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The hottest bad boys in contemporary fiction are cold-blooded vampires.
Not since Anne Rice's best-selling series about Lestat have so many readers thirsted for novels about blood drinkers who are sexy as well as scary.
"It's a different twist on the bad-boy hero," says Nicole Kennedy of Romance Writers of America.
The publication this week of Laurell K. Hamilton's Danse Macabre (Berkley, $25.95), with a first printing of 250,000, is the latest entry in a fast-growing trend that spans many genres.
Danse Macabre is No. 14 in Hamilton's fantasy series starring vampire hunter Anita Blake. No. 13, Micah, was No. 1 on USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list in February. Eight books in the series have made the list; 6 million copies of her books are in print.
At Borders stores, sales of novels with paranormal themes, which include vampires, are up as much as 30% over the past two years, particularly romance, says spokeswoman Sue Grimshaw. "Readers have embraced the genre."
Nearly 20% of all romance novels sold in 2005 had paranormal story lines, compared with 14% in 2004, according to Romance Writers of America figures. "Vampires are one of the most popular trends in paranormal romance," Kennedy says.
Not even a silver bullet can stop the vampire's grip on novels both serious and light:
*Alan Ball, creator of HBO's Six Feet Under, has plans to shoot a pilot for a series based on Charlaine Harris' six-book Southern Vampire series featuring Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic Louisiana barmaid who tangles with vampires and were-tigers. The latest, Definitely Dead (Berkley, $23.95), was published in May.
*Sherrilyn Kenyon's ninth Dark-Hunter novel, Dark Side of the Moon (St. Martin's, $19.95), stars a reporter who discovers an underground world of vampires. It was out in May; more than 6 million of her books are in print.
*Christine Feehan, queen of the paranormal romance, has more than 6 million paperbacks in print. The first hardcover, Dark Celebration: A Carpathian Reunion (Berkley, $23.95), 17th in her popular Dark series, will be published in September. The series recounts the adventures of immortal vampire hunters known as Carpathians.
*MaryJanice Davidson is one of a growing number of authors writing in the vampire chick-lit genre. Nearly 1 million books of her Undead series are in print, including Undead and Unpopular (Berkley, $22.95), published this month.
Says Brianna Yamashita of Dorchester Publishing, which publishes Feehan and a number of other best-selling novelists of vampire romance: "It's like a Harry Potter obsession, but for adult females with a penchant for steamy reads."
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