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The Vampire Hunters' Casebook
The Vampire Hunter's Casebook
363 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1996
2 people are currently reading
107 people want to read
About the author
Peter Haining
331 books99 followersPeter Alexander Haining was an English journalist, author and anthologist who lived and worked in Suffolk. Born in Enfield, Middlesex, he began his career as a reporter in Essex and then moved to London where he worked on a trade magazine before joining the publishing house of New English Library.
Haining achieved the position of Editorial Director before becoming a full time writer in the early Seventies. He edited a large number of anthologies, predominantly of horror and fantasy short stories, wrote non-fiction books on a variety of topics from the Channel Tunnel to Sweeney Todd and also used the pen names "Ric Alexander" and "Richard Peyton" on a number of crime story anthologies. In the Seventies he wrote three novels, including The Hero (1973), which was optioned for filming.
In two controversial books, Haining argued that Sweeney Todd was a real historical figure who committed his crimes around 1800, was tried in December 1801, and was hanged in January 1802. However, other researchers who have tried to verify his citations find nothing in these sources to back Haining's claims. A check of the website Old Bailey at for "Associated Records 1674-1834" for an alleged trial in December 1801 and hanging of Sweeney Todd for January 1802 show no reference; in fact the only murder trial for this period is that of a Governor/Lt Col. Joseph Wall who was hanged 28 January 1802 for killing a Benjamin Armstrong 10 July 1782 in "Goree" Africa and the discharge of a Humphrey White in January 1802. Strong reservations have also been expressed regarding the reliability of another of Haining's influential non-fiction works, The Legend and Bizarre Crimes of Spring Heeled Jack.
He wrote several reference books on Doctor Who, including the 20th anniversary special Doctor Who: A Celebration Two Decades Through Time and Space (1983), and also wrote the definitive study of Sherlock Holmes on the screen, The Television Sherlock Holmes (1991) and several other television tie-ins featuring famous literary characters, including Maigret, Poirot and James Bond. Peter Haining's most recent project was a series of World War Two stories based on extensive research and personal interviews: The Jail That Went To Sea (2003), The Mystery of Rommel's Gold (2004), Where The Eagle Landed (2004), The Chianti Raiders (2005) and The Banzai Hunters (2007).
He won the British Fantasy Awards Karl Edward Wagner Award in 2001.
Haining achieved the position of Editorial Director before becoming a full time writer in the early Seventies. He edited a large number of anthologies, predominantly of horror and fantasy short stories, wrote non-fiction books on a variety of topics from the Channel Tunnel to Sweeney Todd and also used the pen names "Ric Alexander" and "Richard Peyton" on a number of crime story anthologies. In the Seventies he wrote three novels, including The Hero (1973), which was optioned for filming.
In two controversial books, Haining argued that Sweeney Todd was a real historical figure who committed his crimes around 1800, was tried in December 1801, and was hanged in January 1802. However, other researchers who have tried to verify his citations find nothing in these sources to back Haining's claims. A check of the website Old Bailey at for "Associated Records 1674-1834" for an alleged trial in December 1801 and hanging of Sweeney Todd for January 1802 show no reference; in fact the only murder trial for this period is that of a Governor/Lt Col. Joseph Wall who was hanged 28 January 1802 for killing a Benjamin Armstrong 10 July 1782 in "Goree" Africa and the discharge of a Humphrey White in January 1802. Strong reservations have also been expressed regarding the reliability of another of Haining's influential non-fiction works, The Legend and Bizarre Crimes of Spring Heeled Jack.
He wrote several reference books on Doctor Who, including the 20th anniversary special Doctor Who: A Celebration Two Decades Through Time and Space (1983), and also wrote the definitive study of Sherlock Holmes on the screen, The Television Sherlock Holmes (1991) and several other television tie-ins featuring famous literary characters, including Maigret, Poirot and James Bond. Peter Haining's most recent project was a series of World War Two stories based on extensive research and personal interviews: The Jail That Went To Sea (2003), The Mystery of Rommel's Gold (2004), Where The Eagle Landed (2004), The Chianti Raiders (2005) and The Banzai Hunters (2007).
He won the British Fantasy Awards Karl Edward Wagner Award in 2001.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 14, 2016
Note, March 13, 2016: I edited this review just now to correct one typo (an omitted word).
This is another of many thematic anthologies in the supernatural genre edited by the late Peter Haining. I'd previously read and really liked two of these, Great Irish Tales of Horror: A Treasury of Fear and Mummy: Stories of the Living Corpse. Here, the focus is on vampire fiction --specifically, fiction centering on the figure of the vampire hunter, rather than on the vampire as such. IMO, the overall quality of this collection wasn't as good as was the case with the others, which is reflected in the lower star rating for the book as a whole. (The individual stories, if they had star ratings, would run the gamut from five stars to one -or lower than that, if possible!)
Arrangement of the 15 selections is chronological (except for the Preface), ranging from 1872 to the 1996 publication date; the writers represented are all British or American, and include both well-known names and more obscure ones. (Haining himself contributes a story.) I'm counting the Preface as a selection, since it consists simply of an excerpt from Dracula, in which Dr. Van Helsing discourses on the characteristics of vampires. Three other novels are represented by excerpts here: Le Fanu's Carmilla, The Vampire (1935) by Sydney Horler, and The Night Stalker by Jeff Rice. (The latter isn't clearly introduced as an excerpt, and then proceeds to end on a cliffhanger; I consider this an instance of rather slipshod editing.) Not all of the protagonists are full-time vampire hunters. Several, like Manly Wade Wellman's John Thunstone and Seabury Quinn's Jules de Grandin, are all-around occult detectives who happen to be taking on a vampire in the particular story here; and two of the tales don't really feature an actual vampire hunter figure at all.
Of the 11 actual short stories here, roughly half (five) are of pre-1960 vintage. Overall, I liked these better than those in the second half, although Uel Key's "The Broken Fang," written during World War I, is easily one of the poorest in the book --not only lacking in internal logic, but saturated with an ugly demonization of all ethnic Germans and particularly aimed at whipping up fear and hate of England's naturalized German citizens. But Wellman's "The Last Grave of Lill Warran," which showcases all the wonderful strengths of his writing, is my favorite story in the whole book. "The Man Who Cast No Shadow," the first Jules de Grandin story Quinn ever wrote, is also the first, and only the second story by Quinn, that I've read; I'd readily read more of both. Arabela Kenealy and Claude Askew (whose wife Alice was actually a writing partner in much of his work) were both writers new to me, and I liked their stories. Aylmer Vance, the Askew's occult detective, introduced in 1914, might have become a much better-known character of the type but for the authors' tragic death together at sea in 1917. Haining credits Kenealy's titled occult detective series character, Lord Syfret, with the "vampire hunter" role in her psychic vampire tale "A Beautiful Vampire;" but in keeping with the author's feminism, the real work here along that line is done by the very capable Nurse Marian. Indeed, a positive point of this volume, in both halves, is that a number of selections feature strong female characters in active roles (though Quinn gives us a conventional passive damsel in distress).
The postmodernist "triumph of evil" theme (which is not my literary cup of tea) is noticeable in most of the stories in the second half of the book, and detracted from my reading satisfaction there; it doesn't reflect the genre's classic tradition, or the classic moral tradition of Western literature in general. Three of the six stories here use Stoker's Van Helsing as a protagonist or invoke his name, and are presented in some way as continuing or tied in to Dracula; but their literary vision is quite different from Stoker's. And one of these authors, Peter Tremayne, gets his facts wrong; he represents Van Helsing as a bachelor, but Stoker mentioned his invalid wife! Tremayne's "My Name Upon the Wind," however, is one of the best-written and most suspenseful works in this batch (and the only story here actually written for this anthology). Anne Rice's also very well-written "The Master of Rampling Gate," set in 1880s England, is my favorite story in the post-1960 group; she's the only writer here to humanize the vampire as something besides an automaton of evil, and this tale lacks the squalid tone of Interview With the Vampire. Though German-born David J. Schow is most associated with splatter punk, his "A Week in the Unlife" isn't that; it's grim and dark (and has a chilling reference to an ugly act of necrophilia), but it's a morbidly fascinating exercise in plot-twisted ambiguity and unreliable (or is it?) narration. The one story I didn't finish here was Karl Edward Wagner's "Beyond Any Measure," which not only has a reincarnation theme (which I don't care for), but blindsided me out of nowhere with an unexpected, very explicit lesbian sex scene. (Some readers would eat up both of those aspects with a spoon; I just don't happen to be among them.)
A helpful feature of the collection is the page of bio-critical information on each author that precedes the selections. Haining's introduction, though, is mostly an introduction to his interest in the topic of the anthology rather than to the literature with this theme.
This is another of many thematic anthologies in the supernatural genre edited by the late Peter Haining. I'd previously read and really liked two of these, Great Irish Tales of Horror: A Treasury of Fear and Mummy: Stories of the Living Corpse. Here, the focus is on vampire fiction --specifically, fiction centering on the figure of the vampire hunter, rather than on the vampire as such. IMO, the overall quality of this collection wasn't as good as was the case with the others, which is reflected in the lower star rating for the book as a whole. (The individual stories, if they had star ratings, would run the gamut from five stars to one -or lower than that, if possible!)
Arrangement of the 15 selections is chronological (except for the Preface), ranging from 1872 to the 1996 publication date; the writers represented are all British or American, and include both well-known names and more obscure ones. (Haining himself contributes a story.) I'm counting the Preface as a selection, since it consists simply of an excerpt from Dracula, in which Dr. Van Helsing discourses on the characteristics of vampires. Three other novels are represented by excerpts here: Le Fanu's Carmilla, The Vampire (1935) by Sydney Horler, and The Night Stalker by Jeff Rice. (The latter isn't clearly introduced as an excerpt, and then proceeds to end on a cliffhanger; I consider this an instance of rather slipshod editing.) Not all of the protagonists are full-time vampire hunters. Several, like Manly Wade Wellman's John Thunstone and Seabury Quinn's Jules de Grandin, are all-around occult detectives who happen to be taking on a vampire in the particular story here; and two of the tales don't really feature an actual vampire hunter figure at all.
Of the 11 actual short stories here, roughly half (five) are of pre-1960 vintage. Overall, I liked these better than those in the second half, although Uel Key's "The Broken Fang," written during World War I, is easily one of the poorest in the book --not only lacking in internal logic, but saturated with an ugly demonization of all ethnic Germans and particularly aimed at whipping up fear and hate of England's naturalized German citizens. But Wellman's "The Last Grave of Lill Warran," which showcases all the wonderful strengths of his writing, is my favorite story in the whole book. "The Man Who Cast No Shadow," the first Jules de Grandin story Quinn ever wrote, is also the first, and only the second story by Quinn, that I've read; I'd readily read more of both. Arabela Kenealy and Claude Askew (whose wife Alice was actually a writing partner in much of his work) were both writers new to me, and I liked their stories. Aylmer Vance, the Askew's occult detective, introduced in 1914, might have become a much better-known character of the type but for the authors' tragic death together at sea in 1917. Haining credits Kenealy's titled occult detective series character, Lord Syfret, with the "vampire hunter" role in her psychic vampire tale "A Beautiful Vampire;" but in keeping with the author's feminism, the real work here along that line is done by the very capable Nurse Marian. Indeed, a positive point of this volume, in both halves, is that a number of selections feature strong female characters in active roles (though Quinn gives us a conventional passive damsel in distress).
The postmodernist "triumph of evil" theme (which is not my literary cup of tea) is noticeable in most of the stories in the second half of the book, and detracted from my reading satisfaction there; it doesn't reflect the genre's classic tradition, or the classic moral tradition of Western literature in general. Three of the six stories here use Stoker's Van Helsing as a protagonist or invoke his name, and are presented in some way as continuing or tied in to Dracula; but their literary vision is quite different from Stoker's. And one of these authors, Peter Tremayne, gets his facts wrong; he represents Van Helsing as a bachelor, but Stoker mentioned his invalid wife! Tremayne's "My Name Upon the Wind," however, is one of the best-written and most suspenseful works in this batch (and the only story here actually written for this anthology). Anne Rice's also very well-written "The Master of Rampling Gate," set in 1880s England, is my favorite story in the post-1960 group; she's the only writer here to humanize the vampire as something besides an automaton of evil, and this tale lacks the squalid tone of Interview With the Vampire. Though German-born David J. Schow is most associated with splatter punk, his "A Week in the Unlife" isn't that; it's grim and dark (and has a chilling reference to an ugly act of necrophilia), but it's a morbidly fascinating exercise in plot-twisted ambiguity and unreliable (or is it?) narration. The one story I didn't finish here was Karl Edward Wagner's "Beyond Any Measure," which not only has a reincarnation theme (which I don't care for), but blindsided me out of nowhere with an unexpected, very explicit lesbian sex scene. (Some readers would eat up both of those aspects with a spoon; I just don't happen to be among them.)
A helpful feature of the collection is the page of bio-critical information on each author that precedes the selections. Haining's introduction, though, is mostly an introduction to his interest in the topic of the anthology rather than to the literature with this theme.
Want to read
November 23, 2020Placeholder review: I'm reading a bunch of Manly Wade Wellman and Karl Edward Wagner, so I pulled this off the shelf to do a pre-read of "The Last Grave Of Lill Warran" and "Beyond Any Measure".
"The Last Grave Of Lill Warran" by Manly Wade Wellman - John Thunstone - one of Wellman's occult detective characters - travels into the backwoods to hunt down local stories of a witch who was killed. He comes upon a lonely man who loved her, and is determined to respectfully bury her (although every morning her body is found out of its grave). This was a nice little surprise - Thunstone is pretty par-for-the-course as these things go (although wielding a blessed silver sword-cane is pretty bad-ass) and the story hits all of its expected pulp-action monster-hunting notes, but Wellman is careful to stress the secondary note one of grief and anguished loss. Lill Warran may have been a witch (and on her death, something even worse) but Pos Parrell, a simple man, loved her from afar (not because of any enchantment) and now suffers mightily at her death. Also, we get some rural folklore magic and a shout-out to Seabury Quinn's character Jules De Grandin. I could see someone like Tom Waits giving this a really sensitive reading.
"Beyond Any Measure" by Karl Edward Wagner - Lisette, an American art student in London, is suddenly plagued by disturbing Gothic dreams and agrees to hypnotic regression theory by Dr. Magnus - who is looking to prove that reincarnation is real, and Lisette is recovering memories of an earlier life. Invited to a decadent bash at a London mansion, she then meets the mysterious Beth Garrington, who holds all the answers. In his introduction, Wagner basically admits that this is a stab at "erotic horror" of the "Lesbian Vampire" type - more DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS / THE VAMPIRE LOVERS than "Carmilla." As noted elsewhere, Wagner "writes long" here, with lots of character detail and good scene-setting (the champagne and cocaine soaked "New Wave" bash is a standout) but the actual story is more of a cute idea than a compelling scenario, playing out a clash between two concepts - reincarnation and vampirism - to a logical conclusion. Not effectively frightening, but not bad.
"The Last Grave Of Lill Warran" by Manly Wade Wellman - John Thunstone - one of Wellman's occult detective characters - travels into the backwoods to hunt down local stories of a witch who was killed. He comes upon a lonely man who loved her, and is determined to respectfully bury her (although every morning her body is found out of its grave). This was a nice little surprise - Thunstone is pretty par-for-the-course as these things go (although wielding a blessed silver sword-cane is pretty bad-ass) and the story hits all of its expected pulp-action monster-hunting notes, but Wellman is careful to stress the secondary note one of grief and anguished loss. Lill Warran may have been a witch (and on her death, something even worse) but Pos Parrell, a simple man, loved her from afar (not because of any enchantment) and now suffers mightily at her death. Also, we get some rural folklore magic and a shout-out to Seabury Quinn's character Jules De Grandin. I could see someone like Tom Waits giving this a really sensitive reading.
"Beyond Any Measure" by Karl Edward Wagner - Lisette, an American art student in London, is suddenly plagued by disturbing Gothic dreams and agrees to hypnotic regression theory by Dr. Magnus - who is looking to prove that reincarnation is real, and Lisette is recovering memories of an earlier life. Invited to a decadent bash at a London mansion, she then meets the mysterious Beth Garrington, who holds all the answers. In his introduction, Wagner basically admits that this is a stab at "erotic horror" of the "Lesbian Vampire" type - more DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS / THE VAMPIRE LOVERS than "Carmilla." As noted elsewhere, Wagner "writes long" here, with lots of character detail and good scene-setting (the champagne and cocaine soaked "New Wave" bash is a standout) but the actual story is more of a cute idea than a compelling scenario, playing out a clash between two concepts - reincarnation and vampirism - to a logical conclusion. Not effectively frightening, but not bad.
September 30, 2009
What a fun anthology. I am an avid fan of vampire hunters, so it was nice to read a collection of stories about vampire hunters. Some of the stories are classic occult detective stories, and some are newer and more modern. Some of the vamp hunters are admirable, and a couple might just be crazy. Most conquer the evil vamps that they are hunting, but not all are so lucky.
If you like a really good vampire story, and don't mind that the vamps are the bad guys, you should definitely read this anthology.
If you like a really good vampire story, and don't mind that the vamps are the bad guys, you should definitely read this anthology.
April 18, 2022
This is a "Reader's Digest" version of vampire stories - just short samples or just short stories. I'm sure they would be more engaging as longer novels, so there's not as much as substance as a full story. That said, it was interested to get a variety of authors, though I'm not sure how much diversity of perspectives there were. Most simply read as "Sherlock Holmes meets a vampire" in their stories of vampire hunters throughout the years - most seem to stay in the late 19th/early 20th C. That said, there were some memorable stories or two, but unless you're a die-hard vampire fan, there's not that much to it.
June 29, 2020
An excellent read indeed. There was only one story amongst them that I had read before. I just wish that the Kolchek story has of been longer, but that's the only gripe. Fans of vampire hunters, especially Van Helsing will enjoy it.👍
November 12, 2013
Standing at about 363 pages this book has sections of different vampire stories giving the reader an anthology of sample to peruse and read. Stories are excerpted from the likes of Bram Stoker, Anne Rice and Robert Block. THe most famous Vampire hunter is always Abraham Van Helsing.He features in several stories fighting off the undead. I think in one version he loses it to a pretty girl. Van Helsing is not always fighting against Dracula. Sometimes is is new vampires. Not bad for an old man.
Some of the stories are pulled from Camilla and Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. Camilla is a female vampire that has been around for ages until she finally meets her match. In Rice's little section. Rampling Gate is a caste in the English countryside with a town set up around it. The father wanted it destroyed for some strange reason.In the end they do not destroy it but let it and the vampire living there remain. Guess not all vampires are bad. Some stories involve reincarnation. One lady was turned into a vampire thus freeing her soul into reincarnation. When she comes back during the 70's she cofronts the vampire who stole her body centuries ago. Another story involves espionage with the German Government putting Vampires in London to create an army of the undead to undermine Great Britain's army as young men of fighting age are turned to vampires. A nice fight happens in the German consulate. Still another story involves the deat of a werwolf witch who comes back as a vampire.
To say the least the stories are interesting and in most cases hard to find. If you are a hardcore fan of vampire literature then this book is for you, it will give you an avenue leading to some older vamp literature.Old lit shows the newbies how it should be done Vampires were not always these sexy hot guys and gal with fangs. They were the undead who smelled like a rotting corpse. They never went about in daylight and they certainly did not sparkle like diamonds. Holy water, crucifixes and garlic still kill these guys. Oh yeah and the vampires of old can shapeshift into animals, mist and what not. They can even control animals. Vampires have changed a lot since the old days. I like the old ones better.
A note before I go. Vampires share many characteristics with shamans, wizards and even faeries. Shamans and wizards can shapeshift into the form of different animals. They can even control animals while some have been known to levitate. Faeries cannot stand iron and neither can vampires. The Shamans of Europe believe that we had an astral body of sorts that could travel about separated from the physical body. Tthe old lore of vampires believed that the astral body sometimes hung around after death to keep itself intact it fed off blood. Think of the succubus and incubus who seduced people in their sleep and drank their blood.
Some of the stories are pulled from Camilla and Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. Camilla is a female vampire that has been around for ages until she finally meets her match. In Rice's little section. Rampling Gate is a caste in the English countryside with a town set up around it. The father wanted it destroyed for some strange reason.In the end they do not destroy it but let it and the vampire living there remain. Guess not all vampires are bad. Some stories involve reincarnation. One lady was turned into a vampire thus freeing her soul into reincarnation. When she comes back during the 70's she cofronts the vampire who stole her body centuries ago. Another story involves espionage with the German Government putting Vampires in London to create an army of the undead to undermine Great Britain's army as young men of fighting age are turned to vampires. A nice fight happens in the German consulate. Still another story involves the deat of a werwolf witch who comes back as a vampire.
To say the least the stories are interesting and in most cases hard to find. If you are a hardcore fan of vampire literature then this book is for you, it will give you an avenue leading to some older vamp literature.Old lit shows the newbies how it should be done Vampires were not always these sexy hot guys and gal with fangs. They were the undead who smelled like a rotting corpse. They never went about in daylight and they certainly did not sparkle like diamonds. Holy water, crucifixes and garlic still kill these guys. Oh yeah and the vampires of old can shapeshift into animals, mist and what not. They can even control animals. Vampires have changed a lot since the old days. I like the old ones better.
A note before I go. Vampires share many characteristics with shamans, wizards and even faeries. Shamans and wizards can shapeshift into the form of different animals. They can even control animals while some have been known to levitate. Faeries cannot stand iron and neither can vampires. The Shamans of Europe believe that we had an astral body of sorts that could travel about separated from the physical body. Tthe old lore of vampires believed that the astral body sometimes hung around after death to keep itself intact it fed off blood. Think of the succubus and incubus who seduced people in their sleep and drank their blood.
May 27, 2010
OK, so this book probably deserved more than three stars. The premise of the book (short stories of vampire hunters from many time periods) was a creative one. Most of the stories were solid, if not mind-blowing, and several of the stories I liked very much. The best, in my humble opinion, was the Anne Rice short story. Even if I had not known that she was the author, I would have liked this story best. Long before Twilight, Anne Rice was working her magic with sensitivity, creativity, and true excellence. The concept of the vampire as a sympathetic character was crystallized by her, and here it is continued masterfully. The other stories were largely fun and enjoyable. Think of this as a summer read for relaxation.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews