Man, This Stuff Seriously Bites!

I picked Scarlet Blaze 4 mainly because the predominant color in the image is a deep, bloody red--and that seemed apropos for a post of this kind. (Hopefully you've guessed the subject matter from the title and hint in this paragraph. (If not, you'll just have to wait a bit until I tip my hand...)
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I blame Anne Rice and Ronald Reagan for this. (OK, I blame Reagan for almost everything but that's another story for another post...) Dracula was written in the 1800s and become fodder for a lot of movies from the sublime to the ridiculous. The venerable old vampire had been played for shock and laughs, been an object of horror and ridicule and the butt of jokes on both the big and small screen but until Anne Rice unleashed Interview With The Vampire on an unsuspecting public the vampire went from a creepy villain to a crazy/sexy/cool leading man. (It happened while Reagan was President so I blame him.) Several sequels and related novels (and for all I know Miz Annie could still be churning out more volumes of undead fiction today.)
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It wasn't until 1993 that Laurel K. Hamilton unleashed Anita Blake Vampire Hunter on the reading public. It took three or four books but Anita Blake eventually quit hunting Vamps and started humping them! I could be wrong (and I'm sure some rabid fan will be quick to correct me) but I think Anita has gone through several boyfriends (vampire and werewolves) in her seventeen book saga. (Who can write seventeen books about ANYTHING???)
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Still, it seems that these successes didn't go unnoticed by other authors (and Publishers). I don't know how many different series have come out since these first two I don't know how many of different variations have come out. They all seem to share a common theme: vampires, werewolves (and God knows how many other mythical monster-types are living among us in a present-day world not dissimilar from our own. The novels are usually written in first person and the protagonist is usually a female human in love with a vampire. (They are irresistibly drawn to the dark, menacing power and brooding sexiness.) Sometimes the heroines have real power of her own (being a witch, mind reader or some such) but usually they are just ordinary girls swept up in the passion.
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Honestly, I just don't get it. But, then again, I'm not the target audience of these books. (The primary readership of these books is teenage girls and middle-aged women: I'm still not sure how the market can stand so much of such similar fiction. You'd think that so much of the same stuff would dilute the pool until the point that it just stops selling. Still, that probably won't be happening any time soon...
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Here's my take on (at least some of) what's out there in "Vamp Fic". Not being a big fan of vampires and this ilk maybe you should take my comments with a grain of salt (a couple of aspirin or a good stiff Scotch...)
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I haven't been keeping up with the Anita Blake series. (I didn't discover the series until four or five books in and by then I just didn't have enough interest to keep up with the series.) I remember the books as being nicely plotted and interesting characters. The violence is graphic as is the sex so beware if you're looking for something in this line and have a sensitive nature. (Of course, if you're looking for something in this line you're probably not that sensitive...)
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I picked up the first four books in the Sookie Stackhouse series from the Science Fiction Book Club mainly for one reason--they are set in Northwestern Louisiana, My Mother's family is from the region and I've visited the area enough to be somewhat familiar with the region so I was curious. (The fact that the lead was a telepath also attracted me: I'm a sucker for all things psionic you know.) Charlaine Harris (who live just over the border in Arkansas) got the details right: a lot of the characters reminded me of people I'd met on visits to the region. I really enjoyed the characters and the attention to detail Ms. Harris provides and the mystery was pretty good too. (I liked these books so much I've actually gone to the bookstores to purchase hardback copies of the novels when they first come out rather than waiting for the book club to publish.) The HBO series True Blood (well worth watching--even on line) somewhat follows the books but doesn't stick too closely to the written word. Needless to say this is my favorite of the vampire fiction series.
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Tate Hallaway has written three books in her Garnet Lacey series--of which I've read only one (Romancing The Dead). I'm not a fan (but this is "vampire chick lit" at in the extreme). Didn't care for the characters and it annoyed me that the lead character (a witch) didn't know who the bad guy was. (I'm not into mysticism but it only took me a couple of chapters to figure out the entire plot.) The sex scene is brief and chaste and there isn't a lot of strong language--or anything else, Needless to say I won't be seeking out anything else in the series.
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(I'm going to catch Hell for this next bit I'm sure--but I need to get it out there...) The Twilight novels by Stephanie Miller have a truly massive following with some of the most fanatical fans out there. (Please don't tar and feather me Twilight fans!) I tried to read the first novel and found I couldn't get through it (a real rarity for me: I can usually plow through to the end of a novel eventually--no matter how bad it may be). The first novel is an endless crapfest of recycled romanticism, gooey romance and teen angst that I just couldn't connect with no matter how hard I tried. My lady-wife Robyn also read the book: she didn't hate it as much as I did but feels no need to check out later novels. I didn't even like the movie (which was pretty bad in its own way.)
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Kim Harrison began her Rachel Morgan series in 2004 and has since written seven books in five years. The lead character is a witch who lives in a Cleveland populated by vampires, werecreatures and tons of other supernatural critters. I haven't read them yet but Robyn enjoys the series and thinks I'll probably like it when I finally dig myself out from under the mound of unread novels piled up on the shelves. (Blogging and Facebook have consumed a lot of my time lately.)
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The Paige Winterbourne books by Kelly Alexander are a poor man's version of the Rachel Morgan books. I struggled through the first couple of books but haven't felt the need to read any further. The title character is entirely too "put upon" for my taste. (I like my heroes to actually have a clear win once in a while--but that's just me.) This book reminds me a lot of the Tate Hallaway novels although this gal has even less power and status. Read it at your own risk.
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I'd have expected more raunch from novels with titles like X-Rated Bloodsuckers, The Npmphos of Rocky Flats and The Undead Kama Sutra but they're actually pretty tame. Yes, there's a bit of raw language but not much sex. Author Mario Acevedo has departed from the standard formula by creating a male lead--vampire P.I. Felix Gomez (an army vet who was turned while serving in Iraq). I liked his version of vampires. (He actually gives them some unique abilities and limitations that make sense to me.) There's a real "pulp fiction" quality (the genre, not the Quentin Tarrantino movie) that I found fun and interesting. I'm thinking men are more likely to enjoy these than women: Robyn read one of the novels and liked it but didn't feel the need to run out and find more--unlike me.)
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I hadn't even heard of the "Kitty Norville" novels until my e-Friend Mike Vivian mentioned htem in his blog SciFi Talk. (Check it out at www.isstomahawk@blogger.com if you have the time and inclination.) Since they sort of relate to the topic at hand I thought Id give it a mention though. Kitty is a werewolf (although a werewolf named "Kitty" somehow seems a contradiction in terms to me). Vampires feature in the series (being hereditary enemies of the werewolves) which is why I included them a lot. Mike really likes them books and "highly recommends" them; we often have different tastes so you have to take that for what its worth.
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These are just the series I know about off the top of my head without making an exhaustive search. I'm sure there are tons of others out there. Check 'em out at your local library or bookstore if you've a mind. Meantime...
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'nuff said.