Interview with the Vampire
by Anne Rice
Can't help but share the mother of all modern vampire fiction. I first read this at nine years old, and never have grown out of it.
You can read it as a metaphor for suppressed sexuality, or take it at its glorious face value as the vampire Louis de Point du Lac paints a vivid picture of 1800s New Orleans and the shares with you the story of how he became a vampire.
These are not the vampires of modern speculative fiction. They don't love boring human girls or sparkle, nor are they even capable of sex. Blood drives them to ecstasy (something something metaphor for sexuality something something). It's just awesome.
And no one does melancholic better than Anne Rice.