Sunglasses After Dark

A half-human, half-vampire hunts the bloodsucker who bit her in this “compelling” Bram Stoker Award-winning debut (Publishers Weekly).   One spring night in London, heiress Denise Thorne disappears while partying at a nightclub, never to be seen again. That very same night, Sonja Blue, a tough-as-nails punk vampire/vampire-slayer, conceived in terror and blood, is borne from the city’s gutters. Saved by modern medicine before she could die, she is a living vampire who still possesses a soul and is determined to fight for what remains of her humanity. In the years since her bizarre resurrection, Sonja Blue travels the globe, hunting down and disposing of those creatures that prey on the innocent while searching for the vampire Noble who created her. But when she investigates a sleazy televangelist named Catherine Wheele, who is exploiting Denise Thorne’s parents, Sonja finds herself up against a powerful inhuman adversary. But as dangerous as Catherine Wheele proves to be, Sonja’s greatest foe remains the Other, the demonic personality with whom she is locked in a constant battle for control of their shared body. Can Sonja Blue overcome her inner demon in time to rescue an innocent man from Catherine Wheele’s unholy clutches?    Acknowledged as one of the first Urban Fantasy novels, Sunglasses After Dark burst onto the fantasy/horror scene in 1989, garnering widespread critical praise and winning the Horror Writers Association’s coveted Bram Stoker Award, as well as the British Fantasy Society’s Icarus Award.   New edition: Revised and edited by the author.

“Collins’ debut novel [Sunglasses After Dark] infuses the ancient myth of the vampire with a modern beat, embedding elements of the horror genre in a compelling psychological thriller.” —Publishers Weekly“Horror fans will immediately recognize the name of Nancy Collins, possibly the most original voice in the world of vampire fiction since Anne Rice published Interview With the Vampire.” —Film Threat“Sunglasses After Dark is a wild ride.” —Fangoria“Nancy Collins . . . has crafted a vision of the undead, fanged bloodsuckers that is steeped both in the rage, alienation and aggression of punk, and the rich, homespun vernacular of the rural Southern storytelling tradition.” —Paper“If there is such a things as a splatterpunk masterpiece, Nancy A. Collins has written it.” —Asimov’s Science Fiction“Collins . . . chronicles excess with an almost elegant stylistic restraint . . . Sunglasses After Dark is replete with eroticism and violence, movement and color.” —Locus “Nancy Collins’ bone-colored, blood-smeared star—for she is certainly a star—stands bright and hot at the pinnacle of the horror heap.” —Joe R. Lansdale, author of Bubba Ho-Tep“A street poetess of pain and rage, Nancy A. Collins has cast an undeniable shadow across the tradition of dark and fantastic fiction.” —Cemetery Dance Magazine“[Collins’] prose sings—now moody, now graphic, now scattershot, now lyric; her characters are ready to step off the page.” —Mystery Scene“Collins has created a unique vampire in a very strange world that looks a lot like our own.” —Science Fiction Chronicle“Sunglasses [After Dark] was great.” —Joe Bob Briggs

Nancy A. Collins has authored more than 20 novels and novellas and numerous short stories. She has also worked on several comic books, including a 2-year run on the Swamp Thing series. She is a recipient of the Bram Stoker Award and the British Fantasy Award, and has been nominated for the Eisner, John W. Campbell Memorial, and International Horror Guild Awards. Best known for her groundbreaking vampire series Sonja Blue, which heralded the rise of the popular urban fantasy genre, Collins is the author of the bestselling Sunglasses After Dark, the Southern Gothic collection Knuckles and Tales, and the Vamps series for young adults. Her most recent novel is Left Hand Magic, the second installment in the critically acclaimed Golgotham urban fantasy series. She currently resides in Norfolk, Virginia, with a Boston terrier.