Review of "Vampire Tales: Volume 1," edited by Mark D. Beazley

 Review of

Vampire Tales: Volume 1, edited by Mark D. Beazley ISBN 9780785146445

Five out of five stars

Stories of one of the most popular classes of villains

 Vampires and zombies have great appeal and staying power as villains as they go up against normal people. Many stories have been written about vampires from the classic novel by Bram Stoker. Like many of the greatest fiction stories of all time, there is a bit of fact backing up the fiction. There is in fact a condition known as clinical vampirism, or an obsession with drinking blood.

 The stories in this collection all appeared in comic form under the Marvel label. Some are basic vampire stories involving mysterious men wearing capes, yet in other stories the vampires are female. Some of the best stories involve Morbius, a man of science that was suffering from a deadly blood disease. He was able to cure that affliction, but in a manner where the cure was worse than the disease. He was turned into a vampire with an uncontrollable blood lust that must be quenched. In an unusual twist, he experiences great remorse after he has drained the lifeblood from his latest victim. In a form of compensation, he becomes a bit of a vigilante, protecting the weak from the “normal” human predators.

 Frightening, yet titillating, vampires are monsters that arouse odd passions in humans. They love them yet are often terrified when they see them doing what they do on a screen. In this case, they are in comic and fine form.