Synopsis
1000 Vampires on Screen is a truly unique collection written by award-winning author and vampire-genre expert Simon Bacon that in two packed volumes covers the history of vampires on film and television. Looking at examples, from Nosferatu to Duckula, Blacula to Twilight, and Dark Shadows to True Blood the story of the screen vampire from its first appearance on film is told from the perspective of the vampire itself, charting its journey from a hideous, devilish monster through to romantic lead and even as aspirational role model. It is a trip that takes us around the globe, to countries in every continent, and even some places in outer space, encompassing bloodsuckers, energy-drinkers, soul-takers, life-absorbers, body-copiers, man-eating-plants, possessed objects, sexoholics, eternal lovers, and vegetarian vampires, to name but a few.
Further to this, the two volumes of 1000 Vampires on Screen also features 30+ exclusive interviews with the writers, directors, and actors that have brought these undead creatures to life. Jim Wynorski, Henry Rollins, Robert Bierman, Debbie Rochon, Neil Jordan, Anna Silk, Doug Jones, Leonor Varella, Catherine Hardwicke, and James Woods amongst many others discuss what glamoured them about the vampire, how they became them on screen, and why, so many of them, returned to its embrace again and again. Many of them also share exclusive and personal onset photographs, design images, and publicity shots to give new perspectives on themselves and on the vampires they created.
All of this is supported by cross-reference notes on all the entries and extensive Film, and Actor and Director Indexes making 1000 Vampires on Screen not only an indispensable reference tool for professionals and enthusiasts alike, but one of the most inventive and important books on the vampire genre of 2023.
“It is seldom that we find scholarship that simultaneously informs and entertains, but Simon Bacon, a leading figure in the new generation of academic appraisal of the penetration of Dracula and vampire lore into the popular culture, does just that in his 1000 Vampires on the Screen. He immerses the reader into one of the major realms through which vampires in all their diversity take up residence in our mundane existence, enlarge our consciousness, and drive boredom from day-to-day routines. Then, by repeatedly assuming the vampire’s POV, he forces us to consider our personal appropriation and integration of our favorite bloodsuckers as we suck the life out of the movies we love.”
J. Gordon Melton
Author of The Vampire Almanac: The Compete History (2022)
“A highly original approach to a vampire encyclopedia, which makes it all the more necessary for every bookshelf, even those storing garlic cookbooks.”
Gary D. Rhodes, Ph.D., author of The Birth of the American Horror Film and writer-director of Lugosi: Hollywood's Dracula
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