Vampires: Encounters with the Undead - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1579122094 ISBN 13: 9781579122096

Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers Inc, 2001

Synopsis

The biggest book on vampires ever published! Both fictional and factual accounts reveal the eerie and fascinating world of the undead. Noted vampire authority and author David J. Skal adds a running commentary on the evolution of the vampire mystique in folklore, literature & popular culture. Over 600 pages reveal bloodcurdling vampire tales, ranging from literary classics to pulp magazine serials to actual historical accounts. One column of every page is devoted to a running narrative covering the history, appeal and cultural significance of vampires - making it a veritable encyclopedia as well as an anthology. The Historical Evidence: "There are such things!"; Russian & Romanian Sources; Romantic & Victorian Vampires; Dracula, in fact and fiction; Vampires in the Twentieth Century; Postmodern Vampires; Fully illustrated with more than 200 images ranging from vintage engravings to film posters and popular artifacts. Packaged as a complementary volume to the same publisher's highly successful Ghosts (Hans Holzer; ISBN 1-884822-64-9; 100,000 copies sold!)

About this title

About the Author

David J. Skal’s many books include Hollywood Gothic, The Monster Show,Screams of Reason, and, with Elias Savada, Dark Carnival: The Secret World of Tod Browning. With Nina Auerbach, he is co-editor of theNorton Critical Edition of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. He lives in Glendale, California.

From the Inside Flap

Good evening.

According to legend. Vampires live forever - and our fascination with them seems equally enduring. Perhaps what springs to mind when you contemplate these elusive, terrifying creatures is a flickering, black-and-white image of Bela Lugosi in full evening attire, gliding down a towering staircase bidding his unwitting guests a civilized "good evening" or, with a swirl of his cape, metamorphosing into a bat and disappearing into the light of a full moon. But if the Hollywood version of Count Dracula is the one most indelibly etched in our minds, it is by no means the first or only incarnation of the vampire to haunt our dreams and capture our imaginations.

In this towering collection, featuring two centuries of spine-tingling literature, lore, ephemera, and history, noted vampire authority David J. Skal takes us on an unprecedented tour through this most captivating of subjects. From classics of the world's literature to pulp magazine serials to actual historical accounts, Skal has packed this volume with great, bloodcurdling writing. There's even an interview with a contemporary, self-confessed blood - drinker!

Every page of Vampires also features a column of commentary by Skal, expanding and reflecting upon the stories and exploring the evolution of the vampire mystique in folklore, Literature, and popular culture. Some 200 beautifully rendered black- and- white images, most from Skal's extensive personal collection and ranging from vintage engravings to film stills and posters to pop - culture artifacts, make this book a true Vampire's Feast.

Do vampires really exist? Says Skal in his introduction. "It should be obvious that vampires prowl the very fabric of modern consciousness.You will have to draw your on conclusions, but I hope this book will provide ample food for thought. And skeptics may be admonished to remember one of Professor Van Helsing's shrewdest observations: 'The strength of the vampire is that people will not believe in him.' Disbelieve, then, at your peril."

Edition details

• Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers Inc
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1579122094
• ISBN 13: 9781579122096
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 606
• Editor: Skal David J.