- Paperback: 635 pages
- Publisher: Robinson Publishing (27 Sep 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 184119297X
- ISBN-13: 978-1841192970
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,214,202 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
The Mammoth Book of Vampire Stories by Women is pretty much what it claims to be. Stephen Jones is one of the better anthologists in the horror business and here he provides a handy selection of the never-before-read and the specially written, as well as an introduction and a story by one of the queens of cinematic vampirism, Ingrid Pitt. Vampirism has always been a productive metaphor for seduction or rape, for being taken out of one's own self and put in a new realm of passionate desire--Anne Rice's "The Master of Rampling Gate", her only published short story, is not so much predictable as classic in its use of the haunted mansion and the woman freed from repression. It has also often stood for the glamour of outsider status and the strange subcultures that go with that--both Christa Faust and Caitlin Kiernan make luscious Gothery out of old standbys. Quite a few of the writers here are ones we do not associate with these themes--Pat Cadigan, Gwyneth Jones, Connie Willis. What is fascinating about this anthology is that vampirism is a myth so many fine writers inhabit so naturally, whether it is a habit with them or not. Few anthologies are essential--this one is definitively so. --Roz Kaveney
Review
'Fashions change, and the urbane vampire created by Byron and cemented in place by Stoker has had to move on... Are you, like me, ready for the new dusk?' -Ingrid Pitt
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Variable but a very enjoyable compilation.,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Mammoth Book of Vampire Stories by Women (Paperback)
As with all compilation books there are bound to be some stories you love and some you hate. This book contains a wide range of stories which are occasionally very loosely based around vampires. Although not usually a fan of short stories i found this book in the most part very enjoyable and happily dig into it when i have a spare few minutes only to find myself still reading an hour later. And if you find you dont like it you could always use it as a doorstop!!
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.3 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews) 19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
DON'T LET EITHER THE TITLE OR COVER PICTURE SCARE YOU OFF!,
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Mammoth Book Of Vampire Stories By Women (Paperback)
In my quest to read all things vampire, I had purchased this book some few months ago. I kept putting off starting to read it, daunted not only by its size (624 pages) but also by the fact that all the stories were written by women and I feared the majority of them would be nothing more than "bodice rippers." The back cover of the book said there were stories by some of my favorite authors, some of those being Poppy Z. Brite, Nancy A. Collins, and Nancy Kilpatrick; and though I also like Anne Rice's works, I bristled at the publisher's reference to her as "the undisputed queen of vampire literature," which reference only gave me further pause in making a decision to read the book. If they considered her writing to be the epitome, then how could I possibly trust their judgment as to the rest of the stories contained in the anthology? Nevertheless, I decided to read it, at the very least thus decreasing my "to be read" book pile by 624 pages!Was I ever pleasantly surprised, especially after opening it up only to discover that Anne Rice's "The Master of Rampling Gate" was the first one in the book! Of the 34 stories in this anthology, only two or three failed to hold my full interest; and several presented very enjoyable, unique twists on the meaning of vampire. If asked to name my favorites, it would be difficult, but they would probably be "Services Rendered" by Louise Cooper (a story with an ending you can't help but figure out and yet it made me mentally shout, "No! No! No! Don't do it!" and enjoy it just the same); "Butternut and Blood" by Kathryn Ptacek (a story set in a makeshift field hospital during the Civil War and a bedridden soldier helplessly watching Death come closer each night); "Venus Rising on Water" by Tanith Lee (about something that comes to earth through a portal opened by an astrologer's telescope, and a really creepy painting!); "A North Light" by Gwyneth Jones (it's hard to figure out if there's really two or three vampires in this tale that takes place in an out-of-the-way B&B in Ireland!); and "Jack" by Connie Willis (an unforgettable, rather sad story set during the London Blitzkrieg). Overall, I found all the stories to be haunting more than horrifying, ethereal more than erotic. It struck me as a book I might give to friends to read as a way of introducing them to the vampire genre; there is so much more to it than Dracula, and I am so often ridiculed and misunderstood for my interest in it. I gave the book 4 stars because I enjoyed almost all of the stories in this anthology, and will most likely read several of them a second time or more. 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Far more hits than misses.,
By James Yanni - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Mammoth Book Of Vampire Stories By Women (Paperback)
As with any anthology, some of the stories will resonate more with any given reader than others. There were a few stories here than just didn't do much for me, but that's to be expected, and there were far fewer than might be expected out of 37 stories. But the quality was in general quite high, and if you read nothing else in this book, you really should read "Jack", by Connie Willis (the second to last entry in the book), a 50-page novella that is one of the best short, stand-alone vampire stories I've ever read.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Something for every taste,
By Garnet "Dreaming A Strange Dream" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Mammoth Book Of Vampire Stories By Women (Paperback)
The vampires in this anthology are a diverse group, some are romantic, some erotic, may possess supernatural abilities, or not, others are grotesque, or simply bizarre. Actress Ingrid Pitt (of the Hammer films "The Vampire Lovers" and "Countess Dracula"), opens with a wonderful introduction and contributes an enjoyable story. Most of the stories are between five and twenty-five pages long. A few of the stories are around fifty pages. Anne Rice is represented with the first story. At about twenty pages, "The Master of Rampling Gate", is worth the price of the whole novel. It used to be challenging to find a reprint of "The Master of Rampling Gate", which was originally published in 1984 in "Redbook" magazine. I recommend this book to anyone who is looking to expand their scope of authors of "contemporary" vampire fiction. For those who have not been introduced to the writings of the great Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Tanith Lee, Storm Constantine, Poppy Z. Brite, and Freda Warrington, you may decide to build a collection of their novels . I tend to lean more toward a preference for a romantic, supernatural version of the vampire, of which, there are only a few here.
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