Yeah, Dracula was stuck in whatever form he was in during the day, or something like that.

But Bram Stokers Dracula could in fact go out in sunlight; he just had no superpowers in daytime. Being caugt by the first rays of sunrise or the last rays of sunset would however have been deadly to him. Also I think so would being out exactly at noon, but I don't remember that last for certain.

I always forget that bit about Dracula. I don't know why. But every other author that decides to have their vampires be able to go out in sunlight still lets them have their superpowers, which I don't agree with.

Because I've been thinking about this for a bit now, I present to you ...

Jilli's List o' Top Vampire Novels (in no particular order, 'cos my favorites change around a lot):

Anno Dracula by Kim Newman

Those Who Hunt the Night and Traveling with the Dead by Barbara Hambly

Dracula by Bram Stoker

The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice

Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite

Gothique by Kyle Marffin

Dark Dance, Personal Darkness, and Darkness, I by Tanith Lee

The Stress of Her Regard by Tim Powers

Hotel Transylvania by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Dracula is long. And pretty darn Victorian, for being a novel about vampires.

Thanks - must go back and reread. Does he make reference to that supposed inability to cross running water, and why Vlad is immune? Or does he not touch that one?

random vampire not, before I head out for the day: I very much liked Stephen King's explanation for why vampires can't deal with garlic.

He said he suspects it's an allergy.

Jilli, did you not like Delicate Dependency, by Michael Talbot? One of my favourites about vampires. The head vampire, Lodovico, is amazing.

I loved Dracula, but as Dana points out, it's relentlessly Victorian. I sometimes wonder if Stoker himself realised how clearly he was portraying his own Victorian terror of female sexuality.

Jilli, how do you feel about Brust's Agyar?

Which came first chronologically?

Jilli, did you not like Delicate Dependency, by Michael Talbot? One of my favourites about vampires. The head vampire, Lodovico, is amazing.

I *did* like it, and can only offer sleep-dep as the reason for leaving it off my list.

I am currently trying to force myself to finish The Book of Common Dread by Brent Monahan, and suspect I'm going to be giving up on it soon.

Which came first chronologically?

Which? Did you mean Dracula or Frankenstein? Because Frankenstein was about 70 years earlier - Mary Shelley was Regency period (she was born at the end of the 18th century), and Stoker was a Victorian Irishman.

Jilli, how do you feel about Brust's Agyar?

I haven't read it in about 10 years. I remember liking it, but I really need to track down a copy and re-read it.