.....however, I definitely like the cover of my own first novel. Though it's not primarily a horror story, I needed to drive the hero to terrible acts by using his fear of a resurrected, wandering severed hand....

....in this, one of his lesser known works, the hero pursues the shrouded, ghostly figure of what seems to be a beautiful vampire....

Of all demonaic creatures, the vampire is the most erotic. Here Stoker's short stories explore the hidden eroticism of the Victorian era.

....unless they're werewolves, which is cool, but not quite as tragic or sexy....

....and all ends very chocolate-box....

....something very similar was written by Jack Finney (he's now deceased; has he gone to join the undead?) in 1955. It was filmed in 1956, and the old black and white is considered a classic....

...but back to vampires, and books. Le Fanu's short story of a seductive female vampire was written in 1872, 25 years before Stoker wrote his much longer work. It's been filmed a few times, usually under other titles....

....and of course he's the main character in you-know-what, which is also somewhat concerned with biting....

....Lee was born in 1922, and his reign as the original sharp-toothed guy is over,he's still going strong, playing the evil wizard Saruman behind a hedge of whiskers....

....the third figure of terror originated when Victoria sat on the throne was this good doctor, but somehow he's not as popular, probably because RLS wrote his short story in a hurry, and missed a lot of tricks....

....Frankenstein was written as a result of a bet involving three others beside Mary Shelley. One was the romantic poet Lord Byron, of who it was said he was "mad, bad, and dangerous to know." He was accused of incest with his half-sister, so again we see the lik between evil and the erotic....

....but by the time this, the sixth and final book of The Vampire Chronicles, came out, reviewers were complaining of a steady decline in the quality of the series. So possibly she decided to slam the lid on the subject....

....while we're talking rip-offs, let's mention Christopher Lee again, who in 1959 played Kharis, the ressurected mummy. I say rip-off because mummy films are never attributed to the originator of the idea, Bram Stoker....

...by the way, Christopher Lee had a buddy, actor Peter Cushing, who in this film was Professor Van Helsing, trying to stake him through the heart. Spoilsport!....

....a third actor from the old days of horror was Vincent Price. His speciality was films based on the stories of Edgar Allan Poe....

....a strange man who lead a strange and tragic life, obsessed with the morbid and ghoulish, although he didn't go much for vampires....

....but perhaps we need some form of technical guide. Will this fit the bill....

....although Jane Austen's stories were set in a time and social class that was obsessed with etiquette....

....or offer us some kind of protection. Onwards to my next list, "Vampire Fascination 2: Blood, Flesh, erotisism, Romance and Tragedy"....