''Those Who Hunt the Night'' is a 1988 horror/

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

novel by American writer

Barbara Hambly Barbara Hambly (born August 28, 1951) is an American novelist and screenwriter within the genres of fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and historical fiction. She is the author of the bestselling Benjamin January mystery series featuring a fre ...

. It was first published in paperback by the British publisher Unwin Paperbacks in November 1988 under the title ''Immortal Blood''. The first American edition was published in hardcover by Del Rey/Ballantine in December 1988 under the title ''Those Who Hunt the Night'', which has been used for all subsequent English-language editions; a paperback edition followed from the same publisher in July 1989, and was reprinted in May 1991 and October 1995. A book club edition was issued by Del Rey in conjunction with the Science Fiction Book Club in June 1989. An ebook edition was issued by Open Road Integrated Media in March 2011. The novel has also been translated into French. The novel won the 1989 Locus Poll Award for Best Horror Novel.

Plot summary

The 20th century is just under way, and somebody is killing the vampires of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Against the wishes of his fellow

undead The undead are beings in mythology, legend, or fiction that are deceased but behave as if alive. Most commonly the term refers to corporeal forms of formerly-alive humans, such as mummies, vampires, and zombies, who have been reanimated by supe ...

, Simon Ysidro, oldest of the London vampires, seeks the assistance of

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

James Asher, former

spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

for the British government. Ysidro gains Asher's cooperation by threatening the life of his beautiful young wife, Lydia. Unbeknownst to Ysidro, Asher enlists the help of his wife, a

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

with a keenly analytical mind. Asher prowls the streets and crypts of London with Ysidro, entering the dark underworld of the undead, as Lydia combs property records and medical journals for clues as to who might have the means and the motive to carry out the slaughter. Asher's theory is that the killer must be a vampire himself, one able to remain awake and active in the daytime. Lydia develops a theory as to how such a vampire might come to be. Together Asher and Ysidro travel to Paris to seek out the mythical eldest of all vampires, Brother Anthony, who might be either the killer himself, or the key to the killer's undoing. What they discover is a threat to the living as well as the undead. A scientist seeking to artificially endow British agents with the powers of vampires is behind the killings. The scientist's son has been transformed into a hybrid vampiric monster who can walk in the daylight, but craves the blood of other vampires to arrest the degeneration of his body. Asher and Ysidro, aided by Brother Anthony, destroy the hybrid vampire and end the threat. Ysidro leaves Asher and Lydia in peace and vanishes from their lives.

Notes

1988 American novels Novels by Barbara Hambly Vampire novels Novels set in London Del Rey books {{1980s-horror-novel-stub