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Out For Blood
Starting as a meditation on mortality after the illness and death of her husband, Margot Adler read more than 260 vampire novels, from teen to adult, from gothic to modern, from detective to comic. She began wonder why vampires have such appeal in our society now? Why is Hollywood spending billions on vampire films and television series every year?
It led her to explore issues of power, politics, morality, identity, and even the fate of the planet.“Every society creates the vampire it needs,” wrote the scholar Nina Auerbach. Dracula was written in 19th century England when there was fear of outsiders and of disease coming in through England’s large ports. Dracula - An Eastern European monster bringing direct from a foreign land - was the perfect vehicle for those fears. But who are the vampires we need now?
In the last four decades, going back to Dark Shadows, we have created a very different vampire: the conflicted, struggling-to-be-moral-despite-being-predators vampire. Spike and Angel, Stefan and Damon, Bill and Eric, the Cullens - they are all struggling to be moral despite being predators, as are we. Perhaps our blood is oil, perhaps our prey is the planet. Perhaps Vampires are us.
Margot Adler is a long time NPR news correspondent, and the author of Drawing Down the Moon, the classic book on Contemporary Paganism, Wicca and Goddess Spirituality. She is also the author of Heretic's Heart, a 1960's memoir.
It led her to explore issues of power, politics, morality, identity, and even the fate of the planet.“Every society creates the vampire it needs,” wrote the scholar Nina Auerbach. Dracula was written in 19th century England when there was fear of outsiders and of disease coming in through England’s large ports. Dracula - An Eastern European monster bringing direct from a foreign land - was the perfect vehicle for those fears. But who are the vampires we need now?
In the last four decades, going back to Dark Shadows, we have created a very different vampire: the conflicted, struggling-to-be-moral-despite-being-predators vampire. Spike and Angel, Stefan and Damon, Bill and Eric, the Cullens - they are all struggling to be moral despite being predators, as are we. Perhaps our blood is oil, perhaps our prey is the planet. Perhaps Vampires are us.
Margot Adler is a long time NPR news correspondent, and the author of Drawing Down the Moon, the classic book on Contemporary Paganism, Wicca and Goddess Spirituality. She is also the author of Heretic's Heart, a 1960's memoir.
- GenresNonfiction
100 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 10, 2013
4 people are currently reading
82 people want to read
About the author
Margot Adler
10 books130 followersMargot Adler was an American author, journalist, lecturer, Wiccan priestess and radio journalist and New York correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR).
Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1946, Adler grew up mostly in New York City. Her grandfather, Alfred Adler, was a noted Austrian Jewish psychotherapist, collaborator with Sigmund Freud and the founder of the school of individual psychology.
Adler received a bachelor of arts in political science from the University of California, Berkeley and a master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York in 1970. She was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University in 1982. Adler died in 2014.
Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1946, Adler grew up mostly in New York City. Her grandfather, Alfred Adler, was a noted Austrian Jewish psychotherapist, collaborator with Sigmund Freud and the founder of the school of individual psychology.
Adler received a bachelor of arts in political science from the University of California, Berkeley and a master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York in 1970. She was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University in 1982. Adler died in 2014.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 11, 2019
"Out For Blood" explores that incredible fascination we have with vampires, and ends up contemplating so much more. From death to power, enlightenment to the environment, Margot Adler meditates on the very poignant and human desire we, as a collective group of mortals, have to know something greater than ourselves.
The work is short and written so well you will wish it were longer. It reads like an elegant essay with traces of both memoir and an investigative style of writing. Adler opens with her musings on the tragic loss of her husband of thirty-five years, and her search for understanding in his unexpected bout with stomach cancer. Her reflections on death recall Joan Didion's seminal meditation on her husband's demise in "The Year of Magical Thinking."
This event leads Adler to her thoughts about vampires, as they are the ever-modern and popular icons of immortality. Greek gods and goddesses seem to have been reborn in these folkloric inventions of the undead.
"At the beginning of my own obsessive journey, as I wrestled with issues of mortality, power, persecution and morality, it never occurred to me that this was a spiritual voyage."
The vampire as spiritual trope is something that resonates with all of us. Adler admits to dabbling in writing vampire fiction--a flirt in which she has plenty of good company. She has read more than two hundred and sixty-five vampire novels, as well as some theoretical works on the subject (she gives a detailed bibliography at the close of her work). She also admits to having watched many television series and movies starring the vampire. One may say she is an expert.
On a more personal note, "Out For Blood" made me reflect on my own reasons for writing a vampire novel. It helped me see how my intense ruminations on mortality and death had birthed an ancient vampire into being, one who gracefully urged me to spill my ink for him rather than my blood. I recommend Margot Adler's work not only to those who already adore vampires, but to anyone who is interested in an intellectual examination of an iconic and enduring figure.
The work is short and written so well you will wish it were longer. It reads like an elegant essay with traces of both memoir and an investigative style of writing. Adler opens with her musings on the tragic loss of her husband of thirty-five years, and her search for understanding in his unexpected bout with stomach cancer. Her reflections on death recall Joan Didion's seminal meditation on her husband's demise in "The Year of Magical Thinking."
This event leads Adler to her thoughts about vampires, as they are the ever-modern and popular icons of immortality. Greek gods and goddesses seem to have been reborn in these folkloric inventions of the undead.
"At the beginning of my own obsessive journey, as I wrestled with issues of mortality, power, persecution and morality, it never occurred to me that this was a spiritual voyage."
The vampire as spiritual trope is something that resonates with all of us. Adler admits to dabbling in writing vampire fiction--a flirt in which she has plenty of good company. She has read more than two hundred and sixty-five vampire novels, as well as some theoretical works on the subject (she gives a detailed bibliography at the close of her work). She also admits to having watched many television series and movies starring the vampire. One may say she is an expert.
On a more personal note, "Out For Blood" made me reflect on my own reasons for writing a vampire novel. It helped me see how my intense ruminations on mortality and death had birthed an ancient vampire into being, one who gracefully urged me to spill my ink for him rather than my blood. I recommend Margot Adler's work not only to those who already adore vampires, but to anyone who is interested in an intellectual examination of an iconic and enduring figure.
August 11, 2013
The premise of this little Kindle Single was great -- our mass culture creates the vampire we need/deserve. The execution sucked a little (sorry couldn't resist). Considering our greatest religious and cultural influence in the United States is a quasi-vampire cult of drinking blood, either trans-substantiated or symbolic for eternal life, the type of vampire we need is indeed a question with moral implications and ambiguity that needs to be answered and explored in more depth.
July 2, 2013
NPR Correspondent and author Margot Adler read over 260 vampire novels in the two years following her husband's death- from the earliest to the most recent, both adult and young adult, along with scholarly works on the genre and histories. Now I have read my share of vampire novels, even though never Bram Stoker's Dracula in it's entirety. I have often wondered why the genre keeps so many people enthralled. Vampire stories and novels wax and wane in popularity but since the publication of Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire have exploded- never dying out completely just like the vampires themselves.
OUT FOR BLOOD is a wide ranging and thought-provoking meditation on the nature of life and death, power, politics, identity, sexuality, religious belief and even ecology. It is well worth reading and I'm sure I will reread it. According to Ms Adler, the vampire novel reflects the anxieties of the age in which it is produced and she presents a very convincing case. OUT FOR BLOOD is only available as a Kindle Single.
June 18, 2013
This is an interesting examination of current & historical vampire fiction, looking mainly at the recent shifts towards the "vegeterian" vampire trope and examining what cultural trends might be causing that shift - as Adler says, "Each era creates it's own vampires." I thought it could have been longer, honestly; it draws comparisons between vampirism and both ecology and religious transcendence, and both of those themes are probably worth a deeper look. But if you've got a Kindle and it sounds interesting, definitely go for it; Adler is a deft writer and it's a good premise, and worth reading, if only so you can think more deeply about the themes she brings up.
August 25, 2014
I loved this mini book. The writing is fun and conversational. She leads you into deep, weighty thoughts with a light touch, never bludgeoning the points or forcing the reader to draw conclusions. The writing is very thoughtful and intriguing. As a fan of supernatural stories, it was very satisfying for me to read a book about how fun it is to love such stories, and get a deep look at what they mean. It reads a bit like a teaser for the longer book, meaning it leaves you wanting more.
June 28, 2013
Very interesting.
April 18, 2014
I am loving reading this. I will write more when I'm finished.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews