The original classic vampire tale, Bram Stoker's "Dracula," tells of the dangerous Transylvanian Count Dracula, the most infamous vampire of them all. Although "Dracula" is a classic that everyone should read, it is for more advanced readers, because of both the content and the style in which it was written.
Some of the more modern vampire books, appropriate for any reader are:
o "The Vampire Diaries" by L. J. Smith: A high school girl, Elena is torn between two vampire brothers, Stefan (the good boy) and Damon (the bad boy).
o"Vampire Academy" by Richelle Mead: Rose (a half-blooded vampire) must protect her best friend, Lissa (a full-blooded vampire princess), from the powerful Strigoi.
o "Morganville Vampires" series by Rachel Caine: Four young adult vampires who live fictional Morganville, Texas, and must survive all sorts of trials together.
o "Vampire Kisses: The Beginning" by Ellen Schreiber: The tale of goth-girl Raven's search for the truth about Alexander Sterling and his "haunted" home at the top of Benson Hill.
o "Mortal Instruments" series by Cassandra Clare: Four teens in New York City, who are Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to eradicating all the demons.
o "The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod" by Heather Brewer: Young half-blood orphan Vlad, the human boys who bully him at school, and the ever present threat of his parents' killers coming back to finish the job.
There are also several books that are better suited to an older audience, such as The House of Night series. Some of these modern and highly addictive books would be:
o Melissa De La Cruz's "Blue Bloods" series: Schuyler Van Alen turns into a vampire, a very special Vampire, who with her friends must fight off the dangerous Silver Bloods, Vampires she thought were her friends, and her family, just to survive.
o "House of Night" series by P.C. and Kristin Cast: Zoey Redbird is a fledgling vampire at the House of Night, a school where fledglings train to become adult vampires. But Zoey has special gifts, and has been marked as special to the goddess, Nyx.
o Although not a vampire book series, Melissa Marr's "Wicked Lovely" series has a very vampire feel to it. The series is about a fairy realm in the modern world (they are, after all, fantasy books) and comes highly recommended by many readers of the "Twilight" series.
