Vampire Valentine's gifts

Valentine's Day is now only two weeks away, so it's time to start thinking about romantic gifts. If your loved one would enjoy something vampire related, here's a list of Valentine's goodies with a touch of the dark side.

Vampire Vineyards: The place for vampire wines, beer, vodka, and even fine Belgian chocolate. Yummm. One of my friends tried some of their wine and said it was pretty good.

Th1rte3n’s Closet: Home of the handmade "Deadly Bears." You can choose from various stuffed animal styles, including Punk Bear, Mutaint, and Deadly Deady. Unfortunately, GoodBye Kitty has sold out.

Starborn Alchemy: A small business that specializes in handcrafted perfumes, lip balms, body butters, and more. Home of items such as Wicked Perfume Oil and Demeter's Wrath Whipped Body Butter.

TWILIGHT Valentine's Day Heart Lollipops: A cluster of lollipops with Bella, Edward, and Jacob's heads on them. And, of course, one lollipop in the group says, "Bite me."

After Dark Jewelry: Beautiful handmade necklaces, chokers, etc. According to their website, "After Dark Jewelry is a tantalizing fusion of Medieval, Renaissance, Dark Victorian, and Vintage designed to unleash your inner siren!" Other vampire and Gothic-inspired jewelry can be found at DarkLinks.com.

Jill Tracy's Diabolical Streak CD: I've played the video for Jill Tracy's haunting and witty song "The Fine Art of Poisoning" on a Music Monday, and I plan to play more of her music in the coming weeks. She'll be hosting a Black Valentine's Party in Hollywood on Feb. 14.

If you have an online store that also sells vampire or related items that would be perfect for Valentine's, be sure to let me know and I'll spread the word.

Speaking of Eli from Let the Right One In...

Eli from Let the Right One In is currently in the running for Favorite Child Vampire on my latest poll, and I'm happy to report that her movie is coming out on DVD March 10 here in the US. I missed it during its very short theatrical release in my area, but I'm so excited about it showing up in my mailbox as a Netflix in a little over a month. I'll definitely discuss what I think about the film. I also just ordered the John Ajvide Lindqvist novel that it's based upon, thanks to some leftover money on my Amazon Christmas gift card. I'm looking forward to experiencing this vampire tale firsthand after reading so many favorable things about it.

Claudia already taking the lead

There's still plenty of time to vote in my Favorite Child Vampire poll (it closes Thursday), but already Claudia from The Vampire Chronicles is stepping ahead as the lead. If you want a quick rundown of the other contenders, check out my Favorite Child Vampire post from two days ago. Rudolph Sackville-Bagg from The Little Vampire series is also holding his own.

Kiss of the Vampire, Being Human, and Cirque du Freak peeks

I have two vampire trailers and a movie photo today. First up is the trailer for Being Human, a UK BBC series that centers around a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost who share a flat. So far, the only way to see the show in the US is to hunt around on YouTube, but hopefully that will change--and, hopefully, they won't make a US version that resembles the Coupling catastrophe. Next is a trailer for Kiss of the Vampire, also known as Immortally Yours--a new indie that's available on DVD. And at the very bottom, I've got the only still I could find so far from the upcoming movie adaptation of Cirque du Freak, starring John C. Reilly as the vampire Larten Crepsley.

BEING HUMAN TRAILER:


KISS OF THE VAMPIRE TRAILER:


CIRQUE DU FREAK PEEK:

Favorite child vampire

My current poll was suggested by Zahir, who responded to my call for poll ideas a few weeks ago. Who is your favorite child vampire?

If you want a really creepy element in your story, add a terrifying child, a la The Exorcist or The Omen. On the horrifying end of the vampire spectrum, you can vote for Danny Glick (Salem's Lot--a.k.a. the freaky vampire kid outside the window). If you prefer a vampire youth seeking companionship, there's Homer from Near Dark and Eli from Let the Right One In. There are also vengeful vampire females trapped in child bodies: Claudia (The Vampire Chronicles) and Divia (Forever Knight). And then on the completely opposite end of the spectrum, there's the relatively harmless, book-loving vampire hero of The Little Vampire, which started off as a children's series by German author Angela Sommer-Bodenburg and has expanded to TV shows and movies.

For the purpose of this poll, "child" is pretty much being defined as age 13 or younger. Teen vampires are a whole other matter, and we all know Edward Cullen would win a favorite teen vampire poll hands down. If your favorite child vampire doesn't appear on the list, feel free to mention others in the comments section.

Underworld beaten by...Paul Blart?

I meant to write about this bizarre subject yesterday but didn't get around to it. The debut weekend of Underworld: Rise of the Lycans saw the film reach the #2 spot at the box office...behind Paul Blart: Mall Cop. Paul Blart: Mall Cop! Even more amazingly, Blart reached the #1 spot for the second week in a row. Perhaps as the economy spirals out of control, a little mall cop humor is what people need more than anything else. More importantly, there's one vital ingredient a film about warring vampires and werewolves lacked compared to the Blart film. Characters on Segways.

2009 vampire books

According to my most recent poll, the bulk of vampire book fans out there plan to stick with their favorite authors in 2009. Here are the results for the question, "What 2009 vampire books do you plan to read?" Voters could pick more than one answer, which is why the percentages don't add up to 100.

1. Vampire fiction by my favorite authors (81%)
2. New finds (63%)
3. Vampire non-fiction (20%)
4. Vampire graphic novels/comics (16%)
5. I don't plan to read any 2009-published vampire books (6%)

Unfortunately for new and established authors, the publishing industry is another area of life being affected by the economy. So, if you love to read and can still afford books--no-matter the genre--do your best to support your favorite bookstores. Even checking out books at a library helps. When a book is in high-demand, a library will potentially order more copies of it. On a similar note, see my November post titled Books thriving during recession? As an author, the situation is certainly frustrating, and as a reader it makes me sad that manuscripts in all genres are having an even harder time than usual finding a publishing home.
(NEW: Here's another link to 2009 book releases, courtesy of SciFiGuy.)

Music Monday - Twilight tribute bands

Today I'm featuring the fascinating phenomenon of Twilight tribute bands. As with Wizard Rock, inspired by the Harry Potter series, Twilight Rock or TwiRock begs the question, "How trippy and surreal must that be for an author to have spawned a musical genre from her imaginary world?"

I've played The Bella Cullen Project in a past Music Monday, and today I've got songs from The Mitch Hansen Band, Bella Rocks, and The Twilight Music Girls. I'll probably have a poll about favorite TwiRock bands in the near future, so be sure to check back if you're a fan of the genre.

"I Don't Know" by THE MITCH HANSEN BAND:


"When I Thought of You" by BELLA ROCKS:


"Breathless" by THE TWILIGHT MUSIC GIRLS:

Happy vampire movie release day

We've got one of our first 2009 vampire films coming out in numerous countries today: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. I have yet to get into the Underworld series (I'm just not into werewolves), but feel free to comment if you see the movie and let everyone know if we should check it out. In case you've missed the trailer, I'm re-posting it below.

According to IMDB, Blood: The Last Vampire now has some release dates. It'll come out in March here in the US, although countries such as France and the UK will need to wait until June. I haven't seen Hong Kong's or Japan's dates yet.

Also, I've been cleaning up my sidebar, and I now have some easy links to my upcoming movie list, my vampire music features, and my poll results.

My very own book trailer

I just turned in some revisions, and I'm in between waiting to see what will happen with my vampire novels and jumping into a new project. Therefore, I decided to take a break and finally play with my Movie Maker software. I know book trailers can be a little odd, considering there are no moving images in books, but I thought I'd try one out for my seance novel, Voices Airy. I don't expect to see it nominated in next year's Academy Awards, but it's my valiant attempt at first-time film making. Be gentle.



If my crude film-making efforts actually managed to intrigue you, you can buy Voices Airy from Coachlight Press, Amazon.com, and elsewhere.

Vampire video contest & other vampy news

A Suburban Vampire regular visitor alerted me to a vampire video contest he's running: "This is a contest--to create a music video which involves crossing over between two different fictional worlds. Any two--just so long as a vampire is somewhere involved." The following video contains the full details, including the deadline, April 16. Contest entry page



In other news, Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke will be part of a Director's Close-Up panel in Los Angeles. Here's the info from the press release:

Starting February 4th, Film Independent kicks off Directors Close-Up: Conversations on the Art of Filmmaking (formerly the Directors Series), and one of the panelists this year is Catherine Hardwicke! She will also have her cinematographer and editor on some of the panels with her. The panels are every Wednesday at 7:30 pm at The Landmark Theater (10850 W. Pico Blvd.) in West Los Angeles. Film Independent's Website

And if you're in the Portland, OR, region or plan to be here March 28, tickets are now available for The 7th Annual Vampires Masquerade Ball. Here's info from the event's website:

"It's a night of elegance, decadence, and prestige that is exclusively held one night a year in the city of Portland, OR. It's our local goth/industrial community's night to shine! Complete with regional vendors, dj's, performers, professional event photographers, and catering (cheeses, breads, meats, desserts,etc.)."

Moonlight DVD release

Moonlight fans are such a tight-knit group that I probably don't even need to mention that today marks the release of the Moonlight DVD. Enjoy, Moonlighters! And in case you missed my end-of-year poll, the series was voted the second most popular vampire entertainment of 2008.

Music Monday--They Always Come Back

For today's Music Monday, I'm featuring a song I've been enjoying for almost a year, but I had no idea what it was. Suburban Vampire visitor Vamp Girl suggested I play music by Jordan Galland, and I recognized his name as being that of the director of Rosencrantz and Guildesntern Are Undead. I then discovered that his song "They Always Come Back" is the intriguing music playing in the background of the Rosencrantz and Guildesntern Are Undead trailer. Today happens to mark the world premiere of the film at the Slamdance Film Festival, so it seems the perfect time to play "They Always Come Back." I hope the movie does well tonight so we can start seeing it in theaters everywhere. Good luck, Galland and company!

New poll: 2009 vampire books

In the same vein as my poll about 2009 vampire movies, I've posted a new poll asking "What 2009 vampire books do you plan to read?" Because of the sheer number of vampire titles coming out in 2009, I'm not listing every single one of them. Instead, I've listed categories such as "Vampire fiction by my favorite authors," "New finds," etc. If you're curious what vampire novels will be coming out in 2009, Jackie at Literary Escapism has an excellent list of Upcoming New Releases that includes links to book excerpts. Fantasy Book Critic also highlights upcoming vampire novels such as Last Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko (the next book in the Night Watch series) and The Vampire Maker by Michael Schiefelbein.

If your mind is still on 2008 releases, be sure to participate in the Urban Fantasy Land Readers' Choice Awards.

Most anticipated vampire films of 2009

Not surprisingly, New Moon was voted the vampire movie people are most likely to see in 2009. The other big vampire film with a built-in following, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, came in second--also not too surprising--but third place went to an underdog: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead. I'll list the full results here. Keep in mind visitors could vote more than once, which is why the percentages don't equal 100, and the Blogger poll system always rounds down, so I've made the numbers more accurate (in case you're comparing this list to the posted poll results). A total of 423 people responded.

1. New Moon (60%)
2. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (43%)
3. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead (27%)
4. Blood: The Last Vampire (14%)
5. Cirque du Freak (12%)
6. Daybreakers (8%)
7. Lesbian Vampire Killers (7%)
8. A tie:
High Midnight (6%)
Suck (6%)

If you happened to work on a film that didn't do as well in the poll as you hoped, don't be discouraged. I provided a rundown of the movies on the list here, but that certainly doesn't compare to trailers, reviews, and word of mouth once the film is released. I'll try to cover all the movie's releases as they roll around, plus there are other 2009 films on my more complete list of upcoming vampire movies. I keep reading that 2008 was the year of the vampire, and 2009 is the year of the werewolf. While it's true that the werewolves have big-budget productions coming out this year (including New Moon and Underworld: Rise of the Lycans), it still seems like an awfully good time to be a vampire fan with the sheer number of choices for us out there.

2009 vampire movie poll closing soon

Just a reminder that there are only 11 hours left to vote on the 2009 vampire films you're most looking forward to seeing. Several "most anticipated films of 2009" lists are popping up, but here's your chance to be part of one.

Rated E for Excellent Award

Thanks so much to both Sidhe Vicious Reviews and Jackie at Literary Escapism for giving Suburban Vampire a Rated E for Excellent Award. I think the blogs I'd like to pass the love to have already been given the award, but I'll highlight some of these excellent sites anyway (Sidhe Vicious Reviews and Literary Escapism, by the way, are also deserving of the award for their wonderful reviews).

Vampire Wire. What would we do without Marta Acosta's comprehensive list of the latest news in vampire entertainment? Less cheesy than Entertainment Tonight, and much more fun than CNN.

Patricia's Vampire Notes. In addition to her vampire reviews, check out her enjoyable and informative Internet Sites of Paranormal Interest features.

Urban Fantasy Land. The latest news on Urban Fantasy releases and upcoming releases, book cover debuts, reviews...the site's got it all for fans of the genre.

Love Vampires. A site devoted solely to vampire book reviews and interviews. Gotta love that.

Reading with a Bite. Book reviews, movie reviews, interviews, and very cool music playing in the background while you're reading Ms. Lulubelle's blog. She makes you feel hip just by visiting.

SciFiGuy. Paranormal reviews from a guy's perspective--something you don't always find in the blogosphere. Plus he's got great interviews and contests (I even won the fantastic Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips from him).

Vampire Movies. Movies are my favorite place for finding vampire entertainment, so this blog is perfect for me. They even have a female vampire of the month feature...and I'm always griping about how female vampires usually don't get the same attention as the big-name male vampire characters.

I think I'll stop here, but I could go on and on. I love all the blogs in my blogroll, so I apologize if I ran out of time to highlight your own excellent offering. Thanks again to the gals who gave me the award. So glad you like the polls! :-)

Underworld props and costumes auction

I received this press release about an upcoming Underworld prop and costume auction, so I'll pass along the info.

Premiere Props announced that they will be hosting a charity auction of never before seen movie props and costumes from Sony Pictures’ Underworld, Underworld Evolution and the soon to be released Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, which hits theaters everywhere on January 23, 2009. The auction featuring all three Underworld movies will be presented by Fangoria, After Dark Films, DreadCentral.com, ShockTillYouDrop.com and hosted by Leo Quinones, host of 97.1 Talk Radio The Film Freak Show with a special appearance by Miss Horror Fest 2008. The live auction will take place on Saturday, January 24 and Sunday, January 25 at Premiere Props’ warehouse in El Segundo, California (128 Sierra Street, El Segundo, CA 90245) with proceeds to benefit the Entertainment Industry Foundation. There will be a preview from 9am – 11am, and the auction will begin at 11am.

Fans can also place live bids online at http://www.icollector.com with the preview beginning January 24 at 9am and the live auction starting at 11am. For more information, please visit http://www.premiereprops.com or call (310) 322-PROP.

Music Monday--Leo Bear Creek's Vampire

I've shared today's song, "Vampire" by Antsy Pants, before, but not since I started Music Mondays. It's a catchy tune about a vampire who has lost his fangs, and it appears on the Juno soundtrack. Here's a version played by Antsy Pants's ukulele-playing member, Leo Bear Creek. Yes, he's a kid.

New Moon and R&G news

I'm trying to cut down on blogging while finishing revisions on Vampire Book #2, but I couldn't help posting two vampire movie tidbits.

First of all, as Twilight fans have probably already heard, Taylor Lautner was signed on to reprise his role as Jacob in New Moon. I've only read the first book in the series. What do New Moon fans think? (By the way, does anyone remember Lautner from Shark Boy and Lava Girl? My daughter loved that movie for some reason.)

Second, I learned from Vampire Wire that there's an amusing new interview with Jordan Galland, the director of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead.

A call for vampire poll ideas

January 12 will mark one year since I started up my crazy vampire polls. Originally, I thought I'd do one or two, but then I kept going and realized I had far more vampire poll ideas than originally expected. Perhaps that's an odd use of creative energy, but I've had many visitors say they enjoy my form of democracy with a vampire twist.

I still have future polls in mind, but I'm always wondering if the well will ever run dry. If you have an idea for a vampire poll for me to post in 2009, feel free to send your input in the comments section of this post (you can always do so anonymously). If you want to see what past polls I've done, check out my archive of poll results.

I need to buckle down and work on revisions over these next couple weeks, so I'm going to try not to blog too much. But I will be reading the comments. There are still eight more days to vote in the current poll.

Is suburbia hell?

Because of Revolutionary Road, the new Kate Winslet/Leonardio DiCaprio movie about a couple miserably trapped in the suburbs, MSN posted an article called Suburbia: Heaven or Hell? As a lifelong resident of suburbia and the writer of a book that was originally titled A Vampire in Suburbia, I'm always curious about cinematic and literary interpretations of the burbs. The MSN article features films that treat the suburbs as either hell (i.e., American Beauty, The Ice Storm) or heaven (i.e., My Blue Heaven, Parenthood)...and then the writer asks, "Suburbia: heaven or hell? You tell us."

I've lived in some pretty bizarre neighborhoods. The houses surrounding me throughout my life have contained 1970s swingers, a famous kidnapping/murder case, meth problems, a home daycare worker who locked children in the closet, a woman who often publicly told her teenage son, "Mommy spank"...the list goes on and on. One day when I was driving though a new Orange County, CA, community, my little sedan was surrounded by a sea of white SUVS. The surreal experience, coupled with the sensational neighborhoods I've lived in, eventually led me to write the vampire novel that my agent is currently shopping around to publishers.

Yet, I still live in the suburbs. Why? Because human beings live in the countryside and cities, too. Wherever you live, as long as you've got people dwelling within a one-mile radius of you, you're going to see some strange characters--some dangerous, some ridiculously nice, and everything in between. I don't know if I'll still dwell in the burbs when the kids are out of the house and the neighborhood schools aren't our top priority. But I do have to say that living in them is a combination of heaven and hell--not one or the other. The proximity of houses, side-by-side yards, and sometimes cookie cutter appearances of the homes and neighbors make for some unnatural living conditions, but in general most people are good, deep down, and most parents don't tell their teenagers, "Mommy spank." Besides, I'm not in too much of a hurry to leave suburbia when the surroundings and occupants provide such wonderful fodder for a writer's imagination. Maybe it's just me, but sometimes there's nothing better than remembering an awkward neighborhood potluck and saying to oneself, "Hm, that would make a perfect scene in a vampire novel."

Music Monday--Is it a vampire song?

I've now had two requests for "Possum Kingdom" by The Toadies, so I'll finally get around to playing it. Now, I've heard some people say the song is about a vampire, but I've also heard it has even darker, creepier connotations. I remember when it was new on the radio, and I didn't necessarily think it was about a vampire, but I can certainly see that interpretation. Whatever your interpretation, here's a mid-nineties hit that fans of vampires embraced.

I accidentally watched a vampire film

Last night I watched the 2006 film Paris, Je t'Aime, a collection of 18 short films about Paris, directed by 18 different directors. I had no idea that vampires would be involved, and then toward the end a stylized, wordless tale of vampire love emerged. I know not everyone gets excited about subtitled films--or even French films for that matter--but this piece, titled "Quartier de la Madeleine," stars American actor Elijah Wood and contains no dialogue. I happened to find it on YouTube and thought I'd share it here. Incidentally, it wasn't my favorite short film in the movie, but it was a pleasant surprise.

New poll: 2009 vampire films you plan to see

I have a new poll up now: Which 2009 vampire movie(s) do you plan to see? (You can pick more than one.) If you need a quick rundown of the non-Twilight-related films on the list, check out my post from a few days ago, Vampire films in 2009--extended info. I'm running the poll for two weeks. Have fun--both while voting and when watching the films!

Twilight & Moonlight top Best 2008 Vampire Entertainment poll

Happy New Year! I had 2659 people vote in my most recent poll that asked, "What was the best vampire entertainment of 2008?" Visitors could pick more than one choice. Not surprisingly, Twilight (the movie) took the lead, with 1581 of the votes. In a respectable second, the short-lived TV series Moonlight, which went off the air in 2008, received 985 votes. I was surprised to see that HBO's Golden Globe-nominated series True Blood earned only 288 votes. I get thousands of hits from people looking for the True Blood theme song, but perhaps people enjoy the song more than the show. I know people still love Charlaine Harris's books that the show is based upon.

Here are the complete results:

1. Twilight (1581 votes)
2. Moonlight (985)
3. True Blood (288)
4. Vampire fiction (64)
5. Let the Right One In (40)
6. Other (33)
7. Lost Boys: The Tribe (17)

Looking ahead, I'm about to post a poll asking which 2009 vampire movies you're most looking forward to. Originally, I thought New Moon would be released in 2010, which made me curious about what non-Twilight-based film would top the list. I'm guessing New Moon will be the huge favorite, but if you want to learn more about the other 2009 offerings, see my post from the other day: Vampire films in 2009--extended info.