Queer Vampires in Fiction—Santino’s Fake Syllabus

If I was teaching a class on the history of queer vampires in fiction, I would include five specific titles in the “canon”. Books with themes ranging from manipulation through seduction to the corruption of purity but excluding sparkling skin and incidental vampirism. In other words, I like books where the nature of vampires, and the way people respond to them, are central to the plot.

What motivates supernatural creatures? It’s no fun when they’re just mindless bloodsuckers. I like them sinister, sexy, and conflicted. Even better when humans are pulled in despite sensing danger. These are all themes present in STYGIAN, my new release, but also in several must-read queer vampire stories.

Carmilla by Sheridan LeFanu

Before there was Dracula there was Carmilla. The lesbian vampire who exclusively targets females and becomes desperately enamored with her latest victim. She isn’t evil as much as lonely and desperate for a companion, and Laura is her chosen one. Laura knows Carmilla is more than she seems, but she can’t quite resist the vampire’s magnetism.
 
 
 

Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite

There are problematic themes in Lost Souls, but it’s even more of a reason why I’d want to pick it apart in a classroom. The vampires in PZB’s world are all queer and range from sad and fading like the bartender Christian to ghoulish and sociopathic like the trio led by Zillah. Zillah uses his beauty and promises of an exciting life to lure in lonely Goth kids, and he’s extremely successful in this regard. The supernatural creatures of Lost Souls have been twisted over time and are some of the darkest I’ve read.
 

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

No queer vampire book list would be complete without Interview with the Vampire. Instead of being ghoulish and demonic, Rice’s character Louis is brooding and has serious internal conflicts about his vampirism. Everyone loves a character that has to continuously fight their primal instincts, right? Especially when he’s basically in a relationship with the terribly beautiful Lestat and they’re raising a little vampire together.
 
 

Let the Right One In: A Novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist

This book is dark dark dark, but it’s amazing. The vampire here is gender fluid and trapped in a 12-year-old body. There are themes of co-dependence and obsession, and the relationship here intensifies as the human boy Oskar begins to assist Eli in obtaining blood. This novel brings to mind the question of whether loving a creature of darkness can lead you further into those shadows.
 
 
 

Channeling Morpheus by Jordan Castillo Price

What I find so fascinating about JCP’s vampire series is that it starts out as a tale of revenge and sex as the vampire hunter Michael falls in love with devil may care vampire Wild Bill, but it’s so much more. As the series progresses, it isn’t Wild Bill’s vampire nature that comes into question time and time again—it’s Michael’s. What does it mean that he wants to find and kill vampires even though he knows they aren’t all bad? Is he a serial killer? And what happens when he, as a human, begins drinking blood? And why does he want to? Juicy stuff.
 
 
I highly recommend pretending you’re actually taking a Queer Vampires in Fiction course while reading the above books, and then find me on social media to talk about it. Even better if you follow up by reading STYGIAN. 😉