Charlaine Harris 'happy about vampire fiction popularity'
18th May 2010
Horror author Charlaine Harris wished she had started writing vampire fiction sooner, even though she has already finished ten books in her Sookie Stackhouse series.
The author, whose new book Dead In The Family will be published on June 10th, told the Metro she would have started crafting tales about vampires 'years ago' if she had known the genre would become so popular.
Suggesting reasons for horror fiction being in vogue, Harris added: 'Vampires have always represented the erotic. There's also been a growth in readership for urban fantasy novels that coincides with the current teenage fad for vampires.'
The author also told the newspaper that she branched out into horror fiction after writing two mystery series, as she wanted to combine the supernatural with romance. The resultant Sookie Stackhouse books were eventually turned into hit TV series True Blood.
Earlier this year, research by market analyst Mintel claimed that the film adaptations of Stephanie Meyer's Twilight novels have led to a jump of almost 20 per cent in the sales of fantasy and sci-fi books.