Vampires and New England

I recently finished Blood Lines: Vampire Stories from New England (Nashville: Cumberland House, 1997), edited by Lawrence Schimel and Martin H. Greenberg as part of The American Vampire Series.

It is an interesting collection with works from a very disparate selection of writers. A number of the stories play with New England's own traditions of vampire folklore (or create new ones), but too many of the narratives seemed to use the setting only as a place to tell a vampire story rather than expand on what has come before or relish in the location. All are worth a read, but readers should be forewarned that they might not find what they are expecting here. These are, perhaps, best referred to as "Vampire Stories Set in New England," rather than to be thought of "Vampire Stories of New England".


Contents (from The Locus Index to Science Fiction: 1984-1998):

Blood Lines: Vampire Stories from New England ed. Lawrence Schimel & Martin H. Greenberg (Cumberland House 1-888952-50-4, Sep ’97 [Oct ’97], $12.95, 225pp, tp) Vampire anthology of ten stories, one original. Authors include Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Manly Wade Wellman, H.P. Lovecraft, and Esther Friesner. Introduction by Schimel.

• ix · Introduction · Lawrence Schimel · in
• · New Hampshire
• 1 · Investigating Jericho [Saint-Germain] · Chelsea Quinn Yarbro · na F&SF Apr ’92
• · Massachussetts
• 51 · The Brotherhood of Blood · Hugh B. Cave · nv Weird Tales May ’32
• · Connecticut
• 73 · Chastel [Lee Cobbett; Judge Keith Hilary Pursuivant] · Manly Wade Wellman · nv The Year’s Best Horror Stories: Series VII, ed. Gerald W. Page, DAW, 1979
• · Maine
• 99 · Doom of the House of Duryea · Earl Peirce, Jr. · ss Weird Tales Oct ’36
• · Vermont
• 115 · Moonlight in Vermont · Esther Friesner · nv Sisters in Fantasy 2, ed. Susan Shwartz & Martin H. Greenberg, Roc, 1996
• · Connecticut
• 139 · Secret Societies · Lawrence Schimel · ss *
• · Massachussetts
• 151 · Luella Miller · Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman · ss Everybody’s Magazine Dec ’02
• · New Hampshire
• 165 · When the Red Storm Comes · Sarah Smith · ss Shudder Again, ed. Michele Slung, Roc, 1993
• · Connecticut
• 179 · The Beautiful, the Damned · Kristine Kathryn Rusch · ss F&SF Feb ’95
• · Rhode Island
• 197 · The Shunned House · H. P. Lovecraft · nv Weird Tales Oct ’37