I don’t read many short story collections, I usually find I can’t get attached to the story enough to be interested, but this one really blew it out of the park. I absolutely adored this collection, and felt like it crammed so much wonderful impact into such short stories, but without leaving me feeling unsatisfied. The variation in takes in vampire mythology throughout this anthology was exquisite and I loved every moment.

It’s an absolute must-read for Vampire mythology fans, full of snippets of queer, BIPOC, disables and fat vamps, previously kept out of the narrative. It was so meaningful to see a much more diverse inclusion in these stories, banishing the marble skinned vamps with LGBTQ+ exclusionary stories that ignore the heritage and queer history of gothic literature. And, it was just damn creative and entertaining! I’d love to see more development on these stories (V.E. Schwab’s TV adaptation, I’m looking at you!) and can’t want to read more of these diverse anthologies.

I tried really hard with this but unfortunately it failed to deliver. There were a few standout stories but the majority were kinda meh. I really wanted this to be great as I’m a big fan of vampires! I have to give this one star as I DNFed this.

Overall I enjoyed it. But the ones that stand out for me are A Guidebook for the Newly Sired Desi Vampire, The House of the Black Sapphires & First Kill.

Seven Nights for Dying:
Just another angsty teenager wanting to be a vampire and her inner monologue of drama. It was a struggle to get through. Not really my kinda vibe.

The Boys from Blood River:
A hauntingly interesting story concept. Sacrifice for immortality. I was surprised I enjoyed this one. It creates intrigue and suspense. Well written.

Senior Years Suck:
Sassy badass slayer type. I genuinely love this vibe. Being a Buffy fan since I was kid. This was a great read and a walk down memory lane as such with a teenage vampire slayer.

The Boy and the Bell:
This was all over the place to me. I didn’t enjoy it.

A Guidebook for the Newly Sired Desi Vampire:
Witty and hilarious. A light take on vampires and what happens when you become one. Vampires for dummies. Definitely recommend for those with a sense of a humour.

I didn’t really enjoy In Kind and Vampires Never Say Die. Just didn’t hit the mark for me.

Bestiary:
Good story concept. Interesting enough. But didn’t hook me.

Mirrors, Windows & Selfies:
Very middle grade vibe. I do enjoy YA and middle grades but I’m not the target audience for this story.

The House of the Black Sapphires:
The world and story build for this is brilliant. Paints the picture. Enjoyed this.
Intriguing and sass filled.

First Kill:
To be honest this is what I was here for. I wanted to read VE Schwab’s as my curiosity was piqued on how she would put this together. After reading the Cassidy Blake series earlier this year.

An interesting take on monster hunters. I wasn’t disappointed. This was a good read. I’m keen to see this come to life with it being picked up for a tv series.

There were some great stories here, but also some just ok ones. I also felt like they were sometimes a bit too similar. I think perhaps that's because a short story can only go so far into creating strong worlds and convincing characters, as well as using vampiric tropes.

I'm grateful for the opportunity to read and enjoyed the diversity on display.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Overall Rating: 3.63/5 (Average star rating from the 11 short stories)

As is clearly stated in the foreword of this book, it is meant to be a collection of stories about vampires that reimagine the default of 'vampires that were predominently men, white, cisgender, straight and able-bodied' as previously presented in most novels about these supernatural creatures. And true to its word, the stories feature a variety of different vampires and human characters. Each short story was also followed by a mini-essay from the editrixes about a specific myth pertaining to vampirism that was explored in the story.

I am a big fan of vampires and was very much looking forward to this collection. On the whole I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure I encountered anything radically new. Some takes on the vampire myth were interesting - in the first story, for example, it takes seven nights for someone to become a vampire, giving them ample time to think about their decision. The concept of the vampire slayer was used twice; I liked the idea of a guidebook for newly sired vampires and vampires having an affinity to animals. A lot of the stories, however, were left very open-ended and felt more like prologues to a whole book rather than a fully self-contained story, which I found a bit frustrating.

My favourite short story was 'Vampires Never Say Die', penned by Zoraida Cordova and Natalie C. Parker, the two Editrixes. It's about a young girl and a vampire who connect via Instagram.

There were a whole lot of stories in this anthology, and I'm going to be honest, I liked maybe three or four stories. The rest just kind of seemed flat, no real character development, it just didn't do anything ot me. The stories I did like had some stong emotions and I think that's the only thing that saved them.

While some of the short stories were interesting, as a whole, I found the book quite flat and hard to get through. I suppose with most anthologies there are going to be those that excite and those that disappoint but I think more fell into the latter category.
There are a lot of different reps such as Trans, queer and POC but most of the stories felt a little pointless. I had no stake in them. (pun intended.).

If you are a vampire addict like me then you will find this collection of short stories perfect reading material. Some of the most talented writers out there give us their own spin on the creatures of the night. The stories are fresh, exciting and diverse and both play with and enhance the vampire rules. Many of the stories could easily be their own prologue to a full novel. It’s hard to pick favourites but I enjoyed First Kill by Victoria ‘V. E.’ Schwab, Seven Nights for Dying by Tessa Gratton and The Boys from Blood River by Rebecca Roanhorse.
In addition I also loved the curation of the stories from Zoraida Cordova and Natalie C Parker and their commentary following each story which gives you genius insights into Vampire lore.
Whether you are a classic Dracula fan or a fan of the more twinkly Twilight vampire then this collection of stories definitely has something for you.

Vampires Never Get Old was a really interesting and constantly intriguing anthology. I loved the sheer variety of genres on display and how the stories are always followed up with a slice of lore or mythology

Seven Nights for Dying by Tessa Gratton had such an interesting premise, having all that time to make a choice and set your life to rights. I liked how it explored art, legacy and grief. Similarly, The Boys from Blood River by Rebecca Roanhorse was a complex, dark and highly intriguing story. Senior Year Sucks by Julie Murphy was a really fun sapphic slayer-vampire enemies to lovers short romance story that I’d happily devour a full length version of.

I liked how the writers often used the vampiric symbols to explore social issues. In The Boy and the Bell by Heidi Heilig, vampires are used as a symbol of privilege. I loved how body snatchers and grave robbers were reimagined as a curious trans teen wanting to be a doctor. A Guidebook for the Newly Sired Desi Vampire by Samira Ahmed followed this theme with a lively, conversational and funny tone. Ahmed addresses what happens to the often faceless, dehumanised victims of the tragic white vampirical patriarch. In Kind by Kayla Whaley calls out the ableist ‘mercy killing’ and magical cure tropes and it was awesome to see a kickass disabled character take centre stage.

Vampires Never Say Die by Zoradia Cordova and Natalie C Parker was an interesting and highly entertaining look at vampirism, particularly codes of conduct and friendship. Bestiary by Laura Ruby boasted a complex, flawed and highly intriguing protagonist. I loved Ruby’s exploration of a dystopian reality without water. I loved the multimedia format of Mirrors, Windows & Selfies by Mark Oshiro and the genius concept of telling the story through blog posts. It was a poignant story that really delved into questions of family, identity and loyalty.

I instantly fell in love with The House of Black Sapphires by Dhonielle Clayton. It was just magical and lyrical, with a dark edge to it. I liked how Clayton addressed the legacy of slavery through vampirism and how it impacts Black identities. Finally, I loved the casually queer First Kill by V E Schwab. It was packed full of twists and turns and ends on one hell of a hook for future exploration.

Vampires Never Get Old was a thrilling, brilliantly diverse and highly bingeable anthology that vampires are back and long may they rule.

Vampires Never Get Old - and that's definitely true for me and plenty of other readers out there! I'm a sucker for a good vampire story and in this book there's eleven very different stories from a whole host of writers.

This anthology had a little something from every corner of the night - the scary, the sexy and the spooky.

This was the most diverse, imaginative collection of vampires I've had the pleasure to read. From different backgrounds and unique origin stories, to different sexual and gender identities to just so many different ideas of what a vampire really is. My favourite had to be First Kill by Victoria Schwab and The House of Black Diamonds by Dhonielle Clayton

I was very excited when seeing Vampires Never Get Old for the first time because, well, like most people, I had a major vampire phase when I was younger and the mystical creatures will forever hold a special place in my heart. But unfortunately, this anthology left me very disappointed, and made for an almost boring read.

I found half the stories to have really good concepts and writing but to be cut off in a weird place, and the other half to just not be to my taste at all. I like the idea behind the anthology but almost all stories fell short of my expectations.

I do have three stories which made me want more and for which I found the writing really good and the concept super interesting; Bestiary by Laura Ruby, Mirrors, Windows & Selfie by Mark Oshiro and, with no surprise, First Kill by V. E. Schwab.

Seven Nights for Dying by Tessa Gratton - sexy vampires and the MC trying to figure out if the eternal life is for her. I liked the style and the references. ⁠
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The Boys from Blood River by Rebecca Roanhorse - a more plot-driven story compared to the first one. I love the concept of vampires being an urban legend. It was creepy and atmospheric and made me feel like I could actually hear the song. ⁠
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Senior Year Sucks by Julie Murphy - Buffy The Vampire Slayer (but in Texas) and a girl from a rehabilitation center for vampires. What could possibly go wrong? ⁠
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The Boy and the Bell by Heidi Heilig - a grave robber in the 19th century and the mysterious case of people coming back from the dead.
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A Guidebook for the Newly Sired Desi Vampire by Samira Ahmed - the title says it all. It was cool because it was different from the other pieces in the book.⁠
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In Kind by Kayla Whaley - a girl with a severe disability experiences life after death after she falls victim to a mercy killing. Now it's her father who's about to be on the receiving end of things. I had mixed feelings about this one, since it talked about such a serious issue. If a caregiver kills someone they’ve been taking care of for over ten years without any support, the issue is a bit more complex than just "he thought her life isn't worth living".⁠
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Vampires Never Say Die by Zoraida Córdova & Natalie C. Parker - girls send DMs over Instagram and then meet irl. What could possibly go wrong? Gave me modern Lost Boys vibes.⁠
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Bestiary by Laura Ruby - a world where the water supply is controlled by a large corporation and a zookeeper trying to make sure the animals survive. It's about thirst.⁠
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Mirrors, Windows & Selfies by Mark Oshiro - Cisco, a vampire, deals with not being able to see themselves in a world obsessed with showing your face online. It talks about loneliness and invisibility. I liked the blog posts format.⁠
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The House of Black Sapphires by Dhonielle Clayton - vampires doing alchemy and attending balls in a New Orleans ward dedicated to immortal creatures.⁠
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First Kill by V.E. Schwab - Juliette has a crush on Calliope. It's cute. What a shame, one of them is a vampire and one of them is a slayer.⁠
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I know that First Kill is being adapted by Netflix, but to be honest, this anthology has so many strong stories, most of them could be adapted as miniseries.⁠
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Thank you to Titan Books and Netgalley for gifting me a copy of this book to review. I first heard of this book last year and I’d been wanting to read it since. I have mixed feelings about vampires, there’s been some vampires I’ve enjoyed and others I just hated.

I have mixed feelings about this anthology, some stories were so good and I enjoyed them and others were not for me personally but I can see why people would enjoy them. The writing in all the stories was okay and easy to read. The authors all had different ideas of vampires which was good to see. I enjoyed the vampire theme and how it changed depending on the author.
One area where this book shines is the diversity. We have a lot of rep in this, there’s black characters, Latinx characters, Indian rep, disability rep, fat character and a whole lot of queer characters. There might be more too but these are the ones I caught. It was so good to see the representation as most vampire stories I’ve read have white male characters or female ones.

My favourite stories were,
- In kind by Kayla Whaley
- first kill by Victoria Schwab

I found most stories in this collections were maybe 3 star reads for me and a couple might have been lower. I had high expectations for this and it was just okay for me. Overall I was a little disappointed but I still managed to enjoy the collection.

Content warning - grief, violence, blood, death, mention of slavery, abuse, loss of a loved one, bullying, mis gendering and attempted blackmail, ableism, attempted murder by overdose, mention of racism, underage drinking, there may be more but these are the ones I caught.

Vampires Never Get Old: Tales with Fresh Bite, is a perfect read if you love vampire stories. Made up of multiple short stories from well-known authors, all of who give a fresh and original take on Vampires. Well worth a read.

I. Adored. This. Book.
This is a wonderful collection of modern day vampire short stories from a great group of authors
Tessa Grafton
Rebecca Roanhorse
Julie Murphy
Heidi Heilig
Samira Ahmed
Kayla Whaley
Zoraida Cordova & Natalie C Parker
Laura Ruby
Mark Oshiro
Dhonielle Clayton
Victoria Schwab
Every one of the eleven short stories left me wanting more.
My particular absolute favourites were
"The boys from blood river" with poor bullied Lukas wishing to be "saved" by Silas,
"Senior year sucks" which was a phenomenal slayer story,
"In kind" with its moral dilemma and revenge
"Mirrors, windows & selfies" which had me hooked like one of the blogs followers completely engrossed me and of course,
"First kill" another vampire versus slayer teen story.
100% surprised by just how superb everyone of the stories were. This is a must for any vampire fan who just wants a taster of blood rather than the full human sized...

Vampires Never Get Old is a fun and fresh anthology of unique vampire stories written by a host of talented YA authors. As with any anthology, there were some stories I preferred over others but there were also new authors I discovered and loved. After each short story, Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker discussed the main themes and events of the tale which I thought was brilliant, I loved hearing their thoughts on each one.
The anthology started well with a strong opening story, Seven Nights for Dying by Tessa Gratton, which explored the transition from human to vampire and how within the story the human must feed on vampire blood for seven nights to complete the transition, allowing the human to potentially change their mind. The second story, The Boys From Blood River, was equally as amazing and also discussed how humans could transition to a vampire, however Rebecca Roanhorse’s story depended on a violent sacrifice and your ability to attract vampires with an old jukebox song!
Julie Murphy’s story, Senior Year Sucks, was one of my absolute favourites, it’s an explosive enemies to lovers story between a fat and fierce slayer girl who meets her match in a vampire girl. The Boy and the Bell by Heidi Heilig didn’t make much of an impression on me, unfortunately, the story was enjoyable but not memorable. Another favourite in this anthology was A Guidebook for the Newly Sired Desi Vampire by Samira Ahmed, I loved how the author took the comparison of the infection of vampirism and colonialization and created a brilliantly humorous guide for new vampires!
In Kind by Kayla Whaley left me speechless, it’s an incredible story that puts it’s middle finger up to ableism and magical cures within fantasy stories, it’s a tale that makes a stand for disabled people and those who have chronic illnesses, it broke my heart. An online friendship is at the heart of Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker’s story, which also discusses the ability to influence others as vampire or human, I loved the friendship element of the story but otherwise it wasn’t particularly striking. Bestiary by Laura Ruby was another story that didn’t stand out for me.
Mark Oshiro’s story, Mirrors, Windows & Selfies, was cleverly written as online diary posts with occasional commentary by it’s readers as the main character tried to discover more about their existence, the story built up constant momentum to reach a satisfying peak. I love the premise of The House of Black Sapphires by Dhonielle Clayton, with a coffin reimagined as a magical apothecary but the story wasn’t executed well enough for me to fully enjoy it. First Kill by V. E. Schwab was a disappointing end to the anthology as the story wasn’t as striking as many of the others.
A mix of excellent and disappointing stories, but I thoroughly enjoyed every new imaginative take on vampirism and I look forward to rereading this anthology in the future.

I really enjoyed this carefully selected collection of short stories. As soon as I heard vampire, I knew I had to devour this and devour I did.

Each story explores many different themes relating to vampires and their myths and retellings which I really enjoyed. Something else I especially enjoyed was the diverse representation that was explored regarding vampirism.

Some of my favourite short stories included: The House of Black Sapphires by Dhonielle Clayton, Senior Year Sucks by Julie Murphy, The Boys From Blood River by Rebecca Roanhorse and In Kind by Kayla Whaley.

I also really enjoyed the editors (or editrixes) comments after each work. I also enjoyed the questions they asked and the thoughts they provoked within me when reflecting on what I had just read. Overall I found reading this an enjoyable and thought provoking experience, admittedly I enjoyed some works a lot more than others. But as a whole I would recommend it.

I LOVE a good vampire story but unfortunately Vampires Never Get Old just didn’t do it for me. I found the short story format didn’t entice me and a lot of the stories felt they either ended in a weird place or left me feeling bored.
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My favourite story was Dhonielle Clayton’s, about a family of vampires who move back to New Orleans. Bea, one of 5 sisters, finds herself making a deal with a shadow baron, a supernatural creature who deals with those who should be dead, the ‘keepers of the crossroads’. I loved how it focused on a Black family of vampires as this can be quite rare in supernatural fiction, and the atmosphere created in so few pages was magical.
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V.E. Schwab’s story, First Kill, was also great and it was nice to see a lesbian vampire having a crush, having both good representation and also being cute. Who doesn’t love vampires being adorable?
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Overall, I loved seeing wider representation within vampire stories, I just wish that I liked some of the other stories more.

Vampires Never Get Old is 11 short stories all about vampires but with a twist on the usual folklore you think you know about them! I have to admit a couple of the stories are too short and left me very frustrated as I would have liked to know more about what happens, but that is the meaning of the short stories and to make us think about them long after we have read them.

The stories are well written and do get you sucked in(!) I especially enjoyed The house of Black Sapphires and First Kill, these 2 would make brilliant books!

There’s blood (obviously!), sexual encounters and swearing so I’d recommend for 14+

I just want to start off by saying this anthology was great! It contained some really unique and incredibly diverse vampire stories (a lot of own voices authors also!) which took a fresh perspective on the genre, and was a true delight to read. Each short story is accompanied by a short ‘discussion’ by the editors, briefly talking about an issue related to the story about vampirism (such as mirrors, coffins, bats).

Seven Nights For Dying by Tessa Gratton ⭐️⭐️⭐️
This first story follows our main character who is an overweight bisexual teenager looking to be transformed into a vampire. It follows her week long journey of transition, giving her plenty of time to fully think about her decision. There was also trans representation and the short story exhibited poly relationships. This one was a good, solid story to start the anthology

The Boys From Blood River by Rebecca Roanhorse ⭐️⭐️
Now, this one was definitely my least favourite story - it really reminded me of Riverdale for some reason (which I hated). It follows Lukas, a queer boy in a small town, who is intrigued about the local legend of the ‘Blood River Boys’ who can be summoned if you sing their infamous song. This story was super unique and atmospheric, but it just wasn’t for me unfortunately (I’m sure other people will love this one tho!)

Senior Year Sucks by Julie Murphy ⭐️⭐️⭐️
This story follows Jolene, a vampire slayer, and also a cheerleader in high school, on her bus journey home from a football game. When they spot another broken down bus, they allow the stranded passengers to get on, forcing Jolene to spend the ride with a vampire sitting next to her. I did like this one and also the concept of there being a vampire rehab centre (that was really unique, just not explored very much, I think it would be interesting to read from the perspective of a vampire inside the centre). It just felt like something was lacking.

The Boy And The Bell by Heidi Heilig ⭐️⭐️⭐️
This short story follows a trans man who really wants to be a doctor, and to advance his studies decides to go grave robbing - and finds someone ringing the bell from their coffin (indicating they had been buried alive). I enjoyed this one, and I really like when our main characters are into science (as I study a STEM degree).

A Guidebook For The Newly Sired Desi Vampire by Samira Ahmed ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was the best story in my opinion, I absolutely adored how it incorporated technology to explain ‘the modern vampire’. It is actually written as a guide for the newly sired Desi vampire (as the title suggests) and gives tips for adjustment into their new life (including vampire apps!). It also deals with themes of colonialism & racism in a humorous critique which was nice to read.

In Kind by Kayla Whaley ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This story follows Grace, a 17-year-old disabled girl who has been “mercifully killed” by her father - who not only doesn’t get arrested for murder, but gets sympathy from the whole town! (It was really hard to read this as you know his justifications are untrue.) However, it turns out Seanan, a vampire, managed to turn Grace before she actually dies, and she returns to confront her father. I loved this story, and particularly how the Grace’s vampirism didn’t suddenly cured her disability, it just made her a stronger version of herself. This one is also an own voices for disability.

Vampires Never Say Die by Zoraida Cordova & Natalie C. Parker ⭐️⭐️
This follows Theo, an instagram influencer, who throws a vampire themed party for her online friend, Brittany (as this is a recurring joke between them). Theo invites all of Brittany’s friends but she finds out the hard way that the vampirism isn’t a joke… I did enjoy this one at first, until I read some other reviews which stated Theo was 15 when they first started messaging and it feels a bit too much like grooming for me to enjoy this one anymore…

Bestiary by Laura Ruby ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Bestiary follows our vampire main character who also works at a zoo during a water shortage, and as she is a predator herself she can form special connections to the animals, and often sleeps amongst the lions. I loved how much our main character loved animals and I really enjoyed the sort of plot reveal at the end? (It was just a nice addition to the story).

Mirrors, Windows & Selfies by Mark Oshiro ⭐️⭐️⭐️
This story follows Cisco, a gay born-vampire, who has been kept in isolation, constantly travelling around the US because of the threat to him (as he is ‘one of a kind’). This story is laid out in a series of Tumblr-style blog posts, and you get to see him build his online following who believe he is telling a ‘story’, not documenting his own life. All he wants to do is look in a mirror to see himself (but this is forbidden). This one was very mediocre, the blog post format really made this one for me.

The House Of Black Sapphires by Dhonielle Clayton ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This story follows the Turner family of black vampires who must return to the eternal ward of New Orleans, and their introductory ball, which reveals a much Karger mythological world than any of the Turner daughters ever knew existed. Another review described this as “a vampire take on The Great Gatsby” and I actually think that’s a really accurate statement - and perhaps why I liked it so much. This one had fabulous characters, and reoccurring theme of love was such a nice addition to the story.

First Kill by Victoria Schwab ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This last short story is probably the main draw to this anthology, as it is written by the one and only V.E. Schwab. It follows Calliope and Juliette, two teenage girls in high school and their intertwining stories. I’m not going to state specifically what happens, but it definitely gives off Romeo and Juliet vibes in my opinion. It was so well executed and I feel like it could definitely be a part of a larger story line (also just seen somebody said it’s coming to Netflix?!)

The stories average out at ~3.5 stars, but I think as there’s such a vast mix of writing styles, each person who reads this will find their own highlights and lowlights. Overall, this was well worth a read, I would recommend it to YA fantasy fans (especially if you love vampires of course).