hey while i'm in my vampire state of mind, please consider reading Elizabeth Kostova's novel The Historian. May I introduce it as I first met it:
... or near enough. The copy I had was almost entirely white, the lettering merely standing out on the cardboard, no embellishment whatsoever. Or at least that's how I remember it. It was so... nondescript.
I was a bookish teen when I came across this book, and its pale cover and sparse description enticed me. It felt good and weighty in my hands. It promised secrets and mystery. I didn't realise anything was up, for a bit, until a date caught my attention: it was from a panel discussion from... a few years in the future? Surely the date was a typo. I kept going.
Letters. Journal entries. Newspaper clippings. Phone call transcripts. I was about a quarter of the way in before they dropped the name Dracula, and HOLY SHIT suddenly everything made sense. Suddenly the casual records (out of order, missing and replaced later OR recreated from memory) made sense, and the casual background white noise of fear became Front And Centre Terror as I realised who was the focus of the story.
"Child... where is your father?" FUCK. I had NIGHTMARES from that line alone.
I loved it. I kept it overdue from the library and no-one cared, no-one requested it. It's like they didn't realise the gold they had here, in this simple white cover.
A few years later I was out and about, and I saw a copy in a bookstore where someone had decided subtlety was out of style and they slapped THIS GUY on the cover.
Sure. Okay.
They have since re-released with a more understated cover...
... though I miss the white cardboard and the simplicity, the way the story itself was a shock and surprise. Any fans of Dracula are going to love this one. Please enjoy.
I recommend as well. It’s one of my favorite vampire stories. Very well written and not so linear timeline wise, making the storytelling really intriguing.