78 books like Coffin

Ayami Kojima has held my heart for as long as I was an artist. Her visual style is something anyone can recognize, and the aftershock of knowing that this artist defined an entire video game industry aesthetic made me love her work even more. I managed to find only pieces of this book online until I was able to finally afford this super rare book filled with her hyper-detailed oil paintings.

A team of four female artists who have redefined the shoujo genre, and created one of the most iconic anime and manga aesthetics to date has been one of my original influences as a young girl. Big eyes, watercolor art, glittery effects, cute and gorgeous characters as well as adorable mascots were the inspiration for the foundations of my art style today. 

Nothing will create an impact on my life's work as the original transformation scene from Sailor Moon. This scene inspired me to pursue my fashion schooling, and the pages of this art book are pure inspiration. Watching traditionally drawn dresses and beautiful characters always motivated me to push my creative boundaries and strive for perfection. Revisiting the ways of creating magical light effects and textures by using only watercolors and ink is crucial for any artist, especially one wanting to connect with manga.

This is an art book that showcases the masterful craft of an artist who knows how to weave souls into their characters and worlds. Her titles made me laugh, cry, jump up from my seat, and the characters and concepts in the pages of this book make me re-live these moments again and again. She uses a very unusual gouache technique, unlike any other manga artist I know of. The precision and determination in every stroke are stunning, and a book I believe any aspiring artist should have in their library.

I love this one, a graphic novel. Vampire hunting stories, set in a world emerging from three hundred years of vampiric rule. Our hero, D, is a Damphir (it’s not so easy to find good Damphir characters in media. Lore accuracy is basically impossible, but if it was, it would be D.) A vampire hunter, weighing his humanity against the value of vampire life. 

Lots of fighting, lasers, robot horses, and wide-brimmed hats, and did I mention it was illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano? So it’s just visually stunning. I’ve honestly loved this since I heard of it as a teenager. Made it so much more fun that I recognised Yoshitaka Amano’s artwork from the Final Fantasy 9 games, which I also love.

Johnathan Newman is a novice hunter who teams up with a five-hundred-year-old vampire named Vic on a dangerous mission.

The town is plagued by mythological creatures in need of saving and they work together to solve the mystery. However, Vic’s secrets bring trouble, and their mutual attraction doesn’t make things any easier.

A Bargain of Blood and Gold is one of the best-written books I’ve ever read. There hasn’t been a book where every word was chosen so perfectly to my liking. It has the exact amount of descriptions and dialogue. The style is simply perfect.

Additionally, the characters were so vivid and fun to read. John and Vic had such distinguished ways of expressing themselves that I knew every time who was talking without being told.

They are easily one of my favorite M/M couples.

Vampires, shifters, and reincarnation; I’ll read that again and again and again. It’s like if A Walk to Remember met The Mortal Instruments with a dash of Twilight. This was a fun read that I sailed through far too quickly. 

Each character had their own mini story which makes this book a well-rounded story with a main focus but also intriguing characters. With the female main character having a fatal disease, and the male main character being immortal, the desperation to hang onto each other makes for a rare romance.

I found some concepts in this book interesting.

For example, vampires can eat food, although it doesn’t sustain them as well as blood. In my novel, whilst they don’t eat food, and drink from blood bags, it is mainly blood from the vein that sustains them the most.

I think this is a similar concept, where vampires don’t necessarily need to drink blood from a human or an animal all the time. 

This is a really thorough, fascinating encyclopedia of all things vampire––from folklore to nineteenth-century literature to obscure religious movements to comic books and movies to true crime. Whatever you want to know about vampires, this book will have it or tell you where you can find it. J. Gordon Melton is a total fanatic when it comes to vampire lore and he encouraged me early on when I first began researching the vampire community. Besides vampires, Melton loves to collect obscure information and data on all manner of religious groups. He once described himself to me as “a very greedy scholar” because there are so many topics that he tracks and researches. He can also tell you the best used bookstores in any city in America.  

A world exists around us that we never knew existed. When all you want is to be accepted, it is hard to find love.

I found that two people can find love regardless of what creature bore them. Family may not always understand what you want, but as long as there is trust and a little bit of humor, anything is possible.