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Buffy the Vampire Slayer Encyclopedia: The Ultimate Guide to the Buffyverse
A comprehensive, authorized compendium of all things Buffy the Vampire Slayer, published in celebration of the revered show’s twentieth anniversary. From its debut in 1997, Buffy the Vampire Slayer became a cult hit with legions of devoted viewers and propelled the show’s creator Joss Whedon to stardom. Now, fans can discover Buffy’s world fully with this full-color A-to-Z encyclopedia that catalogs, explains, and cross-reference every detail of the Buffyverse, from characters, locations, and weapons to episodes, demons, and recurring gags. Packed with content from the television show, The Buffy the Vampire Slayer Encyclopedia is the first companion book that also includes key facts from the official canon comics and its spin-off show Angel —making this comprehensive volume the only truly complete guide to the entire Buffyverse. Lavishly produced and written by Buffy experts, The Buffy the Vampire Slayer Encyclopedia is the authoritative source for fans, allowing them to indulge in the intricacies and nuances of the series as never before. With color stills and photography throughout, an eerie cover with special effects, and an incredible design that reflects the show’s aesthetics, this fully authorized companion is a must-have for all Buffy enthusiasts. Buffy the Vampire Slayer TM & © 2017 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published October 3, 2017
48 people are currently reading
789 people want to read
About the author
Nancy Holder
352 books2,407 followersNancy Holder, New York Times Bestselling author of the WICKED Series, has just published CRUSADE - the first book in a new vampire series cowritten with Debbie Viguie. The last book her her Possession series is set to release in March 2011.
Nancy was born in Los Altos, California, and her family settled for a time in Walnut Creek. Her father, who taught at Stanford, joined the navy and the family traveled throughout California and lived in Japan for three years. When she was sixteen, she dropped out of high school to become a ballet dancer in Cologne, Germany, and later relocated to Frankfurt Am Main.
Eventually she returned to California and graduated summa cum laude from the University of California at San Diego with a degree in Communications. Soon after, she began to write; her first sale was a young adult romance novel titled Teach Me to Love.
Nancy’s work has appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, LA Times, amazon.com, LOCUS, and other bestseller lists. A four-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award from the Horror Writers Association, she has also received accolades from the American Library Association, the American Reading Association, the New York Public Library, and Romantic Times.
She and Debbie Viguié co-authored the New York Times bestselling series Wicked for Simon and Schuster. They have continued their collaboration with the Crusade series, also for Simon and Schuster, and the Wolf Springs Chronicles for Delacorte (2011.) She is also the author of the young adult horror series Possessions for Razorbill. She has sold many novels and book projects set in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Saving Grace, Hellboy, and Smallville universes.
She has sold approximately two hundred short stories and essays on writing and popular culture. Her anthology, Outsiders, co-edited with Nancy Kilpatrick, was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award in 2005.
She teaches in the Stonecoast MFA in Creative Writing Program, offered through the University of Southern Maine. She has previously taught at UCSD and has served on the Clarion Board of Directors.
She lives in San Diego, California, with her daughter Belle, their two Corgis, Panda and Tater; and their cats, David and Kittnen Snow. She and Belle are active in Girl Scouts and dog obedience training.
Nancy was born in Los Altos, California, and her family settled for a time in Walnut Creek. Her father, who taught at Stanford, joined the navy and the family traveled throughout California and lived in Japan for three years. When she was sixteen, she dropped out of high school to become a ballet dancer in Cologne, Germany, and later relocated to Frankfurt Am Main.
Eventually she returned to California and graduated summa cum laude from the University of California at San Diego with a degree in Communications. Soon after, she began to write; her first sale was a young adult romance novel titled Teach Me to Love.
Nancy’s work has appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, LA Times, amazon.com, LOCUS, and other bestseller lists. A four-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award from the Horror Writers Association, she has also received accolades from the American Library Association, the American Reading Association, the New York Public Library, and Romantic Times.
She and Debbie Viguié co-authored the New York Times bestselling series Wicked for Simon and Schuster. They have continued their collaboration with the Crusade series, also for Simon and Schuster, and the Wolf Springs Chronicles for Delacorte (2011.) She is also the author of the young adult horror series Possessions for Razorbill. She has sold many novels and book projects set in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Saving Grace, Hellboy, and Smallville universes.
She has sold approximately two hundred short stories and essays on writing and popular culture. Her anthology, Outsiders, co-edited with Nancy Kilpatrick, was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award in 2005.
She teaches in the Stonecoast MFA in Creative Writing Program, offered through the University of Southern Maine. She has previously taught at UCSD and has served on the Clarion Board of Directors.
She lives in San Diego, California, with her daughter Belle, their two Corgis, Panda and Tater; and their cats, David and Kittnen Snow. She and Belle are active in Girl Scouts and dog obedience training.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
October 18, 2017
When they say it's s comprehensive guide, they're not kidding. So detailed, it's a must for any fan. I do, however, exist in a world without the comic books, because Buffy and Spike do not and will never make sense. It's Buffy and Angel, or nothing. End of story.
September 5, 2018
So, a long time ago there were these things called ‘encyclopedias’ – and the best ones were multivolume sets like Britannica or the World Book. These were huge – maybe 28-30 volumes a set. It wasn’t unusual to have an ENTIRE volume devoted to just ONE letter of the alphabet. Oh my – those were the days. And those are those are the ‘general’ encyclopedias- information on ‘everything’. The world of encyclopedias was rich indeed with things called ‘subject encyclopedias’ – for example a set of encyclopedias on Greek Mythology, or on China, or Woman’s History!!!! Can you believe it?
But not everyone could afford these multivolume gems. There were also a range of one-volume encyclopedia -some were ‘general’ – all subjects and some were specific -like a single volume encyclopedia on women’s history. There were helpful but not deep with the info – I think of them as ‘encyclopedia lite’ – something ok if you need a quick bit of info but it wouldn’t satisfy any desire for in-depth information or examination.
This book is most definitely “encyclopedia-lite”. Its claim as the ‘ultimate guide to the Buffyverse’ should not be believed. One page on Rupert Giles?? And that page had two huge pictures included so actually the entire entry on Giles was three paragraphs. There are tons of pictures in the book in fact it has a bit of ‘picture book’ feel to it. It also drove me crazy that while each entry ended with a reference to its source – (the series (Angle and/or Buffy) and the comic books) – it wasn’t specific to the season or issue number.
However, since I am not a comic book fan (I have season 8 – just don’t like that format) it was a way to find out what went on in the Buffyverse after the show ended. Overall this is a real disappointment.
But not everyone could afford these multivolume gems. There were also a range of one-volume encyclopedia -some were ‘general’ – all subjects and some were specific -like a single volume encyclopedia on women’s history. There were helpful but not deep with the info – I think of them as ‘encyclopedia lite’ – something ok if you need a quick bit of info but it wouldn’t satisfy any desire for in-depth information or examination.
This book is most definitely “encyclopedia-lite”. Its claim as the ‘ultimate guide to the Buffyverse’ should not be believed. One page on Rupert Giles?? And that page had two huge pictures included so actually the entire entry on Giles was three paragraphs. There are tons of pictures in the book in fact it has a bit of ‘picture book’ feel to it. It also drove me crazy that while each entry ended with a reference to its source – (the series (Angle and/or Buffy) and the comic books) – it wasn’t specific to the season or issue number.
However, since I am not a comic book fan (I have season 8 – just don’t like that format) it was a way to find out what went on in the Buffyverse after the show ended. Overall this is a real disappointment.
November 7, 2018
If Wesley needed a Buffy/Angel reference tome, he'd go for this.
This is an absolutely BEAUTIFUL book!
Feels lovely to hold in hardback. Nicely weighted, raised embossing! Honestly, it's a physical pleasure just to flip through it's pages! Blood splattered across the binder and each page, glossy glorious paper quality that host the most fantastic images, rare and not, and that 'to-die-for' cover design, this certainly gets your attention, right off the bat!
I bought this ages ago but I avoided reading it till I finished both the Buffy series (years ago) and the Angel series (last night) because it is completely filled with spoilers. This IS what it says it is. It's an ALL reference guide to the 'Buffy-verse', a one stop shop to all that took place in both series', plus extended canon comic book series'.
I've only ever experienced both series' and a few novels (never dipped into the comics) but this looks pretty damn extensive to my eyes.
As the book has A LOT of ground to cover, there's no real indepth DETAIL to be found. No real analysis so if you are looking for that, you'll be disappointed. Instead, it encompasses as much as you could possibly hope to find in a single publication that focuses on Joss Whedon's universe. I found myself literally looking up every character and event AS they happened onscreen, just to see if they were referenced. They were.
This is essential for any Buffy/Angel fan. As much as a beautiful keepsake as it is a reference guide. There are MILLIONS of books based on this universe but none so consistent.
This is an absolutely BEAUTIFUL book!
Feels lovely to hold in hardback. Nicely weighted, raised embossing! Honestly, it's a physical pleasure just to flip through it's pages! Blood splattered across the binder and each page, glossy glorious paper quality that host the most fantastic images, rare and not, and that 'to-die-for' cover design, this certainly gets your attention, right off the bat!
I bought this ages ago but I avoided reading it till I finished both the Buffy series (years ago) and the Angel series (last night) because it is completely filled with spoilers. This IS what it says it is. It's an ALL reference guide to the 'Buffy-verse', a one stop shop to all that took place in both series', plus extended canon comic book series'.
I've only ever experienced both series' and a few novels (never dipped into the comics) but this looks pretty damn extensive to my eyes.
As the book has A LOT of ground to cover, there's no real indepth DETAIL to be found. No real analysis so if you are looking for that, you'll be disappointed. Instead, it encompasses as much as you could possibly hope to find in a single publication that focuses on Joss Whedon's universe. I found myself literally looking up every character and event AS they happened onscreen, just to see if they were referenced. They were.
This is essential for any Buffy/Angel fan. As much as a beautiful keepsake as it is a reference guide. There are MILLIONS of books based on this universe but none so consistent.
December 6, 2023
I could read about Buffy forever :D
October 29, 2019
In 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer Encyclopedia: The Ultimate Guide to the Buffyverse', details pertaining to the Buffy and Angel series (television and comics) are laid out in alphabetical format. This makes for quick and easy reference.
Numerous photos accompany some of the information, serving as a handy refresher to both major and minor characters while contributing to the aesthetically pleasing appearance of the book as a whole. However, there were several typos which were obvious and could / should have been prevented with thorough proofreading.
Overall, this encyclopedia is the go-to guide for comprehensive details on the Buffyverse.
Numerous photos accompany some of the information, serving as a handy refresher to both major and minor characters while contributing to the aesthetically pleasing appearance of the book as a whole. However, there were several typos which were obvious and could / should have been prevented with thorough proofreading.
Overall, this encyclopedia is the go-to guide for comprehensive details on the Buffyverse.
November 1, 2017
I loved the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so I was excited when I won the giveaway. The book is very detailed and has information from the shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, along with the comic books. It has lots of pictures and content. I loved how the information was presented in alphabetical order and combined everything together instead of going by seasons and episodes. Although I can’t say anything about the comics, having not read them myself.
I won this from Goodreads First Reads Giveaway.
I won this from Goodreads First Reads Giveaway.
April 22, 2019
This was an interesting and entertaining book to read. It was filled with wonderful illustrations and pictures of the cast and characters throughout. It had detailed facts on anything and everything you want to know about the world of Buffy, including everything about both Buffy and Angel tv shows, but also all the books and comic books as well. It is definitely something every fan of Buffy/Angel need to have in their collection!
January 1, 2021
This was a book that features characters, phrases, places, pretty much anything having to do with both Buffy the TV show, Angel, and the comics. The book is alphabetical, as encyclopedias are and contains SHORT entries for everything. I found that most of the entries were shorter than I would have liked I also did not like that the comics were included because I found them to be mainly coherent. This is, however, a good gift for a fan of the show.
January 4, 2021
A complete compendium of Buffyverse canon (up to publication, mind you) that is both in-depth where needed and inside jokes and references where appropriate in each and every blood-splattered page. It has inspired me to rewatch both Buffy and Angel, reread the comics I have and pick up the few I haven’t acquired yet. Holder and Clancy are pure geniuses.
November 27, 2017
Exactly as it sounds, this is a companion to the series arranged in the form of an encyclopedia. As a fan of the show I found the book both useful and entertaining to revisit lesser known characters and mythology from the Buffyverse.
November 22, 2019
Definitely one for Buffy fans but as it is a guide to all things buffyverse. Brilliant artwork and informative short snippets of info about key characters ,locations and types of vampire and big bad. Well worth a read.
February 10, 2019
explained a lot of the different demons and other creatures in the tv series buffy and angel, and the comic books
Read
January 29, 2020I decided to mark this as read because it is an encyclopedia I just use it as a reference
Read
August 8, 2020220/365
Estupenda guía de Buffy, Angel y todo su universo, porque sí, han pasado más de veinte años desde su estreno, pero me sigue pareciendo una serie maravillosa.
Estupenda guía de Buffy, Angel y todo su universo, porque sí, han pasado más de veinte años desde su estreno, pero me sigue pareciendo una serie maravillosa.
January 7, 2023
Very good reference.
April 2, 2019
I loved this book . Buffy and Angel Yes. It also talked about the comic books . If you dont want to be spoiled for those dont read this book .
November 18, 2017
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher because I saw it on Goodreads and I thought, hey, isn't Jeanne a big Buffy fan? So I clicked on the Enter Giveaway button thinking it was a long shot but, if I got a copy of the book, I could give it to Jeanne. So now I have a copy of the book and I figure that I should review it. I only watched the first season of Buffy and scattered episodes of Angel so be warned that my review is not going to go into nit-picking detail on every individual entry.
Physically, this is a very attractive book. It has a lush pictorial cover. It's that nice matte material with some gold highlights, not the old shiny cello pictorial covers. It has no dust jacket to get tatty. The end papers and the three open sides of the text block are nicely SPATTERED WITH BLOOD!
The pages are printed on very good quality paper with good clear text and numerous glossy photos. Probably because of the quality of the cover and paper, as well as the large number of photos, the full suggested retail price is pretty high but the major bookstores are marking it down to a very reasonable price.
Now for the content ... Both the Buffy and the Angel TV shows and the comics are included and listed in the Introduction, so the coverage is pretty comprehensive. Appropriately, major characters have longer, sometimes much longer, entries than minor characters with additional photos. There are small and large photos, all excellent, but they do appear to be stock photos. The entry for Angel includes a useful timeline, however, it also includes a storyline that is basically wasted space. His storyline is so abbreviated that, out of context, it probably only makes sense to someone who is a super fan and a super fan could probably improve on it.
There are A LOT of entries and there are very helpful references back to the episode or comic book where that character, object, or incident appears. There are even a few inside joke entries that fans will appreciate.
I found a couple of entries that I thought were questionable. For example, "Arachnophobia" is defined as "Buffy's nickname for Simone Doffler's captive Ragna Demon." I thought Arachnophobia was Simone's nickname for the captive Ragna Demon and that Buffy called it Charlotte, a reference to the real-world children's book, Charlotte's Web.
Mostly the entries look good and seem to provide the information they should, but sometimes a few words here, traded for a couple words there, would make for better entries. Looking up Of Human Bondage, gets you "Book UCSunnydale Freshman Eddie always kept with him." But not "a 1915 novel written by Somerset Maugham." I have the same criticism of entries for the Browning's Sonnets, and Debrett's Correct Form. But I will give a pass to Dreadhost's Compendum of Immortal Leeches, Bristow's Demon Index, Exploring Demon Dimensions, and Gutenberg's Demonography.
Inconsistent editing: some missing punctuation. Design issue: many inconveniently non-numbered pages. I can't say for sure if the book lives up to it's subtitle: The Ultimate Guide to the Buffyverse, but it is a really attractive book with a lot of content and I would recommend it to Buffy fans.
Physically, this is a very attractive book. It has a lush pictorial cover. It's that nice matte material with some gold highlights, not the old shiny cello pictorial covers. It has no dust jacket to get tatty. The end papers and the three open sides of the text block are nicely SPATTERED WITH BLOOD!
The pages are printed on very good quality paper with good clear text and numerous glossy photos. Probably because of the quality of the cover and paper, as well as the large number of photos, the full suggested retail price is pretty high but the major bookstores are marking it down to a very reasonable price.
Now for the content ... Both the Buffy and the Angel TV shows and the comics are included and listed in the Introduction, so the coverage is pretty comprehensive. Appropriately, major characters have longer, sometimes much longer, entries than minor characters with additional photos. There are small and large photos, all excellent, but they do appear to be stock photos. The entry for Angel includes a useful timeline, however, it also includes a storyline that is basically wasted space. His storyline is so abbreviated that, out of context, it probably only makes sense to someone who is a super fan and a super fan could probably improve on it.
There are A LOT of entries and there are very helpful references back to the episode or comic book where that character, object, or incident appears. There are even a few inside joke entries that fans will appreciate.
I found a couple of entries that I thought were questionable. For example, "Arachnophobia" is defined as "Buffy's nickname for Simone Doffler's captive Ragna Demon." I thought Arachnophobia was Simone's nickname for the captive Ragna Demon and that Buffy called it Charlotte, a reference to the real-world children's book, Charlotte's Web.
Mostly the entries look good and seem to provide the information they should, but sometimes a few words here, traded for a couple words there, would make for better entries. Looking up Of Human Bondage, gets you "Book UCSunnydale Freshman Eddie always kept with him." But not "a 1915 novel written by Somerset Maugham." I have the same criticism of entries for the Browning's Sonnets, and Debrett's Correct Form. But I will give a pass to Dreadhost's Compendum of Immortal Leeches, Bristow's Demon Index, Exploring Demon Dimensions, and Gutenberg's Demonography.
Inconsistent editing: some missing punctuation. Design issue: many inconveniently non-numbered pages. I can't say for sure if the book lives up to it's subtitle: The Ultimate Guide to the Buffyverse, but it is a really attractive book with a lot of content and I would recommend it to Buffy fans.
November 19, 2017
Book received through Goodreads Giveaways
I admit I came to the Buffy fandom late. I didn't watch it when it was on television, I became a fan after watching it on Netflix. I wish this book had been out when I started the show, there were a few things that I wish I had more information on at the beginning that are talked about in here. It did expand on somethings that I wanted to know more about that I didn't catch on the show itself. I also have to give kudos to the designers of the book, it looks great. The pages inside and the edges look like they have blood drops on them. The cover looks like something that could have been in a Watchers library. It definitely fits the subject matter. This is a perfect fit for any Buffy fan out there.
I admit I came to the Buffy fandom late. I didn't watch it when it was on television, I became a fan after watching it on Netflix. I wish this book had been out when I started the show, there were a few things that I wish I had more information on at the beginning that are talked about in here. It did expand on somethings that I wanted to know more about that I didn't catch on the show itself. I also have to give kudos to the designers of the book, it looks great. The pages inside and the edges look like they have blood drops on them. The cover looks like something that could have been in a Watchers library. It definitely fits the subject matter. This is a perfect fit for any Buffy fan out there.
June 23, 2018
this is a beautiful book. gorgeous artwork and design. I think any Buffy fan should own this, it's like a collectible. very detailed on all the characters.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews