Evernight Contest #3 — this one's for the ARC

Posted on April 28, 2008

The big winner of Evernight Contest #2 is — Nabi! She’ll be receiving a gift certificate to either iTunes or Amazon (her preference) to pick up some new music. Thanks to absolutely everyone who sent in suggestions; I’ve already made some great new finds.

I’m getting a later start today, because I’m home sick. I had thought this was just a nasty cold, but then earlier this morning I spoke to someone I’d hung out with last week, and it turns out she’s home with strep throat. I do not feel good about this. Or, for that matter, feel very good at all. Ugh. However, nothing can stop me from giving away this next prize: the Evernight ARC!

And now, for Evernight Contest #3:

TELL ME YOUR FAVORITE VAMPIRE.

The contest rules: Enter here or via the Contact Claudia form on my website. Basically, write as much or as little as you want to convince me that Edward Cullen/Mick St. John/Drusilla/etc. is the absolute greatest vampire ever — or, at least, why you love that vampire the most. I’ll pick my favorite answer of the batch, and that person wins an advance readers’ copy of Evernight. (And hey, we changed the hero’s name after the ARCs were printed, so this is a chance to get something fairly unique — who knows? Might be a collector’s item someday.)

Also, spread the word to fellow fans of your favorite vampire! I’ll count who gets the most votes as “favorite vampire,” and we’ll have a poll next week so you guys can vote.

To whet your appetite for the ARC, check out this fabulous review of Evernight up at Vita Dei!

84 Responses to “Evernight Contest #3 — this one's for the ARC”

  1. Anonymous

    Edward Cullen

    I think that Edward Cullen is the greatest vampire ever. He’s so smooth and of course sexy. I’ve only read the first Twilight book but from how he acts in it he just seems like such a great vampire. Any vampire that can resist the blood of humans is amazing and Edward is one of those vampires, and considering the fact that he can resist Bella’s blood is just totally out there. At least to me it is anyway. I also love him for the way he acts in a different way then most vampires. He just had that something about him that makes him mysterious yet amazing at the same time.

    Well that was long and rambly, I’m sure I could go on but I like the answer I have. =)

    -Breanna
    queenbloop@gmail.com

  2. citys_summer

    Edward

    I haven’t explored the realms of vampire too far, but I do have to say, Edward is my favorite of the ones from the House of Night Novels, Twilight, Tantalize, Blue Bloods, and…darn it. I know I’ve read more…oh well. Yeah, he’s unbelievably smooth, gentle, and kind–while simultaneously being able to kick some ass. He is restrained and conservative, and, c’mon, he’s not pushing Bella to do anything. He would rather die than see her hurt. He would try to kill himself if she died. Before they even go out, he practically stalks her even though it’s difficult for him to resist her blood, and yet he does and it’s perfectly sweet and adorable that he instantly loves her that much. And, you know, he’s SEXY. I also like that he doesn’t drink human blood, just animal blood. That’s awesome. Also, he’s a genius. That’s always good, especially since he doesn’t lord it over people.

    Well that was one big run-on paragraph.

    He’s better than Erik Night because in Chosen, Book 3, Erik gets all angry and bitter and jealous and I don’t like that. Edward never gets angry or bitter about Jacob. He gets jealous, but not bitter.

    He’s definitely better than Loren (or is it Lauren? I think it’s the first) for reasons that are unequivocally apparent and would reveal the plot if you haven’t yet read the House of Night Novels (which I recommend you do).

    And that’s all I can think of because I’m not finished with Blue Bloods yet, and I can’t compare him to any vampires in Tantalize.

    I guess I’m a conformist in saying so, since most people will pick Edward, but whatever. He’s best in my books (well…I don’t know, I kind of like Jasper…jk =D)

    โ™ฅHeather
    maniacmonkey47@aol.com

  3. joylee56

    Lord Ruthven – the Great-Granddaddy of them all

    I’m kicking it old school.

    The greatest vamp of all time is Lord Ruthven, title character of The Vampyre, by Dr. John William Polidori.

    Ruthven is the prototype for all the great vampires that follow him: mysterious; suave; and sexy (in a Byronic, early 19th century way.) It’s even suggested that he is torn by what his nature forces him to be. On the one hand an enlightened nobleman of the era, on the other, killing those he claims to love. This is great stuff. Granted the story’s human protagonists behave rather stupidly by 21st century standards, but that doesn’t detract from Ruthven’s charisma.

    And it doesn’t hurt his appeal to know that the character was created the same night as the Frankenstein monster, while Byron, Percy and Mary Shelly and Polidori were sitting around trying to scare each other with ghost stories.

  4. counteragent

    You mean Nabi won #2?

    And the best vampire is…you know, Jasper from the Twilight series is really growing on me. What a cool backstory.

    But for now I’m going to have to go with Angel from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series.

    He resisted human blood (or, live human blood, anyway), had hilarious hair, kicked serious ass, and would always fight for what he thought was right, no matter the consequences.

    He loved his friends and family deeply, and rarely thought he deserved them. He was occasionally funny, although not always on purpose.

    Sometimes he went evil, but that was usually pretty entertaining so I can’t complain.

    And he made an awesome puppet.

  5. miladyinsanity

    Jayr, from Lynn Viehl’s Darkyn series, specifically Evermore.

    Had you asked me this question 6 months ago, it would have been a him. In fact, 6 months ago, most of my favorite vampires were male.

    Then Jayr came along. She’s smart, she’s tough, and she has honor. Plus, she has a really cool superpower.

  6. tezmilleroz

    Dr Carrie Ames from Jennifer Armintrout’s “Blood Ties” series. First of all, people who work in the medical industry are totally cool. (But I watched the pilot of Grey’s Anatomy, and it so wasn’t my thing. So those med staff suck ๐Ÿ˜‰ ) Second, Carrie has a sense of humour, heavy with witticisms. A non-emo vampire? Yes, and Carrie may be the only one…

    Have a lovely day! ๐Ÿ™‚

  7. sunshine_queen

    I don’t know a whole lot about vampires, and most of my vampire exposure comes from Buffy, so: my favorite vampire ever is Spike.

    I love Spike. I love that him without a soul makes him better (IMO) than Angel with a soul. I love his accent, I love the way he looks. I love that he falls for a vampire slayer, which is really stupid, and for one who hates him less for his state of being and more for his actual personality, which was suuuuper stupid. I loved that he was so bitingly (no pun intended) funny and sarcastic, and I really felt that we saw his character grow. For god’s sake, he brought flowers to Buffy’s house after her mother died, not for Buffy’s sake, but for Joyce’s, because she’d been nice to him.

    He did falter sometimes, and when he was bad he was horrid, but overall? Definitely my favorite.

    And he had some great scenes.

  8. medie

    Honestly, I think my favorite vampire is the most recent one I’ve seen. I just finished Tanya Huff’s Blood Ties series and I’m absolutely in love with Henry Fitzroy. Partly, he hits all the history buff kinks in me. Taking a real person and fictionalizing them is one of my favorite twists when done well. He’s also not particularly tortured. He’s a vampire and he likes it. As much as I love my tortured, angst-ridden vampires, there’s something so unapologetically awesome about a vampire who is comfortable with their identity. He’s smooth, seductive, and yet a tremendous dork (a vampire who writes romance novels? how awesome is that?) who is both extremely strong and extremely vulnerable. Plus, Huff gets points for creatively bending the traditional vampire traits without doing so to the point of incredulity. It gives Henry a degree of uniqueness among his fellow vampires. He stands out.

  9. pikestephenson

    The Best Vamp?

    Hi ya, Claudia. Pike here from the AW boards (we’ve bumped posts once or twice). If I had to pick my favorire vampire it would have to be Deacon Frost from Blade. He was everything a vampire should be: vile, vindictive, full of himself, and not in the least bit pretty. He knew that he was better then anyone else and would eat his way through any human, or vamp, to prove it. He even had the gaul to walk out in the daylight to face off Blade. In my opinion, vampires are predators and are too often tamed down for rather then let go to follow their blood lust. Deacon was given that opportunity and prime example of absolute power corrupting absolutely.

  10. djonn

    Pointed here from :

    Favorite vampire? I’ve liked P. N. Elrod’s vampires (particularly Jonathan Bartlett), Andre LeBrel (Diana Tregarde’s vampire sidekick in Misty Lackey’s Children of the Night), and certainly Henry and Vicky in Tanya Huff’s books. I highly approve of Spike and Angel from the Buffyverse (also Harmony!), and I have fond memories of Michael Nouri as a modern Dracula in an obscure 1970s NBC series called Cliffhangers.

    But my pick for personal favorite is one I suspect many newer vampire fans haven’t seen: Dracula as he appears in Fred Saberhagen’s novels The Dracula Tape and The Holmes-Dracula File. (A number of further sequels followed, but those two are the classics.)

    These books predate today’s paranormal romances; The Dracula Tape directly revisits Stoker’s original novel from Dracula’s point of view, while The Holmes-Dracula File picks up somewhat later, blending Dracula’s narrative with a lost manuscript from Sherlock Holmes’ chronicler, Dr. John Watson. Unlike Anne Rice’s doorstop-sized epics, they are crisp, briskly paced adventures. Yet they are clever, provocative, and a heck of a lot of fun.

    Saberhagen’s Dracula is neither angst-ridden nor obsessed; he is, however, justifiably annoyed about the damage done to his reputation by the famous Bram Stoker volume bearing his name. The Dracula Tape neatly dissects Stoker with cool, dispassionate logic, pointing out inconsistencies and calmly but firmly noting the ways in which Jonathan Harker and his colleagues take unfair advantage of Transylvanian hospitality. At the same time, Dracula readily admits his interest in Mina and his dependence on blood, and displays an admirably dry sense of humor (I’d pick Pierce Brosnan to play this Dracula on film).

    If The Dracula Tape is revisionist history, The Holmes-Dracula File is pure Victorian melodrama of the best kind. We have Dracula, acerbic as usual but something of a fish out of water on the streets of London (and for much of the book, the prisoner of a genuinely nasty set of evil conspirators). We have Sherlock Holmes, displaying excellent deductive form…and rather more knowledge of vampires than one would expect. We have the aforementioned diabolical conspiracy (one of the two best explanations anyone’s ever given for Watson’s reference to the Giant Rat of Sumatra). And we have Saberhagen’s positive genius for blending drama and understated wit (Dracula to Holmes at a key moment: “I must congratulate you on thinking of wooden bullets”).

    I highly recommend both books to any vampire fan, and regard them as laying much of the foundation for the hosts of sympathetic vampire heroes we see on today’s shelves.

  11. taraljc

    So here are all of the reasons Being Human‘s Mitchell (created by Toby Whithouse and played by Guy Flanagan) is currently my fave vampire (I’d have gone for Mick St John, but I’m feeling the Mitchell love today very strongly).

    For one, physically he’s adorable. It’s like someone took a normal boy and stetched him. He literally looks like an anime character in 3-D. He has silly floppy emo boyband hair, and he would disappear if he turned sideways, and he wears ridiculous tee-shirts and boy-jewellery. He probably listens to the Smiths. He ought to be a goth stereotype and far too twee, except for the writing and performance.

    Mitchell has a seriously wry sense of humour, is very comfortable in his own skin, and isn’t so much doing the whole “oh woes is me, cursed to eternal darkness, my soul doomed to hell” etc etc. It’s more the “I don’t want to hurt people anymore. I like people.” He craves human contact because he’s lonely, but he isn’t wallowing in misery like a Nick Knight or a Louis. He’s pretentious, but he knows it, and best of all, he plays with it. The entire opening scene, where he’s practising legerdemain while having a glass of wine with a pretty girl, is really all about him not even attempting to fit in, but still obviously craving it.

    He’s obviously very high up in the vampire community, from the way he interacts with Herrick, but what’s more interesting is how he interacts with George and later, Annie. He keeps himself to himself (in the pilot, only the viewer knows Mitchell’s story–Annie and George accept him at face value, tho he and Annie have more in common, being dead) and is just striving to be a better person. He has great affection and respect for humans, and doesn’t consider them as nothing mroe than food. They’re people, just like he used to be. And he wants to feel that sense of belonging again.

    Mitchell treats George like a younger brother, is clearly very fond of him and prefers the real friendship he has with George to the posturing and petty politics of the local vamps. What’s really endearing is how he teases George absolutely mercilessly, and is also comfortable enough with his sexuality to play with that as well. And I won’t spoil the gag completely for you, but there’s some George teasing that had me howling with glee. Nor to mention, there’s such joy in seeing him just revelling in domesticity. And he has no ego when it comes to professions (who in their right mind chooses to be a hospital janitor? He’s not even working night shift, so there’s no excuse).

    There is something so damned amusing and charming about a vampire who wants a flat and a sofa so they can sit and watch telly and eat pizza like normal people. Sure, he’s immortal. But that doesn’t mean he won’t ask his friends if they’ve just arrived at Hogwarts, which house would they think they would be sorted into.

    P.S. I am opting out of the contest. But then, you knew that. But I had to squee about Being Human at you. And did I mention, Mickey Bricks is in it? Cos he is. And he’s slick and hilarious and clearly having too much fun.

    • vitadei

      I can’ even enter but…….You all have this wrong……….

      Carlisle. Cullen. Best. Vamp. EVER!

      Forget about stupid Edward(okay,he’s not stupid)but you guys are totally missing out

      http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd161/trooperkittieautographs/carlislecullen.jpg

      (Peter Facinelli(aka Jennie Garth’s Husband) is playing him in the film adaptation-they got him right!
      Dr. Fang is where it’s at-and don’t forget it.

      All joking aside-Carlisle is one of the most interesting vampires I have ever read in fiction. I wish Stephenie Meyer would devote a whole book to him-he’s too cool not to have his own book.

      Although……I do have my eyes on Balthazar but only Claudia and those lucky enough to have read Evernight know who that is.

      • citys_summer

        I like him better with dark hair, though. I think the hair looks a bit ridiculous. Not as bad as Jackson Rathbone for Jasper though. Have you seen his hair???

        But I do have to agree, Carlisle is awesome.

        • vitadei

          I agree…. in those promo shots Jackson’s hair looked horrible-although I heard that that was a wig because he wasn’t done filming something that required him to be brunette, so there is still a chance.

          I like Peter’s hair both ways-tho it’s hard getting used to the blonde considering he’s had brown hair in everything he has ever been in. I want to see all this hair in action-especially Cam/Jame’s-it’s long-reminds me of a Lestat-Mullet ๐Ÿ™‚

  12. Anonymous

    Congrats to Nabi!

    Well, of course, I’m going to go with Edward Cullen because, sadly, he’s the only vampire I know (besides Dracula, but I’m not too good with things that are so old-school).

    Edward seems perfect but I love him because he has flaws you’d find in any human guy too. He’s overprotective to the point of being insecure or jealous. But he’s so handsome and sweet and romantic at the same time. Plus he’s got an awesome family. Gotta love the family man.

    :]

    Paige
    paigeaniyah at gmail dot com

  13. lily_phoenix731

    I think Edward Cullen is the sexiest and greatest vampire ever. He dazzles people effortlessly, and he resists the lure of blood because he loves Bella so much. Oh, and he’s moral, which is strange for a vampire. <33333333333

  14. tehanu_chan

    Louis de Pointe du Lac.

    Louis de Pointe du Lac.

    He defines the word vampire. When someone thinks of vampires, thinks about blood, passionate love, sexiness and angst. People does not think about garlic, religious signs or interpretations, Cain’s dynasty and that sort of things. People think of them as dark people which can captivate you in a way you never imagined possible, they take your breath away literally.

    And Louis was the first of this kind, he added the word angst to the definition, and boy that it suits them!
    The denial of his nature is so appealing for the reader than he can feel the pain himself. The deepness of his feelings, being love, hate, whatever; one can feel that in their own hearts, for the very first time, the reader is not afraid of the vampire but feels compassion for him.

    That led to today’s definition and vampires, Angel, Edward Cullen, Zero Kiryuu, to name a few. They all fight back with this double nature. And that’s what we want, right?

    Well, that’s my humble opinion. Sorry if it makes no sense. By the way, I’m really interested in your book. I hope it will be available in my country ^^

  15. underthatspell

    Jasper Whitlock-Hale

    Out of all the vamps I’m familiar with, I’d have to go with Jasper from the Twilight Saga. He was changed by a power-hungry, manipulative vampire, whom he later escaped from. Now (in the book), he lives a vegetarian lifestyle, and does it for his soulmate, as well as his conscience.

    He’s kicked ass in battles for a hundred years, has adapted a VERY difficult-to-follow lifestyle for the sake of love, and can manipulate emotions. Plus, he’s got sexy battle wounds all over his body.

  16. towerofwisdom

    I’m sorry, this became insanely long – PART ONE

    When I think ‘typical vampire’ my mind instantly supplies the name Edward Cullen (which probably reveals my age). Edward represents the tension between man and monster, between the desire to be good and to love someone and the desire to, well, to kill them and drink their blood. He has unearthly beauty, an aura of danger and charisma, an obsessive streak a mile wide and more than enough self-hatred to fill any number of books – which it does.

    But Edward Cullen isn’t my favourite vampire.

    When I read Twilight by Stephenie Meyer my mind was instantly caught by Carlisle Cullen. He is most definitely not your typical sexual predator of a vampire. He has the unearthly beauty, sure, but what he lacks is the horrible struggle that Edward and even Jasper exhibit throughout. He appears to have no desire for human blood; as a doctor he handles blood on a regular basis. While all the other vampires in some way present overt conflicts in their characters – Rosalie with her desperate with for mortality, Edward with his belief in his own damnation, Esme with her wish for children – Carlisle appears to be entirely perfect. Sure of himself and his control, steadfast in his faith, he’s so faultless it should be yawn-worthy. But Carlisle’s role in the books and his own more subtle struggle makes him more fascinating to me than all the rest.

    If the rest of the vampires in Twilight all have a role to play, then I’d characterise Carlisle’s role in a single word: hope. Out of all the vampires in any book I’ve read, he’s one of the few that believes wholeheartedly in salvation. He believes that vampires can choose to live well, to avoid murder and to one day reach heaven. He believes they have as much of a chance as any mortal. His beliefs bring all the Cullens together and offer them a new life. When Edward thinks that he has died he says, to paraphrase: So Carlisle was right. No matter how difficult it becomes for any of the Cullens – even Edward – the beliefs Carlisle gave them offer hope for something more. A better life beyond this now, and a better now.

    I think it’s worth stating that I’m not a Christian. Even though Carlisle’s concepts of salvation are blatantly so, I find I can still relate to them. The idea that no matter how bad a person we may believe we are, we still have free will and hope for the future is pretty universally understandable and meaningful. In the context of Carlisle’s upbringing as a preacher’s son, his faith also makes perfect sense. It gives this apparently angelic, sinless aspect of himself a human dimension. He is what his upbringing made of him, what being a vampire made of him, but most importantly he is what he made of himself.

    As I’ve said before, Carlisle does appear to seem to be a little too perfect. But his failings are clearly there, and also very easy for me to relate to. Where Edward, for example, is torn quite clearly between the human and vampire aspects of his psyche, Carlisle is torn three ways: human, vampire and ‘angel’. The ‘angel’ aspect is obviously his faith and hope, and his apparently unbreakable control. But the human part of him causes him to make mistakes over and over again. Esme, Edward, Rosalie and in some sense Emmett are living proof of that.

    Carlisle is lonely. He loves his family, but his love is selfish. He never asked Edward if he wanted to be turned, and now Edward believes he is a soulless monster. Rosalie would rather have died human than become a vampire and is eternally bitter about it. Esme killed herself. It’s blindingly obvious that another life would have been anything but her desire. Though she may be happy with her life in Twilight, Carlisle could not have known that she would have been. He turned people, in my opinion, simply because he could stand being alone anymore. Immortality is lonely after all. But at least in the case of Edward, the book suggests that he thought he was doing what was right rather than what was right for himself.

    • towerofwisdom

      I’m sorry, this became insanely long – PART TWO

      A monster, who believes in his own good intentions, blind to the very human-like selfishness of his own choices? Scary, that. And that’s exactly what Carlisle is. I do believe he has done great good, saving people’s lives and refraining from murder, and even giving the Cullens hope and faith and a better life than they could have wished for. But at the same time he has deep and frankly frightening blind spots. I love him for his goodness and his unwillingness to succumb to his nature. I equally love him for his flaws, his selfishness, the partially concealed darkness in his nature.

      I really believe the portrayal of Carlisle takes cliched concepts like vampires searching for salvation and makes them new and layered and fascinating. Carlisle may not have the sexual edge of Edward, or Jasper’s difficult struggle, but he has a conflict of his own. He has loneliness, he has love. He has selfishness and power and a certain blindness to his own failings. His flaws are so painfully easily to relate to and yet so inhuman at the same time that I can’t help but consider him my favourite vampire by far.

    • vitadei

      Re: I’m sorry, this became insanely long – PART ONE

      I love you…………………………:)

      I’m glad someone agrees with me. I almost think of Carlisle like a god-he is so much more human than anyother character(both the human and vamp characters)

  17. bubblegumpie7

    My favorite vampire would have to be Lestat, from Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire. First of all, he’s just such a bad guy! I know many of us love the nice guy, the one who doesn’t drink from humans, but I have to disagree. Lestat has so much style, and he’s so sure of himself. He can be very cruel to others, but he does it in a charming, funny way (“There’s life in the old lady yet!”). Oh yeah, and he’s sexy. VERY sexy.

  18. burntcopper

    I waver between Otto, photographer for the Times from Terry Pratchett’s The Truth (what can I say, ex photographer – the bit about drooling over complicated gadgtry with extra shiny levers is *all true*.) and Mitchell from Being Human.

    I dislike emo, angstiness, byronic tendencies and ruffled shirts in my vampires. it’s far better when they’re making useful contributions to society.

    Oh, and for sheer shits and giggles, Elizabeth from the Undead and Unwed series. Because Manolos are more important than angst.

  19. svmadelyn

    Thierry Descouedres made an impact in my wee!Madelyn years. He’s the second vampire created in LJ Smith’s Night World ‘verse. Due to youthful stupidity, he’s made into a vampire by this crazy chick named Maya – and they’re brand new, so no one knows exactly how they…work. So he stumbles around for awhile and winds up murdering half of a village out of dazed shock, fear and hunger. But then he looks down and sees this girl Hana, and as she lays dying, realizes she’s his soulmate. So he touches her cheek, all freaked out, and this trace of blood is left on it, and from there on out, every time she is reborn, she has a birthmark in the same shape, in the same place; it’s how he recognizes her. Thierry of course, comes to his senses, freaks out some more, and runs away, and has Maya’s sister Hellewise bury him (she’s one hella powerful witch), until his soulmate can get reborn and he can go seek her out again.

    Her soul’s kind of damaged from all the trauma, so it takes a good while, but when he wakes up, he knows she’s Out There. He manages to track her down, but oh, Maya is still just as possessive and jealous, and still alive, and wants her first-ever vampire convert back, so she kills his soulmate.

    This trend continues on throughout the centuries as Maya kills Hana every time just before her 17th birthday, and Thierry gets more and more depressed and determined. He winds up wielding not a little influence in the Night World, and I like my romantic figures powerful and interesting.

    This time around, he manages to find his soulmate, and helps to get her the hell away from Maya. Even when she initially rejects him in her current life, he doesn’t go all freaky vamp on her, he accepts it and there’s no typical kidnapping till she loves him action. She winds up having to figure out where he is and tracks him down. (One of my favorite parts of the book is when she gets to his house and all these hardened badasses are like, holy crap, it’s HER. *grins*)

    Meanwhile, Thierry’s started up Circle Daybreak to help other Night Worlders who have human soulmates have somewhere safe to go – so here you have this Night World Lord who is all scary powerful vamp by day, but at night, is breaking the fundamental rules of his people day in and day out, and no one’s really caught on.

    See, in the Night World, you aren’t allowed to have a human soulmate; you’re put to death. Through this book, Thierry is utterly determined and adorable (strange to call a vampire adorable), but I mean, when the guy’s gone through how many lifetimes with his eternal guilt and trying to Do Good to be worthy of his soulmate, you can go with it. And she keeps getting killed! He could totally have used that as an excuse to just step off and do more killing, or go join Maya on an Evil Spree, but every decision he makes is meant to atone for what he did thousands of years ago, and make sure he’s worthy of Hannah’s awesome.

    • djonn

      I very much liked the Night World books, and I’d agree that Thierry is probably the most distinctive of the vampires we see in the series. (A note for those who haven’t seen the series; “second created” refers to the internal chronology of the series, not the order in which the books were published; I’d recommend reading the books in publication order.)

      Note also that per the author’s Web site, we should be seeing the first of the omnibus reprints of the Night World series very soon now, with the long-anticipated and much-delayed Strange Fate due a little over a year from now.

  20. hersheekiss358

    Greatest Vampire Ever

    (By the way, I’m from the book club you recently visited–you were really funny and interesting, thanks so much for coming!)

    As a huge fan of Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer I’m so tempted to say Spike, Drusilla, Angelus, or Darla deserve the title of greatest vampire but alas I’ll have to go with the classic. I would say Count Dracula is my favorite–largely because he is the original big bad.

    Many may argue that is a weak defense–the first does not necessarily mean the best, right? But alas, I’m a bit of a stickler for the rules. For me, vampire=bad guy. Now I loved Twilight as much as the next gal, but it just annoyed me that Edward and company were portrayed as the heroes of the book. Vampires feed off of life-blood. I find it to be a bit of a stretch to say that a vampire can be a morally “good” being if they live only by feeding off the lives of other things (sorry for the slightly vegetarian-tinged rantage).

    Additionally, though I love to hear many interpretations and tweaks to the vampire lore, I’ll always resent a vampire who can go out into the sunlight, and live out some semblance of a normal life. Dracula, for me at least, is the standard I hold all vampires to. The rules that Bram Stoker (or whoever it was he got the idea from…) laid out are the ones I’ll follow.

    Anyway, I’ll finish griping about other vampires and tell you why Dracula is the best (finally!). When one reads Bram Stoker’s Dracula, odds are you know the concept of a vampire and have perhaps even heard the name ‘Van Helsing’ or any of the other ingenuous vampire hunters. But despite my forewarning, Dracula affected me far more than I would normally allow. As a huge Stephen King fan, I assumed that Dracula could not possibly scare me–it’s ancient and archaic and blah blah //insert bravado// However, Dracula scared me good. Real good. And I simply don’t know how else to put it. He was creepy and masterfully intelligent and you just had no clue what going through his head: you could only read others’ perceptions of him, not even form your own impression. Such an effective way of presenting a villain. For I feel that a villain loses much of their unconquerability (<--not a word) if you can get inside ther mind too much. So, I think that I should laud Bram Stoker more than the fictional Dracula for giving us the ultimate villain. And I guess I'll thank him for giving us some truly and fantastically morally-gray antiheroes (Angel, Spike, Edward Cullen, etc.)

  21. Anonymous

    Mick St. John OWNS!

    I don’t know why Mick appeals so much to me, but I’m in love with his character. He’s got this unmatched complexity and watching Moonlight is so much fun because of it. Speaking of which, have you SEEN how alluring he is? He’s so smooth and so…sad, I don’t know, that he made Moonlight become one of my favorite shows.

    Steph

  22. shay_renoylds

    By far, I would say that my favourite vampire is in ‘s comic Vampirates. His name is Clyde, and he’s an an adorably confused baby-vampire.

    Chowed down on by a vampire who couldn’t control himself in a society that asks vampires to take medication to make them “better,” Clyde adapted to life as a vampire-pirate very quickly.

    Beautifully able to cope despite having lost his brother in a confusing (read: not yet revealed) past, Clyde becomes a part of the tiny crew that is being targeted by an evil pirate leader attempting to stop Canadian government attempts to passify vampires.

    Clyde also is attempting to make Patrick Murphy deal with his own past (iconically known through the Great Big Sea song “Night that Paddy Murphy Died”).

    Also, Clyde is a confused Canadian teen who just got harpooned into hanging out with crazy vampirates that have been hanging around for far longer than he’s ever been alive. And he’s totally down with the ride.

    This post can easily be encapsulated with: “HE’S SO CUTE! OMG! Adorable! And caring! And loving! And protective!” *hugs Clyde* (also Clyde is the blonde thing in the icon)

  23. cfmom

    I can’t choose a favorite but I just have to say that I’m shocked that no one seems to have really mentioned any of the Brothers from JR Ward’s world, any of the men from Christine Feehan’s world or most importantly Sherrilyn Kenyon’s plethora of yummy men to choose from. What is going on here?

    Don’t misunderstand – I ADORE the Cullen clan and am deeply entrenched in the Lynn Viehl world as well – but can’t someone show a little love for the big beefy men mentioned above?

  24. counteragent

    This is a response for Jenny, not counteragent:

    My favorite vampire is Alice Cullen because she is funny and energetic.

    • Anonymous

      Lestat

      I’m sorry to all the people who love the Cullens (I, too love the Twilight series) but I’d just definitely have to go with Lestat. First of all, Anne Rice’s Interview with a Vampire was the first vampire book I ever read. And I absolutely love Lestat. I think someone said it already, but everyone mostly liked the good guys who tried to not drink blood and all that, but Lestat definitely wasn’t one of them!

      Megan (www.paperxxflowers.blogspot.com)

  25. Anonymous

    Fav. Vamp

    Bones from Jeaniene Frost’s novels Halfway to the Grave and One Foot in the Grave is definitely sizzling. He beats Edward Cullen. I couldn’t put these books down- Bones is wonderfully human yet inhuman, and he loves Cat so much. Bones’ character is so developed that he seems real- he’s a bundle of faults and good traits all mixed together. Bones tries to be everything for Cat, and that’s why I love him. He isn’t perfect- no one is- but he tries for her.

    Emily H

    * PS. If anyone wants to read these books, they’re not YA, they’re adult. Just so you know. There are some scenes that are too racy for YA novels, so read with caution if you might be offended by this stuff.

  26. ciley

    Spike

    While I have read Twilight and both New Moon and Eclipse are both sitting on my shelf so I do agree that Edward Cullen definitely has something…and Henry (from the Blood Ties books)…or Anna Strong from Jeanne Stein’s series and I’m almost there with Emily H on Bones from Jeaniene Frost’s books….I’m going to have to go with Spike, I just am.

    Spike is the best vampire because he is a character that has enough depth and allure to him to be interesting and relevant way beyond just ‘Buffy’. The show has been over for five years and a character that was only supposed to be on a few episodes is still in comics, books, fanfiction, discussions, and who knows what else–and people would gladly watch a Spike movie.

    And I think all of that is because more than possibly any other vampire character, Spike wasn’t definied by being a vampire. He wasn’t completely the sympathetic, seeking redemption vampire nor was he completely the mindlessly violent, evil vampire.

    When he was evil and trying to kill the ‘good guys’ he was also mourning the loss of love because Drusilla broke up with him. When he first decided he was in love with Buffy, he tried dressing in more ‘normal’ attire and taking her on a ‘date’ but ended up chaining her up in his crypt to tell her.

    He drank blood because it was necessary but also ate buffalo wings and other human foods (and drinks) because he enjoyed them. Sunlight was deadly to him but he was always running around with a smoking blanket over his head.

    Spike was a vampire and he absolutely loved what that afforded him; spent over one hundred years reveling in the violence and mayhem he could cause. He built a name for himself killing Slayers: The Slayer of Slayers.

    But he was also the love sick poet who turned his mother so she wouldn’t have to be sick but had to stake her when she came onto him, who loved the same woman for over a century even when she was a less than perfect of faithful partner. And he was the vampire who fell in love with a Slayer while he didn’t have a soul and eventually sought one out in hopes of being more what she deserved.

    And he saved the world–that has to count for…well, a lot.

    Spike was a vampire for sure–and a fantastic one at that, his record of the nearly century and a quarter of his existence speaks to that–but above that he was a man and he never lost sight of that either.

    Spike was a mass of contradictions–he had a thirst for violence and a thirst for love and family–but he was, and is, easily the best vampire ever because if you ignore him being a vampire he’s a fabulous character. But it’s when you add in that he’s a vampire that he becomes phenomenal.

    I hope I said what I wanted….. :

    (and let’s not forget that he’s incredibly sex and has the British accent…that doesn’t hurt ๐Ÿ˜‰ And I just have to say I love having found this contest–which I really hope is still going–because I was so disappointed when I couldn’t get an ARC from Harper’s First Look in…March. But letting me go on about why I love Spike to try and get an awesome book? I think I love you)

  27. pathstotread

    I’m not really entering the contest as such, but for the sake of discussion I have to say that Angel is my favorite. I just really connect with his story of redemption, because Angelus was a sick, twisted guy, y’know? Angel’s had to work so hard to overcome that, and he’s slipped up plenty of times, but he keeps trying. He’s fiercely loyal to his family, a big dork who loves Barry Manilow, and at the end of the day, he kinda wants to slay the dragon. What’s not to love?

  28. tobino

    well

    its really hard to say. The first i would say is dracula, but he’s dusty.

    then edward, but hes too open.

    lestat is too sly

    blade is too modern.

    my next suggestion would be simon form silver kiss.

    but i think so far that the best vampire, other than my own, would be ian from companions of the night.

  29. Anonymous

    edward cullen

    I think Edward Cullen is the best vampire there is. I think this because:
    1. He’s a vampire.
    2. A vampire that does not drink the blood of humans. Come on, how is that not the dead give away that he is the best vampire. I mean hello! We are the humans that he isn’t killing to drink our blood. Hello!! Dead Give Away!!!
    3. Can be an asshole, sweet, caring, mostly caring when it comes to Bella, and very very pretty. what’s better than a guy who has has the whole package. And a very good package, at least in my mind. Can you say Yum? I’m not crazed if thats what your thinking.
    4. Has a awsome family.
    I’m starting to run out of things to say that won’t make me look like I am in love with a character from a book, the best book saga ever, or make me look crazy. Well if thats the case I like crazy. ME, laughing very insanely right now. Wow, talk about running on and on, I would keep saying on and on but I’ll spare you. Wait question, is there a next book to Evernight? It ended like there would be. So when does it come out? I need to know since I’m like the girl with no life because she reads every minute she can, I must have the next book. Okay I lied I had more than one Question, so sorry. Anyway Edward Cullen is the best vamp ever, I’ve read the series 23 times and I’ll continue to keep on reading. Yay, more Edward in Breaking Dawn. Sreaming. Now Claudia Grey you get writing because I want to read your books. They are so good.

    • Anonymous

      Re: edward cullen

      this is the same person from below or above. anyway, I’m leaving this comment because I like spelled Screaming wrong and didn’t catch it until the message was up and maybe being viewed by whole world. so I have to do this:

      *screaming

      There that’s better. There might be more spelling problems but I’m not a good speller. Man give me a break. Fine, I hate you. Why can’t you just accept that I can’t spell?

  30. the_third_day

    Rose Hathaway

    The best vampire out there has to be Rose Hathaway.
    Ok, so she is a dhapmire. But still it is in her blood.
    She is beautiful, strong, and witty.
    In Vampire Academy she rescues her best friend Lissa from school and has hidden her away from years. Dimitri finds her and she (even though she hasn’t trained in at least 2 years) will do anything she can to pretect her. That is a true friend.
    Not only was that one time that she protected Lissa but she is going to become her gaurdian, which mean for the rest of her life is will swear to put her life in danger in order to protect her friend.
    In Frostbite she hacks up two powerful and dangerous Strigoi (evil vampires who are trying to tack over). Which in turns saves two of her friends.
    To sum Rose up: she is a hard core evil vampire fighting machine who will do whatever it takes to protect the ones she loves. Even if it means giving up someone she truly loves and the life she will never know.