THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF VAMPIRE SHORT STORIES BY WOMEN

Got garlic? Silver bullets? A handy stake or a cross? Vampire fans take heart. Despite naysayers who believe the genre has been literally sucked dry of all creativity and originality, British horror maven Jones has assembled an impressive volume packed with period classics and fresh takes before and after the 21st century. This toothsome anthology opens with Anne Rice's only vampire short story, "The Master of Rampling Gate," a traditional romantic piece from 1986; other selections meet, or surpass, this fine beginning. One of the best original tales is "Outfangthief," a stylish debut from Gala Blau, about lost children, a topic also brilliantly explored by Roberta Lannes's "Turkish Delight." Melanie Tem's "Lunch at Charon's" and Nancy Kilpatrick's "La Diente" feature biting social commentary. "Forever Amen," by Elizabeth Massie, provides a magical time-traveling twist. Outstanding reprints include "Jack," by Connie Willis, exploring WWII; "Aftermath," by Janet Berliner, a dark biblical piece; Kathryn Ptacek's "Butternut and Blood," a Civil War horror; and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's elegant Saint-Germain tale, "A Question of Patronage." But the most exciting reprint has to be Mary Elizabeth Braddon's "Good Lady Ducayne," an 1896 novella published a year before Bram Stoker's Dracula. Apart from a few anemic originals and dubious reprints, this is a robust anthology sure to satisfy even the most jaded blood thirst. (Nov. 1)

Forecast:The misleadingly cheesy jacket art may attract Buffy fans, who will discover the rich, literary tradition of which the teenage female vampire-fighters on the small screen form only the latest popular manifestation.