Tag: Vampires

Entertaining and Fun Vampire Stories

The focus of this blog is Leonbergers but sometimes I post about books that are not about Leonbergers but that are books that I want to promote. This past week we were on a family vacation in New Orleans. We’ve been to New Orleans many times before but this time we focused on the supernatural, magic if you will, ghosts, vampires, voodoo, and pirates. In the evenings I read a fairly new book about vampires, Vermillion Highways by David Lee Summers and Lee Clark Zumpe. I bought the book on Amazon, I loved the book and I wrote a review for it.

As far as I know it exists only as a paperback on Amazon. Publisher : Hiraethsff (January 14, 2026), ASIN : B0GHDTMVZ3, ISBN-13 : 979-8295554971, 116 pages, Item Weight : 5.7 ounces, Dimensions : 6 x 0.24 x 9 inches, it cost  $13.95 on US Amazon. Click here to order it from Amazon.com.

The front cover features a female vampire on a background of mountains and a planet.
Front cover of Vermillion Highways. Click on the image to go to the Amazon page for the paperback version of the book.

Amazon’s Description of Vermillion Highways

Two of the finest minds in the genres have combined their resources and imaginations to come up with some of the gothiest (and, sometimes, ) goofiest vampire short fiction this side of Transylvania. David Lee Summers, of Tales of the Talisman and Scarlet Order fame, and Lee Clark Zumpe, mild-mannered reporter for a daily metro-Floridian newspaper and author of the Lovecraftian anthology Whispers from the Intoxicating Abyss, take you on a journey through tales that fit everywhere between Type O positive and Type AB negative. Vermillion Highways is a must-read even if you don’t care for the suckers.

My Five Star Review of Vermillion Highways

Lighthearted and Captivating Vampire Stories

We just returned from a family trip to New Orleans. To make the trip extra interesting we had a theme for our trip, vampires and voodoo. Naturally we visited vampire themed places, and we drank blood (pretend blood). In addition, in the evenings I read this book.

Vermillion Highways is a short collection (114 pages) of 40 short stories about vampires written by two great authors with humor and vivid imaginations. Each author contributed 20 stories. Some stories are around 10 pages long, and some stories are not even half a page. The stories are sometimes scary but for the most part they are just entertaining, imaginative, fun and comical. They are good stories with surprises and odd twists. At first, I was questioning whether you can really write good stories that are that short, but you can. If done right the very-short story format, or the flash fiction format, works.

I appreciated the flexible and more realistic take on vampires in this book. If you don’t strictly adhere to the orthodox depiction of vampires, you can write better stories. In this book vampires can sustain themselves by drinking blood from blood bags, or from people without necessarily turning them into vampires. It is the desperate or mean vampires that attack and kill people. The sun is not good for vampires, but it does not make them burst into flames, and they don’t sparkle in the sunlight either. A little bit of sunlight is manageable, like for albinos. They also don’t turn into bats, they can’t fly, they are not purely evil, and crosses are not as effective against vampires as you may think. However, they can live for thousands of years, and they have some special magical powers, such as mind compulsion and great physical strength. I prefer it when vampires are depicted this way.

In summary, this vampire book may not be very scary, but it is an entertaining and fun read. I highly recommend this lighthearted, modern and easy to read vampire book.

The back cover is red and has a description of the book.
Back cover of Vermillion Highways.

About David Lee Summer

The author information for Lee Clark Zumpe can be found here and the author information for David Lee Summers is below.

Photo of David Lee Summers author of Vermillion Highways.

David Lee Summers is an author, editor and astronomer living somewhere between the western and final frontiers in Southern New Mexico. He is the author of twelve novels. His short stories and poems have appeared in numerous magazines including Cemetery Dance, Realms of Fantasy, Star*Line, and The Santa Clara Review.

David also edited Tales of the Talisman Magazine for ten years. When he’s not writing, he operates telescopes at Kitt Peak National Observatory.

Click here to visit his website

Click here to visit his blog

Click here to see one of my review for The Astronomer’s Crypt another of David Lee Summer’s books.

This is the book “Vermillion Highways” in the original and cheaper pdf format and this is the ePub format.

Magic In New Orleans a Travel Overview

Esther’s writing prompt: March 18 : Magic

Click here or here  to join in.

Image is showing a man with skull face wearing a black top hat and he is surrounded by flames.
Voodoo shaman, african wizard man conjure, 3D illustration. Shutterstock Asset id: 2048753030 by artshock

We just came home from a trip to New Orleans, which is truly a magical city. New Orleans is not very far from Dallas, where we live, and we’ve been to New Orleans several times. However, it was a fun family trip with a theme. The theme we chose for our trip was Magic, including Vampires, Voodoo/Hoodoo, ghosts, pirates and St. Patrick’s Day. We also went on a ghost tour. Below are some photos from the Voodoo Museum, and miscellaneous voodoo, witches, vampire and pirate stores.

A skeleton wearing a black top hat. The skeleton has several cigarettes in its mouth.
From the Voodoo Museum.
Automated fortune teller in a glass box.
I used an automated fortune teller who told me to watch out for stepping on people’s toes. That is kind of strange since we hardly ever go dancing.

Photo Tile with photos from the Voodoo Museum, a Hoodoo Queen, vampire art, pirate, and witch store.

We also ate at a restaurant that has a ghost. The Muriel’s Jackson Square restaurant is allegedly haunted by a ghost that sits in the chair. The ghost is a former owner by name of Pierre Antoine Lepardi Jourdan.

It is a photo of a table that is already set. There is an empty chair between my daughter and my son’s girlfriend.
The ghost is sitting between my daughter (right) and my son’s girlfriend (left).

What is Voodoo ?

Voodoo is a religion blending African traditions with Catholicism. It is originating from enslaved people in Haiti and Louisiana. It focuses on serving spirits and honoring ancestors and connecting with nature. It is not black magic. However, I admit I’ve made fun of the so called voodoo dolls. Marie Catherine Laveau was one the most prominent practitioners of voodoo. She was born a free woman of color in New Orleans’s French Quarter, Louisiana, on September 10, 1801. We saw her house. Below are photos from the Voodoo Museum.

Photo Tile from the Voodoo Museum

Vampire Café

We also did some vampire related things. New Orleans is often called the Transylvania of America. Author’s such as Anne Rice have brought attention to New Orleans and its vampire legends. I read a book with 40 short stories about vampires while we visited New Orleans. The book was Vermillion Highways by David Lee Summers and Lee Clark Zumpe. I will make a post about that book in a couple of days. We visited vampire stores and the famous Vampire Café. See the photos below.

A white sign stating Vampire Café.
Vampire Café
I am sitting on a chair in front of the Vampire Café drinking from a blood bag with a straw.
Me drinking (pretend blood) from a blood bag at the Vampire Café.
I am sitting on a chair in front of the Vampire Café drinking a glass of wine (Pinot Noir). The glass says Vampire Café.
Me drinking a glass of Pinot Noir. The name of the wine is Vampire, and it says so on the glass.

Photo Tile from Vampire Café.

I should say that we did other things as well. We visited the aquarium, rainforest, and insectarium, which is quite impressive. We celebrated Saint Patrick’s Day, and we made a couple of visits to the famous Pat O’Brien’s Pub. We all had a good time.

My Other Responses to Esther’s Prompts

Vampire of the Midnight Sun Two Engrossing Horror Stories

Cover for Vamoire of the Midnight Sun by Priscilla Bettis

This blog is primarily about Leonbergers, especially our late Leonberger Bronco, or as his full name was, Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle. I also review Leonberger books and sometimes I review books that are not about Leonbergers, books I love and want to promote. This is one of those posts. Today I am reviewing Vampire of The Midnight Sun – January 28, 2023 by Priscilla Bettis. It exists as a Kindle edition with a print length of 55 pages, ASIN B0BS9N5VR1. It is $2.99 on Amazon.

Priscilla Bettis (embedded from Amazon author page)

Even though I am not the traditional vampire aficionado, because of the implausible vampire mythology surrounding vampires, for example, they burn up in sunlight, they turn into bats, all their victims also turn into vampires. It seems silly and evokes questions. I should say I still prefer traditional vampires over zombies. Zombies are boring. However, Priscillas vampire tale is not a traditional vampire story, it is a lot more plausible and modern.

I should say that I have some connection to vampires. That’s because I went to Transylvania with my son and the water polo team, he was part of. Together with another parent, Jim, I was a chaperone. The coach was a native of Transylvania and he decided to make the trip about Dracula, or as his real name was Vlad II Dracul or Vlad II Tepes the Impaler. We visited Dracula’s grave on Snagov island, his birthplace in Sighisoara, the Bran Castle, and the Poienari Castle. I can add that the Bran Castle is the most famous castle and a tourist trap, but there’s no evidence he was ever there. The Poienari Castle on the other hand, was a castle he restored and lived in.

When we visited the Snagov island and the Snagov monastery Dracula’s monk decided to initiate me and my son into Dracula’s covenant. We drank water from Dracula’s well and participated in a ritual and voila, here we are protectors of Dracula. Therefore, I might as well launch into my review of Priscilla’s horror stories.

Below I am posting my updated Amazon review for Vampire Of The Midnight Sun. To see my Amazon review click here.

Two engrossing horror stories that you’ll never forget

Can vampires live under the sun, the midnight sun? Can vampires be blood thirsty but not evil? The first story in Priscilla Bettis “Vampire of the Midnight Sun” story collection certainly implies this and it makes vampires a lot more plausible and interesting than the helpless and evil vampires who are poff-gone under the slightest ray from the sun.

Two friends, Billy and Frasier, are river rafting in Alaska. They end up in the cold river water and have to hike back to safety, wet and without provisions. That’s how a very difficult but interesting hike begins. However, unbeknownst to Frasier, Billy is not a normal mortal. Billy’s special condition turns out to be an advantage to both of them but also the cause of confusion and mounting tension and a gruesome surprise. You don’t need evil for horror, you just need what is otherworldly and bizarre. I found Billy to be quite fascinating and more believable than all the vampires that I’ve come across in other stories. The story was captivating, and the unique narrative was refreshing, and the descriptions of the surrounding beautiful scenery was breathtaking.

“Vampire of the Midnight Sun” also contain a second short story called “the fire witch and the cowboy”. It takes place in an old wild west town called Dusty Bend in Texas during the wildfire season. The town has a secret. There are dark old sins to atone for and as a result there’s wild fire, lots of fire, fire from hell arising from supernatural forces. In the story there are cowards and heroes, witches, ghosts, revenge and death. It is a spellbinding horror story that gave me goosebumps.

I highly recommend this collection of two great horror stories.

To see Priscilla Bettis’ Amazon author page, click here, and to visit her website click here.