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Vampires
Fantasy fans will take a big bite out of this! Few characters are more compelling than vampires—from Dracula to Lestat, their popularity seems to live forever. But where and when did legends of these bloodsucking creatures of the night first arise? Enjoy snippets from ancient tales that fed superstitions, and discover real recorded incidents from the Middle Ages to the recent past that hint of their existence. Of course, there’s a full, illustrated survey of vampires in books, films, and TV.
96 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 24, 2022
Lord knows how many years ago I acquired two books, titled simply Witches and Werewolves, that were about exactly what they sound like and were part of the same little series of slim black hardbacks that also contained a third book, Vampires. Though the third of these was obviously the most relevant to my interests, it nonetheless sat on my Amazon wish list for several years without my actually buying it. This is largely because, while the books are incredibly cute and fun and look great sitting on my occult shelf, they are not particularly good.
Well, having recently moved into my tiny little witch cottage here in Spookytown, I decided it was well past time to shell out the five dollars or whatever to fill out the series so that it would look nice and complete on my now-much-fancier occult shelf.
Much like Witches and Werewolves, Nigel Suckling’s Vampires is fun and cute but not particularly good. It contains a scattershot bunch of Vampire Facts divvied up roughly into old myths/folklore, historical figures around whom vampire legends have grown, and literary vampires. By this point in my life, I already know most of the stories and persons referenced in here, often in greater depth from some other, less shoddy publication (the exception here is Countess Bathory; I’ve never read a real book on her). However, it’s still quite an enjoyable little read, with black-and-white illustrations and lots of nice red accents on the page (the paragraphs are separated by tiny little red bat icons. Darling!). I can’t get mad about the shallowness of the research since I don’t think the book is meant to be taken too seriously in the first place; the verso across from the title page contains the epigraph “Any book without a mistake in it has had too much money spent on it” (from the publisher Sir William Collins, founder of what would eventually become HarperCollins).
Probably the most useful thing about the book, as with so many other gifty little primer type books, is the recommendation list of movies and books. I’ve read almost all of the classic literary books mentioned but I still have some to catch up on in terms of vampire scholarship (I will read In Search of Dracula one day, I swear…), and I’ve seen fewer of the movies than I realized. Maybe I’ll fix that this spooky season.
Originally posted at Ancient fears and urges that have plagued us since the dawn of time.
Well, having recently moved into my tiny little witch cottage here in Spookytown, I decided it was well past time to shell out the five dollars or whatever to fill out the series so that it would look nice and complete on my now-much-fancier occult shelf.
Much like Witches and Werewolves, Nigel Suckling’s Vampires is fun and cute but not particularly good. It contains a scattershot bunch of Vampire Facts divvied up roughly into old myths/folklore, historical figures around whom vampire legends have grown, and literary vampires. By this point in my life, I already know most of the stories and persons referenced in here, often in greater depth from some other, less shoddy publication (the exception here is Countess Bathory; I’ve never read a real book on her). However, it’s still quite an enjoyable little read, with black-and-white illustrations and lots of nice red accents on the page (the paragraphs are separated by tiny little red bat icons. Darling!). I can’t get mad about the shallowness of the research since I don’t think the book is meant to be taken too seriously in the first place; the verso across from the title page contains the epigraph “Any book without a mistake in it has had too much money spent on it” (from the publisher Sir William Collins, founder of what would eventually become HarperCollins).
Probably the most useful thing about the book, as with so many other gifty little primer type books, is the recommendation list of movies and books. I’ve read almost all of the classic literary books mentioned but I still have some to catch up on in terms of vampire scholarship (I will read In Search of Dracula one day, I swear…), and I’ve seen fewer of the movies than I realized. Maybe I’ll fix that this spooky season.
Originally posted at Ancient fears and urges that have plagued us since the dawn of time.
April 6, 2023
A quick read compendium offering tidbits of vampiric lore across cultures and the ages. There’s nothing scholarly about the material—the entire format is set in a “did-you-know” style.
Ready for a quick breezy read? Not a bad choice here.
Ready for a quick breezy read? Not a bad choice here.
June 9, 2017
So informative and entertaining without being scary.
January 20, 2025
Yes this book was a quick read but I enjoyed learning new information about Vampires
February 11, 2024
Vampires didn’t set out on the best foot. The introduction is incredibly disjointed, full of short paragraphs that are no more than glorified sentences, flitting around between stories with no dates or sources given and incredibly low resolution, uncaptioned pictures. Thankfully, once the chapters proper get going things really start to be fleshed out more. Whilst there are still a few issues with sourcing, for example the section on common causes for vampirism gives examples as different as inheriting from a parent or being bitten, but there is no indication if these come from different countries, different time periods, or even if they are from ‘actual’ accounts of vampirism or fictional stories.
Despite being a small book it has a great breadth of information across countries and time periods, covering mythology, historical figures, vampire plagues/crazes, possible disease explanations, ‘vampiric’ animals, and vampires in fiction. Whilst the first section on mythology is still a bit vague on the time/place of accounts, this becomes a lot better when you move through into the historical figures section and beyond. There’s a good balance between the genuinely horrifying, such as a 19th century French actress who collapsed and woke up during the embalming process only to die from those injuries, and funnier examples, such as Prince Kretzulesco, the (adopted) descendant of Vlad Tepes, who took part in a 1999 German Red Cross campaign for people to donate blood at his castle in Brandenberg, which also had a Dracula themed restaurant. The chapters on fictional vampires also really affectively shows the progression and links between a lot of the earlier stories, rather than only focussing on the big names.
There are a few examples that where the connections to vampirism feel a bit questionable as though they were just there to fill up extra pages, such as including the sirens or vampire squid when neither drink blood or really have anything to do with vampirism, but the book is overall a solid little primer on the history and inspiration for vampire mythology from around the world.
Despite being a small book it has a great breadth of information across countries and time periods, covering mythology, historical figures, vampire plagues/crazes, possible disease explanations, ‘vampiric’ animals, and vampires in fiction. Whilst the first section on mythology is still a bit vague on the time/place of accounts, this becomes a lot better when you move through into the historical figures section and beyond. There’s a good balance between the genuinely horrifying, such as a 19th century French actress who collapsed and woke up during the embalming process only to die from those injuries, and funnier examples, such as Prince Kretzulesco, the (adopted) descendant of Vlad Tepes, who took part in a 1999 German Red Cross campaign for people to donate blood at his castle in Brandenberg, which also had a Dracula themed restaurant. The chapters on fictional vampires also really affectively shows the progression and links between a lot of the earlier stories, rather than only focussing on the big names.
There are a few examples that where the connections to vampirism feel a bit questionable as though they were just there to fill up extra pages, such as including the sirens or vampire squid when neither drink blood or really have anything to do with vampirism, but the book is overall a solid little primer on the history and inspiration for vampire mythology from around the world.
February 24, 2010
A fast reading and fun-filled book. Some of the paragraphs make excellent gossip material.
For instance, it's said, "In Hebrew legend, Lilith was Adam's first wife. She was created from earth like him as his equal but they argued over who should be on top during intercourse, so she ran off to live with some fallen angels on the shores of the Red Sea. When Adam complained to God he sent three angels to fetch her back. They failed, but did destroy the offspring she'd had with the fallen angel and as a result she swore vengeance on Adam and his descendants. Some legend say that Lilith was the serpent in paradise who tempted Eve to her destruction..."
Scandalous, isn't it :)
For instance, it's said, "In Hebrew legend, Lilith was Adam's first wife. She was created from earth like him as his equal but they argued over who should be on top during intercourse, so she ran off to live with some fallen angels on the shores of the Red Sea. When Adam complained to God he sent three angels to fetch her back. They failed, but did destroy the offspring she'd had with the fallen angel and as a result she swore vengeance on Adam and his descendants. Some legend say that Lilith was the serpent in paradise who tempted Eve to her destruction..."
Scandalous, isn't it :)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 5, 2011
Read this in one sitting as research for a story. It was very informative--I loved the fact that it included vampire legends from several parts of the world--but nothing about it was really special. It was just an average read.
April 15, 2016
Very fast read, packed full of information on the origins of vampires. We discuss the various types of vampires in different cultures around the world. We discuss the books and films that have popularized vampires and the cultural impact of them.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews