From Dracula to Buffy the Vampire Slayer; from Castlevania to Tru Blood, the romance between popular culture and vampires hearkens back to humanity's darkest, deepest fears, flowing through our very blood, fears of death, and life, and insatiable hunger.And yet, there is an attraction, undeniable, to the vampire archetype, whether the pale European count, impeccably dressed and coldly masculine, yet strangely ambiguous, ready to sink his sharp teeth deep into his victims' necks, draining or converting them, or the vamp, the count's feminine counterpart, villain and victim in one, using her wiles and icy sexuality to corrupt man and woman alike...Edited by John Joseph Adams (Wastelands, The Living Dead), By Blood We Live gathers together the best vampire literature of the last three decades from many of today's most renowned authors of fantasy, speculative fiction, and horror, including Stephen King, Joe Hill, Garth Nix, Neil Gaiman, Kelley Armstrong, Ken Macleod, Harry Turtledove, Carrie Vaughn, and Tad Williams.Contents1 • Introduction (By Blood We Live) • essay by John Joseph Adams3 • Snow, Glass, Apples • (1995) • shortstory by Neil Gaiman13 • The Master of Rampling Gate • (1984) • novelette by Anne Rice33 • Under St. Peter's • (2007) • novelette by Harry Turtledove45 • Child of an Ancient City • (1988) • novelette by Tad Williams75 • Lifeblood • (2003) • novelette by Michael A. Burstein88 • Endless Night • (2008) • shortstory by Barbara Roden106 • Infestation • (2008) • novelette by Garth Nix120 • Life Is the Teacher • [Kitty] • (2008) • shortfiction by Carrie Vaughn134 • The Vechi Barbat • (2007) • shortstory by Nancy Kilpatrick148 • The Beautiful, The Damned • (1995) • shortfiction by Kristine Kathryn Rusch161 • Pinecones • (2006) • shortfiction by David Wellington165 • Do Not Hasten to Bid Me Adieu • (1994) • novelette by Norman Partridge180 • Foxtrot at High Noon • shortfiction by Sergei Lukyanenko189 • This Is Now • (2004) • shortstory by Michael Marshall Smith199 • Blood Gothic • (1985) • shortstory by Nancy Holder204 • Mama Gone • (1991) • shortstory by Jane Yolen209 • Abraham's Boys • (2004) • shortstory by Joe Hill224 • Nunc Dimittis • (1983) • novelette by Tanith Lee240 • Hunger • (2007) • shortfiction by Gabriela Lee250 • Ode to Edvard Munch • (2006) • shortstory by Caitlín R. Kiernan256 • Finders Keepers • (2008) • shortfiction by L. A. Banks275 • After the Stone Age • (2004) • shortfiction by Brian Stableford286 • Much at Stake • (1991) • shortstory by Kevin J. Anderson297 • House of the Rising Sun • (2005) • shortstory by Elizabeth Bear (aka The House of the Rising Sun)302 • A Standup Dame • (2008) • shortstory by Lilith Saintcrow (aka A Stand-Up Dame)316 • Twilight • [Women of the Otherworld Short Fiction] • (2007) • novelette by Kelley Armstrong333 • In Darkness, Angels • (1983) • novelette by Eric Van Lustbader355 • Sunrise on Running Water • (2007) • novelette by Barbara Hambly372 • Hit • (2008) • shortstory by Bruce McAllister385 • Undead Again • (2005) • shortstory by Ken MacLeod388 • Peking Man • (1996) • shortstory by Robert J. Sawyer396 • Necros • (1986) • shortstory by Brian Lumley409 • Exsanguinations: A Handbook for the Educated Vampire by Anna S. Oppenhagen-Petrescu • (2005) • shortfiction by Catherynne M. Valente415 • Lucy, In Her Splendor • (2003) • shortstory by Charles Coleman Finlay426 • The Wide, Carnivorous Sky • (2009) • shortfiction by John Langan464 • One for the Road • (1977) • shortstory by Stephen King477 • For Further Reading (By Blood We Live) • essay by Ross E. Lockhart