Table of contents for Old-school Vampires

1. Varney the Vampyre
2. Carmilla (short story)
3. The House of the Vampire

The House of the Vampire

by George Sylvester Viereck

So you’ve read all the popular vampire series and you still want more? Do you consider yourself a fairly good reader, who doesn’t mind slightly old-fashioned writing? Are you interested in seeing the origins of today’s vampire novels? If so, you might want to check out this old-school vampire story.

The House of the Vampire is probably the first psychic vampire novel. Psychic vampires don’t drink blood. Instead, they take energy or life force or spirit or something like that from their victims. In The House of the Vampire is about a group of artists – writers, sculptors, and painters, whose creativity and spirit are being sucked away by a psychic vampire.

Reginald Clarke is a master writer, a man who can use words like nobody else. He also happens to have fantastic taste in all other forms of art, and he tends to take in and nurture less successful artists.

Reginald’s current protege is Ernest Fielding, another writer. Ernest is currently living with Reginald and trying to write the great American novel.

Jack is Ernest’s college friend, former roommate, and best friend in the whole world. Jack is away at school during much of the story, but he plays an important role.

Ethel Brandenbourg is, or was, a painter. She and Reginald were also briefly a couple. She hasn’t really painted in years, though.

Most of the story is about nervous artists being nervous artists. They make such good victims for a psychic vampire because it’s so hard to tell when they are being drained of their energy. They’re artists, after all. Are they just being overly sensitive? Are they having (absolutely natural) trouble coming up with the next great novel or painting? Are they having their life essence stolen by a vampire? Of course, evidence starts to pile up. Ethel and Ernest think they have it figured out, but nobody else believes them.

So how does The House of the Vampire compare with the Hollywood vampire stereotype?

• Drinking Blood ✘ The vampire sucks the creative energy out of our artists.
• Has Fangs ✘
• Vampires Spread by Biting ✘ According to the vampire, it just happens. It’s how you are born.
• Amazingly Strong ✘
• Unkillable ✘ As far as we know, vampires are physically pretty ordinary people. It’s all in the mind.
• Weak Against Wooden Stakes ✘ Well, no weaker than a normal person.
• Weak Against Sunlight ✘ Not even a little bit.
• Must be Invited In ✘
• Weak Against Flowing Water ✘
• Weak Against Holy Symbols ✘
• Weak Against Garlic ✘
• Get Confused at Crossroads ✘
• No Reflection in Mirrors ✘
• No Heartbeat/Breath/Blood/Temperature/Other Signs of Life ✘
• Pale, Corpse-like Appearance ✘
• Doesn’t Age ✘
• Changes Shape ✘
• Flight ✘
• Wall Crawling ✘
• Hypnotic Powers ✔ Psychic powers and a ton of charisma! What a combination.
• Sleeps in a Coffin ✘
• Wealthy ✔ Not insanely wealthy, but certainly very well off.

How about some of the more modern trends?

• Sophisticated and Elegant ✔ Everybody likes this vampire, and he certainly has style. Not capes and things like that, but a really good sense of normal human style..
• Angsty ✘ This vampire doesn’t feel the least bit bad about sucking people’s energy or even killing them. In fact, he sees it as his duty.
• Dark and Brooding ✘ A little nutty, yes, but far to arrogant and cheerful to be dark or brooding.
• Really Just Misunderstood ✘
• A Sucker for Love ✘
• Looks Young and Sexy ✔ ✘ I’m not sure about young, but this vampire has the charm. Women pay attention to him. So do men.
• Fluid Sexuality ✔ ✘Well, maybe. The House of the Vampire has been called the first gay vampire novel, but I’m not familiar with the cultural norm of the early 1900s. We never see the vampire get it on with another guy, but you might infer that he isn’t altogether 100% heterosexual. You might not. It’s all in how you read it.

Where to Find It

You can read copies online through Project Gutenberg, Google Books, HorrorMasters.com, or Wikisource.

The House of the Vampire is not available in Contra Costa public libraries. You can request it through Link+. You get the book through your local library, so you will need to have a library card.

1. Read all the directions.
2. Click here to go to the Link+ search.
3. Pick the volume you want. The first volumes are near the bottom. The most recent volumes are near the top.
4. Click "Request this item."
5. Pick your local library. This will probably be "Contra Costa Public."
6. Give them your library card number and whatever else they need.
7. When the book comes in, your library will call you.

You might want to read the rules for borrowing books before you request anything.

If you want to check on the book or cancel your order, go here.
This list was last updated May 4, 2010.

Table of contents for Old-school Vampires

1. Varney the Vampyre
2. Carmilla (short story)
3. The House of the Vampire

Carmilla

by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

What do you do if you have read all the popular vampire books and still want more? You might want to check these lists from Reading Rants or The Monster Librarian. However, if you consider yourself a fairly good reader, you don’t mind old-fashioned writing (like from the 1800s), and you want to learn more about the history of vampire literature, you might want to give an old-school vampire story a try.

Carmilla was written in 1872, making it 25 years older than Dracula. I can think of three reasons to recommend it. First, unlike Varney the Vampyre, it seems to be reasonably well written. In some parts, the writing is even beautiful. Second, it features a vampire who isn’t super obvious about being a vampire. The vampire actually tries to blend in, and she does a reasonably good job of it. Third, it’s historically significant because it is the first story about a lesbian vampire. It’s not at all graphic – there’s a little bit of kissing and hugging and talk of loving someone forever, but that’s all. It seems very PG these days, but I’m sure it was sensational when it was written.

Laura lives with her father and a few servants in a castle out in the middle of nowhere in Styria, a region of Austria. Her closest neighbors live at least 15 miles away, so she doesn’t get to spend much time with anybody her own age. Then one day a carriage has an accident on the road near her castle, and one of the people in it, a girl of about Laura’s age, is injured. This is Carmilla, and her mother is in some kind of trouble. Mom needs to travel fast, but she doesn’t think Carmilla is well enough to sit in a speeding carriage all day. Laura’s father offers to take care of Carmilla until the mother returns, and Laura is thrilled. Laura and Carmilla appear to form a bond almost instantly, and Carmilla appears to be quite fond of Laura.

Some time later, Laura and Carmilla hear about a disease that is killing the peasants in the area. The victims are fine one day, but at night they often feel as though something is trying to strangle or smother them. The next day they grow weaker, and then they die. Carmilla is frightened by this, so she and Laura buy charms to ward off the disease. It’s just in time, too, since they both have a similar experience one night. Laura left her charm somewhere, but Carmilla kept hers under her pillow, so while Carmilla isn’t too bothered by her experience, Laura is is more upset. After that, they both have trouble sleeping and seem to feel unwell, although Laura seems to be suffering far more.

Nobody really seems to know what is going on until the end of the story, when several people arrive, unmask the vampire, and kill her. The problem with the ending, other than one character just coming out of nowhere to solve the problem, is that only part of the problem is solve – I’m pretty sure the vampire they killed was only one out of a group, and most of the peasants who died should also have become vampires. We can assume the peasant vampires were taken care of, but we never do find out what happened to the others.

So how does Carmilla compare with the Hollywood vampire stereotype?

• Drinking Blood ✔ Yeah, although apparently this vampire also sleeps in blood.
• Has Fangs ✔ They’re hard to notice, but yes, there are fangs and puncture marks on the neck.
• Vampires Spread by Biting ✔ Yes. Vampires can also be created through suicide sometimes.
• Amazingly Strong ✔ It’s more than just physical strength – the touch of a vampire can make you weak.
• Unkillable ✔ Pretty much. Apparently you need to stake, decapitate, and burn the vampire, and then maybe scatter its ashes.
• Weak Against Wooden Stakes ✔ That’s just one step of the process.
• Weak Against Sunlight ✘ Not even a little bit.
• Must be Invited In ✘
• Weak Against Flowing Water ✘
• Weak Against Holy Symbols ✔ The story never mentions crosses, but vampires do not like certain religious things, and priests seem to be some kind of protection against them.
• Weak Against Garlic ✘
• Get Confused at Crossroads ✘
• No Reflection in Mirrors ✘
• No Heartbeat/Breath/Blood/Temperature/Other Signs of Life ✘ In fact, before they kill the vampire, our heroes have a doctor make sure she is still breathing and has a pulse. She also bleeds a lot.
• Pale, Corpse-like Appearance ✘
• Doesn’t Age ✔ The vampire that dies is about 150 years old and still looks fairly young.
• Changes Shape ✔ This one turns into some kind of cat when it feeds.
• Flight ✘
• Wall Crawling ✘
• Hypnotic Powers ✘ Charisma yes, hypnotism no.
• Sleeps in a Coffin ✔ In a coffin full of blood under rock and dirt. Nobody knows how she gets in or out without disturbing the dirt, but our heroes do wonder.
• Wealthy ✘ ✔ At least one of the vampires was, but we really don’t know much about the others.

How about some of the more modern trends?

• Sophisticated and Elegant ✔ These vampires seem to be able to move in high society.
• Angsty ✘
• Dark and Brooding ✘
• Really Just Misunderstood ✘
• A Sucker for Love ✘ At the end of the story, we find out that vampires sometimes become obsessed with somebody and they act like they are in love, but that’s all just part of the feeding process.
• Looks Young and Sexy ✔ ✘ At least one is, and there might be one who isn’t. We never find out if that person is a vampire or not, though.
• Fluid Sexuality ✔ We’ve got a female vampire who only feeds on women and seems to be very interested in a few of them. At the end of the novel, we find out that it’s not really romantic interest. It’s just lunch.

Where to Find It

Carmilla is not available in Contra Costa public libraries. You can request it through Link+. You get the book through your local library, so you will need to have a library card.

1. Read all the directions.
2. Click here to go to the Link+ search.
3. Pick the volume you want. The first volumes are near the bottom. The most recent volumes are near the top.
4. Click "Request this item."
5. Pick your local library. This will probably be "Contra Costa Public."
6. Give them your library card number and whatever else they need.
7. When the book comes in, your library will call you.

You might want to read the rules for borrowing books before you request anything.

If you want to check on the book or cancel your order, go here.
Make sure you don’t request Carmilla: A Vampire Tale unless you want to get the libretto for a chamber opera.
This list was last updated August 12, 2010 at 6:29 am UTC. Click here to see newer information.

Table of contents for Old-school Vampires

1. Varney the Vampyre
2. Carmilla (short story)
3. The House of the Vampire

Varney the Vampyre, or, The Feast of Blood

by James Malcolm Rymer (or possibly Thomas Preskett Prest)

What do you do if you have read all the popular vampire books and still want more? You might want to check these lists from Reading Rants or The Monster Librarian. However, if you consider yourself a fairly good reader, you don’t mind old-fashioned writing (like from the 1800s), and you want to learn more about the history of vampire literature, you might want to give an old-school vampire story a try.

Varney the Vampyre was written in the 1840s, about 50 years before Dracula. It tells the story of Sir Francis Varney, a vampire who isn’t all bad. Yeah, every so often he will sneak into a young woman’s room and drink some of her blood, but he doesn’t enjoy it. Okay, well, maybe he does, but not a lot. In fact, he often feels sorry for his victims, and he tries to help them out somehow. On the other hand, Varney is kind of unpredictable, and does kill a few people because they have stuff he wants.

Varney the Vampyre is such a long and strange book that it’s kind of hard to summarize. It starts out like a classic vampire tale, where the vampire breaks into a woman’s room in the middle of the night and sucks her blood. This poor woman is Flora Bannerworth, a member of the English aristocracy. The Bannerworth family owns a lovely mansion and has a few servants, but they are about out of money and are occasionally worried about having to sell Bannerworth Hall and move somewhere cheaper. We’ve got a fancy, old building, a helpless woman, and a blood-sucking fiend. Sounds like Dracula, but it’s not. Not even close.

The writing in the first chapter is just awful, and I was really not looking forward to reading all 800 pages. It got a little bit better in the second chapter, but I was still a little worried about finishing it. Fortunately, things improved a lot in Chapter 4, where the novel first shows a sense of humor. Flora’s brother Henry has figured out that they are being haunted by a vampire, but he wants to keep the whole thing a secret. On his way in to town, every single person he meets says something like, “Hello there, Mr. Bannerworth. How’s the vampyre?” Everybody.

Then, a few chapters later, the vampire is after Flora again. This time, though, she whips out a pistol and shoots him! We never find out how Flora learned to shoot, but she is pretty good with a gun. Unfortunately, Flora is never quite this cool again, and most of the other women in the story are either helpless victims, second-class citizens, or dishonest schemers, but that’s not uncommon for this time period.

Then we meet Admiral Bell and his servant/friend/shipmate/nemesis Jack Pringle. They both spew stereotypical sailor nonsense (like “shiver my timbers” or “you may give the devil a clear berth, and get into heaven’s straits, with a flowing sheet, provided you don’t, towards the end of the voyage, make any lubberly blunders”) and swear about as much as anyone can in this kind of story. Jack and the Admiral are always fighting with each other and always making up, and somehow they manage to be genuinely funny.

At some point, the Bannerworths realize that Varney isn’t really interested in sucking blood. He wants their house, for some reason. Quite a few things happen after that, and, while I don’t want to spoil anything, Varney ends up spending a few days as Flora’s house guest. Yeah, this is different.

About the first 50 chapters (out of 237) deal with Varney and the Bannerworth family. Basically, that’s a whole regular vampire novel. Then Varney vanishes, and the action moves about 25 miles away. We get another 25 chapters of a story that sort of involves vampires, and sort of involves the Bannerworth family, but we don’t see Varney much until near the end. Then the action moves to London, and again, we don’t see Varney or any of the other “regular” characters until the very end. After that, we get a bunch of short stories about Varney that almost always end with something bad happening to him.

Varney the Vampyre has its flaws. For a start, the writing is really uneven. It bounces from good to bad to so-bad-it’s-good. There are also a lot of subplots that never get resolved and a lot of details that get forgotten. What ever happened with that Quaker who was living on the Dearbrook estate? Why was Marmaduke Bannerworth’s coffin empty? For that matter, wasn’t Marmaduke originally named Runnagate in Chapter 2? Why did George Bannerworth just disappear from the novel? Well, the author was writing it pretty quickly, and apparently he was also busy writing nine other stories at the same time! Fortunately, this got better as I read more of the book. I don’t think the writing got better. I think I just got used to it.

Another problem is that the author was paid by the word, so he often tries to use a whole paragraph when a single sentence would do. Even worse, though, is that sometimes the characters will sit down and tell each other little stories that have nothing at all to do with the novel. Actually, that’s not the worst part. The worst part is when Varney himself decides to read a story because he has an hour to wait and nothing to do, and we have to read exactly what Varney reads.

I mentioned before that the story has a sense of humor. However, since it was written in the middle of the 19th century, there are some things that the author thought were funny that are actually kind of racist, or are otherwise not okay anymore. Fortunately, there aren’t very many of these.

However, the story has its good points, too. Some of the writing is really good: Varney has some really excellent lines when he’s messing with people, for example, and every so often there is a really nice description of a place or an event. There is some good humor, too. Varney can be snarky when he wants to, and the author does a good job of showing the little ways in which ordinary people suck. Admiral Bell and Jack Pringle are just hilarious, too. Also, at one point, one of the characters sits down and reads a really awful vampire novel.

The author does a really fantastic job with some of the characters. It took me about five lines to get a good picture of Mr. Marchdale, for example, and the more I read, the more right that image seemed. I was also really impressed by Admiral Bell and Jack Pringle. While they are the zany comic relief, they are also real people, and we eventually get to see their serious sides. I think they are my favorite characters.

How can I sum up this book? It’s not great writing. It’s not even great that great a vampire story. When pretentious professors of literature say that popular books are bad because those authors write for money rather than for Art, this is what they are thinking about. Still, I actually enjoyed most of the book, and it’s an interesting piece of vampire literary history. I can’t recommend it to everyone, but if you really want to learn more about early vampire fiction and aren’t scared off by the thought of 237 chapters, give it a try.

So how does Varney compare with the Hollywood vampire stereotype?

• Drinking Blood ✔ Although Varney doesn’t always bite the neck. Sometimes he goes for the arm.
• Has Fangs ✔ Actually, Varney may be the first vampire in literature to have fangs.
• Vampires Spread by Biting ✔ Apparently you can also become a vampire if you are a really bad person.
• Amazingly Strong ✔ Varney may be the first vampire in literature to have amazing strength.
• Unkillable ✘ Varney actually gets killed a lot. I think he is shot to death five or six times, at least. He also gets stabbed by a sword once and drowned twice. However, moonlight brings him back.
• Weak Against Wooden Stakes ✘ Well, they will work, but they aren’t any better than a sword or a gun. However, at several points, drunken mobs try to stake people they think are vampires, and one vampire is actually killed by a stake through the heart.
• Weak Against Sunlight ✘ Varney doesn’t really enjoy sleep, since he has nightmares, so he is often out at night, but he’s also up during the day. It’s easier to scam people during the day, usually.
• Must be Invited In ✘ Varney is polite, but he doesn’t actually need your permission to enter your house.
• Weak Against Flowing Water ✘
• Weak Against Holy Symbols ✘ Actually, Varney hangs out with a priest for a while, and he breaks into a church.
• Weak Against Garlic ✘
• Get Confused at Crossroads ✘ However, one drunken mob does try to bury a vampire they’ve staked at a crossroads. Varney helps out, and he seems just fine.
• No Reflection in Mirrors ✘ Varney specifically mentions seeing himself in a mirror. Of course, he might be lying.
• No Heartbeat/Breath/Blood/Temperature/Other Signs of Life ✘ Varney has all the signs of life, except that he won’t stay dead and he doesn’t need to eat or drink (except blood).
• Pale, Corpse-like Appearance ✔ This might be because Varney was dead for two years before he came back as a vampire. Or he might be lying.
• Doesn’t Age ✔ We don’t know how old Varney is, but the story covers at least 30 or 40 years, and he never seems to get older.
• Changes Shape ✘ The best Varney can do is put on a disguise. He does that a lot.
• Flight ✘ Varney can jump pretty high, but that’s probably because he has supernatural strength.
• Wall Crawling ✘
• Hypnotic Powers ✔ As long as Varney can stare at his victim, she can’t move or scream. Of course, he has trouble doing this and actually biting her at the same time. Varney may be the first vampire in literature to have this power.
• Sleeps in a Coffin ✘ Varney likes his beds to be aired out and clean.
• Wealthy ✘ ✔ Sometimes Varney has lots of money, and sometimes he doesn’t. Usually he does, though.

How about some of the more modern trends?

• Sophisticated and Elegant ✔ Varney has a sense of style and he likes the finer things in life. He can really put on the charm when he needs, too.
• Angsty ✔ You don’t see it at first, but Varney really isn’t happy as a vampire. He’d rather be dead for real. He doesn’t spend a whole lot of time whining about it, though.
• Dark and Brooding ✘
• Really Just Misunderstood ✘ ✔ Varney is somewhat misunderstood, he really does need somebody to talk to, and he occasionally goes out of his way to do good things for people, but he’s not a good person. Still, Varney may be the first somewhat-sympathetic vampire in literature.
• A Sucker for Love ✘ Varney’s not going to fall in love with the first person who tries to stake him. He never falls in love with anyone in the story, although he does respect Flora and a few other people. He also wants to get married, although we’re not sure why. It’s clearly not for love, though.
• Looks Young and Sexy ✘ Varney is late middle-aged, pale, and ugly.
• Fluid Sexuality ✘ Varney is never sexually attracted to anyone in the story.

You can read some commentary on this blog. At five chapters a month, the blog should get through all 237 chapters in just under four years.

You can also check out a new graphic adaptation. Unfortunately, at their current pace of one chapter in two months, they will be done some time in 2050.

Where to Find It

You can read the whole thing online thanks to the University of Virginia’s Electronic Text Center. There are a few typos in this edition, but then, there were some pretty serious typos in the original printing.

Varney the Vampyre is not available in Contra Costa public libraries. You can request it through Link+. You get the book through your local library, so you will need to have a library card.

1. Read all the directions.
2. Click here to go to the Link+ search.
3. Pick the volume you want. The first volumes are near the bottom. The most recent volumes are near the top.
4. Click "Request this item."
5. Pick your local library. This will probably be "Contra Costa Public."
6. Give them your library card number and whatever else they need.
7. When the book comes in, your library will call you.

You might want to read the rules for borrowing books before you request anything.

If you want to check on the book or cancel your order, go here.
This list was last updated February 9, 2010.

by Ramsey Campbell

Simon Lester is a film critic, but he isn’t doing that well at it: he works part-time at the local gas station. Then one of his old college professors asks him if he is interested in writing a book on Tubby Thackeray, who was a comedian from the era of silent movies. Tubby used to be famous, but now it seems like nobody has heard of him. In fact, Simon has a terrible time finding anything about him. His films seem to have been removed from film archives, and things written about him seem to have been lost or destroyed. When he asks people about Tubby, they often get hostile. Clowns threaten him. Some guy on an Internet forum starts giving him trouble.

Finally, Simon finds people who know about Tubby Thackeray and are willing to share information and copies of his old films. Some of his work is really bizarre and troubling, and it seems to follow Simon home. The spirit of Tubby starts to take over his life, and it seems to be possessing his girlfriend’s son. Simon has enough trouble in the real world without any supernatural events, and he starts to crack up.

This story is dark and disturbing, but it doesn’t have much blood or gore. Supernatural things happen, but the real horror is in Tubby’s films and Simon’s head.

Where to Find It

You can get it from the public library.

Library	Location	Call Number	Status
Antioch	.	FIC CAMPBELL, R.	In library
Brentwood	.	FIC CAMPBELL, R.	In library
Concord	.	FIC CAMPBELL, R.	In library
Danville	.	FIC CAMPBELL, R.	In library
Dougherty Station (San Ramon)	.	FIC CAMPBELL, R.	In library
El Cerrito	.	FIC CAMPBELL, R.	In library
Kensington	.	FIC CAMPBELL, R.	In library
Moraga	.	FIC CAMPBELL, R.	In library
Orinda	.	FIC CAMPBELL, R.	In library
Pinole	.	FIC CAMPBELL, R.	In library
Pinole	.	FIC CAMPBELL, R.	In library
Pittsburg	.	FIC CAMPBELL, R.	In library
Walnut Creek Park Place	.	FIC CAMPBELL, R.	In library
Ygnacio Valley (Walnut Creek)	.	FIC CAMPBELL, R.	In library

This list was last updated May 7, 2012 at 7:23 am UTC. Click here to see newer information.

by Joseph Bruchac

One day Molly’s parents vanish, but she has trouble accepting this. She lives alone for a while and tries to act like nothing has happened, but people from Social Services eventually catch on. They place her with her uncle, but Mollly has never heard of this uncle before. This uncle makes Molly very nervous, and sort of reminds her of a story her father told her.

Molly’s father grew up on a Mohawk reservation, and he made sure Molly was aware of her Mohawk heritage. One story he told her was the story of Skeleton Man, who was a lazy, greedy, and evil man who got hungry while he was waiting for his family to come home with food. First he ate his finger. Then he ate the rest of his flesh until he was just a skeleton. When his family came home, he went after them, too.

Molly is in trouble. Her creepy uncle locks her in her room every night, and she is terrified of him. Then she starts having disturbing dreams that seem to be warning her about him. Molly has to do something to save herself and find her parents.

You can read some of it online at the publisher’s website.

Where to Find It

You can get it from the public library.

Library	Location	Call Number	Status
Clayton	.	J BRUCHAC	Checked out, due 5/8/12
Danville	.	J BRUCHAC, J.	In library
Dougherty Station (San Ramon)	.	J BRUCHAC, J.	In library
Hercules	.	J BRUCHAC, J.	In library
Hercules	.	J BRUCHAC, J.	In library
Kensington	.	J BRUCHAC	In library
Lafayette	.	J BRUCHAC	In library
Oakley	.	J BRUCHAC	Checked out, due 5/17/12
Orinda	.	J BRUCHAC, J.	In library
Pittsburg	.	J BRUCHAC	In library
Pleasant Hill	.	J BRUCHAC	In library
San Ramon	.	J BRUCHAC	In library
San Ramon	.	J BRUCHAC	In library
San Ramon	.	J BRUCHAC, J.	In library
Walnut Creek Park Place	.	J BRUCHAC	In library
Ygnacio Valley (Walnut Creek)	.	J BRUCHAC	In library

This list was last updated May 1, 2012 at 1:14 am UTC. Click here to see newer information.

edited by Stephen Jones

H. P. Lovecraft’s Book of the Supernatural is a collection nineteenth-century horror stories. Even if you don’t like horror, keep reading. These stories are not the kind of things that Steven King or Clive Barker write. This book includes short stories by Robert Louis Stevenson, Rudyard Kipling, Washington Irving, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. These stories are much more about developing an eerie atmosphere than they are about violence, blood, and terror.

H. P. Lovecraft was one of the most famous and influential horror writers in the United States. In addition to short stories and novellas, he wrote “Supernatural Horror in Literature,” an essay about the history of horror stories. For this book, Stephen Jones has collected nineteen of the stories from Lovecraft’s essay. These are some of the best short horror stories of the past 200 years: if you want to know who influenced your favorite horror authors, or if you dislike modern horror but enjoy weird stories, this might be a good book to read.

This is actually the second one of these collections that Stephen Jones has done. The first is called H. P. Lovecraft’s Book of Horror.

Where to Find It

You can get it from the public library.

Library	Location	Call Number	Status
Clayton	Short Stories	SS H.P.	In library
Concord	Short Stories	SS H.P.	In library
Crockett	Classics	SS H.P.	In library
Kensington	.	SS H.P.	In library

This list was last updated May 11, 2012 at 12:25 pm UTC. Click here to see newer information.

Blackwood wrote a lot of short stories, and his themes ranged from reincarnation to romance to encounters with strange, unexplained creatures. However, almost every one of his stories has some weird element to it.
He also created John Silence, one of the earliest supernatural investigators.

Algernon Blackwood isn’t that famous among people who read modern horror, but he had a strong influence on H. P. Lovecraft and probably many modern horror writers, too.

Where to Find His Books

You can read a lot of his books and stories online at the Penn State Online Books page.

You can get them from the public library.

Library	Title	Location	Call Number	Status
Clayton	Incredible Adventures	Science Fiction	S BLACKWOOD, A.	In library
Danville	The Lost Valley; The Wolves of God	Short Stories	SS BLACKWOOD, A.	In library
Dougherty Station (San Ramon)	Ancient Sorceries and Other Weird Stories	Short Stories	SS BLACKWOOD, A.	In library
Hercules	Ancient Sorceries and Other Weird Stories	.	SS BLACKWOOD, A.	In library
Lafayette	Jimbo; The Education of Uncle Paul: Two Complete Stories	Science Fiction	S BLACKWOOD, A.	In library
Richmond	Tales of the Uncanny and Supernatural	Main Adult Books	Fic Blackwood, C.	CHECK SHELF
Walnut Creek Park Place	The Lost Valley; The Wolves of God	Short Stories	SS BLACKWOOD, A.	In library
Ygnacio Valley (Walnut Creek)	The Lost Valley; The Wolves of God	Short Stories	SS BLACKWOOD, A.	In library

This list was last updated May 19, 2012 at 4:42 am UTC. Click here to see newer information.

by Lisa Lutz

Isabel “izzy” Spellman works for her family’s business. This might seem okay, but her parents run a detective agency out of their house. Working for her parents isn’t that bad. The real problem is living with detectives. Her parents run credit checks on her older sister’s boyfriends, and they bug all their kid’s rooms. Her younger sister does “recreational surveillance,” which is a nice way of saying she spies on random people for fun. Her uncle Ray works for the business, but he has a nasty habit of taking extra-long weekends and forcing the rest of the family to track him down.

Izzy has lousy taste in boyfriends. She dated one guy primarily because he owned every episode of her favorite TV show on DVD. Then she meets a normal guy, Daniel. He’s a dentist, and he doesn’t have to worry about his family members picking the locks on his room and either planting hidden cameras or cutting his hair while he sleeps. Spending time with him makes her reconsider her lifestyle – she likes the detective business, but she realizes she doesn’t like being a detective. She eventually tells her parents she wants out, but they will only agree if she takes one last case…

As you might guess, this is a mix of comedy and mystery. It’s certainly funny, and it does contain a mystery, but the first part of the book is all background. The background is amusing, but the real mystery starts later. Also, her family is a bit over the top, so if you don’t like that kind of humor, you probably won’t enjoy a lot of the book.

If you want, you can read some of the book online at Google Books.

Where to Find It

You can get it from the school library.

School	Location	Call Number	Status
Diablo Valley College	Adult Basic Education	PS3612.U897 S67 2007	AVAILABLE
Diablo Valley College	Adult Basic Education	PS3612.U897 S67 2009	AVAILABLE

You can get it from the public library.

Library	Location	Call Number	Status
Brentwood	.	FIC LUTZ, L.	In library
Clayton	.	FIC LUTZ, L.	In library
Clayton	.	FIC LUTZ, L.	In library
El Cerrito	.	FIC LUTZ, L.	In library
El Sobrante	.	FIC LUTZ, L.	Checked out, due 6/4/12
Hercules	.	FIC LUTZ, L.	In library
Kensington	.	FIC LUTZ, L.	Checked out, due 6/2/12
Lafayette	.	FIC LUTZ, L.	Checked out, due 6/3/12
Moraga	.	FIC LUTZ, L.	Checked out, due 6/2/12
Moraga	Paperbacks	FIC LUTZ, L.	In library
Moraga	.	FIC LUTZ, L.	In library
Oakley	.	FIC LUTZ, L.	Checked out, due 5/24/12
Orinda	.	FIC LUTZ, L.	In library
Pleasant Hill	.	FIC LUTZ, L.	Checked out, due 5/24/12
San Ramon	.	FIC LUTZ, L.	Checked out, due 6/14/12
Walnut Creek Park Place	.	FIC LUTZ, L.	In library
Ygnacio Valley (Walnut Creek)	.	FIC LUTZ, L.	In library

This list was last updated May 16, 2012 at 10:26 am UTC. Click here to see newer information.

by Keiko Nishi

An anthology of four short stories by amazing artist/writer Nishi: a story about abusive love, an Edgar Alan Poe-like horror piece, a portrait of a far-future Chinese dumpling maker who dreams of Earth, and a bullied boy who develops astonishing healing powers, becomes a celebrity, and must deal with the consequences. Touching, shocking, and memorable.

Where to Find It

You can get it from the public library.

Library	Location	Call Number	Status
Hercules	Young Adult	YA FIC NISHI, K.	In library
San Pablo	Young Adult	YA FIC NISHI, K.	In library

Since Contra Costa libraries only have a few copies of Love Song, you might want to request it through Link+. You get the book through your local library, so you will need to have a library card.

1. Read all the directions.
2. Click here to go to the Link+ search.
3. Click "Request this item."
4. Pick your local library. This will probably be "Contra Costa Public."
5. Give them your library card number and whatever else they need.
6. When the book comes in, your library will call you.

You might want to read the rules for borrowing books before you request anything.

If you want to check on the book or cancel your order, go here.
This list was last updated May 6, 2012 at 10:02 am UTC. Click here to see newer information.