely goes hand in hand with that.

If you love the author line up for this anthology and you love vampires then I would definitely recommend picking it up. I read this in under two days so it is a fast paced read but sadly just didn’t work for me.

Once again a huge thank you to the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy via NetGalley

Vampires Never Get Old was just plain fun, and the perfect anthology to read going into the Halloween season!

The most epic of anthologies. I loved all the different tales on a vampire story. My absolute favorite was VE’s at the end of the book. Just they all leave you wanting more in such a good way!

A good variety of vampire based short stories. I also enjoyed the explanation after each story about the part of vampire myth the author focused on and how they twisted it.

This book has great representation in it and i was very excited to read all the short stories, but i could not get into any of them! I’m not sure what it was, but the book did not pull me in at all. This doesn’t mean it’s terrible, it just wasn’t for me.

Published on Culturess.com. Link attached below: culturess.com/2020/09/22/vampires-never-get-old-review/

VAMPIRES NEVER GET OLD is a very fun anthology that reimagines vampire stories and mythology to be more inclusive. In this collection vampires use social media (Mark Oshiro's "Mirrors, Windows & Selfies"), force bullied teens into making really hard choices (Rebecca Roanhorse's "The Boys from Blood River"), and just want to finish high school (Julie Murphy's "Senior Year Sucks"). Many of the stories interrogate loneliness and isolation, what it means to belong to a family or community, and is being a vampire all it's cracked up to be.

My three favorite stories were:
"The House of Black Sapphires" by Dhonielle Clayton
I would read an entire series about this family of Eternal women (Black lady vampires of sorts who are more powerful than normal vampires). They travel from city to city whenever they need to protect themselves and all of the sisters have different powers. After arriving in New Orleans, our hero Bea is beguiled by a young Shadow Baron, the enemy of all Eternal women. Is one kiss worth potentially losing herself and her powers?

"A Guidebook for the Newly Sired Desi Vampire" by Samira Ahmed
Unapologetically anti-colonial, political, and incisive. The guidebook includes items such as the only humans to bite and kill are colonizers; your family will still try to arrange your marriage; and that you have the power and opportunity to live your life as authentically as possible, despite being bitten. I would love to assign this short piece in a class on colonialism.

"First Kill" by Victoria “V. E.” Schwab
A story told from the perspective of a vampire and a slayer. They're high school classmates navigating crushes on each other and having to decide what the other will do to them. I would also read a full book about this pair.

I'm normally not a paranormal reader, but I really loved this anthology. I appreciated that the editors added their own commentary, thoughts, and questions after each story. It was a great way to deconstruct elements of vampire lore and pose fascinating ideas to readers. A great read for spooky season and for those looking to move people standard vampire lore.