Laurell K. Hamilton
Laurell Kaye Hamilton (born February 19, 1963) is an American fantasy and romance writer, who is best known as the author of two series of stories. Her New York Times-bestselling Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series centers on Anita Blake, a professional zombie raiser, vampire executioner and supernatural consultant for the police, which includes novels, short story collections, and comic books. Six million copies of Anita Blake novels are in print.
Also recorded as Laurell Kaye Hamilton
Laurell K. Hamilton

Georges Seguin (Okki) · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Full name
- Laurell Kaye Klein.
- Born
- 1963. · Heber Springs.
- Nationality
- United States.
- Occupation
- writer and novelist.
- Fields
- literary activity, fantasy literature and romance novel.
- Education
- Indiana Wesleyan University and Oak Hill High School.
- Known for
- Merry Gentry and Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter.
- Languages
- English.
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Documentary summary
Laurell Kaye Hamilton (born February 19, 1963) is an American fantasy and romance writer, who is best known as the author of two series of stories. Her New York Times-bestselling Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series centers on Anita Blake, a professional zombie raiser, vampire executioner and supernatural consultant for the police, which includes novels, short story collections, and comic books. Six million copies of Anita Blake novels are in print.
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Note VALÉORINE
Laurell K. Hamilton (born 1963) is an American novelist and writer. The novelist was born Laurell Kaye Klein in Heber Springs.
Laurell K. Hamilton studied at Indiana Wesleyan University and Oak Hill High School. The novelist is active in fantasy literature, literary activity and romance novel.
Works include Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter and Merry Gentry. Genres include horror and horror literature. Languages used include English.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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Authority files
wikidata · Q298229 · wikipedia · Laurell K. Hamilton
In this article
Personal life
Personal life
Her Merry Gentry series centers on Meredith Gentry, Princess of the Unseelie court of Faerie, a private detective facing repeated assassination attempts. Both of these fantasy series follow their protagonists as they gain in power and deal with the dangers of worlds in which creatures of legend live. USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, and Time have identified her works as significant contributions to the development of the urban-fantasy genre.
Hamilton studied at Indiana Wesleyan University and Oak Hill High School. The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is literary activity, fantasy literature and romance novel. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are horror. Howard is recorded as an influence. Places of work recorded in the authority are St. Works named in the authority record are Merry Gentry and Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter.
Laurell Kaye Hamilton was born Laurell Kaye Klein in Heber Springs, Arkansas but grew up in Sims, Indiana with her grandmother Laura Gentry. Her education includes degrees in English and biology from Marion College (now called Indiana Wesleyan University), a private Evangelical Christian liberal arts college in Marion, Indiana that is affiliated with the Wesleyan Church denomination. She met Gary Hamilton, whom she married, there. They have one daughter together, Trinity. Hamilton is involved with a number of animal charities, particularly supporting dog rescue efforts and wolf preservation. Hamilton lives in St. Louis County, Missouri, with her daughter Trinity, and husband Jonathon Green whom she married in 2001.
Works
Works
Laurell K. Hamilton is the author of two major book series, spin-off comic books, various anthologies, and other stand-alone titles. Hamilton's long-time editor was well-known fantasy editor Susan Allison at Penguin Group publishing company. Hamilton's works include: Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter is an animator and necromancer who raises the dead for a living. She is also a vampire executioner and in later books a U.S. Marshal. Blake lives in a fictional St. Louis where vampires and were-animals exist and recently gained some rights as citizens. As of November 2013, Hamilton has published 22 novels and 5 novellas in the Anita Blake series. As of 2009 more than 6 million copies of Anita Blake novels have been printed and several have become New York Times bestsellers. Anita Blake comics are the comic-book renditions of the Anita Blake series. As of May 2012, the comic-book series has included her first three books, Guilty Pleasures, Laughing Corpse and Circus of the Damned. There was also a special prologue comic issued named, "The First Death". Merry Gentry is a Princess of Faerie and a private investigator. She is constantly dodging assassination attempts while juggling life in the "real world" where everyone knows faeries exist. As of 2014, there have been a total of nine novels in the Merry Gentry series.
Anita Blake
Anita Blake
Reader reaction to the series's shift in tone from crime noir thriller to focus more predominantly on the sexual themes in the series has been mixed, starting with Narcissus in Chains when the main character of Anita Blake becomes infected with the ardeur. The ardeur is a supernatural power inadvertently given to Anita by her vampire Master Jean-Claude that gives her massive amounts of power but also demands that she have sexual intercourse with several different people through the course of a day, sometimes in large groups. Reception to these dynamics and to the usage of sexual abuse in later books has been mixed, with some reviewers commenting that the character of Anita spent too much time "obsessing about whether or not she's a slut" while others remarked that the erotic themes enhanced the series. In response to these comments, Hamilton issued a blog entitled "Dear Negative Reader" where she addressed a growing number of readers on the Internet that were expressing disappointment in the series's changes. In the blog Hamilton told the readers that "life is too short to read books you don't like" and that if they found that the current subject matter pushed "you past that comfortable envelope of the mundane" then "stop reading" and speculated that some of the readers were either "closet readers" or comment based on others' opinions. The blog entry was negatively received by some readers. Critical reviewers have also commented on the amount of sex in later books, as in a 2006 review in The Boston Globe of Micah. The review was largely negative, stating "we were not impressed. Hamilton no doubt appeals to romance and erotica lovers, but it does not take long for the clichés and the constant droning about sex to become tiresome." Other reviewers for The Kansas City Star and Publishers Weekly also commented on the rise in sexual themes in the series. The reviewer for the Kansas City Star stated that "After 13 erotically charged books, boredom has reared its ugly head for the 14th novel in Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series, as eroticism becomes mere description..." and Publishers Weekly commented that Blood Noir had a "growing air of ennui, which longtime readers can't help sharing as sex increasingly takes the place of plot and character development". In contrast, a Denver Post review of Danse Macabre took a more positive view of the eroticism in Hamilton's work. Although it noted that "[t]hose looking for mystery and mayhem on this Anita adventure are out of luck" it also stated that "the main attraction of the Anita Blake novels in the past five years has been their erotic novelty", and "[f]ew, if any, mainstream novels delve so deeply into pure, unadulterated erotica".
Critical studies, reviews and biography
Critical studies, reviews and biography
West, Michelle (Jun 2000). "[Review of Obsidian butterfly]". Musing on Books. F&SF. 98 (6): 41–46. Archived from the original on December 27, 2004. Retrieved 2016-02-18.

Laurell Hamilton signs her new book 'Danse Macabre (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter)' at the Borders Books in Bailey's Crossroads, VA
Glen Steven Colen from Fairfax, VA, US · IMG_1257.JPG
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
Explore 1963–2016
The full dated record · 26 entries
1963
Laurell K. Hamilton born at Heber Springs.
1993
[AB-1] Laurell K. Hamilton (1993) Placeres Prohibidos (1993) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
1994
[AB-2] Laurell K. Hamilton (1994) El Cadáver Alegre (1994) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
1995
[AB-3] Laurell K. Hamilton (1995) Circo de los Malditos (1995) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
1996
[AB-5] Laurell K. Hamilton (1996) Bloody Bones (1996) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
1996
[AB-4] Laurell K. Hamilton (1996) The lunatic cafe (1996) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
1997
[AB-6] Laurell K. Hamilton (1997) The Killing Dance (1997) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
1998
[AB-8] Laurell K. Hamilton (1998) Blue Moon (1998) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
1998
[AB-7] Laurell K. Hamilton (1998) Burnt Offerings (1998) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
2000
[AB-9] Laurell K. Hamilton (2000) Obsidian Butterfly (2000) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
2001
[AB-10] Laurell K. Hamilton (2001) Narcissus in Chains (2001) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
2003
[AB-11] Laurell K. Hamilton (2003) Cerulean Sins (2003) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
2004
[AB-12] Laurell K. Hamilton (2004) Incubus dreams (2004) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
2006
[AB-13] Laurell K. Hamilton (2006) Micah and Strange Candy (2006) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
2006
[AB-14] Laurell K. Hamilton (2006) Danse Macabre (2006) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
2007
[AB-15] Laurell K. Hamilton (2007) The Harlequin (2007) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
2008
[AB-16] Laurell K. Hamilton (2008) Blood Noir (2008) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
2009
[AB-17] Laurell K. Hamilton (2009) Skin trade (2009) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
2010
[AB-19] Laurell K. Hamilton (2010) Bullet (2010) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
2012
[AB-21] Laurell K. Hamilton (2012) Kiss the dead (2012) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
2013
[AB-22.5] Laurell K. Hamilton (2013) Dancing (2013) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
2013
[AB-22.6] Laurell K. Hamilton (2013) Shutdown (2013) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
2013
[AB-22] Laurell K. Hamilton (2013) Affliction (2013) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
2014
[AB-23] Laurell K. Hamilton (2014) Jason (2014) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
2016
[AB-24.5] Laurell K. Hamilton (2016) Wounded (2016) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
2016
[AB-25] Laurell K. Hamilton (2016) Crimson death (2016) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
Reception
Entertainment Weekly and USA Today have identified Hamilton as having a significant impact on urban fantasy. In 2008, Time declared that the popularity of the genre "owes everything to Laurell K. Hamilton". Authors Courtney Allison Moulton and Kelly Gay have noted Hamilton as an inspiration.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q298229: Laurell K. Hamilton
Reputable secondary · Wikimedia Foundation
- “Laurell K. Hamilton”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
scholarly index
- OpenAlex author record A5056064260 for Laurell K. Hamilton.
Unverified · OpenAlex
Awards
1996: International Horror Guild Award (Novel) - Bloody Bones - Nominated 2001: Locus Award (Fantasy) - A Kiss of Shadows - Nominated 2002: Romantic Times (Contemporary Paranormal) - A Caress of Twilight — Nominated 2010: Romantic Times (Career Achievement - Urban Fantasy) — Nominated 2011: Romantic Times (Career Achievement - Urban Fantasy) — Nominated 2011: Goodreads Choice Awards (Paranormal Fantasy) - Hit List - Nominated 2012: Goodreads Choice Awards (Paranormal Fantasy) - Kiss the Dead - Nominated 2013: Goodreads Choice Awards (Paranormal Fantasy) - Affliction - Nominated 2015: Romantic Times (Career Achievement - Urban Fantasy) — Won
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.McCune, Alisa. A Conversation With Laurell K. Hamilton. SF Site.
- 2.Works by Laurell K Hamilton.
- 3.Locus Online: Laurell K. Hamilton interview (excerpts). Locus. September 2000.
- 4.Flames Rising. Laurell K. Hamilton Interview, Horror Author.
- 5.Laurell K. Hamilton.
- 6.Laurell K. Hamilton (1963–) - Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
- 7.RT Book Reviews. KISS THE DEAD.
- 8.Garcia, Catherine. Q&A: Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter author Laurell K. Hamilton. ew.com. June 1, 2010.
- 9.Memmott, Carol. Vampire stories are in this writer's blood. USA Today. June 28, 2006.
- 10.Cruz, Gilbert. Q&A:Vampire Novelist Laurell K. Hamilton. Time. October 30, 2008.
- 11.M, Sara. Author Interview and Giveaway: Kelly Gay. urbanfantasyreader.blogspot.com. December 9, 2009.
- 12.Interview with Courtney Allison Moulton, Debut Author of Angelfire. mundiemoms.blogspot.com. February 12, 2011.
- 13.Benefiel, Candace. Reading Laurell K. Hamilton. Libraries Unlimited. 110. 2006. 978-0-313-37835-5.
- 14.Amazeen, Sandy. Book Review: Danse Macabre by Laurell K. Hamilton. Monsters and Critics.
- 15.Laurell K Hamilton. Dear Negative Reader.
- 16.O'Gorman, Rochelle. Beware the Ringing Cell. The Boston Globe. C7. 2006-03-26. 0743-1791.
- 17.Folsom, Robert. 'Danse Macabre' by Laurell K. Hamilton; 'The Lies of Locke Lamora' by Scott Lynch. The Kansas City Star. 2006-07-17.
- 18."Publishers Weekly Fiction Reviews: Week of 2008-04-21" 2008 Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. Accessed August 26, 2008
- 19.Shindler, Dorman T. 7th Anita Blake novel builds on erotic aura. The Denver Post. F13. 2006-08-20. 1930-2193.
- 20.Hamilton, Laurell K. A present from me to you, because our government is behaving badly. laurellkhamilton.org. October 8, 2013.
- 21.Correia. Noir Fatale. Baen Books. 127–153. 2019. 978-1-4814-8397-1.
- 22.1996 International Horror Guild Award.
- 23.Best Contemporary Paranormal. RT Book Reviews.
- 24.RT Award Nominees & Winners. RT Book Reviews.
- 25.RT Award Nominees & Winners. RT Book Reviews.
- 26.RT Award Nominees & Winners. RT Book Reviews.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 12
- Gordon. Blood Read: The Vampire as Metaphor in Contemporary Culture. University of Pennsylvania Press. 1997. 978-0-8122-1628-8.
- Lennard, John. Of Sex and Faerie: Further essays on Genre Fiction. Humanities-Ebooks. 112–164. 2010. 978-1-84760-171-1.
- Benefiel. Reading Laurell K. Hamilton. Libraries Unlimited. 2011. 978-0-313-37835-5.
- Riverfront Times (Nov 2008)
- Locus Online Interview (Sept 2000)
- Interview at SFFWorld.com(Nov 2000)
- The SF Site: A Conversation with Laurell K. Hamilton (Sept 2004)
- Interview with Bankrate.com (Nov 2004)
- Interview on Flames Rising (June 2006)
- Interview on wotmania.com (June 2006)
- The WD Interview: Laurell K. Hamilton (March 2008)
- Interview on Barnes and Noble (June 2014)
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly index
Partially resolvedreference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q298229: Laurell K. HamiltonWikimedia Foundation
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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