"The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of The Undead" If It's Dead, It's In This Book
Written: Dec 07 '05 (Updated Feb 14 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Over 850 pages of reference, tons of photographs, filmography, novels, "flipping bats"
Cons: It's a freakin' huge book and hard to carry around!
The Bottom Line: Mummies, vampires, werewolves, zombies and more ... if it's undead, it's in this book!
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| Freak369's Full Review: Vampire Book Encyclopedia of Undead Books |
When ever I see a book about vampires I have a checklist of things that it has to have if I am going to buy it. First off, it has to make some reference to Lilith, the first wife of Adam [yes, Adam of “Adam & Eve”]. Second, it has to have references to the vampire brides of Dracula, V.R.I. [Vampire Research Institute], stories of the incubus and succubus, Camarilla and Highgate Cemetery [London]. Amazingly enough, this book has every single one of these things ... and a hell of a lot more. While the title might lead you to think that this book is just about vampires; it isn’t. It covers a lot of ground from past to present and a small glimpse at the future. This is one of the best reference books I’ve come across that deals with a plethora of undead subjects, if you are someone that is into vampires then consider this a must read book. But be forewarned; it is a massive read that will take you a long time to get through. At over 850 pages, this isn’t exactly what I would call “light reading”. Hauling this thing around in a backpack isn’t suggested.
The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of The Undead
One of my biggest beefs with books like this is that they aren’t very organized; some present things is alphabetical order while others take things in a chronological order. More often than not you end up have having to look around for things that interest you because there is no index to work with or the list of contents is extremely vague. Everything in the book is in alphabetical order with a complete list of what is in each section at the start of the book; the downside is that there are no direct page references at the beginning however you can skip to the index in the back of the book to find out exactly where it is listed. Having a book of this size without some type of index to work with would be enough to drive even the most dedicated vampire lover just a little batty. If sources are used, they are noted after each entry, this way if you need more information from that specific publication or author, you don’t have to go skipping to the back of the book to look up a footnote. Have you ever heard of a book that had fifty pages dedicated to indexing the information in the book? Yes, if it is dead .. it is in the book and it’s easy to find thanks to a very hearty [no pun] index section.
At the start of the book you get a detailed list of vampire events in chronological order; this starts at 1047 with the first written reference of “upir”, the early Russian word that would soon come to mean ‘vampire’ all the way through 1994 with Anne Rice’s “Interview With The Vampire”. From there you jump into the meat [no pun] of the book with the alphabetical listings of people, places, events and things relating to the undead. You get everything from The Addams Family to Forever Knight, Lost Boys to Vampire’s Kiss and an awesome section on vampire games. No, not games that vampires play but rather role playing games like ‘Kill The Count’, ‘The Undead’, ‘The Fury’ and ‘Vampire Kingdoms’ from the Riffs game. It’s these highly detailed sections that make the book something that will school even the most hard core vampire scholar.
Another very cool thing about the book is that it goes into detail about vampire legends from different parts of the world. Who knew that there were so many tales from Greece? An interesting thing that it brings up is the concept of three vampire like creatures [instead of one / a singular or two / a male and female pair]. The ‘lamiai’, ‘empusai’ and ‘mormolykiai’ ate the unholy, undead trio that sparked more than a few legends about blood sucking demons. The Greeks can also take credit for coining the term ‘strige’ or vampire witch. A lot of other countries took the word strige and adapted into their own language but the definition remained the same, vampire. Now, if you think that this books lacks a more modern view of vampires and other assorted undead entities, again, you are dead wrong. There are huge sections about the whole ‘goth scene’ including “The Gothic Society” located in Middlesex. This organization is loosely connected with ‘Grimoire”, a fantastic fanzine for the goth scene. You will have to use the index at the back of the book to find all the goth and gothic references - but that’s why it’s there! There’s a total of 33 gothic references ... but that isn’t the one that has the most entries - that honor goes to Dracula with over four pages of listings.
There are over a hundred illustrations and photographs in the book; these range from Lord George Gordon Byron [Lord Byron] to a young woman being seduced by an incubi [incubus], the gothic band Astro Vamps, Bram Stoker and Vlad The Impaler’s burial site at the Snagov Monastery. Some of the pictures and drawings are ones that I have never seen before so you better get prepared for some phenomenal stuff when you start reading this. One thing to know about this book is that it does cover the subject of sex and the vampire lifestyle. While there is no harsh references to detailed acts, it is something that is best suited for the sixteen and older crowd. It covers the sexual vampires of folklore including the incubus and succubus, Lenore [Sir Walter Scott’s adaptation, not the comic book], the dhampir and Goethe’s “The Bride of Corinth”. There’s nothing hard core in the book about sex but like I said, it is still about sex - do you really want to have a conversation with your teen about sex let alone how the undead consummate their love? I didn’t think so.
Suffice it to say, if it is dead it is in the book. Some of the more obscure things that it covers include the mention of two Star Trek novels [unnamed] that have vampire themes, bruja, Arkham House, Dacia, the Montesi Formula, the Westgate House of Death Gallery, vampires in Iceland and the Temple of Set. It doesn’t matter how much you know about vampires, night dwellers, zombies, mummies, monsters and monsters from folklore tales - I can almost guarantee that if you read this from cover to cover you are going to come across a lot of stuff that you were completely unaware of. Hey, I have been reading about vampires for year and there was stuff in here that blew me away and led me to doing a lot more research on the subjects and topics that were mentioned. You get more that just the flashy side of the undead; there are basic things here too like crosses, coffins, garlic, vampire and werewolf hunting, mirrors and blood. If you have questions about any undead ‘thing’ - this is one of the best places to start doing research about it.
Enhanced Sections
One thing that I really love about this book is that it has dedicated sections for things like books, plays, movies and organizations. These mini chapters are at the end of the book before you hit the index and they are a huge help if you are doing research. But please keep this in mind, the book was put out 1994 so there are bound to be some things that are outdated.
Vampire Filmography
An interesting section at the back of the book covers most of the major vampire films both past and present. Since the book is about ten years old you can expect that some of the more recent films won’t be listed but what is there is very impressive - and it is a must see for those who love old classic films. You get the complete name of the film, year it was released, major stars, brief synopsis and the director. If it is a foreign film but released under other titles in other countries, that information is also provided. These are listed in groups according to the year that they were released; a nice touch by the editor - this helps you to stay in a certain era when looking up older films that may share the same name as other films from later years. Some of the more obscure titles include “Orgy of The Night”, “Kiss of The Vampire”, “The Bat People” and “Twins of Evil”.
Vampire Resources
Consider this the pre-computer method of connecting with other lovers of the undead. There are fan clubs for North America, Australia and European residents as well as some that are dedicated to Dark Shadows, independent publications and other listings of clubs. Since this is an older title, you should check online to see if these places are still up and running and if they have moved into the computer age with an online site instead of a printed newsletter.
Vampire Drama
Before movies ruled, the theater was the place to go to see drama. Thankfully the author included a nice list of vampire dramas with as much information as possible about them. This section includes plays, operas and ballets; this is a good starting point if you are collecting information about the titles but some of the entries have a limited amount of information.
Vampire Novels
Just like the filmography, this section is broken up into more manageable groups; novels up to 1969, 1970 to present and then a separate one for Dark Shadows. Since there are so many books in this section there is only basic information provided; author, date released, reprints of the title, publisher and number of pages. This is one section that I have been using a lot; there are a lot of older books that I want to try and order but don’t have the complete title or publishers name - thanks to this book I am getting a lot of correct information.
Flipping Bats
You may have wondered what I meant by that when I mentioned it in the pro section. On the right side of the pages there are small bats located at mid page. When you grab a section of the book and flip the pages, it looks like the bat is flying. I know this is a rather insignificant thing to mention but it was just so cute. A very nice touch by the publisher ... I wonder how many people caught on to this when they were reading the book.
The Bottom Line
All in all, this is one of the best reference books on the undead with a strong slant towards vampires. It gives you a great look at some of the myths, truths and speculations about the different cultures that believe in the undead and how they still cling to their roots even in this modern world. I was a little skeptical about this book when I first saw it; in my mind I set it up to be just another book about vamps that contained the same old stuff. If that is what you are thinking ... you are wrong, dead wrong. It is a great blend between the Hollywood image of the lifeless was in the past, how one person [Dracula] managed to influence so many different facets of history and the true roots of things that we believe in today [ including those pesky urban legends]. This would make a great gift for someone that is into the darker side of things, loves old horror films or has a deep love of the macabre. There is no listed suggested retail price for this; I came across a copy at a local used bookstore for $20.00 and consider that a great deal for the amount of information that it contains and the depth of the subjects that it covers.
As always, thanks for the read!
~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~
© 2005 Freak369
Other vampire related reviews ...
• Vampire State Building • ”The Vampire’s Assistant” • The Vampire Prince • Vampire High • The Vampire Rabbit • Buffy The Vampire Slayer: A Stake To The Heart • Castle Dracula: Romania's Vampire Home • Vampire Kisses • The Vampire Encyclopedia • The Vampire Companion: The Official Guide to Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles • Slayer Slang: A “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” Lexicon • Dark Thirst • Bram Stoker's Dracula • Crosses, Crucifixes & Garlic: My Top Ten Vampire Flick List • Vampire Wine Online Store • Vampire's Crypt •
Recommended:
Yes
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