The Time of the Vampires

FROM TIME IMMEMORIAL, THEY HAVE STALKED THE NIGHT ---Creatures of legend --- or something all too real? For centuries people have whispered about the creatures of darkness, of those who wear the guise of humans to prey upon their all-too-mortal kin, of those neither dead nor alive, who exist in a sort of immortal twilight and attain both the semblance and substance of life by drinking the blood of their helplessly mesmerized victims.Here then are eighteen, original tales of vampires down through history, from the eras of ancient Greece and Rome up to the modern day, some traditionally horrifying, some poignant, some with a humorous touch. From a vampire blessed by Christ to the truth about the notorious Oscar Wilde to a rollicking tale of vampirism and the Bow Street Runners, these memorable stories by such tale-weavers as Tanya Huff, P.N. Elrod, and Lois Tilton are sure to appeal to anyone who's ever been bitten by an interest in those mysterious, seductive, and deadly rulers of the night.Introduction / P.N. Elrod --Vision of darkness / Lois Tilton --Scent of blood / Susan Booth --Gift / Teresa Patterson --Oaths / Bradley H. Sinor --Blood of the lamb / Lillian Stewart Carl --Devil's mark / P.N. Elrod --Bloodthirsty tyrants / Catt Kingsgrave-Ernstein --What manner of man / Tanya Huff --Matter of taste / Nick Pollotta --Voice from the void / Margaret Carter --In memory of / Nancy Kilpatrick --Death mask / Rebecca Ann Brothers --Faith like wine / Roxanne Longstreet --Black sounds / Lawrence Schimel --Ghost of St. Mark's / Elaine Bergstrom --Walking tour / Jean Graham --Night of the vampire scare / Julie Barrett --Toothless vampires can still give hickeys / James Schutte