Vampire Taxonomy
It had its fun moments but, all in all, a rather tepid book. Still, I'm glad to see any author making money off the latest craze for this or that.
Meanwhile, since that was such a very short book review, here are some of my favorite vampires, more or less in order:
Franklin Mott of True Blood, with his absurdly long fangs. He lasted only a season but by god I loved him. I don't know if it was just how damn funny he was written (and I'm an absolute sucker for the funny stuff) or how well he was played by the talented James Frain but when he exited the series it just lost all its allure for me.
Spike, of course. I still regret that he didn't move over to this guy's series sooner:
Much as it surprised me, I loved Angel as soon as he was shaken free of that whiney little twerp, Buffy.
For those who haven't had the pleasure yet, this is Mitchell from the BBC's Being Human. Turned in the trenches of WWI as part of a deal to save his men from suffering the same fate, he swings wildly between bloodthirsty monster and guilt-ridden humanitarian, sometimes in a single afternoon. The man has good intentions but bad appetites.
OK, the movie was cheesy but Frank Langella was a classic romantic Dracula. I still remember the first time I saw this one all the way back in 1979 -- when Langella appeared on the screen every woman (and possibly a few men) in the audience gasped out loud. It was an innocent age. Well, innocenter.
Reinhardt of Blade 2 is a guilty pleasure, but I do love Ron Perlman and have ever since the days of Beauty and the Beast. And Perlman does make such a great vampire.
And last but not least, the poster that says it all: Vampires are not emotional sissy boys, do not attend high school and do - not - sparkle.