The best books from the gothic darkness of vampires to wizards, goblins, and dwarves

In high school, when I’d exhausted the full catalogue of Agatha Christie, read all the James Herriot books, and was looking for something different, I discovered Bram Stoker’s Dracula. This book is still my favourite book and it celebrates its 125th year in print this year and it’s never been out of print. I think that says it all.

I love how the entire story is told through journal entries, letters, and newspaper articles. A brilliant, innovative idea that has been copied many times since. I love the growing feeling of unease that builds throughout the novel, and I especially love the fact that one of the ‘heroes’ is a woman. In a Victorian novel! The wonderful, resourceful Mina Harker.

Count Dracula has to be the most infamous anti-hero ever, and probably the scariest. If you’ve never read this wonderful novel—shame on you! Read it right now.

I’ve been a member of the Dracula Society since 1996 and served on the Committee since 2011. Next year is the 50th Anniversary of the Society.

One of the things I like about the Anita Blake series is that the stories are contemporary and vampires are now legal citizens... some of them even own nightclubs.

The books are set in St. Louis, where Anita’s primary job is as an animator... not the kind who draws cartoons... the kind who raises corpses as zombies. Her secondary job is as the official slayer, but unlike Buffy she gets paid for it.

In this first novel, the Master of the City needs her help, and calls a truce—for the time being. The Master’s second—charismatic vampire, Jean Claude, appears to be on Anita’s side... but is he? Then there’s the Rat King who’s none too impressed by Anita at first and the local werewolf pack. Laurell K Hamilton has every beastie you can think of in this series, and none of them play nice.

Carmilla predates Dracula by twenty-six years, and was first published as a serial in The Dark Blue, later reprinted in Le Fanu’s short story collection, In a Glass Darkly published in 1872. It’s the first lesbian vampire story and was made into a film called The Vampire Lovers by Hammer, starring Ingrid Pitt and Peter Cushing in 1970. 

Le Fanu’s Carmilla is often credited with being the ‘first’ vampire, which isn’t the case because John William Polidori’s The Vampyre was published in 1818, beating Carmilla by more than sixty years.

The story tells of a dark romance between vampire and human, which I think was pretty brave for the times. The film went more for raunchy sensationalism than romance and sadly lost most of Le Fanu’s charm. Thank goodness for brooding castles, tombs, and vampires. It's a traditional vampire read which reeks of Gothic atmosphere. 

The story is set near Alderley Edge in Cheshire, UK, and I have done the ‘Wizard’s Walk’ there. I photographed the ancient inn aptly named The Wizard, and admired the freshwater spring, where (if you look closely) you can see the face of a wizard carved in the rock. It’s said this was carved by Garner’s grandfather, but I’ve no idea whether it’s true.

Like The Lord of the Rings, there’s a quest—this one concerns an army of warriors who sleep in their hidden underground cavern. The guardian of the warriors is a wizard called Cadellin Silverbrow. But what is the magic that keeps them sleeping?

The Weirdstone is the kind of book which keeps you turning the pages as the pace hots up towards the huge battle which takes place near Alderley Edge. 

I was so engrossed reading the book, I missed my Tube stop. Brilliant storytelling.

This first book in the series has to get a mention. Known as The Sorcerer’s Stone in the US, this is the book that encouraged children to actually pick up a book and read. The author deserves every award going for reigniting the world’s interest in fantasy literature. 

My son was enchanted from the first page... and luckily, he was in the first film as an extra! 

I’ve read the series many times, seen all the films many times—and I’m almost as addicted to Harry as I am to Dracula.  

‘Harry, yer a wizard.’ Words every child would love to hear.