Late Night Boyfriends: Tales of the gay vampire

Late Night Boyfriends: tales of the gay vampire is quite possibly one of the best new gay vampire anthologies, and I am not saying this because my brother wrote one of the stories or because I am friends with the editor. Late Night Boyfriends is the exact gay vampire book I have always wanted to read.

The anthology features a collection of 13 short stories. The stories are short, focused, fresh, with hot fang welding vampires. Stories are not side-tracked by werewolves or female characters, and the love and sex is between men. The synopsis is not misleading, like some books, these are tales that take the vampire genre and give it a twist, without straying outside one nearly consistent mythos.

To summarize all the vampires would be unfair, however they vary completely from story to story yet retain similar characteristics. The vampires all have fangs, they are powerful, young and immortal. The process of turning varies as much as the authors, and their vampires might have different weaknesses; for some the sun is deadly but for others it is not. A few sleep in coffins, while others can fly.

This is very much a book about becoming a vampire, over 20 vampires are turned between those covers, some by force and many by choice. Too many times I have read a vampire book and have been disappointed by the outcome, especially if the fledgling vampire turns his back on immortality. Late Night Boyfriends is for those who dream of becoming a vampire.

Surely there must be a moral struggle for these vampires, but I would suggest that the vampires in this collection have already struggled with an imposed moral choice; the vast majority (and all the main characters) are gay. Society oppresses sexuality as if it were a choice. These vampires either choose or resolve to accept being a vampire, and at no point do they become soulless demons. There are a few sinister vampires who are cruel and loveless, but the vampires with the pure hearts (and sharp fangs) win out.

Details

Late Night Boyfriends: Tales of the gay vampire
by Ethan Kilburn
Book type: Anthology
Rating: 4.5/5
Worth the money? Yes (a must!)
Where to find?
amazon.com
amazon.co.uk