Reviews with content warning for Child death - Vampires Never Get Old: Tales with Fresh Bite

This is one of the few short story collections I have ever read, and I enjoyed it thoroughly throughout. The collection covers different aspects of the myth of the vampire, told both through short stories and short essays by the editors, Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker. The essays were hilarious but also good addons to the stories, and give you better insight into the history of the vampire. The stories themselves are excellently written, and the characters in them often break the vampire stereotype, with one of the vampires being in a wheelchair and one of the vampire slayers being a fat girl. The view they gave of the vampire myths were refreshing, and I loved how good the representation in the stories was. I highly recommend this collection whether you're a fan of vampires or not, as it is highly entertaining and also wonderfully educational.
Average Rating: 3.75
Seven Nights For Dying: 3 stars
The Boys from Blood River: 3.75
Senior Year Sucks: 4
The Boy and the Bell: 3
A Guidebook for the Newly Sired Desi Vampire: 4.75
In Kind: 4.5
Vampires Never Say Die: 3
Bestiary: 2.75
Mirrors, Windows and Selfies: 3.5
The House of Black Sapphires: 4
First Kill: 4.5

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inkdrinkers's review

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adventurous lighthearted tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

I. Love. Vampires.

If you know me, you know I devour vampire media like a blood-starved monster. I will read just about anything to do with them, or variations of the myth. I've owned this collection for a while and wanted to pick it up finally because of the First Kill adaption!

Since this is a collection, I have a breakdown below of my thoughts on each short story! Overall though, I really enjoyed each story for what they offered and the different angles they approached vampirism. To be fair, I wanted to give this a five star for the four stories I love, but I can't justify it since I really didn't like a couple.

Seven Nights For Dying by Tessa Gratton: 3 stars

This story had an interesting approach on the turning myth! It takes place over seven days and the two vampires luring the main character to immortality are sexy and interesting. I was annoyed by the main character's slightly childish approach to everything, which docked a couple stars.

The Boys from Blood River by Rebecca Roanhorse: 5 stars

Oh. My. God. I love the Lost Boys and this story is inspired by it! I really loved the legend and folklore aspect woven into the Boys' backstory. Without giving too much away, it was chilling and the perfect promise of more at the end.

Senior Year Sucks by Julie Murphy: 5 stars

I didn't expect to like this one as much as I did! It gave me serious Buffy vibes, with a touch of something forbidden and dangerous. I would read a whole novel about the two main characters and the town Julie Murphy created, she always nails the southern atmosphere.

The Boy and the Bell by Heidi Heilig: 2 stars

I wish I liked this one more. With it being set historically and on a main character who is trans, it sounded really promising. I thought the plot was flimsy for my tastes and the characters were a little wooden.

A Guidebook for the Newly Sired Desi Vampire by Samira Ahmed: 3 stars

This one had a more light hearted and funny approach. I liked the tongue in cheek writing and the cultural approach to vampirism! It was a really nice "revenge is okay sometimes" and accept yourself message.

In Kind by Kayla Whaley: 2 stars

I'll admit, I keep forgetting what this one is about and having to look back at my copy. It's like The Boy and the Bell - the premise is good and I wanted to like it more, but the characters fell flat. I will say, the newspaper articles were really well done and my favorite parts.

Vampires Never Say Die by Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker: 4 stars

I really liked this one by the editors! The two characters were interesting, the premise was funny but entertaining, and the end promised happiness eventually for everyone involved.

Bestiary by Laura Ruby: 2 stars

I struggled with this one. The main character was a little too early 2000s emo for me and the zoo aspect was bizarre. It was an interesting setting for a vampire to work but more information needed to be fleshed out. It almost felt post-apocalyptic, but there was no concrete way for me to tell. (Other than the environmentalism aspect)

Mirrors, Windows, and Selfies by Mark Oshiro: 3 stars

I opened this one really expecting to dislike it because of the formatting. As I got into it, the blog posts grew on me, but it still really detracted from the story. I liked the end and the premise, but I know I would have loved the story more had it not been told like tumblr posts.

The House of the Black Sapphires by Dhonielle Clayton: 5 stars

This blew me out of the water. I'm a HUGE fan of Kalynn Bayron's "This Poison Heart" and this was like a condensed short story version. I loved the magical world, the building of tension, and the end right on the breathless climax. I'll be rereading this one.

First Kill by V.E. Schwab: 5 stars

This wholeheartedly deserved its own TV Show and they better not screw it up. I LOVED this, Schwab never misses. I don't think it's possible for her to ever misstep. The backstory of Calliope and her family is fascinating, it was the Vampire Diaries meets Supernatural and wonderful in every way.

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caitlin_doggos's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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lori_larsson's review

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dark funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Read this for the Read Harder Challenge 2021. I am not a big fan of short stories, because I like to get to know the characters and sit with them. So the 3 stars is a lot of personally not liking the medium.

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booksthatburn's review

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dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Vampires Never Get Old is a pretty strong collection of excellent vampire tales. No two mythos were exactly the same and I loved most of the stories.

I liked almost all of the collection, so first let me cover what I really enjoyed. Many of the stories had really powerful depictions of marginalized people finding strength during their interactions with vampires, sometimes by being vampires and sometimes through rejecting them. My particular favorites are "The Boys from Blood River", "In Kind", "Bestiary", and "Mirrors, Windows & Selfies". I love the premise and the feeling of "The Boys from Blood River", the MC handles relaying backstory while being firmly anchored in the moment in a way that immersed me very quickly into the story. The ending was really good, but now I want even more with the MC. "In Kind" gives a voice to a real kind of victim whose killers are frequently excused or even praised for their murder. It handles a difficult topic well through a really superb story. "Bestiary" was a slow burn, gradually trickling in details to make the MC's backstory clear, crystalizing in one fantastic moment when the pieces are finally in place to understand what happened. I never really felt confused leading up to it, but that moment of really understanding felt really good, especially in a tale this short. "Mirrors, Windows & Selfies" is a story about using the internet to feel a little less alone when you can't leave. I wish this had a follow-up I could read, it implies a very interesting variation on a lot of vampire lore and I'm fascinated (plus I really care what happens to the MC).

I cannot in good conscience recommend the final story, "First Kill". Minor spoilers to follow. It contains a gay character saying "People aren't straight... They just don't know better." I wasn't sure what to think about it as a one-off comment from a teenage character, but it erases a lot of people who are straight as well as queer, and it's a bizarre sweeping denial of people's understanding of their own identities. It's completely unchallenged within the narrative. The second thing which changed this from a story I was concerned about to one I cannot recommend is that

there's a character who is a monster-hunter, and in the backstory describing the monsters her family has killed, there's reference to a "full-grown wendigo" and a teenage character tries to take a "monstrous claw" as a prize. He's not allowed to because there's a general "no-trophies" rule.

Having that appear here just to add background details for a secondary character felt bad to read. The actual plot was interesting, but I can't recommend this collection without giving a warning about this story. Neither moment was examined, and they felt like they were there just to be filler about secondary characters, instead they're just cringey and bad.

Seven Nights for Dying: CW for

parental death (backstory).

The Boys from Blood River: CW for

homophobia, bullying, violence, parental death, death.

Senior Year Sucks: CW for

blood, death.

The Boy and the Bell: CW for

transphobia, misgendering, gore, death.

A Guidebook for the Newly Sired Desi Vampire: CW for

colonialism, death.

In Kind: CW for

ableism, child death, blood, death.

Vampires Never Say Die: CW for

sexism, blood, violence.

Bestiary: CW for

vomit, death (backstory).

Mirrors, Windows & Selfies: CW for

kidnapping, imprisonment, death.

The House of Black Sapphires: No major CWs.

First Kill: CW for

death.

TW for

discussion of body parts as trophies (wendigo).

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