The Mammoth Book of Vampires: New edition (Mammoth Books) Read online

  Praise for The Mammoth Book of Vampires

  “The vampire is shaping up to be bogeyman of the decade . . . anyone wondering what all the fuss is about can swot up on things that go slurp in the night with the help of The Mammoth Book of Vampires.”

  The Times Saturday Review

  “Jones’ selection is a marvellous mix of the modern and classic tales of terror.”

  Time Out

  “An indispensable compendium for fans of bloodsuckers.”

  Science Fiction Chronicle

  “Essential reading for vampire lovers.”

  British Fantasy Society’s Bookshelf

  “A superlative collection.”

  Starlog Movie Magazines

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  The Mammoth Book of Vampires

  The Mammoth Book of Vampire Stories by Women

  The Mammoth Book of War Correspondents

  The Mammoth Book of Women who Kill

  In memory of

  Ronald Chetwynd-Hayes

  (1919–2001)

  a true gentleman and a vampire’s best friend

  COPYRIGHT

  Published by Robinson

  ISBN 978-1-78033-280-2

  All characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Collection and editorial material

  copyright © Stephen Jones 1992, 2004

  Interior illustrations copyright © Randy Broecker 2004

  Cover art copyright © Les Edwards

  Special thanks to Hugh Lamb, Nick Austin, Val and Les Edwards and Randy Broecker for all their help and support.

  The moral right of the author has been asserted.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

  The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.

  Robinson

  Little, Brown Book Group

  Carmelite House

  50 Victoria Embankment

  London, EC4Y 0DZ

  www.littlebrown.co.uk

  www.hachette.co.uk

  CONTENTS

  Acknowledgments

  Introduction:

  The Children of the Night

  Human Remains

  CLIVE BARKER

  Necros

  BRIAN LUMLEY

  The Man Who Loved the Vampire Lady

  BRIAN STABLEFORD

  A Place to Stay

  MICHAEL MARSHALL SMITH

  The Brood

  RAMSEY CAMPBELL

  Root Cellar

  NANCY KILPATRICK

  Hungarian Rhapsody

  ROBERT BLOCH

  The Legend of Dracula Reconsidered as a Prime-time TV Special

  CHRISTOPHER FOWLER

  Vampire

  RICHARD CHRISTIAN MATHESON

  Stragella

  HUGH B. CAVE

  A Week in the Unlife

  DAVID J. SCHOW

  The House at Evening

  FRANCES GARFIELD

  Vampyrrhic Outcast

  SIMON CLARK

  The Labyrinth

  R. CHETWYND-HAYES

  Beyond Any Measure

  KARL EDWARD WAGNER

  Doctor Porthos

  BASIL COPPER

  Straight to Hell

  PAUL McAULEY

  It Only Comes Out at Night

  DENNIS ETCHISON

  Investigating Jericho

  CHELSEA QUINN YARBRO

  Dracula’s Chair

  PETER TREMAYNE

  A Taste for Blood

  SYDNEY J. BOUNDS

  The Better Half

  MELANIE TEM

  The Devil’s Tritone

  JOHN BURKE

  Chastel

  MANLY WADE WELLMAN

  Der Untergang Des Abendlandesmenschen

  HOWARD WALDROP

  Red as Blood

  TANITH LEE

  Laird of Dunain

  GRAHAM MASTERTON

  A Trick of the Dark

  TINA RATH

  Midnight Mass

  F. PAUL WILSON

  Blood Gothic

  NANCY HOLDER

  Yellow Fog

  LES DANIELS

  Fifteen Cards from a Vampire Tarot

  NEIL GAIMAN

  Vintage Domestic

  STEVE RASNIC TEM

  Try a Dull Knife

  HARLAN ELLISON

  Andy Warhol’s Dracula Anno Dracula 1978–79

  KIM NEWMAN

  About the Editor

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  INTRODUCTION: THE CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT copyright © Stephen Jones 1992, 2004.

  HUMAN REMAINS copyright © Clive Barker 1984. Originally published in Books of Blood Volume 3. Reprinted by permission of Sphere Books.

  NECROS copyright © Brian Lumley 1986. Originally published in The Second Book of After Midnight Stories. Reprinted by permission of the author and the author’s agent, The Dorian Literary Agency.

  THE MAN WHO LOVED THE VAMPIRE LADY copyright © 1988 by Brian Stableford. Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, August 1988. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  A PLACE TO STAY copyright © Michael Marshall Smith 1998. Originally published in Dark Terrors 4: The Gollancz Book of Horror. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  THE BROOD copyright © Ramsey Campbell 1980. Originally published in Dark Forces. Reprinted by p
ermission of the author.

  ROOT CELLAR copyright © Nancy Kilpatrick 1991. Originally published in Vampire’s Crypt No .4, 1991. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  HUNGARIAN RHAPSODY copyright © Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. 1958. Originally published in Fantastic, June 1958. Reprinted by permission of the author and the author’s estate.

  THE LEGEND OF DRACULA RECONSIDERED AS A PRIME-TIME TV SPECIAL copyright © Christopher Fowler 1992. Originally published in Sharper Knives. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  VAMPIRE copyright © Richard Christian Matheson 1986. Originally published in Cutting Edge. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  STRAGELLA copyright © The Clayton Magazines, Incorporated. Originally published in Strange Tales, June 1932. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  A WEEK IN THE UNLIFE copyright © David J. Schow 1991. Originally published in A Whisper of Blood. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  THE HOUSE AT EVENING copyright © Stuart David Schiff 1982. Originally published in Whispers No.15-16, March 1982. Reprinted by permission of the author and the author’s estate.

  VAMPYRRHIC OUTCAST copyright © Simon Clark 2003. Originally published on Nailed by the Heart, 17-31 July, 2003. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  THE LABYRINTH copyright © Ronald Chetwynd-Hayes 1974. Originally published in The Elemental. Reprinted by permission of the author and the author’s estate.

  BEYOND ANY MEASURE copyright © Stuart David Schiff 1982. Originally published in Whispers No.15-16, March 1982. Reprinted by permission of the author and the author’s estate.

  DOCTOR PORTHOS copyright © Basil Copper 1968. Originally published in The Midnight People. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  STRAIGHT TO HELL copyright © Paul McAuley 2000. Originally published in The Third Alternative Issue 24, 2000. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  IT ONLY COMES OUT AT NIGHT copyright © Kirby McCauley 1976. Originally published in Frights. Copyright Dennis Etchison 1982. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  INVESTIGATING JERICHO copyright © Chelsea Quinn Yarbro 1992. Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, April 1992. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  DRACULA’S CHAIR copyright © Peter Tremayne 1979. Originally published in The Count Dracula Fan Club Book of Vampires. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  A TASTE FOR BLOOD copyright © Sydney J. Bounds 2004.

  THE BETTER HALF copyright © Melanie Tern 1989. Originally published in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, mid-December 1989. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  THE DEVIL’S TRITONE copyright © John Burke 2004.

  CHASTEL copyright © Manly Wade Wellman 1979. Originally published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories: Series VII. Reprinted by permission of the author and the author’s estate.

  DER UNTERGANG DES ABENDLANDESMENSCHEN copyright © Howard Wal-drop 1976. Originally published in Chacal No.1, Winter 1976. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  RED AS BLOOD copyright © Tanith Lee 1979. Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, July 1979. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  LAIRD OF DUNAIN copyright © Graham Masterton 1992.

  A TRICK OF THE DARK copyright © Tina Rath 2004.

  MIDNIGHT MASS copyright © F. Paul Wilson 1990. Originally published in Midnight Mass. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  BLOOD GOTHIC copyright © Nancy Jones Holder 1985. Originally published in Shadows 8. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  YELLOW FOG copyright © Les Daniels 1986. Originally published in Yellow Fog. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  FIFTEEN CARDS FROM A VAMPIRE TAROT copyright © Neil Gaiman 1998. Originally published under the title ‘Fifteen Painted Cards from a Vampire Tarot’ in The Art of Vampire: The Masquerade. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  VINTAGE DOMESTIC copyright © Steve Rasnic Tern 1992.

  TRY A DULL KNIFE copyright © Harlan Ellison ® 1968. Renewed © The Kilimanjaro Corporation 1996. Originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, October 1968. Reprinted by arrangement with, and permission of, the author and the author’s agent, Richard Curtis Associates, New York, USA All rights reserved. Harlan Ellison is a registered trademark of The Kilimanjaro Corporation.

  ANDY WARHOL’S DRACULA ANNO DRACULA 1978-79 copyright © Kim Newman 1999. Originally published in Andy Warhol’s Dracula. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  INTRODUCTION

  The Children of the Night

  THE UNDEAD . . . Nosferatu . . . Children of the Night . . . Call them what you will, what they all have in common is a need to suck the life-force from the living to prolong their own unnatural existence and propagate. For the classic vampire, the blood is the life.

  However, in recent years many novels and short stories have elected to show the vampire in a somewhat different light – as a sympathetic, misunderstood character, a victim of its own affliction; or as a creature that feeds upon the human psyche or bodily fluids other than blood (thus enhancing the vampire’s frequent identification with a dark sexuality). All these approaches are, of course,perfectly valid, and some have even produced modern classics of the genre.

  Personally, I usually prefer a more traditional approach to vampire fiction.

  This revised and expanded edition of The Mammoth Book of Vampires collects together thirty-five classic and contemporary stories of the undead by many of horror fiction’s best-known names. As is to be expected in any representative collection, there are a number of the modern type of vampire stories I referred to above, but for the most part the bloodsuckers you will find within these pages are the real thing.

  From Hugh B. Cave’s memorable pulp thriller ‘Stragella’ through Tanith Lee’s twisted fairy tale ‘Red as Blood’ to Michael Marshall Smith’s hallucinatory ‘A Place to Stay’, you will discover a modern mix of vampire fiction by such masters of the macabre as Clive Barker, Brian Lumley, Ramsey Campbell, Harlan Ellison, Neil Gaiman, Robert Bloch, Dennis Etchison and Karl Edward Wagner, amongst others.

  There is original short fiction from Sydney J. Bounds, John Burke, Graham Masterton, Tina Rath and Steve Rasnic Tem; F. Paul Wilson, Les Daniels and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro are represented by three powerful novellas, and Kim Newman contributes another instalment in his popular and critically acclaimed Anno Dracula series.

  As usual, all the stories in this volume were selected because they are particular favourites of mine. I have also attempted to put together an anthology that offers a relatively unfamiliar line-up of tales to even the most jaded vampire aficionado.

  So before turning the page, make sure that the garlic is in place at window and door, the wooden stake is sharpened, and the holy water is close at hand. Just in case . . .

  I bid you, welcome.

  Stephen Jones

  London, England

  CLIVE BARKER

  Human Remains

  BEST-SELLING AUTHOR CLIVE BARKER was born in Liverpool, England, and began his literary career writing, directing and acting for the stage. Following the publication of his short stories in the Books of Blood in 1984, Barker went on to write numerous successful novels, including The Great and Secret Show, Weaveworld, Imajica, The Thief of Always, Everville, Sacrament and Galilee. More recently, he published a Hollywood ghost story, Coldheart Canyon, while Abarat was the first of a quartet of children’s books profusely illustrated by the author. Douglas E. Winter’s authorized biography, Clive Barker: The Dark Fantastic, appeared in 2001.

  As a screenwriter, director and film producer, Barker created the Hellraiser and Candyman franchises, and his other film credits include Nightbreed, Lord of Illusions, Saint Sinner and the Oscar-winning Gods and Monsters.

  An accomplished painter and visual artist, he has had exhibitions in New York and Los Angeles. He lives in Beverly Hills, California, with his partner, the photographer David Armstrong.

  The sto
ry that follows is one of the author’s earliest. It is also one of his most poignant. Prepare to meet a very different type of vampire . . .

  SOME TRADES ARE BEST practised by daylight, some by night. Gavin was a professional in the latter category. In midwinter, in midsummer, leaning against a wall, or poised in a doorway, a fire-fly cigarette hovering at his lips, he sold what sweated in his jeans to all comers.

  Sometimes to visiting widows with more money than love, who’d hire him for a weekend of illicit meetings, sour, insistent kisses and perhaps, if they could forget their dead partners, a dry hump on a lavender-scented bed. Sometimes to lost husbands, hungry for their own sex and desperate for an hour of coupling with a boy who wouldn’t ask their name.

  Gavin didn’t much care which it was. Indifference was a trade-mark of his, even a part of his attraction. And it made leaving him, when the deed was done and the money exchanged, so much simpler. To say, “Ciao”, or “Be seeing you”, or nothing at all to a face that scarcely cared if you lived or died: that was an easy thing.

  And for Gavin, the profession was not unpalatable, as professions went. One night out of four it even offered him a grain of physical pleasure. At worst it was a sexual abattoir, all steaming skins and lifeless eyes. But he’d got used to that over the years.

  It was all profit. It kept him in good shoes.

  By day he slept mostly, hollowing out a warm furrow in the bed, and mummifying himself in his sheets, head wrapped up in a tangle of arms to keep out the light. About three or so, he’d get up, shave and shower, then spend half an hour in front of the mirror, inspecting himself. He was meticulously self-critical, never allowing his weight to fluctuate more than a pound or two to either side of his self-elected ideal, careful to feed his skin if it was dry, or swab it if it was oily, hunting for any pimple that might flaw his cheek. Strict watch was kept for the smallest sign of venereal disease – the only type of lovesickness he ever suffered. The occasional dose of crabs was easily dispatched, but gonorrhoea, which he’d caught twice, would keep him out of service for three weeks, and that was bad for business; so he policed his body obsessively, hurrying to the clinic at the merest sign of a rash.

  It seldom happened. Uninvited crabs aside there was little to do in that half-hour of self-appraisal but admire the collision of genes that had made him. He was wonderful. People told him that all the time. Wonderful. The face, oh the face, they would say, holding him tight as if they could steal a piece of his glamour.