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The Girl's Guide to Vampires: All You Need To Know About The Original Bad Boys
The good news is: He’s tall, dark, and handsome.
The bad news is: He’s a bloodsucking creature of the night. Not to mention arrogant, predatory, and immortal.
What’s a girl to do? No worries—in this guide, girls learn everything they need to know about these romantic rogues, including how to:
Know when they’ve met a vampire
Avoid falling prey to a nightstalker’s charms
Resist even the most aggressive advances
Protect themselves against the undead
Destroy a vampire—using everything from holy water to decapitation
Complete with a review of vampire books, TV shows, and films as well as accounts of real-life encounters with vampires, this book is all girls need to surrender to the night—and still make sure they’re around to see another day!
Barb Karg (Pacific Northwest) is a veteran journalist, author, screenwriter and lifelong vampire aficionado currently at work on a vampire novel. She’s authored or coauthored twenty-two books.
The bad news is: He’s a bloodsucking creature of the night. Not to mention arrogant, predatory, and immortal.
What’s a girl to do? No worries—in this guide, girls learn everything they need to know about these romantic rogues, including how to:
Know when they’ve met a vampire
Avoid falling prey to a nightstalker’s charms
Resist even the most aggressive advances
Protect themselves against the undead
Destroy a vampire—using everything from holy water to decapitation
Complete with a review of vampire books, TV shows, and films as well as accounts of real-life encounters with vampires, this book is all girls need to surrender to the night—and still make sure they’re around to see another day!
Barb Karg (Pacific Northwest) is a veteran journalist, author, screenwriter and lifelong vampire aficionado currently at work on a vampire novel. She’s authored or coauthored twenty-two books.
180 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
About the author
Barb Karg
33 books2 followersBarb Karg is a twenty-five-year veteran journalist, author, graphic designer, and screenwriter. Karg has written four feature-length films, dozens of books, and designed and laid out hundreds of books, magazines, and catalogs. When not writing, she continues to work as an editor, designer, and layout specialist. Karg lives with her better half, Rick, and their five opinionated four-legged children in the Pacific Northwest.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
September 28, 2016
A lot of promises not delivered
The concept is simple: describe all there is to know about vampires - their habits, their powers and weakness, how to recognize them, how to kill them, using an amusing tone and a girl-oriented speech.
To give the book some credit, the research work involved was simple amazing. From vampire lore, vampires in history, and vampire books, series and films, the list is pretty long and impressive.
However, the way the book is organized, was, in my opinion a total fail, and a tad boring. It reminds me of a mid-term paper, written by a procrastinating student that has a lot of fun gathering the information but forgets the importance of transposing it to paper.
She starts with an introduction of vampire lore and vampirism along the ages, famous vampires, and famous authors and actors. Then came the books, where she repeat some of the authors and vampires, then the big screen, when she describe again, the actors, and tells the most important movies.
After that, why not divide the films onto two parts (from silent movies to sixties and from seventies to current time) and tell about the major films, major actors - wait, didn't I read that already? - and provide, again, a list of movies - this time a complete one.
Next, we have the TV series, uhmmm I recall reading something about Buffy and Angel another 3 or 4 times before in this book... Finally she ends with a chapter about the pros and cons to become a vampire - believe me or not, that was my favorite part, and it pretty much saved the book for me. Overall, it could be a pretty amazing book, full of information, and some funny remarks, but it turn to be quite bland and boring
The concept is simple: describe all there is to know about vampires - their habits, their powers and weakness, how to recognize them, how to kill them, using an amusing tone and a girl-oriented speech.
To give the book some credit, the research work involved was simple amazing. From vampire lore, vampires in history, and vampire books, series and films, the list is pretty long and impressive.
However, the way the book is organized, was, in my opinion a total fail, and a tad boring. It reminds me of a mid-term paper, written by a procrastinating student that has a lot of fun gathering the information but forgets the importance of transposing it to paper.
She starts with an introduction of vampire lore and vampirism along the ages, famous vampires, and famous authors and actors. Then came the books, where she repeat some of the authors and vampires, then the big screen, when she describe again, the actors, and tells the most important movies.
After that, why not divide the films onto two parts (from silent movies to sixties and from seventies to current time) and tell about the major films, major actors - wait, didn't I read that already? - and provide, again, a list of movies - this time a complete one.
Next, we have the TV series, uhmmm I recall reading something about Buffy and Angel another 3 or 4 times before in this book... Finally she ends with a chapter about the pros and cons to become a vampire - believe me or not, that was my favorite part, and it pretty much saved the book for me. Overall, it could be a pretty amazing book, full of information, and some funny remarks, but it turn to be quite bland and boring
October 14, 2021
A nice guide to vampires
This is an interesting guide on vampires told in a way to appeal to teenage girls it is very informative though. The narrator is interesting in how they tell all the interesting information on vampires up to the 2008 publication date. I got a little bored but I was still interested it was well written but nothing special. I really do like how all of the information on vampires is told going from every era and tells everything that is interesting about vampires.
This is an interesting guide on vampires told in a way to appeal to teenage girls it is very informative though. The narrator is interesting in how they tell all the interesting information on vampires up to the 2008 publication date. I got a little bored but I was still interested it was well written but nothing special. I really do like how all of the information on vampires is told going from every era and tells everything that is interesting about vampires.
March 3, 2016
I gave it 4 and not 5 because her attempts at "you go girl" type bonding with the reader and "he's a hottie bad boy vamp" sort of schtick got kind of annoying. I rolled my eyes a lot lol. But other than that it was actually really interesting and just a fun read. I especially enjoyed her extensive (for the size of this book) coverage of vampires in literature and film. Her writing seemed to shine the best when discussing the movies, in particular. Definitely a media journalist, which is actually part of her credentials if I'm not mistaken. a fun, quick, interesting read that actually gave me some great ideas for new vamp lit and movies to read/watch.
October 4, 2010
Despite it's campy, cutesy attack style in order to suck young female readers in, it's actually a really good resource to have if you're looking for the Cliff Notes version on vampires. This book doesn't beat around the bush. Vampires are reanimated corpses. If you can get over that, you're good to head on out with a vamp.
From the Vlads to the crazies to the cinematic, this book has it all, jam-packed into less than 200 lean pages of bloody meat. The first two-thirds of the book is a mini-encyclopedia, going over the types of vampires, where they come from, how they're made, how you can kill them, what their personalities are like and so on. The last third gives you a run down of excellent vampires on film, in books and on TV. If you don't know of Dark Shadows, Forever Knight, Fright Night or Nosferatu, you're sorely lacking. All of this, though, is told with a keen teen-type of voice meant to suck in and intrigue, talk to instead of talk at because, quite frankly, lectures, even about awesome things like vampires, can get really boring.
The only issue I had with the book is the author referring to Stephenie Meyer as Queen of the Darned for her popular blue balls "vampire" books. You know, I guess you can't talk about the greater spectrum of vampires without giving SMeyer her due credit, however little that may be. Despite the fact that she printed literary horse shit, we can thank her in large part to the surge of vampire love in YA. Yeah, thanks for those brooding emo vamps in high school after 200 years. How cool. And I guess when you're trying to rope in the same crowd that swallows those pissy novels like a starving duck, you're going to want to play to that crowd a bit. Thankfully I have some other vampire "guides" that refuse to pander to the likes of the Mormon research!fail queen.
Other than that, I'm very happy with the book overall. It started vampire history where it deserved, tapped all aspects of vampire lore, however briefly, and tied it in nicely to modern day happenings across the entertainment board. If you want a quick undead breath into the world of vampires, this is a good place to start but I can guarantee that once you read this guide, you'll want to dive in deeper to the ever-expansive world of vampires. Oh it's so much wider than mere glittering and simpering and pining. Vampires are nasty, they're seductive, they're sexy and their fangs are fucking sharp!
From the Vlads to the crazies to the cinematic, this book has it all, jam-packed into less than 200 lean pages of bloody meat. The first two-thirds of the book is a mini-encyclopedia, going over the types of vampires, where they come from, how they're made, how you can kill them, what their personalities are like and so on. The last third gives you a run down of excellent vampires on film, in books and on TV. If you don't know of Dark Shadows, Forever Knight, Fright Night or Nosferatu, you're sorely lacking. All of this, though, is told with a keen teen-type of voice meant to suck in and intrigue, talk to instead of talk at because, quite frankly, lectures, even about awesome things like vampires, can get really boring.
The only issue I had with the book is the author referring to Stephenie Meyer as Queen of the Darned for her popular blue balls "vampire" books. You know, I guess you can't talk about the greater spectrum of vampires without giving SMeyer her due credit, however little that may be. Despite the fact that she printed literary horse shit, we can thank her in large part to the surge of vampire love in YA. Yeah, thanks for those brooding emo vamps in high school after 200 years. How cool. And I guess when you're trying to rope in the same crowd that swallows those pissy novels like a starving duck, you're going to want to play to that crowd a bit. Thankfully I have some other vampire "guides" that refuse to pander to the likes of the Mormon research!fail queen.
Other than that, I'm very happy with the book overall. It started vampire history where it deserved, tapped all aspects of vampire lore, however briefly, and tied it in nicely to modern day happenings across the entertainment board. If you want a quick undead breath into the world of vampires, this is a good place to start but I can guarantee that once you read this guide, you'll want to dive in deeper to the ever-expansive world of vampires. Oh it's so much wider than mere glittering and simpering and pining. Vampires are nasty, they're seductive, they're sexy and their fangs are fucking sharp!
February 26, 2022
Picked this up at Friend's of the Library Bookstore for a $1. Fun little history or Vampires in History, Books, and Movies . Particularly liked the lists of Vampire Books. Although since it published in 2009 it's a bit dated. 🧛🏻♂️
March 11, 2025
Ganhei um vale livro de presente de aniversário lá na joalheria que eu trabalhava. Comprei o livro bem na época da modinha de Crepúsculo. Uma baita decepção. Achei que era um romance/ficção e de certo modo é um guia sobre vampiros ?
December 6, 2017
Ok
Most the stuff I already know. It is good for people who have no clue what vampire are. I disagree with some things. The book could be better.
Most the stuff I already know. It is good for people who have no clue what vampire are. I disagree with some things. The book could be better.
April 9, 2026
3.5 stars! Fun but no mind blowing information
May 7, 2012
My rating: 3.5 out of 5
I am a big vampire fan, so I was really excited when I found this book in the YA section of a local bookstore. The cover is appealing and so are the pages. In this book Barb Karg takes us through varying vampire legends across the different continents. She covers the differences in how vampires are created, what powers they have, what they look like and much more. She also references vampire experts from Bram Stoker to Anne Rice. Karg also discusses vampires in film, ranging from Bela Lugosi's and Gary Oldman's interpretations of Dracula to Stuart Townsend as iconic vampire Lestat. Karg also threw in her own fictional commentary, depicting a scene in which you as the reader meet a vampire. Overall I would say this book is pretty interesting. As someone who is working on my own vampire book I appreciate the collection of vampire lore and will most likely use this book as a quick reference guide. It was a quick read and very informative on the differences in vampire lore. I just wish Karg would have included some pictures/drawings/depictions of vampires, especially as they changed over time. Nosteratu is quite different from the romantic blooksuckers of today, and seeing that along with reading the text would have been quite sensational.
Summary:
The good news is: He's tall, dark, and handsome. The bad news is: He's a bloodsucking creature of the night. Not to mention arrogant, predatory, and immortal. What's a girl to do? No worries'in this guide, girls learn everything they need to know about these romantic rogues, including how to: know when they've met a vampire, avoid falling prey to a nightstalker's charms, resist even the most aggressive advances, protect themselves against the undead, destroy a vampire'using everything from holy water to decapitation, complete with a review of vampire books, TV shows, and films as well as accounts of real-life encounters with vampires, this book is all girls need to surrender to the night'and still make sure they're around to see another day! Barb Karg (Pacific Northwest) is a veteran journalist, author, screenwriter and lifelong vampire aficionado currently at work on a vampire novel. She's authored or coauthored twenty-two books (from book cover).
Characters:
N/A
Key words/issues:vampires, fantasy, legends, lore, folktales, mythology
Related books:
The Everything Vampire Book by Barb Karg
The Girl's Guide to Werewolves by Barb Karg
The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead by J. Gordon Melton
I am a big vampire fan, so I was really excited when I found this book in the YA section of a local bookstore. The cover is appealing and so are the pages. In this book Barb Karg takes us through varying vampire legends across the different continents. She covers the differences in how vampires are created, what powers they have, what they look like and much more. She also references vampire experts from Bram Stoker to Anne Rice. Karg also discusses vampires in film, ranging from Bela Lugosi's and Gary Oldman's interpretations of Dracula to Stuart Townsend as iconic vampire Lestat. Karg also threw in her own fictional commentary, depicting a scene in which you as the reader meet a vampire. Overall I would say this book is pretty interesting. As someone who is working on my own vampire book I appreciate the collection of vampire lore and will most likely use this book as a quick reference guide. It was a quick read and very informative on the differences in vampire lore. I just wish Karg would have included some pictures/drawings/depictions of vampires, especially as they changed over time. Nosteratu is quite different from the romantic blooksuckers of today, and seeing that along with reading the text would have been quite sensational.
Summary:
The good news is: He's tall, dark, and handsome. The bad news is: He's a bloodsucking creature of the night. Not to mention arrogant, predatory, and immortal. What's a girl to do? No worries'in this guide, girls learn everything they need to know about these romantic rogues, including how to: know when they've met a vampire, avoid falling prey to a nightstalker's charms, resist even the most aggressive advances, protect themselves against the undead, destroy a vampire'using everything from holy water to decapitation, complete with a review of vampire books, TV shows, and films as well as accounts of real-life encounters with vampires, this book is all girls need to surrender to the night'and still make sure they're around to see another day! Barb Karg (Pacific Northwest) is a veteran journalist, author, screenwriter and lifelong vampire aficionado currently at work on a vampire novel. She's authored or coauthored twenty-two books (from book cover).
Characters:
N/A
Key words/issues:vampires, fantasy, legends, lore, folktales, mythology
Related books:
The Everything Vampire Book by Barb Karg
The Girl's Guide to Werewolves by Barb Karg
The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead by J. Gordon Melton
Read
December 6, 2009The Girls Guide to Vampires is an interesting non-fiction book. It has a lot of information about vampires. And when I say a lot I mean a lot.
Firstly, anyone reading the book will learn about the history of vampires and how they managed to become the vampires they are today. Which I really liked because I quite often reading about history and myths and legends.
Then there is the books. If you want to find a vampire book that is right for you, there are several lists of vampire books that cater to any kind of vampire fan.
There are also some really cool movie lists too. I don't know if I'd watch every single one of them but I would look at some.
The Girl's Guide to Vampires is definitely a cool book. It's really interesting and I would have to say that you shouldn't take it too seriously because it is a book just for a bit of fun. But I do say that it's worth a read if you're a fan of vampires.
I notice that there is also a Girl's Guide to Werewolves out. I may check that out in the near future.
Firstly, anyone reading the book will learn about the history of vampires and how they managed to become the vampires they are today. Which I really liked because I quite often reading about history and myths and legends.
Then there is the books. If you want to find a vampire book that is right for you, there are several lists of vampire books that cater to any kind of vampire fan.
There are also some really cool movie lists too. I don't know if I'd watch every single one of them but I would look at some.
The Girl's Guide to Vampires is definitely a cool book. It's really interesting and I would have to say that you shouldn't take it too seriously because it is a book just for a bit of fun. But I do say that it's worth a read if you're a fan of vampires.
I notice that there is also a Girl's Guide to Werewolves out. I may check that out in the near future.
July 25, 2010
This offers a great overview to the history of the vampire, from folklore and the novels of the 19th century, through the films of each decade leading to television and the 21st Century.
The writer, Barb Karg, occasionally hints at the way the vampire is used as a metaphor for social and political issues in each era, but rarely does more than touch lightly on these. I would have loved to have read more about how the vampire's role in stories reflects changing social attitudes as well. I also found the schtick of writing about vampires as 'the sexy bad boys' a bit overdone and seemed more a function of writing for the target audience than really necessary to the content. Still, the powerful female vampires, from Camilla to Selina, get good coverage as well.
Having said thst - this would be a terrific book to get for anyone who has only recently started reading vampire fiction and would like a guide to the genre's history, and some suggestions of what other books to read/films to see to get a broader knowledge.
The writer, Barb Karg, occasionally hints at the way the vampire is used as a metaphor for social and political issues in each era, but rarely does more than touch lightly on these. I would have loved to have read more about how the vampire's role in stories reflects changing social attitudes as well. I also found the schtick of writing about vampires as 'the sexy bad boys' a bit overdone and seemed more a function of writing for the target audience than really necessary to the content. Still, the powerful female vampires, from Camilla to Selina, get good coverage as well.
Having said thst - this would be a terrific book to get for anyone who has only recently started reading vampire fiction and would like a guide to the genre's history, and some suggestions of what other books to read/films to see to get a broader knowledge.
February 22, 2016
I first picked up this book expecting it to be a short and fun read, but it ended up having a lot of information. But, strangely, unlike most guides I absorbed a lot of the information. Usually, when I read a book like this I don't pick up any of the information, but with this book I picked up a lot of the information and have remembered it.
Something that really annoyed me was all the lists. I personally like to truly learn a lot about a certain movie and or book than just see a list of movies and books, but that is just my personal opinion. I also didn't enjoy some of "girly" ways things were worded. I just don't think that kind of demographic is reading the book and it is a little annoying to the girls who are reading it. This book was not what I expected, but it was a pretty pleasant surprise.
Something that really annoyed me was all the lists. I personally like to truly learn a lot about a certain movie and or book than just see a list of movies and books, but that is just my personal opinion. I also didn't enjoy some of "girly" ways things were worded. I just don't think that kind of demographic is reading the book and it is a little annoying to the girls who are reading it. This book was not what I expected, but it was a pretty pleasant surprise.
January 27, 2014
Learned a lot. Seriously, A LOT. Well, I adore Bram Stoker's genius imagination. It's just too hurtful to think that he died in 1912 just before his very own Dracula was introduced legally in the film industry.
So far, the sexiest vampire for me is Bela Lugosi. He is tall and all. Loving the first bite, eh?
Anyway, the last chapter of this book was asking if the reader would want to be le vampyre. WELL, I DON'T. I just fancy vampires. But that doesnt mean I want to transform into something unimaginable, abominable and impossible.
Nosferatu is my favorite, by the way.
And this book would be much greater with pictures and illustrations.
So far, the sexiest vampire for me is Bela Lugosi. He is tall and all. Loving the first bite, eh?
Anyway, the last chapter of this book was asking if the reader would want to be le vampyre. WELL, I DON'T. I just fancy vampires. But that doesnt mean I want to transform into something unimaginable, abominable and impossible.
Nosferatu is my favorite, by the way.
And this book would be much greater with pictures and illustrations.
February 16, 2009
Not a bad little book to get through. I was very impressed that, despite being a book mostly about generalizations, it gave some decently detailed reviews of both cinematic and literary vampires. For me personally, the author got brownie points for liking the campy version of Dracula portrayed by Richard Roxburgh, but got several hundred subtracted for daring to compare Twilight to the Harry Potter phenomena.
I don't really know what I was expecting in regards to this book - I may not come back to it for awhile, but neither do I feel like my time was wasted.
I don't really know what I was expecting in regards to this book - I may not come back to it for awhile, but neither do I feel like my time was wasted.
September 23, 2015
The book was fun to read.It had alot of information in it so you could tell the author did her homework. The transitions were amazing, the best I have seen for both fiction and non-fiction. My only gripe I guess if would call that is that while a topic might be mentioned slightly in one chapter and more thoroughly in another. Sometimes it would confuse me, it kindof felt a little redundant. Especially if it was mentioned more than twice. If there were just larger chapters I think that would have cleared up some of that confusion.
June 11, 2009
I don't think it was supposed to be funny... but it had me near tears. And now.. I never leave home without my handful of mustard seeds to scatter before any 'eternal bad boys' so I can make my escape, jugular intact behind my stylish scarf. Although, I'm pretty sure a silver neck manacle would solve most of my problems.
June 1, 2009
Up to date book of everything you need to know about vampires in fiction, movies and popular culture. Pretty well researched and a good comprendium of vampire lore for those interested.
Read
November 14, 2009This is so amazing! This is thee perfect book for girls who love all things vampires. I'm so grateful to my uncle for getting this for me.
January 11, 2011
Barb Karg gives an informative report with playful twists sewn into the books pages. Written for girls as it is basically a guide to finding, understanding and keeping your dream vampire hubby.
September 22, 2013
the book was ok. it's has everything you need to know about the history of vampires. :)
October 18, 2012
Really not as good as the Encyclopedia of Vampires.
October 28, 2012
Besides the flirty part, it has some interesting info.
April 29, 2016
More interesting than I had thought it would be.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews