Vampires, like, totally suck! Am I right, or am I right? Should I show myself out now? Just to be safe in case another dad joke comes out of my mouth? Listen, I've been on a vampire kick lately because clearly I'm stuck in a time warp or something. (Also, THEY ARE COMING BACK.)



I ask myself the same question everyday: who allowed me to talk? It's getting out of control, people. I'm sure everyone and their ancestors are OVER me. Sammy. Becca. Come collect your best friend, for the love of GOD, she is out of control. I was looking at my prompt ideas/suggestions for Blogtober and decided to spice things up a bit and go on a full on nostalgia binge for you guys. If you couldn't tell, I followed only like three of my original prompt suggestions because I AM AWFUL.

With the arrival of The Beautiful, it's safe to say that vampires are making their YA comeback and I'm 100% here for it. So long as it's done right and not overdone. So far, so good. Between the release of said book, my reread of House of Night and Vampire Academy this year, I found myself itching to talk about the trend that was vampire lore in YA of yesteryear. It's hard to believe that it's been over ten years since that trend flared up and began to die (ha) down.

A lot of my original reading habits weren't necessarily rooted in the vampire trend (I liked a lot of it, but I was definitely more of the witches and magic type of girl) but there was still a ton that I ended up reading over the years.

What I'm going to be doing, today, is listing all of the series that come to mind when I think of some good old fashioned nostalgia and YA vampire goodies. And then just... share my thoughts on the series or book, if I had read them.

As an honorable mention, I'm giving a quick shout out to adult vampires with the Sookie Stackhouse (True Blood, Southern Vampire Mysteries, whatever the dang series is called) series. JUST BECAUSE.


Is it really a vampire post if we don't name drop the one that started the trend? Twilight was a fun read as a teenager for me. I think, though, that part of my interest in the books were more or less tied to the fact that Nikki Reed was going to be in its film adaptation and I had a MASSIVE love for her back in the day. While my feelings have changed for it, it definitely shaped the way I read YA then and now.
Of course I had to feature this one next. I just finished rereading House of Night, the novellas and the new extension to the series: House of Night Other World. Like Twilight, my feelings for the series have changed in the years since I originally read it. Unlike Twilight, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. Oh, and House of Night Other World is genuinely FANTASTIC.
This is going to be one of the next series I reread (hopefully in 2020) and honestly? It is scary! I don't want my thoughts/memories of it to change but given how much my mind has changed about the other series I've already listed, I know it'll likely happen to Blue Bloods. Still, this is one of those series that I grew up with. It was basically like if Twilight and Gossip Girl had a baby--which is to say that teenage me adored it.
I debated this series because it came long before Twilight. But, it came back into the spotlight in a big way after Twilight became a phenomenon, and the CW adapted the series for television. The show was, obviously, so popular it brought back the series--new books were published; tie-ins were made, two spin-off television series have since aired, and so much more. The Vampire Diaries show was fun when I watched it (I stopped around season five or so) and the books were okay (I prefer L.J. Smith's other books like the Night World series and The Secret Circle), but I don't necessarily count it as a favourite.
Out of all the series on this list, this is one that I still consistently love and haven't changed my ratings on in over a decade. I have had some opinion changes but my love of its mythology and romance and what not has never changed. Both series DEFINITELY hold up. Although, I do prefer Bloodlines.
Okay, okay, in all fairness this is one of the series that I never read. I have a bind up of, I think, the first two novels tucked away in my parent's attic. BUT, I just never got into it. It sounded like The Insiders meets Twilight and by the time it came around I feel like I was burning out on the whole vampire and Gossip Girl-esque thing.
I am honestly not sure if this series is called Thirst or The Last Vampire? Like The Vampire Diaries, this is an oldie and one of the books that came before the trend but was resurrected. This is another one of the vampire series that I haven't read but it definitely counts. I've heard a lot of mixed things about it. Much like with Vampire Beach, I have a bind up off a couple of the books that is tucked away somewhere and I just never got to it.
Man, I always wanted to read this series! Back in the day, anyways. I just never got around to it. I also could never seem to hunt the books down and then gradually forgot about it. Based on the fact that it centers around a college freshman, I feel like this might actually be NA but we're going to just go with the fact that it's listed as YA. To be honest, I don't know what I can even tell you about The Morganville Vampires beyond its title and the fact that it has to do with vampires. I just remember a lot of my friends loving it!