The standard vampire setting of mist, cold Gothic architecture, and dark European nights exists for good reason. But pull vampires out of that comfort zone and drop them somewhere hot and humid, and something interesting happens. Not to the vampires — to us.

Vampires and cold climates are a natural fit. But it's not really about the cold, it’s what the cold brings with it.

From the Gothic fiction beginning in the early 1800s, vampire have been evolving. Romantic heroes, conflicted vigilantes, metaphors for societal decay.

This post looks at nine vampire novels, beginning in the nineteenth century and culminating with The Red Line, published this decade. Each novel highlights a turning point in the imagining of vampires. Together they show why we can’t seem to let those bloodsuckers go!

True Blood burst onto screens in the late 2000s and, for a lot of us, never really left. Blood, laughs, Jason Stackhouse doing Jason Stackhouse things — here's an appreciation post for the show that still holds up.