The Vampire

2019-09-01 Social Science

Author : Thomas M. Bohn
Release : 2019-09-01
Genre : Social Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 930/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis The Vampire by : Thomas M. Bohn

Download or read book The Vampire written by Thomas M. Bohn. This book was released on 2019-09-01. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “An illuminating contribution to scholarship on the vampire figure.”—Slavic Review Even before Bram Stoker immortalized Transylvania as the homeland of his fictional Count Dracula, the figure of the vampire was inextricably tied to Eastern Europe in the popular imagination. Drawing on a wealth of previously neglected sources, this book offers a fascinating account of how vampires—whose various incarnations originally emerged from folk traditions from all over the world—became so strongly identified with Eastern Europe. It demonstrates that the modern conception of the vampire was born in the crucible of the Enlightenment, embodying a mysterious, Eastern otherness that stood opposed to Western rationality. From the Prologue: From Original Sin to Eternal Life For a broad contemporary public, the vampire has become a star, a media sensation from Hollywood. Bestselling authors such as Bram Stoker, Anne Rice and Stephenie Meyer continue to fire the imaginations of young and old alike, and bloodsuckers have achieved immortality through films like Dracula, Interview with a Vampireand Twilight. It is no wonder that, in the teenage bedrooms of our globalized world, vampires even steal the show from Harry Potter. They have long since been assigned individual personalities and treated with sympathy. They may possess superhuman powers, but they are also burdened by their immortality and have to learn to come to terms with their craving for blood. Whereas the Southeast European vampire, discovered in the 1730s, underwent an Americanization and domestication in the media landscape of the twentieth century, the creole zombies that first became known through the cheap novels and horror films of the 1920s still continue to serve as brainless horror figures. Do bloodsuckers really exist and should we really be afraid of the dead? These are the questions that I seek to tackle, following the wishes of my daughter, who was ten when I started this project.

The Universal Vampire

2013 Literary Collections

Author : Barbara Brodman
Release : 2013
Genre : Literary Collections
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 805/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis The Universal Vampire by : Barbara Brodman

Download or read book The Universal Vampire written by Barbara Brodman. This book was released on 2013. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the publication of John Polidori's The Vampyre (1819), the vampire has been a mainstay of Western culture, appearing consistently in literature, art, music (notably opera), film, television, graphic novels and popular culture in general. Even before its entrance into the realm of arts and letters in the early nineteenth century, the vampire was a feared creature of Eastern European folklore and legend, rising from the grave at night to consume its living loved ones and neighbors, often converting them at the same time into fellow vampires. A major question exists within vampire scholarship: to what extent is this creature a product of European cultural forms, or is the vampire indeed a universal, perhaps even archetypal figure? In this collection of sixteen original essays, the contributors shed light on this question. One essay traces the origins of the legend to the early medieval Norse draugr, an "undead" creature who reflects the underpinnings of Dracula, the latter first appearing as a vampire in Anglo-Irish Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, Dracula. In addition to these investigations of the Western mythic, literary and historic traditions, other essays in this volume move outside Europe to explore vampire figures in Native American and Mesoamerican myth and ritual, as well as the existence of similar vampiric traditions in Japanese, Russian and Latin American art, theatre, literature, film, and other cultural productions. The female vampire looms large, beginning with the Sumerian goddess Lilith, including the nineteenth-century Carmilla, and moving to vampiresses in twentieth-century film, literature, and television series. Scientific explanations for vampires and werewolves constitute another section of the book, including eighteenth-century accounts of unearthing, decapitation and cremation of suspected vampires in Eastern Europe. The vampire's beauty, attainment of immortality and eternal youth are all suggested as reasons for its continued success in contemporary popular culture.

Vampire Syndrome

2014-01 Fiction

Author : Daven Anderson
Release : 2014-01
Genre : Fiction
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 137/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Vampire Syndrome by : Daven Anderson

Download or read book Vampire Syndrome written by Daven Anderson. This book was released on 2014-01. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Can Special Olympics champion Jack Wendell survive, now that he's been turned into a vampire? All Jack wants is to be accepted as a valued member of the vampire community. But he can't do this when Chief Venator (vampire law enforcer) Damien Tepesh has ordered Jack to be killed. Fortunately, Jack wins the respect of a powerful ally. Lilith Morrigan, President of the Vampires, hides Jack from the ruthless Venators and gives him a chance to prove his worth. But she cannot stop her husband Damien from targeting Jack. Damien summons Romania's Chief Venator Zetania Vinescu to Colorado to help him hunt Jack. Lilith over-rides her husband and orders Zetania to protect Jack from the Venators. As Damien and Lilith battle over control of Jack, a new threat emerges. A space-alien Pure vampire has come to Colorado, specifically to kidnap Jack. Even if Damien and Lilith settle their differences, can they keep Jack safe from the Pures?

Vampire Watcher's Handbook

2003-10-17 Body, Mind & Spirit

Author : Constantine Gregory
Release : 2003-10-17
Genre : Body, Mind & Spirit
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 047/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Vampire Watcher's Handbook by : Constantine Gregory

Download or read book Vampire Watcher's Handbook written by Constantine Gregory. This book was released on 2003-10-17. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An "authentic" guidebook to vampire watching and hunting that will excite vampire fans everywhere, "The Vampire Watcher's Handbook" presents a wealth of information on the lore and history of vampires.

The Vampire Almanac

2021-10-01 Social Science

Author : J. Gordon Melton
Release : 2021-10-01
Genre : Social Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 544/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis The Vampire Almanac by : J. Gordon Melton

Download or read book The Vampire Almanac written by J. Gordon Melton. This book was released on 2021-10-01. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Grab a stake, a fistful of garlic, a crucifix and holy water as you enter the dark, blood-curdling world of the original pain in the neck in this ultimate collection of vampire facts, fangs, and fiction! What accounts for the undying fascination people have for vampires? How did encounters with death create centuries-old myths and folklore in virtually every culture in the world? When did the early literary vampires—as pictured by Goethe, Coleridge, Shelly, Polidori, Byron, and Nodier as the personifications of man’s darker side—transform from villains into today’s cultural rebels? Showing how vampire-like creatures organically formed in virtually every part of the world, The Vampire Almanac: The Complete History by renowned religion expert and fearless vampire authority J. Gordon Melton, Ph.D., examines the historic, societal, and psychological role the vampire has played—and continues to play—in understanding death, man’s deepest desires, and human pathologies. It analyzes humanity’s lusts, fears, and longing for power and the forbidden! Today, the vampire serves as a powerful symbol for the darker parts of the human condition, touching on death, immortality, forbidden sexuality, sexual power and surrender, intimacy, alienation, rebellion, violence, and a fascination with the mysterious. The vampire is often portrayed as a symbolic leader advocating an outrageous alternative to the demands of conformity. Vampires can also be tools for scapegoating such as when women are called “vamps” and bosses are described as “bloodsuckers.” Meet all of the villains, anti-heroes, and heroes of myths, legends, books, films, and television series across cultures and today’s pop culture in The Vampire Almanac. It assembles and analyzes hundreds of vampiric characters, people, and creatures, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Vlad the Impaler, Edward Cullen and The Twilight Saga, Bram Stoker, Lestat De Lioncourt and The Vampire Chronicles, Lon Chaney, True Blood, Bela Lugosi, Dracula, Dark Shadows, Lilith, Vampire Weekend, Batman, Nosferatu, and so many more. There is a lot to sink your teeth into with this deep exhumation of the undead. Quench your thirst for facts, histories, biographies, definitions, analysis, immortality, and more! This gruesomely thorough book of vampire facts also has a helpful bibliography, an extensive index, and numerous photos, adding to its usefulness.

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