Vampires have always occupied the margins—of society, gender, and desire. They transgress not just death, but also the boundaries of what is culturally acceptable, in both private and public spaces They challenge our understanding of power and intimacy by leaning into the physical and the forbidden. As such, vampire stories continue to resonate deeply with those who’ve lived at the edges—queer readers, radical thinkers, and those for whom the body itself is a contested space.
Penguin Classics is proud to announce a striking new series coming this fall, with its first installments bringing special focus to the bloodthirsty undead. Penguin Speculative Fiction Special (Penguin Classics, October 14th 2025) is a hardcover series of horror, science fiction, fantasy, and more. Featuring custom endpapers, specially commissioned cover art, and introductions by scholars and notable figures, these collectible editions celebrate classics that invite us to ask, “What if?” and that, through bold imagination, alternative visions, and magical realms, transform our perception of our world.
DRACULA
by Bram Stoker (Foreword by Robert Eggers, Introduction by Karen Winstead)
Still pulsing with dread and desire, Stoker’s masterwork is presented here in a boldly designed edition with a new foreword that foregrounds the novel’s interplay between gender, control, and contagion. Newly accompanied by a striking Introduction by Nosferatu (2024) director Robert Eggers, this edition is a must-have for any vampire buff.
THE VAMPYRE & CARMILLA
by John Polidori and J. Sheridan Le Fanu (Foreword by V.E. Schwab, Introduction by Nick Groom)
Paired for the first time in a unified edition, with a Foreword by New York Times bestselling author V.E. Schwab, these groundbreaking short works chart the emergence of both the aristocratic and lesbian vampire—figures that helped define the gothic imagination.
THE GILDA STORIES
by Jewelle Gomez (Afterword by Alexis Pauline Gumbs)
A milestone of speculative fiction and queer literature, Gomez’s 1991 novel spans centuries and centers a Black lesbian vampire whose story reclaims the genre from within.
As renewed interest in horror surges—and vampires take center stage thanks to the critical and commercial success of films like Sinners and the reimagined Nosferatu—the Penguin Speculative Fiction Special Series offers a rooted, resonant entry point into the genre’s past and its ever-evolving future. These are not just reprints. They are reintroductions, designed for the reader who sees the vampire not as monster, but as metaphor.
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