Vampire fiction took an inevitable turn into the literary subgenre of paranormal romance in 1986 with the publication of Jayne Ann Krentz's Sweet Starfire. The blending of romance, science fiction, and traditional horror created an unforgettable mixture of blood and lust in a far-away galaxy of pure fantasy, and authors who embraced the concept have never looked back. These novels have crossed virtually every line of fantasy and science fiction to tap into an endless supply of mysterious locales and fantastic supernatural abilities that quite literally know no boundaries.

Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter

Beginning in 1993 with Guilty Pleasures, Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series has developed a legion of diehard fans since its inception. In Anita's parallel universe, she reanimates the dead for a living, by working for Animators Inc. as a necromancer, raising and healing long-dead zombies, vampires, and werewolves in a series of sixteen hair-raising novels, the latest of which is the 2008 offering Blood Noir. During the first five books, Blake remained remarkably celibate, but by book number ten, she was beginning to let it all hang out, and romantically intimate interludes have become a minor, although graphic, element of her adventures.

Dark and Deadly

Since the beginning of this century, novels in the paranormal, romantic, and vampiric veins have exploded both in popularity and in the sheer volume of titles printed. Christine Feehan has virtually owned the paranormal vampire romance genre, beginning in 1999 when the incredibly successful Carpathians (Dark) series captured the imaginations and hearts of millions of spellbound readers. In her first book, Dark Prince, Feehan's construction of an ancient race of emotionless shape-shifting vampires, the Carpathians, who can find salvation only through discovering a life mate and true love, set the stage for a string of twenty novels, several of which have been huge bestsellers and have garnered Feehan a clutch of literary awards.

Southern Bites

One of the most well-respected authors of paranormal vampire fiction, Charlaine Harris, developed her writing chops on two standalone novels before considering attacking books in the increasingly popular series approach to character development. Harris' initial foray was with the Aurora Teagarden Mystery series beginning in 1990 that dealt with the sleuthing of a Georgia librarian into mysterious murders. Harris's second series was the creation of the Shakespeare mystery novels in 1996 that again dealt with basic mortal mysteries.

Harris hit vampiric paydirt with the introduction of Sookie Stackhouse in the Southern Vampire series, beginning in 2001 with Dead Until Dark. The first installment won the prestigious Anthony Award for best paperback mystery the year it was released and paved the way for seven more bestsellers to follow. Harris's depiction of Sookie Stackhouse is that of a young telepathic barmaid in northern Louisiana who's genetically imbued with “faerie” blood, which may explain her telepathic powers and her unfortunate ability to attract the unwanted attentions of unearthly beings, including vampires and werewolves. Much of the series is dedicated to Sookie solving supernatural mysteries, as well as handling the dilemmas of personal relationships with members of the netherworld who've integrated into society with the invention of manufactured synthetic blood. Harris's latest book, From Dead to Worse, published in May of 2008, remains a bestseller, and the entire series has developed a loyal following of diehard fans. Here then are the books in Charlaine Harris's popular Southern Vampire series:

Dead Until Dark (2001)

Living Dead in Dallas (2002)

Club Dead (2003)

Dead to the World (2004)

Dead as a Doornail (2005)

Definitely Dead (2006)

All Together Dead (2007)

From Dead to Worse (2008)