title: Night Bites: Vampire Stories by Women Tales of Blood and Lust
author:  Victoria A. Brownworth 
description: Brownworth has assembled a collection of stories that have varying degrees of merit. Some have heavy-handed feminist or political themes and are plagued by predictable plots or cardboard characters. Others, however, have unique offerings for those who enjoy offbeat literature. Judith Katz's "Anita, Polish Vampire, Holds Forth at the Jewish Cafe of the Dead" is a funny, quirky little tale with a lesbian twist. In "Sustenance," Susanna J. Sturgis evokes the surreal world of a woman's emotional collapse. The theme of vampire seduction plays a major role in Diane Lisa D. Williamson's "Best of Friends," but in DeKelb-Rittenhouse's "To Die For," seduction hits an all-time erotic high. Judith M. Redding's "Unexpurgated Notes from a Homicide Case File" features an African American female police officer investigating four murders that appear to be the work of a blood-sucking creature. Although all the stories have a vampiric element, the true emphasis is on feminism. Suitable for large collections.?Patricia Altner, Information Seekers, Bowie, Md.<br />Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
zlib_text: Women of the Bite
  
  Introduction
  
  I have edited many books of vampire stories, but this is the first time I have
  done one exclusively lesbian in theme. The previous volumes have mixed all
  genders and sexualities together, since in my mind the vampire’s allure is
  less about what gender or orientation s/he has and more about the vampiric
  power of seduction and the prospect of immortal love. The vampire entwines our
  dual fascination with sex and death into one character. And the vampire being
  a seductive figure has always been an erotic concept for me.
  
  It’s interesting, though, to see the patterns and commonalities that emerge by
  turning the focus specifically to the female vampire. There are seductresses
  here, to be sure, but also many incarnations of the vampire as a kind of
  avenging angel, a distillation of female potency that protects her own,
  whether her territory, her lover, or her children.
  
  We also get a glimpse of many different ways and milieus in which women love
  women, from mo