Leta’s Book Review: Vampires Never Get Old: Tales with Fresh Bite

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Vampires Never Get Old: Tales with Fresh Bite is a collection of short stories about vampires, of course, full of puns, murder, and romance. With each story comes distinct kinds of vampires with different agendas: turn more people, pick the right people to turn, or find love. It also has a lot of humans who must choose whether they want to become vampires, living forever amidst their undead brethren.

I picked this collection up because I read The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and fell in love with V.E. Schwab’s writing. I’m also a huge sucker for short story collections. Vampires Never Get Old: Tales with Fresh Bite sounded like a lovely change from the weird vampire stories that got popular: namely, Twilight. I read the Twilight books when I was a young teen, but it didn’t pull me in. Honestly, I enjoyed the movies more for their sheer amount of cheese. The vampires in Twilight seemed like a joke to me, and even back then I felt like I was reading something written by a kid (I’ve been at a high reading level for a while).

One unique aspect of this collection is that the editors pipe up at the end of each story to say a few words. They comment on the major trope of the story, give some historical context or information for where that trope might have originated, and pose questions to the reader. It’s amazing how the authors can create such unique vampires and stories about vampires after so many centuries of vampiric storytelling. Not only does this show the talent of these writers, but it also shows the diversity and possibility that a creature like vampires offer to us. It’s important for humans to see different perspectives to understand the world – and one of those is the perspective of immortality at the price of every part of our humanity.

The modernity struck me about these stories. The sexuality of most of the characters is very fluid, with most of them having relationships or attractions to both genders and to same genders individuals. It fits very well with the sensuality of vampirism (especially in the modern context) to have them be open about what they do and who they do it with. Rarely is there a definition for any of these feelings, but there is always a sense of acceptance in the author’s tone.

I contemplated getting into the plots of a few of the stories on here, but I think that heading too far into spoiler territory. Instead, I’ll say this: this collection will appeal to those who love vampires and those who are hesitant. If you don’t like vampires, this might not be the collection for you. But even so, you might find this to be a lovely introduction to vampires that isn’t Twilight or The Vampire Diaries. I certainly did. Thanks for reading.