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Vampires Are Us: Understanding Our Love Affair with the Immortal Dark Side
"Vampires. Why do we care? In these pages you will find what is very simply, the most literate, imaginative, and just plain fascinating answer to that question ever written." ?Whitley Strieber
In a culture that does not do death particularly well, we are obsessed with mortality. Margot Adler writes, "Vampires let us play with death and the issue of mortality. They let us ponder what it would mean to be truly long lived. Would the long view allow us to see the world differently, imagine social structures differently? Would it increase or decrease our reverence for the planet? Vampires allow us to ask questions we usually bury." As Adler, a longtime NPR correspondent and question asker, sat vigil at her dying husband's bedside, she found herself newly drawn to vampire novels and their explorations of mortality. Over the next four years--by now she has read more than 270 vampire novels, from teen to adult, from gothic to modern, from detective to comic--she began to see just how each era creates the vampires it needs. Dracula, an Eastern European monster, was the perfect vehicle for 19th century England's fear of outsiders and of disease seeping in through its large ports. In 1960s America, Dark Shadows gave us the morally conflicted vampire struggling against his own predatory nature, who still enthralls us today. Think Spike and Angel, Stefan and Damon, Bill and Eric, the Cullens. Vampires Are Us explores the issues of power, politics, morality, identity, and even the fate of the planet that show up in vampire novels today. Perhaps, Adler suggests, our blood is oil, perhaps our prey is the planet. Perhaps vampires are us.
In a culture that does not do death particularly well, we are obsessed with mortality. Margot Adler writes, "Vampires let us play with death and the issue of mortality. They let us ponder what it would mean to be truly long lived. Would the long view allow us to see the world differently, imagine social structures differently? Would it increase or decrease our reverence for the planet? Vampires allow us to ask questions we usually bury." As Adler, a longtime NPR correspondent and question asker, sat vigil at her dying husband's bedside, she found herself newly drawn to vampire novels and their explorations of mortality. Over the next four years--by now she has read more than 270 vampire novels, from teen to adult, from gothic to modern, from detective to comic--she began to see just how each era creates the vampires it needs. Dracula, an Eastern European monster, was the perfect vehicle for 19th century England's fear of outsiders and of disease seeping in through its large ports. In 1960s America, Dark Shadows gave us the morally conflicted vampire struggling against his own predatory nature, who still enthralls us today. Think Spike and Angel, Stefan and Damon, Bill and Eric, the Cullens. Vampires Are Us explores the issues of power, politics, morality, identity, and even the fate of the planet that show up in vampire novels today. Perhaps, Adler suggests, our blood is oil, perhaps our prey is the planet. Perhaps vampires are us.
256 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2014
8 people are currently reading
521 people want to read
About the author
Margot Adler
11 books132 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 - 23 of 23 reviews
August 6, 2016
I want to start this review by saying "thank you very much" and I won this book through First Reads Goodreads (was that redundant?). Now let's get on with it.
The premise of this book falls under the category of vampires. I am going to be honest and say that I was expecting something a bit different. For instance, I was expecting a book in which the term and idea of the vampire is examined down to the itty bitty details, but the author focused more on making a book with a lot of book references concerning the literature based on the classic and modern vampire. Hey, I am perfectly fine with this turn of events! As it turns out, I enjoyed the structure of this book as it is. I have always loved vampire stories and now I have a point of reference if I ever want to pick up another one in the future. Basically, the book is divided in two parts: the first one involves a little bit of information about the factors that make vampires "desirable" and the second one is the bibliography part.
One aspect of the book that I was a little wary about is the part where the author narrates the point at which she started to obsess about vampires (because she lost someone dear to her in life). I felt very bad, and I respect her for adding that experience. However, since the title was leaning on the funny side, I was taken by surprise. Then again, this is just my humble opinion and it did little, if anything, to affect my overall rating. Nice book, nothing serious or too scholarly, but overall very enjoyable! Plus, MY SCHOOL WAS MENTIONED!!!
Read and Imagine! :)
The premise of this book falls under the category of vampires. I am going to be honest and say that I was expecting something a bit different. For instance, I was expecting a book in which the term and idea of the vampire is examined down to the itty bitty details, but the author focused more on making a book with a lot of book references concerning the literature based on the classic and modern vampire. Hey, I am perfectly fine with this turn of events! As it turns out, I enjoyed the structure of this book as it is. I have always loved vampire stories and now I have a point of reference if I ever want to pick up another one in the future. Basically, the book is divided in two parts: the first one involves a little bit of information about the factors that make vampires "desirable" and the second one is the bibliography part.
One aspect of the book that I was a little wary about is the part where the author narrates the point at which she started to obsess about vampires (because she lost someone dear to her in life). I felt very bad, and I respect her for adding that experience. However, since the title was leaning on the funny side, I was taken by surprise. Then again, this is just my humble opinion and it did little, if anything, to affect my overall rating. Nice book, nothing serious or too scholarly, but overall very enjoyable! Plus, MY SCHOOL WAS MENTIONED!!!
Read and Imagine! :)
July 27, 2019
Not what I expected but not terrible.
1) It's really an annotated bibliography of the 270ish vampire works Adler read while processing her husband's death. Once I got to that part, I treated it like a reference work and skimmed over entries that sounded terrible. At first I thought it was Adler's writing style (some of the entries sounded like a grocery list) but I realized that reviewing a terrible book often sounds like writing a grocery list. Convuluted plots are hard to review!
2) I really wanted this to be a psychological dig into why we create vampires but it looks like I need to read Nina Auerbach's Our Vampires, Ourselves. Good thing it was recommended by my new BFF!
3) Then I thought: why did Adler write this? And she says because she wanted to and she's grateful that the vision did not change. So the misleading tagline is the marketing department's fault, not hers.
4) I found Adler to be delightful. Any author who discloses her Weight Watchers achievements is fine by me. She made me laugh many times with her descriptions of books she wasn't into.
5) I didn't need to read an annotated bibliography; I have plenty to read. Soooo, expect my reading list to explode.
1) It's really an annotated bibliography of the 270ish vampire works Adler read while processing her husband's death. Once I got to that part, I treated it like a reference work and skimmed over entries that sounded terrible. At first I thought it was Adler's writing style (some of the entries sounded like a grocery list) but I realized that reviewing a terrible book often sounds like writing a grocery list. Convuluted plots are hard to review!
2) I really wanted this to be a psychological dig into why we create vampires but it looks like I need to read Nina Auerbach's Our Vampires, Ourselves. Good thing it was recommended by my new BFF!
3) Then I thought: why did Adler write this? And she says because she wanted to and she's grateful that the vision did not change. So the misleading tagline is the marketing department's fault, not hers.
4) I found Adler to be delightful. Any author who discloses her Weight Watchers achievements is fine by me. She made me laugh many times with her descriptions of books she wasn't into.
5) I didn't need to read an annotated bibliography; I have plenty to read. Soooo, expect my reading list to explode.
July 30, 2014
I received a copy of this book from a Goodreads giveaway.
This was a well written thesis on why vampires appeal to the people of our culture today & through the years. It is probably more suited for the novice who has either read few or no vampire novels at all. Unlike most books which approach the subject from a scientific & or historical view point, Margot Adler attacks the subject from a spiritual & environmental side I've rarely seen. You really only need to read the book until page 64, after that she launches into an overview/ description of the 270 books she read over a 4 year period that lead her to her thesis. After the first 64 pages I would suggest (as does Margot Adler) that you skip around to the categories that interest you. These synopsis's are great for people unsure what vampire novel to read for the first time & or someone wanting help deciding what to read next. Unfortunately, if you want a bit of surprise when picking out your next vampire novel to read than simply pick an author or title from her list & skip the description because some of her synopsis' spoil surprises the authors have hidden in their books. Perhaps my biggest attraction to this book was her story about why she began writing this book & reading vampire novels intensively in the first place, her husbands unexpected disease & death. This is a quick read for those already adept & well schooled in all things vampire & a great intro to those who aren't. This was a smart & intelligent read & even more surprising was the lack of condescension to a group of people the author was unfamiliar to until recently. A very respectful approach from a novice vampire novel reader. Because of my experience with this book I'm actually interested in reading other books the author has written that are non-vampire related.
This was a well written thesis on why vampires appeal to the people of our culture today & through the years. It is probably more suited for the novice who has either read few or no vampire novels at all. Unlike most books which approach the subject from a scientific & or historical view point, Margot Adler attacks the subject from a spiritual & environmental side I've rarely seen. You really only need to read the book until page 64, after that she launches into an overview/ description of the 270 books she read over a 4 year period that lead her to her thesis. After the first 64 pages I would suggest (as does Margot Adler) that you skip around to the categories that interest you. These synopsis's are great for people unsure what vampire novel to read for the first time & or someone wanting help deciding what to read next. Unfortunately, if you want a bit of surprise when picking out your next vampire novel to read than simply pick an author or title from her list & skip the description because some of her synopsis' spoil surprises the authors have hidden in their books. Perhaps my biggest attraction to this book was her story about why she began writing this book & reading vampire novels intensively in the first place, her husbands unexpected disease & death. This is a quick read for those already adept & well schooled in all things vampire & a great intro to those who aren't. This was a smart & intelligent read & even more surprising was the lack of condescension to a group of people the author was unfamiliar to until recently. A very respectful approach from a novice vampire novel reader. Because of my experience with this book I'm actually interested in reading other books the author has written that are non-vampire related.
June 15, 2016
I am a vampire genre fan. I read the Encyclopedia of Vampires over a 3 year period from A-Z. As such, I was intrigued by the title of this book, as well as most of part 1 where Adler theorizes on our fascination with vampires, what factors pull us in that direction- both on a large geo political view as well as a personal one. I expected to have this carried throughout the book, to perhaps better understand my own fascination with vampires. Instead, she turns the second part, which begins at page 57 out of 237 pages, into a bibliography and review of the 270 vampire books she had read at the time. Now this is fine, as it provides me with good insight into a future reading list, but from the book's description this was not what I expected.
August 13, 2025
Vampires Are Us is, first and foremost, an annotated bibliography of more than 250 works of vampiric fiction, the majority of which date to the period between the early 1990's and the book's publication in 2014. Adler's focus is on the development of the morally conflicted vampire as a reflection of current societal fears, principally issues of accountability and responsibility in connection to climate change. The vampire has always reflected the fundamental fears and insecurities of the age, and it's a very interesting idea that the rise of the morally conflicted vampire should be understood in light of collective societal guilt. We, like the vampire, now hold the power to make decisions on behalf of others, yet we misuse that power for our own ends, destroying others (or the world itself) in the process. This is a highly original and extremely fascinating approach to understanding the modern incarnation of the vampire. The first part of the book, where these ideas are laid out, therefore makes for a very interesting read. The rest of the book, however, is given over to the bibliography, which is pretty much what you would expect: a long list of titles, divided into categories, with commentaries by the author on plot, themes, and quality. This is fine, but it doesn't exactly make for riveting reading. That said, though, I got a lot of potential new reads out of it, so if you're interested in the state of vampire fiction as per 2014, I would recommend giving this book a read.
January 4, 2022
The first half is a wonderful look at how Vampires are used as stand-ins for our own wants, fears, and desires, as well as a close examination of how they affected Margot Adler. The second half is an annotated look at the more than 270 vampire novels, Margot Adler read during her four year exploration of vampires in literature. It was both fascinating and thought-provoking. She was a true scholar, a talented writer, and a fascinating person.
June 3, 2019
This feels like two books in one. It started out so so good! But then it suddenly stopped! I was ready for so much more, I had settled in, and then I just got a list of good vampire books out of nowhere!
I'm still filing this in my favourite vampire shelf though, because the first part was that good. But overall the rating must be three stars.
I'm still filing this in my favourite vampire shelf though, because the first part was that good. But overall the rating must be three stars.
September 21, 2020
Entertaining overview of vampire literature including a frank and sometimes hilarious annotated bibliography ("You might think a vampire novel by a member of the cast of the show Dark Shadows would be interesting. You would be wrong."). Margot Adler is always worth reading. Four stars because the essay is too short!
December 15, 2023
four stars for the succint, thought-provoking analysis in the first part (with some hard-hitting sentences), and two stars for the lists of reviews; but take note that the voice of margot the person is so warm throughout that the endless summaries and basic-level evaluations, as well as the hugely questionable book structure, don't bother you
June 10, 2021
Interesting read. First part: the how's and why we are fascinated by Vampires.
Second Part: A Bibliophilic's dream or nightmare LOL The author talks about the 270 books she has read about or with vampires in them. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Into Vampires, want to read more about vampires? This is for you.
Second Part: A Bibliophilic's dream or nightmare LOL The author talks about the 270 books she has read about or with vampires in them. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Into Vampires, want to read more about vampires? This is for you.
November 9, 2024
Margot Adler's introductory essay was easy-to-read but also intriguing in its content. The book review and list of titles is helpful. I'd not have paid for this book. I borrowed the book from a library and would recommend others do so.
September 16, 2019
Meh. I was hoping for a lot more. Nothing was discussed with a lot of depth and over half the book is given over to her bibliography. Just not what I wanted.
November 18, 2019
First few chapters are really interesting as she analyzes the vampire, the rest of the book is just an overview of the 200+ vampire books she read.
September 6, 2022
It wasn’t what I thought it would be, but I appreciate the anecdotal list of vampire novels.
August 20, 2023
A good primer for contemporary vampire fiction that’s preceded by an essay on the relevance of vampires in popular culture. It’s a decent read and certainly one that will likely expose the reader to some new titles. But, I found the tastes of the author to be something of a distraction in the recommendations portion. There’s a lot of bias in this section that feels alienating if you don’t share the author’s taste. Other than that, it’s a simple book with a fair amount of value and a worthy addition to any vampire lover’s shelf.
April 15, 2015
I heard about this book a few years ago when Adler discussed it on NPR and have wanted to read it since. Adler's thesis on our modern fascination with vampires - after reading 270 vampire books over the course of four years - is because:
"Vampires are us. We are as guilt ridden and conflicted over our poisoned relationship to the planet and our continued need for fossil fuels as any of the morally struggling and conflicted vampires we see on television or read about in novels are conflicted over their need for blood. Most of our current vampires are conflicted, and this notion of the struggling-to-be-moral, conflicted vampire really got traction in the later 1960s, at the moment we first say pictures of the Earth from space and realized our vulnerability and moral complicity."
The first quarter of the book is an exploration of this thesis in greater depth, which I found interesting. The second three-quarters is an annotated bibliography of the 270 books that she read, and a final bibliographic listing of them all. I have a handful of books to add to me to-read shelf now!
"Vampires are us. We are as guilt ridden and conflicted over our poisoned relationship to the planet and our continued need for fossil fuels as any of the morally struggling and conflicted vampires we see on television or read about in novels are conflicted over their need for blood. Most of our current vampires are conflicted, and this notion of the struggling-to-be-moral, conflicted vampire really got traction in the later 1960s, at the moment we first say pictures of the Earth from space and realized our vulnerability and moral complicity."
The first quarter of the book is an exploration of this thesis in greater depth, which I found interesting. The second three-quarters is an annotated bibliography of the 270 books that she read, and a final bibliographic listing of them all. I have a handful of books to add to me to-read shelf now!
April 1, 2014
Okay, I want to be a vampire, who doesn’t? They have great clothes, great hair, intimidating power, and they live forever. No wonder people are lining up for films like Twilight, and continuing to worship at the altar of Buffy Summers. I even met a gentlemen at a pagan event who claimed to practice the Vampire religion. Not sure what this entailed except for an albino complexion, a lot of leather, and a propensity for weirdness. I don’t know what to make of that, and I’m also not sure what to make of this recent resurgence of Vamp-tastic film and fiction. Luckily, Margot Adler has sunk her teeth into this material and she lays it bare for us. Read more of my review on Vampires are Us on my blog . Voodoo Universe
March 25, 2016
I liked this book. I just finished it this week. It is a non-fiction book; the first half contains the author's essays on why people seem so interested in vampires and the second half of the book contains lists of many of the vampire/supernatural themed books the author read and her reviews of them. I found the essays to be thoughtful and the reviews of the vampire books to be useful. There were some interesting books that I might like to read.
May 4, 2014
The first half of this book is a touching essay about the lure of vampires and their eternal life written after the death of Ms. Adler's husband. The second half consists of capsule reviews of over 200 vampire novels. The reviews are great if you are looking to read some good vampire fiction, and will also steer you away from some bad.
January 23, 2015
This book is a slightly-rewritten and slightly-edited version of Margot Adler's "Out for Blood" which was originally released as a Kindle Single. The major difference between them is that this book has an extensive annotated bibliography of vampire-related works. If you want a list of "geeky, nerdy vampire" or "vampires as science fiction" then get this version.
September 25, 2025
V knize se autorka věnuje mnoha rozdílným upířím románům. Po akademičtější první části knihy je rozřazuje do různých kategorií. Pokud hledáte inspiraci, co si přečíst příště a upíři jsou vaše oblíbená stvoření, kniha je to pravé. Já jsem v ní také našla pár tipů na zajímavé knihy, ale od titulu jsem čekala ještě trošku víc než prostě stručné recenze upířích děl.
August 18, 2014
I found the part one really good. I wanted to read more. Unfortunately this section ended and the rest of the book was reviews of all the books she had read to write the first section. It was disappointing. I was hoping for more but alas there wasn't.
September 24, 2014
Jeez!!! How do you rate a book like this? I really enjoyed it. But it's a book about vampire books. If you LIKE vampire novels, then you should read this. If you don't, you probably shouldn't.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews