Vampires Ruined My Life

On this edition of our Vampire Book Club, we discuss the novel Thrall by Rebecca Mahoney. This is such a fun book and it definitely scratches that vampire beach read itch. Lucy, a lesbian and college freshman at 23, is finally ready to start her life when she's attacked by a vampire her first week of college. With the help of her sexy RA Mila and the campus radio host, she must figure out how to defeat him before he kills her or takes her over completely. REFERENCES: The author's website: https://www.rebeccamahoneybooks.com/ The book on bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/thrall-rebecca-mahoney/1980aec380c60f2e Contact: Find us on Instagram ⁠⁠@VampiresRuinedPodcast⁠⁠ and now Bluesky: vampiresruined.bsky.socialEmail us at ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠ Our music is edited and mixed by Vic-Ra the Neverliving, and includes:“Dark Halloween Night” by Chase Alan Willis“Toccata and Fugue in D Minor” by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed by Kevin MacLeodThis episode of Vampires Ruined My Life was recorded in November 2025. It was released on Wednesday, December 3, 2025.

On this edition of our Vampire Book Club, we discuss the novel A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson, including how it touches on polyarmory, abusive relationships, and its take on the brides of Dracula. REFERENCES: The author's substack: https://saint.substack.com/p/conclave-at-the-end-of-the-world https://cmrosens.com/2021/10/11/author-interview-transcript-s-t-saint-gibson/ https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/reading-between-the-headlines/201703/the-danger-of-manipulative-love-bombing-in-a-relationship Contact: Find us on Instagram ⁠⁠@VampiresRuinedPodcast⁠⁠ and now Bluesky: vampiresruined.bsky.socialEmail us at ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠ Our music is edited and mixed by Vic-Ra the Neverliving, and includes:“Dark Halloween Night” by Chase Alan Willis“Toccata and Fugue in D Minor” by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed by Kevin MacLeodThis episode of Vampires Ruined My Life was recorded in November 2025. It was released on Wednesday, December 3, 2025.

Tori tells Chael about AMC's "Anne Rice" adjacent show, Talamasca: The Secret Order, which she watched in its entirety. She explains what they did well, where they missed, how the Talamasca works in the Anne Rice bookverse, and also how she would have done it using the same characters and a similar premise. Contact: Find us on Instagram ⁠⁠@VampiresRuinedPodcast⁠⁠ and now Bluesky: vampiresruined.bsky.socialEmail us at ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠ Our music is edited and mixed by Vic-Ra the Neverliving, and includes:“Dark Halloween Night” by Chase Alan Willis“Toccata and Fugue in D Minor” by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed by Kevin MacLeodThis episode of Vampires Ruined My Life was recorded in November 2025. It was released on Wednesday, December 3, 2025.

Tori and Chael are joined by special guests, horror gurus, and friends of the podcast Ariana and Lin, to discuss Robert Eggers' 2024 remake of Nosferatu. You can find Lin on Chael's other podcast, Once Upon a Rewatch. And check out her Youtube Channel Spooky Pie's Horror Diner, where she discusses all manner of horror media. Contact: Find us on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠@VampiresRuinedPodcast⁠⁠⁠ and now Bluesky: ⁠vampiresruined.bsky.social⁠Email us at ⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠ Our music is edited and mixed by Vic-Ra the Neverliving, and includes:“Dark Halloween Night” by Chase Alan Willis“Toccata and Fugue in D Minor” by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed by Kevin MacLeodThis episode of Vampires Ruined My Life was recorded in January 2025. It was released on Wednesday, November 19, 2025. (The epic gap there is 100% Tori's fault, sorry! Life got WEIRD. We appreciate your patience.)

Tonight, we discuss the movie Renfield, a humorous splatter horror film about Dracula's sidekick. Starring Nicholas Hoult, Nicolas Cage, and Awkwafina. Contact: Find us on Instagram ⁠⁠@VampiresRuinedPodcast⁠⁠ and now Bluesky: vampiresruined.bsky.socialEmail us at ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠ Our music is edited and mixed by Vic-Ra the Neverliving, and includes:“Dark Halloween Night” by Chase Alan Willis“Toccata and Fugue in D Minor” by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed by Kevin MacLeodThis episode of Vampires Ruined My Life was recorded in January 2025. It was released on Wednesday, April 2, 2025.

Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story by Christopher Moore In tonight’s Vampire Book Club Episode, we’re going to discuss the humorous vampire novel Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore. Tori loved this book in the 90s and is excited, Chael had never read it before. We discuss what we loved and what we didn’t and go through most of the plot. The Vampire Chronicles come up a lot as well as this was the basis of a lot of inspiration for the vampire lore.  Sources:  Bloodsucking Fiends - Wikipedia Socials:  Find us on Instagram ⁠@VampiresRuinedPodcast⁠ And now BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/vampiresruined.bsky.social Email us at ⁠[email protected]⁠  Other:  Our music is edited and mixed by Vic-Ra the Neverliving, and includes: “Dark Halloween Night” by Chase Alan Willis “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor” by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed by Kevin MacLeod This episode of Vampires Ruined My Life was recorded in November 2024.  It was released on Wednesday, January 8, 2025. 

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires  In tonight’s Vampire Book Club Episode, we’re going to discuss the novel The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix. Despite the misleading title, we enjoyed it as a horror novel. We debate whether the big bad counts as a vampire, talk about what worked for us in the story, and what did not.  Sources:  The Book’s Wikipedia Page  Socials:  Find us on Instagram @VampiresRuinedPodcast Email us at [email protected]  Other:  Our music is edited and mixed by Vic-Ra the Neverliving, and includes: “Dark Halloween Night” by Chase Alan Willis “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor” by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed by Kevin MacLeod This episode of Vampires Ruined My Life was recorded in September 2024.  It was released on Wednesday, October 30, 2024.  

Tonight, we discuss the 1979 movie Nosferatu, a “stylistic” homage to the original Nosferatu (1922), written and directed by Werner Herzog. Socials:  Find us on Twitter ⁠@VampiresRuined⁠ and on Instagram ⁠@VampiresRuinedPodcast⁠ Email us at ⁠[email protected]⁠ 

Tonight, we discuss the 1992 movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which would go on to inspire the TV series.  Socials:  Find us on Twitter @VampiresRuined and on Instagram @VampiresRuinedPodcast Email us at [email protected]  Sources:  Buffy Wiki at Fandom | https://buffy.fandom.com/wiki/Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer_(film) Buffy Wiki at Fandom | https://buffy.fandom.com/wiki/Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer_(novel) AV Club Joss Whedon | https://www.avclub.com/joss-whedon-1798208181 I’ll Always Love the Original Buffy the Vampire Slayer | https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2022/07/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-movie-joss-whedon/671005/ https://web.archive.org/web/20160412083950/https://www.cise.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/hsiao/buffy/get-archive?date=19990117 Other:  Our music is edited and mixed by Vic-Ra the Neverliving, and includes: “Dark Halloween Night” by Chase Alan Willis “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor” by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed by Kevin MacLeod This episode of Vampires Ruined My Life was recorded on Saturday, April 8, 2023. It was released on Wednesday, April 19, 2023.

In this minisode, Chael tells Tori about the Let the Right One In television show, which is definitely about vampires… but not so much about the book its based on.  Socials:  Find us on Twitter @VampiresRuined and on Instagram @VampiresRuinedPodcast Email us at [email protected]  Other:  Our music is edited and mixed by Vic-Ra the Neverliving, and includes: “Dark Halloween Night” by Chase Alan Willis “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor” by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed by Kevin MacLeod This episode of Vampires Ruined My Life was recorded on March 18, 2023.  It was released on Wednesday, March 29, 2023.