Always adore a short story, and I especially love horror/vampire stories. This collection of modern author takes on vampire tales is so great, I particularly loved the stories from VE Schwab, and Natalie C. Parker.

i LOVE anthologies! And i LOVE vampire novels so I was so very excited to get this one and read through it. I took my time and read one a day and I think that helped me enjoy it more in all honesty. Obviously there will always be better and also less enjoyable stories in an anthology but i definitely found I didnt enjoy as many as I had hoped.
I was disappointed in this but also the ones I did enjoy I enjoyed a lot so it's not all too bad for me. There are a few new authors for me to pick up now :)

What a *bloody* (pun absolutely intended) good anthology. Some of these stories were better than others, but that is to be expected, and I enjoyed each different take on vampires. One of the brilliant things about reading stories by different authors with the same subject is to see how they all handle it, and the way each of these authors took vampires and made them unique was captivating. A book with bite!

Yes. I was a vampire kid who never really grew out of it... and this collection had such an array of vampires and stories that I was hooked from the very first one.

I've spent four days slowly working my way through this delicious collection. There was only one that didn't resonate with me, which I'd consider good going from a total of eleven short stories.

The authors that feature are utilising and challenging the tropes of vampire myth and folklore with a big emphasis on agency.

The people who come into contact with these 'children of the night' may be bullied, lonely, isolated, desperate, bored, but in most cases the central characters are given a hand in choosing their fate rather than merely submitting.

There is exploration of what constitutes a monster, seeing the world from the point of view of the undead. There is the clash between concepts of life/death, good/evil, belonging/outsider, mercy/cruelty, freedom/entrapment.

We get to see the allure and glamour of the vampire as well as the brutal reality of their thirst. The vampires are not just villains, some even turning humans as a way to bestow a second chance for murder victims.

I enjoyed the focus on queerness and diversity, giving voice to the traditionally marginalised members of society. A fine addition to the canon and a great way to discover some new (to me) authors 🧛‍♀️

2.5 stars

This anthology features eleven YA short stories, all focused on vampires.
Each story has a different voice and take on vampires and is followed by a short piece by the editors.
Honestly, the main reason I requested this book on NetGalley was because it features V.E. Schwab's 'First Kill' short story. This ended up being my favourite of the stories, and I enjoyed the characters, the writing and wished it was longer.
Unfortunately, there were only a handful of the other stories that fully engaged me, and there were a couple that I skipped through as I couldn't get into them, unfortunately.
The concepts were all interesting.
I'm disappointed that I didn't enjoy this more.

Overall, this was a mixed read.

This read was just fun, in a dark and delicious way. The collection of writers chosen have such distinct styles, it's difficult not to have favourites. And I'll admit, there were a couple of stories where I didn't get past the first page because the author's style just isn't for me. But for anyone who loves a vampire novel, but wants something new, modern and exciting, this is a great anthology.

I'm not the biggest YA reader anymore, but I love vampires so I thought I would give this short story collection a try. Especially since the stories are so diverse.
Unfortunately, none of the short stories met my expectations (which weren't high to begin with). I rated each short story individually and not a single story got more than 3 stars from me.
Overall I have to say that the short stories felt loveless and lackluster. I didn't feel like the authors wrote these stories with a passion (of course I can be wrong but this is how it felt). Not a single story is memorable. I wanna say that if you ask me in a few weeks about this anthology, I will have forgotten most things about the stories. I do have to say that all of the short stories hadd a lot of potential though.. I just think the stories needed more time and room.
When I found out that the editors of this anthology would also always add something to the myth that was focused on in each story, I was excited. Unfortunately, those comments weren't good in my opinion. They were way too short and they didn't have anything of substance to say. I know this anthology is targeted towards young adults and I didn't expect them to go massively into details or do any academic-like research, but I wish they had introduced the myths a little more and had given more information on them. I think the anothology could've benefitted greatly!

I am a huge fan of these stories!! This anthology is a brilliant collection and I'd tell everyone craving vampires to pick it up!!

Showstopping, spectacular, amazing, groundbreaking - or however that Lady Gaga quote goes. I just really loved this anthology. Who knew I was into Vampires? But here we are. Obviously, with an anthology, you always have some stories you like more than others, but overall, it was a brilliantly curated and edited volume and I am so excited about recommending it to everyone.

Loving the title pun, I dove into these 11 tales and tore through them like a vampire who has been living on rats for months on end.

Best taken in small bites, or, devoured whole, these original tales explore the complexities of life as a vampire, both in the modern and historical world, and are aimed at Y.A readers-although I am, ahem, a little past that qualifying factor-though they are eminently accessible to all.

It is an interesting take on the wanting to live forever myth, combined with the burgeoning sense of identity , plus the teen’s immortal, unstoppable feeling of life lying open in front of them, just ripe for the taking.

The sense of self as a social as well as a personal construct is given new life by authors who use vampirism as a metaphor for, amongst other things, gender identity, ableism, sexuality, moral arguments and colonialism.

Vampires are, after all, leech like parasites who need to survive by drinking the blood of others, sometimes with consent, other times without. There are rules depending on which way you look at the complexities of a human/vampire relationship. Each species can represent to the other a source of salvation or damnation, but what is what and to whom?

Flipping the script to see the humans as the bad guys, the destroyers, the slayers as vulnerable as the humans they seek to protect, the ones with inherited flaws against which their children can rise…all of this is played out against a historical back drop where people who were scared to be buried alive created systems to try and avoid that experience, to border towns where being gay is seen as much as a parasitic plague in need of extinction, to a parent’s determination on the worth of their child’s life , and back to a football field where a long held tradition is dominant in a female lineage that would make mincemeat of Buffy.

There are scares and tears to be wrung from such talented authors as Dhonielle Clayton and Julie Murphy who I had never read before, and now need to be added to my list of those who I would crawl over broken glass to get their newest literary offerings. And that, to me, is the joy of anthologies, reacquainting yourself with the writers you love, whilst finding new ones, and this collection had the added bonus of a post story analysis, with questions asked of the reader to reflect the issues raised in the story before.

Any book, any writer, which gets you thinking beyond the bounds of the comfortable and safe, challenges both privilege and societal mores belongs on a modern horror lover’s bookshelf, in this humble reader’s opinion.

Vampires always were my favorite fantasy creature. Their power, ageless beauty and whole world of opportunities just fascinates me. So, naturally this book seemed right up my alley, but I was left surprised.

"Vampires Never Get Old" is a book of short stories, glimpses of different people in different worlds. And, I must say, it was very interesting to see vampires as something else than a hard to kill, blood thirsty monsters. Not that some of them weren't just that, but we get many representations and options. 

Some stories were absolutely amazing and I just crave for more. Yet, others were just... not enough and I had to power through them. But even when I didn't enjoy a certain  story - I was still fascinates by unique approach to vampire myth. In these stories they aren't perfect, they are not cold and impossible to kill. These Vampires have anxiety, they have worries about their looks, they fear and they love. Again, not all of them are the same, but these are few things that more or less connected all the stories. Also, the stories are representation of LGBTQ+ in very natural way, which as a member of this community, I appreciated a lot.

Overall, I can't say I loved the book. Sadly, it just didn't kept me hooked to it, mostly because I need more time to get into story and short glimpses into their lives was not enough for me. Yet, I found the idea of stories intriguing and unique. So, I do recommend it for all the vampire fans that want to see different approach with loads of queer representation 🖤🧛‍♀️

I had such high hopes for this anthology, and while I really liked some of the stories, most of them fell really flat for me. My favourite stories were the ones by Rebecca Roanhorse and Mark Oshiro.

Tessa Gratton - Seven Nights For Dying 3/5

This story had a lot of potential, and I loved how the main character could talk openly about her decision to maybe become a vampire. Unfortunately, it was ruined for me by the fatphobia of the main character and her friend.

Rebecca Roanhorse - The Boys From Blood River 5/5

I absolutely loved this story, it was so well written, and I couldn't help but love the main character.

Julie Murphy - Senior Year Sucks 2/5

I liked the premisse of this story well enough: a sapphic romance between a vampire and a (fat!) vampire slayer. But I didn't end up enjoying, which was mostly due to the writing style. I felt like the story was explained to us rather than told and it made it less fun to read.

Heidi Heilig - The Boy and the Bell 4/5

Okay, this was a really cool, really gruesome story, and so well written too!

Samira Ahmed - A Guidebook For the Newly Sired Desi Vampire 4/5

This story was quite literally a guidebook, and it was so well done, with a refreshing perspective on vampirism.

Kayla Whaley - In Kind 2/5

I don't really know what to think of this. The ableism was a lot to deal with. It was interesting what it set out to do, but I think the execution was just not quite there.

Zoraida Córdova & Natalie C. Parker - Vampires Never Say Die 2/5

I just couldn't get into this story at all.

Laura Ruby - Bestiary 3/5

This story had an interesting setting, but other than that, it didn't do much for me.

Mark Oshiro - Mirrors, Windows & Selfies 5/5

This story was so fantastic, the format of blog posts that plays with what's real, the perspective of a child of vampires, the atmosphere of it. I felt utterly transported into it

Dhonielle Clayton - The House of Black Sapphires 3/5

I liked the setup of this story and I thought it was cool, but I also didn't end up feeling very invested in it.

Victoria Schwab - First Kill 3/5

It was really cool to see a sapphic story from Victoria Schwab, but other than that, this story felt really bland to me.

I also read Vampires Never Get Old: Tales with Fresh Bite, a YA vampire anthology! This is not a particularly common reading area for me, but there's always interesting potential in vampire stories, and as I had picked up the anthology to read SCKA finalist "In Kind" by Kayla Whaley, I wanted to check out the rest of it as well. There's some really strong stuff here, all digging into that intersection of power and sexuality and rules that do or don't keep us safe that is well served by both vampire literature and YA more generally. In Kind is a particularly great piece of writing, about Grace, a disabled girl left for dead by a caregiver father who then turns her death into a national campaign in which he is the victim because caring for her was difficult. This being a vampire anthology, Grace gets to become a vampire rather than die as a victim of caregiver violence, and with the help of her sire, Seanan, returns to take control of her own narrative from her father. We should totally also talk about "Mirrors, Windows and Selfies" by Mark Oshiro, a story in blog form about a teen vampire raised in isolation by controlling parents who insist there is nobody else like him, and that they'll be killed for revealing his existence, and "Vampires Never Say Die", by anthology editors Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker, which is a wildly enjoyable story about a teenage Instagram influencer who strikes up an online friendship with New York's president of vampires (right?), and throws her a very ill-advised birthday party. Because vampires need pocket friends too, you know?

I don’t usually read short stories as I get annoyed when they end and I wanted more, however I was completely hooked on this collection and didn’t feel like I was sad when they ended. these stories were so wonderful and managed to have such impact. This is a must-read for collection for Vampire fans, with wonder queer, BIPOC, body positive and disability representation. I’d be so happy if there was some future work from the stories provided here, but look forward to more anthologies if they are like this

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Loved this! So many great stories with different fresh perspective within one book. Really worth a read.

Sadly I didn’t enjoy this. The stories were not very well developed overall and I found the writing to be poor in some cases as well. A shame as this had potential!

Vampires Never Get Old: Tales With Fresh Bite is an anthology of short vampire stories all with different takes on what vampires could be like and their culture. I don't tend to read many anthologies because I often find that I only enjoy a few of the stories which aren't enough to compensate for reading the whole book, and because the stories are so short I struggle to connect with the characters or to get invested. However, when I spotted this anthology, it's description and the contributing authors made me want to give it a try. And maybe I was hoping for a little reminder of the good old days of Buffy, Angel, House of Night, and Twilight. Not that I was ever really into all that teenage angsty vampire stuff, HONEST *cough cough*.
My favourites were The Boys From Blood River by Rebecca Roanhorse (totally creepy and unsettling) and Mirrors, Windows & Selfies by Mark Oshiro (the difficulties of growing up as a vampire). I also particularly liked Senior Year Sucks by Julie Murphy specifically the Buffy references that just made my slayer loving heart glow.
There were a couple of the stories that I wasn't keen on but they weren't terrible, just not my thing. But even so, these weren't enough for me to not enjoy the book overall.
I normally end up rating anthologies 3 stars just because some stories I enjoy and some I don't so I just go in the middle for the rating, but I really feel like this one had more enjoyable ones than usual so I'm happy to give it 4 stars.

Seven Nights for Dying by Tessa Gratton
2/5
I really disliked this story. For some reason it just gave me creepy vibes because the main character was still a teenager.

The Boys from Blood River by Rebecca Roanhorse
2/5
The fact that the racism and homophobia all just came down to the fact that this teenage boy wasn't popular at school bothered me. They never addressed it further or expanded on those facets of the story.

Senior Year Sucks by Julie Murphy
3/5
I would have left the kiss out at the end. This was a bit more fun to read but the direct Buffy references put me off.

The Boy and the Bell by Heidi Heilig
4/5
This is what I was expecting from this anthology. I loved the setting and the characters. A lot of thought and effort was placed on the time period and I though the conversations surrounding class were done really well. I loved Will as a main character.

A Guidebook for the Newly Sired Desi Vampire by Samira Ahmed
4/5
This was so funny and relatable. I chuckled and snorted and laughed out loud reading this. It's innovative and a self-contained story,

In Kind by Kayla Whaley
2.5/5
This absolutely gave me the creeps and I couldn't sleep afterward. I just didn't enjoy reading this. The disability representation was great though.

Vampires Never Say Die by Zoraida Cordova and Natalie C. Parker
1/5
This whole story gave off groomer vibes. The fact that the 200 year old vampire was speaking to a 15 year old girl online is a BIG NO. The end was a mess and this was probably one of the weakest story of the anthology.

Bestiary by Laura Ruby
2.5/5
I don't understand the point of this story. It tried to make too many of them by tackling capitalism, the connection between vampires and animals and the distribution of wealth. I just think that it would have worked out better if the author had focused on one thing.

Mirrors, Windows, and Selfies by Mark Oshiro
1/5
DNF - I couldn't finish reading this story. I was beyond annoyed at the writing style and the protagonist just made me cringe.

The House of Black Sapphires by Dhonielle Clayton
5/5
I loved this short story. It was the best out of all of them. The atmosphere was amazing. The writing was fantastic and I just fell in love with the lore and the characters. I need this to become a full length novel.

First Kill by V. E. Schwab
4/5
I loved the play on the first kill being like losing your virginity. Both perspectives were distinguishable and I cannot wait to see this turned into a Netflix show. This has SO MUCH potential and I had a good time reading it.

BOOK REVIEW: Vampires Never Get Old edited by Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C Parker

3 Stars

Oh I am so disappointed! I love vampires but this anthology just didn't hit the mark for me.
There were only a few of the short stories that I actually enjoyed and those were from Rebecca Roanhorse, Mark Oshiro and V E Schwab. My favourite was V E Schwab's story of which I would happily read a full book about! I loved the story, the characters, the side characters and their back story. It was good fun and definitely my favourite.
Sadly the vast majority were seriously missing decent characters or storylines. A few I dnfed on as I got bored and that says a lot for a short story!
I kind of enjoyed the little bits of information about vampires inbetween the stories but even these I thought could have had more detail.

Overall a disappointing anthology but one I'm glad I read purely for those three stories.

Please note that I was #gifted this ebook in exchange for an honest review.