Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #136202 in Books
• Published on: 1992-10-26
• Binding: Paperback
• 528 pages

Synopsis
Vampire literature is an amazingly varied genre of writing, providing elements of everything from the penny dreadful horrors to powerful doses of myth and eroticism. Because it contains its own mythology and its own set of rules, it has also proved a psychologically attractive genre for many writers from its Romantic inception to the present day. This anthology includes Bram Stoker's detailed research notes for "Dracula", the culmination point of vampire literature. The author has written a full introduction, exploring the historical and imaginative implications of vampire mythology in the arts from the medieval Count Vlad to President Ceaucescu.

Customer Reviews

a book to get your teeth into
For those with either a general interest or specific academic interest in horror Fraylings name will be familiar, he is after all consodered an experct on modern horror, and narrated an excellent video series on varoius horror 'classics'.

This book however is only for the serious academic, English lit student or only the most serious horror, vampire fan. As such most general readership may find his prose style to dry and academic. I however, found his style to hit the right balance between academia and specialist interest.
An impresivley and maticulously researched book, full of usufull apendixes and, good basic historical and literature background Frayling shed much needed light on what is now a very confusing and extremley popular subject. Among the plathora of Vamp books and websites, magazines devoted to the demons of the night, just do a random search on the net of all three and you'll soon see thousands of examples of all three. Frayling looks at the background, the literature and context of the vampire, in a very linear and clear style.
As forementioned if your expecting an Anne Rice / Poppy Z Brite style you'll be very dissapointed, but if you'r looking for for a great academic or specialist book to broaden your knowledge Frayling is the man.