Books like “The Vampire Lestat”

What to read after “The Vampire Lestat” by Anne Rice: a list matched by tropes, mood and atmosphere. Under each book you will see what it has in common.

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1
Interview with the Vampire
Anne Rice · 1976
Similar atmosphere: “Philosophical”
A young interviewer listens as the vampire Louis tells the story of his long life: turned by the powerful Lestat, endlessly hunting to survive, and raising the child vampire Claudia with him in a small, doomed family.
2
A Dowry of Blood
S.T. Gibson · 2021
From the same world: “Vampires” and “Gothic”
Constanta is saved from death by a vampire lord and becomes the first of his brides. Over centuries he brings two more consorts into their home, and as cruelty and control replace affection, she begins to record the truth of their long and dangerous marriage.
3
Dark Lover
J. R. Ward · 2005
From the same world: “Vampires”
Wrath, the vampire king of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, never planned to care for a mortal. When he promises a dying comrade to watch over the man's half-human daughter, Beth, their growing bond pulls them both into the Brotherhood's hidden war with the slayers hunting their kind.
4
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
Holly Black · 2013
From the same world: “Vampires”
- Vampires
- Morally Grey Character
After a party ends in a vampire massacre, seventeen-year-old Tana wakes surrounded by bodies and finds her infected ex-boyfriend and a strange vampire boy still alive. She takes them both to Coldtown, a walled city where vampires and humans live under quarantine, and has to decide where she belongs.
5
Melmoth the Wanderer
Charles Robert Maturin · 1820
From the same world: “Gothic”
A scholar finds a manuscript telling of Melmoth, a man who centuries earlier traded his soul for knowledge and an unnaturally long life. Doomed to wander the earth, he appears to people in their worst moments and offers them the chance to take on his burden.
6
Twilight
Stephenie Meyer · 2005
From the same world: “Vampires”
- Vampires
- Byronic Hero
Bella Swan moves to the rainy town of Forks and is drawn to Edward Cullen, who is beautiful, distant and not human. As she learns he is a mind-reading vampire, the danger of loving him becomes impossible to ignore.
7
Sunshine
Robin McKinley · 2003
From the same world: “Vampires”
- Vampires
- Morally Grey Character
Rae Seddon, a baker called Sunshine, is captured by vampires at her family's lake cabin and learns she carries magic of her own. Bound to a vampire who should be her enemy, she is pulled into a war among the Others, the supernatural beings living beside humans.
8
Carmilla
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu · 1872
From the same world: “Vampires” and “Gothic”
- Vampires
- Gothic
In a lonely Styrian castle, Laura longs for companionship. A carriage accident brings Carmilla, a charming guest her own age, to stay with the family. As Laura's health fades and strange dreams visit her at night, she begins to suspect that her new friend is not what she seems.
9
The Serpent and the Wings of Night
Carissa Broadbent · 2022
From the same world: “Vampires”
- Vampires
- Morally Grey Character
Oraya is a human adopted by the vampire king and has always been an outsider at his court. To win protection she enters the Kejari, a tournament that kills most of its competitors, and forms an uneasy alliance with Raihn, a rival vampire she cannot trust and should not love.
10
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Oscar Wilde · 1890
Similar atmosphere: “Philosophical”
A beautiful young man surrenders to his vanity when his portrait begins to age and wither in place of his body. Sheltered by a cynical friend, Dorian chases pleasure without consequence until the hidden painting becomes a record of his cruelty.
11
Guilty Pleasures
Laurell K. Hamilton · 1993
From the same world: “Vampires”
- Vampires
Anita Blake raises the dead for a living and executes vampires for the state. When a frightened vampire hires her to find who is murdering the city's undead, her search pulls her into the hardboiled politics of Jean-Claude and the master vampire of St. Louis.
12
Dracula
Bram Stoker · 1897
From the same world: “Vampires” and “Gothic”
- Vampires
- Gothic
A young solicitor journeys to a remote castle in the Carpathians to settle a client's estate, only to find his host is no ordinary nobleman. As the count travels to England, letters and diaries record a creeping sickness spreading from Whitby to London.