Since Joss Whedon introduced Buffy the Vampire Slayer to the world in the early 90s, there has been this fascination with building strong female characters who kick preternatural butt on a daily basis. True, some of this has been rooted in comic book/superhero mythology, where for many years lady heroes have been added into the more male-dominated stories. First there was Superman, then Supergirl. Spider-Man gave way to Spider-Girl.

But vampire hunting stories have tipped the balance toward us females. While there are certainly male characters that take up the stake and sword, it’s women who are portrayed in these roles more often than not.

The reason? My feeling is that it all has to do with sex. Vampires have always been written as seducers of females, dripping with sexual energy that women cannot resist. Look at Dracula, the original vampire, seducing Lucy with sex and blood while pining for his long lost love, whose incarnation is drawn inexplicably to the monster. Making a female the hunter of such creatures makes for the perfect unlikely hero; those whom are supposed to be most vulnerable are actually resistant to a point, enabling them to destroy the enemy.

Laurell K Hamilton’s Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series brings this balance of sexual power to a new level that has absolutely enthralled me since I discovered the books this past fall. Anita Blake is the epitome of what you would not expect a vampire hunter would be: short, petite, busty, clumsy at times, but always lethal. She’s also one of the hardest, most jaded and yet sexually empowered characters I’ve ever read. Wouldn’t you be if you were born with the sometimes uncontrollable ability to raise/control the dead and were constantly being pulled into conflicts and murders involving vampires, shapeshifters, demons and all sorts of bogey men?

Hamilton’s work straddles the worlds of horror, paranormal romance, erotica, fantasy and mystery. One minute, Blake may have her hand lodged in the chest of a vampire, where she entered under the ribs to make it faster and easier to reach the heart (no bone to go through, only tissue). The next, she’s being seduced by her own lust for sex and blood or any one of her preternatural lovers.

I must say the stark contrast of these scenes, mixed with Blake’s irreverent take on most of the situations in which she finds herself and the brutal honesty with which she views herself is simply awesome. Though Hamilton has been criticized for not showing enough real character development in her books as the series evolves and including too much sex into her plots, I disagree with this assessment.