Vampire Novel of the Century

Now here's an honour for you. The Horror Writer's Association is grabbing vampire fiction by the teeth (??) and is declaring one of the novels below to be the best vampire novel of the last 100 years. It's been one hundred years since the death of Bram Stoker and the Horror Writers Association is using this occasion to declare which book has "had the greatest impact on the horror genre since the publication of Dracula". The winner will be announced on March 31.

Salem's Lot (M)
by Stephen King

"Ben Mears has returned to Jerusalem's Lot in the hopes that living in an old mansion, long the subject of town lore, will help him cast out his own devils and provide inspiration for his new book. But when two young boys venture into the woods and only one comes out alive, Mears begins to realize that there may be something sinister at work and that his hometown is under siege by forces of darkness far beyond his control." publisher

The Soft Whisper of the Dead
by Charles L. Grant

"The author, who died in 2006, was a prolific writer and published books under six pseudonyms as well as his own name. This 1983 novel is part of a 12-book series set in his fictional Connecticut town of Oxrun Station, which gets almost as much paranormal action as Stephen King's made-up bits of Maine." The Guardian (This title is out of print - you might want to try Interlibrary Loan)

I Am Legend (M)
by Richard Matheson

"Robert Neville may well be the last living man on Earth . . . but he is not alone. An incurable plague has mutated every other man, woman, and child into bloodthirsty, nocturnal creatures who are determined to destroy him. By day, he is a hunter, stalking the infected monstrosities through the abandoned ruins of civilization. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for dawn.... " publisher

Anno Dracula (M)
by Kim Newman

"It is 1888 and Queen Victoria has remarried, taking as her new consort Vlad Tepes, the Wallachian Prince infamously known as Count Dracula. Peppered with familiar characters from Victorian history and fiction, the novel follows vampire Geneviève Dieudonné and Charles Beauregard of the Diogenes Club as they strive to solve the mystery of the Ripper murders. Anno Dracula is a rich and panoramic tale, combining horror, politics, mystery and romance to create a unique and compelling alternate history. Acclaimed novelist Kim Newman explores the darkest depths of a reinvented Victorian London." publisher

Interview with the Vampire (M)
by Anne Rice

"Here are the confessions of a vampire. Hypnotic, shocking, and chillingly erotic, this is a novel of mesmerizing beauty and astonishing force--a story of danger and flight, of love and loss, of suspense and resolution, and of the extraordinary power of the senses. It is a novel only Anne Rice could write...." publisher

Hotel Transylvania: a novel of forbidden love (M)
by Chelsea Quinn Yarbo

"In Hotel Transylvania, Le Comte de Saint-Germain, the newest member of Louis XV's court, catches the eye of Madelaine de Montalia, but the young lady has attracted others as well, not all of whom mean her well. The Palace is the home of nobleman Francesco Ragoczy da San Germano, who collects the finest art and also dabbles in the black arts. Good titles to recommend to readers who have done all of Anne Rice and are looking for other gothic vampire tales." Library Journal