Many Bloody Returns, edited by Charlaine Harris & Toni L.P. Kelner (Ace Trade)

Malaika King Albrecht often brings her daughters with her to our writing group. One day she mentioned that Amani, the older, loved the Twilight series. I suggested that she might enjoy this new short story anthology. I was right! Here's what Amani said about Many Bloody Returns.


Each of the 13 stories in this anthology contains some sort of supernatural element and a birthday theme. I found myself wanting to look up the authors after each story. I liked the uncertainty of what I would read next, although once I got into a story, I didn’t want it to end. The theme that tied these stories together was a novel idea because vampires and birthdays are not normally associated with each other. Though this was a fun read, I wouldn’t recommend it for readers under thirteen years old. Amani Albrecht 6th grade

The stories and authors were:

"Dracula Night" by Charlaine Harris
"The Mournful Cry of Owls" by Christopher Golden
"I Was a Teenage Vampire" by Bill Crider
"Twilight" by Kelley Armstrong
"It's My Birthday, Too" by Jim Butcher
"Grave-Robbed" by P.N. Elrod
"The First Day of the Rest of Your Life" by Rachel Caine
"The Witch and the Wicked" by Jeanne C. Stein
"Blood Wrapped" by Tanya Huff
"The Wish" by Carolyn Haines
"Fire and Ice and Linguini for Two" by Tate Hallaway
"Vampire Hours" by Elaine Viets
"How Stella Got her Grave Back" by Toni L.P. Kelner