Why are we so deeply attracted to vampires? According to EVOLVE: Vampire Stories of the New Undead editor Nancy Kilpatrick, that’s because the vampire was once human and retains vestiges of humanity.

"Vampires are always struggling," says Kilpatrick. "In some, that struggle is stronger, in others weaker, but the vampire is torn between wanting to love and be loved by us, and wanting to rip out our throats to get to our blood."

According to Kilpatrick, who is recognized as an expert on the undead, the vampire is an archetypal energy. They have appeared in almost every culture and have been in mythology since 2,500 BC when the Epic of Gilgamesh mentioned them as ‘death bringers’.

"They are predators, imbedded in the collective consciousness," continues Kilpatrick "and we are their prey. Vampires are about the only creatures that prey on us in a world where we are at the top of the food chain and consider ourselves the ultimate predator."

But still, we love them...and Kilpatrick speaks to how their "mythos" has changed over the years.

"The undead are currently more overtly romantic than in the past," says Kilpatrick. "The vampire has always been a seducer. In the early works in English--"The Vampire"; Varney the Vampire; Dracula; Carmilla--all of these creatures-of-the-night are seducers but you don’t see it much on the page, mainly because the stories and novels were written during the Victorian era when discretion was all important. Today, the vampire is blatantly sexual and seductive and erotic. That huge change came about within the last forty years in writing, and then on film and in TV shows."

But what of the future? How will vampires evolve? Nancy assures us that come March 1st, 2010 there will be an answer to this question ... or, rather, twenty four answers.

EVOLVE: Vampire Stories of the New Undead includes works by: Kelley Armstrong, Tanya Huff, Claude Lalumière. Mary E. Choo, Sandra Kasturi, Bradley Somer, Kevin Cockle, Rebecca Bradley, Heather Clitheroe, Colleen Anderson, Sandra Wickham, Rhea Rose, Ronald Hore, Bev Vincent, Jennifer Greylyn, Steve Vernon, Michael Skeet, Kevin Nunn, Victoria Fisher, Rio Youers, Gemma Files, Natasha Beaulieu, Claude Bolduc, and Jerome Stueart.

EVOLVE: Vampire Stories of the New Undead
edited by Nancy Kilpatrick
ISBN: 978-1-894063-33-3
$15.95 USA
$16.95 CDN
Pages: 304
Trade Paperback (5.5" x 8.5")

Websites:

http://www.edgewebsite.com/books/evolve/ev-catalog.html (Publisher’s site: sample pdf available)
http://vampires-evolve.com (special limited editions – including coffin edition...see under “Purchase” for details.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEKdqoj53fk&feature=player_embedded (book trailer)
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=237581542711&ref=ts (Evolve Facebook group page.)

For further information, or to set up interviews with Nancy Kilpatrick or
the EVOLVE authors, please contact:

Janice Shoults
EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing
403.254.0160
events@hadespublications.com

"There are stories in Evolve that charmed me. Others presented a curious twist on vampires. Still other stories in Evolve move right smack into the future and are innovative. Readers will find a real cornucopia of fiction in Evolve as they meet the New Vampire.

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