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Vampires: The Twilight World
A hauntingly beautiful photographic guide to the lore and landscapes of the vampire, from the master of gothic imagery Using infrared film to convey the ethereal atmosphere of his subjects, Marsden has traveled from Germany to the United States, and Slovakia to Scotland as he hunts out the vampires of myth and literature, and real individuals suspected of vampirism. His images include sites of perennial fascination, such as Vlad Dracul's ruined palace in the wilderness of Romania, and more recent places of vampire pilgrimage, like the Etruscan city of Volterra in Italy, home to Twilight’s ancient vampire coven. They are accompanied by his authoritative and entrancing text, filled with rare discoveries and travelers' tales, plus extracts from classics such as Bram Stoker's Dracula , and an introduction that charts the secret history of the vampire right up to the darkly romantic figure of today. Stunning, chilling, this title will satisfy gothic devotees and prove a timeless introduction for new fans of the vampire genre.
- GenresPhotographyVampires
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2011
64 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 6, 2012
I’ve always been a huge fan of Sir Simon Marden’s work and possess all his previous books. His untimely death earlier this year robbed us of one of the great British photographers and writers of the supernatural.
He appeared to have a genuine interest and affection for his subject which is not surprising in that he grew up in the English countryside in two reputedly haunted manor houses and with a father who liked to tell his children ghost stories by the fireside. Sir Simon specialised in taking very romantic, black and white infrared images of haunted places and ruins both in the UK and abroad and accompanying them with pieces relating the stories associated with them, the people he met there and his overall impressions. I must say that the infrared technique didn’t seem to work so well in colour as in his book on Venice but that’s a personal opinion. Marsden’s books often feature images from previous books but I’ve never felt that to be a problem as I never tire of them.
‘Vampires The Twilight World’ begins with an introduction and overview of vampires from their earliest origins with the Greeks who saw them as bloodsucking spirits, to the 18th century in Eastern Europe, unfortunate porphyria sufferers of whom Mary Queen of Scots was reputed to be one, and a discussion of vampire fiction. Obviously Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ features heavily which Marsden quotes from and 2012 was Stoker’s centenary. There’s also the Gothic fantasies of Le Fanu with ‘Carmilla’ and Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘Berenice’ which has always stuck in my mind with the teeth having a life of their own. Vampires are seen as possessing eternal life which can be a blessing or a curse. John Polidori’s ‘The Vampyre’ of 1819 whose central character was rumoured to be based on Lord Byron introduced the romantic tradition of the vampire as fallen angel, the cursed victim. And so we come to the best selling Twilight series in which the vampires are opening living amongst us and have moral choices to make. What I find most interesting about the vampire tradition is how it reinvents itself. As one of Stoker’s memorable quotes says ‘The Vampire lives on, and cannot die by the mere passing of time’ and I think this could certainly be said of the way that vampires update themselves. From bloodsucking terrors to cool, hipsters the vampires live on amongst us. However I would have liked a mention of the novel that, for me, regenerated the whole genre. As someone who associated vampires with Christopher Lee playing Dracula and Hammer movies and nothing more, Stephen King’s ‘Salem’s Lot’ in the 1970’s was a total revelation in its modern day setting as the undead invade a Maine town. The TV series was a real water cooler topic of conversation and contained imagery and effects not previously seen on TV.
Marsden then takes the reader on a tour through Eastern Europe, the North of England, Ireland, Scotland, USA and Western Europe. He visits key sites such as Dracula’s Castle and grave in Wallachia and also Countess Dracula’s castle in the Carpathia Mountains. He relates some of the more well-known stories in the genre such as the Croglin Grange vampire and Gille de Rais’ exploits.
Marsden also extensively quotes from sources such as Montague Summers who provides some purportedly genuine occurrences. Along the way Marsden also quotes from ‘Carmilla’, ‘The Horla’ and ‘Berenice’ and also MR James’s ‘An Episode from Cathedral History.’ There are also less familiar stories such as ‘Odalla’ from Robert Louis Stevenson, the Naked Knight of Brandenburg and Native American vampires amongst others. I enjoyed Marsden’s writing style, as always, especially as he relates his experiences on actually travelling to the sites he visited especially Hermitage Castle in Roxburghshire and its gruesome legend of the RedCap and his Eastern European excursions to abandoned or ruined hilltop castles overlooking small villages aware of their feudal overlords ancestors misdeeds.
A well-researched and beautifully produced book which is a fitting final tribute to Marsden’s work. The images perfectly complement the writing and the book introduced me to several strands of the vampire genre of which I was unaware. The final image of an abandoned car in the Arizona desert was a wonderful one on which to end on and the book’s cover features Whitby Abbey. As a taphophile I was pleased to see so many cemeteries and graveyards featured including Pere Lachaise and some in Eastern Europe. One of my favourite tombs from Kensal Green in London, the Holland tomb, is featured on the inside front cover.
This would make a wonderful present for anyone who wants an introduction to vampires or Marsden’s work and I cannot recommend it too highly. I am only sorry that this was his last book.
He appeared to have a genuine interest and affection for his subject which is not surprising in that he grew up in the English countryside in two reputedly haunted manor houses and with a father who liked to tell his children ghost stories by the fireside. Sir Simon specialised in taking very romantic, black and white infrared images of haunted places and ruins both in the UK and abroad and accompanying them with pieces relating the stories associated with them, the people he met there and his overall impressions. I must say that the infrared technique didn’t seem to work so well in colour as in his book on Venice but that’s a personal opinion. Marsden’s books often feature images from previous books but I’ve never felt that to be a problem as I never tire of them.
‘Vampires The Twilight World’ begins with an introduction and overview of vampires from their earliest origins with the Greeks who saw them as bloodsucking spirits, to the 18th century in Eastern Europe, unfortunate porphyria sufferers of whom Mary Queen of Scots was reputed to be one, and a discussion of vampire fiction. Obviously Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ features heavily which Marsden quotes from and 2012 was Stoker’s centenary. There’s also the Gothic fantasies of Le Fanu with ‘Carmilla’ and Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘Berenice’ which has always stuck in my mind with the teeth having a life of their own. Vampires are seen as possessing eternal life which can be a blessing or a curse. John Polidori’s ‘The Vampyre’ of 1819 whose central character was rumoured to be based on Lord Byron introduced the romantic tradition of the vampire as fallen angel, the cursed victim. And so we come to the best selling Twilight series in which the vampires are opening living amongst us and have moral choices to make. What I find most interesting about the vampire tradition is how it reinvents itself. As one of Stoker’s memorable quotes says ‘The Vampire lives on, and cannot die by the mere passing of time’ and I think this could certainly be said of the way that vampires update themselves. From bloodsucking terrors to cool, hipsters the vampires live on amongst us. However I would have liked a mention of the novel that, for me, regenerated the whole genre. As someone who associated vampires with Christopher Lee playing Dracula and Hammer movies and nothing more, Stephen King’s ‘Salem’s Lot’ in the 1970’s was a total revelation in its modern day setting as the undead invade a Maine town. The TV series was a real water cooler topic of conversation and contained imagery and effects not previously seen on TV.
Marsden then takes the reader on a tour through Eastern Europe, the North of England, Ireland, Scotland, USA and Western Europe. He visits key sites such as Dracula’s Castle and grave in Wallachia and also Countess Dracula’s castle in the Carpathia Mountains. He relates some of the more well-known stories in the genre such as the Croglin Grange vampire and Gille de Rais’ exploits.
Marsden also extensively quotes from sources such as Montague Summers who provides some purportedly genuine occurrences. Along the way Marsden also quotes from ‘Carmilla’, ‘The Horla’ and ‘Berenice’ and also MR James’s ‘An Episode from Cathedral History.’ There are also less familiar stories such as ‘Odalla’ from Robert Louis Stevenson, the Naked Knight of Brandenburg and Native American vampires amongst others. I enjoyed Marsden’s writing style, as always, especially as he relates his experiences on actually travelling to the sites he visited especially Hermitage Castle in Roxburghshire and its gruesome legend of the RedCap and his Eastern European excursions to abandoned or ruined hilltop castles overlooking small villages aware of their feudal overlords ancestors misdeeds.
A well-researched and beautifully produced book which is a fitting final tribute to Marsden’s work. The images perfectly complement the writing and the book introduced me to several strands of the vampire genre of which I was unaware. The final image of an abandoned car in the Arizona desert was a wonderful one on which to end on and the book’s cover features Whitby Abbey. As a taphophile I was pleased to see so many cemeteries and graveyards featured including Pere Lachaise and some in Eastern Europe. One of my favourite tombs from Kensal Green in London, the Holland tomb, is featured on the inside front cover.
This would make a wonderful present for anyone who wants an introduction to vampires or Marsden’s work and I cannot recommend it too highly. I am only sorry that this was his last book.
April 5, 2021
A fantastic study of the vampire mythology
January 26, 2022
My other top Marsden favourite, decadent, hard to put down....simply beautiful
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August 28, 2012This is a lushly packaged book filled with black and white Gothic images of statues and ruins associated with vampires from legend. The photos are just the kind of images I like - like the images I take myself - and are by famous photographer Sir Simon Marsden, who often uses infrared film to capture his images. There are beautiful images of taken in Transylvania, New Orleans, Venice, Ireland, England and the French Cemetery of Pere Lachaise near Paris. The photographs are interspersed with extracts from well-known vampire texts, such as Dracula and Carmilla, and real people from history associated with acts of vampirism, such as the Blood Countess Bathory, and Gilles de Rais. He also includes historical accounts of "vampires" and includes the myth of revenants as well. One myth I had not heard of before, and which is pretty macabre, is that of Redcap, an old-man dwarf with fangs, and long, skinny fingers. He wears a cap made out of human skin that must stay soaked wet with fresh blood. If it dries out, he dies. Robin Redcap was also said to be the familiar of the 14th century child-murderer, William de Soulis. The only real problem with this book is that Marsden feels a need to drum up extra drama, and keeps mentioning how he visited certain places and was filled with fear by the creepy atmosphere, which gets a bit excessive after a while. Still a great book for fans of vampires and Gothic.
January 25, 2012
Despite the subtitle of the book, this only mentions that wretched fiction series in passing. The book explores the history, literature, and folklore of vampires, with text accompanying Marsden's haunting photography of castles, ruins, abbeys, and various other places and items. Marsden shoots his subjects primarily with infrared film, which lends a spooky atmosphere to the photos.
January 28, 2013
This coffee table book is the perfect gift for the *true* vampire lover. (Sorry, Twitards.) It's full of real life accounts of vampirism, ancient myths, and stark photographs of cemeteries and ruined castles. Beautiful.
October 15, 2012
Love the stories and the pictures.
i-want
November 15, 2014Hardcover New: $31.16 - Used: $43.63. On Amazon.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews