100 Vicious Little Vampire Stories

What is a vampire? Evil incarnate? A creature in the Dracula vein, whose gruesome means of sustenance contradicts the norms by which civilized human beings measure what is natural and morally proper? Or is a vampire, with his nocturnal habits, a potent symbol for humanity's unenlightened superstitions - a counter symbol of the divinity who turned the darkness of the void into light? As the tales of 100 Vicious Little Vampires make clear, there is no simple answer to the question. What is a vampire? For in this volume, no two vampires are alike, and readers will find that their presence is not limited to the worlds of fantasy, horror, and science fiction, the vampire is equally at home in mundane worlds in which any suggestion of the supernatural is conspicuously lacking. Consider the vampire's relationships. Typically it is one of predator (vampire) and prey (human). In this collection you'll also find atypical predatory/prey relationships: the Internal Revenue Service stalking tax delinquents, viruses attacking the bloodstream, radio "shock jokes" baiting their audiences. Readers will also find that beyond the classic bloodsucking vampire who lives off the life force on the sympathy rendered by unsuspecting caregivers, on the affection of incautious lovers, on the tithes donated by the religious faithful. In their efforts to wreak original variations of the vampire theme, the writers represented in the collection have imagined ingenious new means of vampire disposal, envisioned vampires, interfacing with computers and piloting time machines, and even proposed more than a few reasons why people might want to be a vampire - or at least have one as a close friend. Not that there aren't a few traditional vampires lurking between these covers. As editor Stefan Dziemianzwica writes, " There are vampires here to suit very taste - an intentional pun meant to warn the several of the selections are intended as comic relief."