Tanith Lee, a British novelist, is one of the most obscure Gothic authors, and also one of the best because of it. Her first book, a dark fantasy, was titled "Don't Bite the Sun" and was published in 1976. It was only with the resurgence in the interest of vampires that Tanith Lee's Scarabae became popular in the States. The Scarabae, unlike the vampires of Tanith Lee, are not obviously vampiric; a long-lived and incestuous family with a past shrouded in mystery, bogglingly powerful and ancient. Rarely if ever do they feed on blood, and they sound even less human than Lestat or the Twins of Anne Rice's writings.

Tanith also wrote the Paradys novels, little Gothic horror stories grouped into several books; The Book of the Damned, The Book of the Mad, the Book of the Beast, the Book of the Beast. All of these books take place in Paradys, a tongue in cheek name for what appears to be Hell.

There are numerous other stories written by this superb author, not a few of them for young adults. Taniths Lee's style is incredibly lyrical, almost like prose, and very blunt. I have never read an author who could make me weep merely by reading the words, but the Silver Metal Lover had me sobbing at the end.

Although Tanith Lee is a difficult author to find in the U.S., if you do manage, buy it; you have found a rare treasure indeed.