The Vampire's Bedside Companion: Illustrated Edition (Paranorm...

The Vampire’s Bedside Companion is a riveting compendium of new facts and fiction on the ‘undying’ theme of vampirism. Here is a new theory on the genesis of Dracula (surely literature’s most compelling and macabre figure?); thoughts on allusions to vampirism in Wuthering Heights; first-hand experience of Vampires in Hampstead, London; publication for the first time of the story of a fifteenth-century Vampire Protection medallion that Montague Summers presented to the author; an account by a professer of English at Dalhousie University of a visit to ‘Castle Dracula’ in Transylvania - The Vampire’s Bedside Companion contains these and a wealth of other hitherto unpublished material on a subject that is of enduring interest: The Vampire Legend. To many people, vampires are creatures only of legend and fantasy with no reality outside the pages of books. Others, who have studied the folklore of many countries and the continuing reports of vampirism, maintain that there is extensive evidence not only that vampires once existed but that, in fact, they still do exist. In this fascinating book the author, himself an acknowledged expert on the Occult, presents true accounts of vampire infestation in England, America, Ireland, Hungary, China and France. Records of vampires and vampirism are, he claims, as old as the world and as recent as yesterday. Four new, excisting and authentic vampire fictional stories by Peter Allan, Crispin Derby, Richard Howard and James Turner complete this compelling companion for dark nights, solitude and howling winds! Illustrated with my striking photographs, The Vampire’s Bedside Companion also contains original and evocative drawings by Geoffrey Bourne-Taylor. It is a must for all students of the occult and every reader of the macabre.

From the Inside Flap

The Vampire's Bedside Companion is a riveting compendium of new facts and fiction on the 'undying' theme of vampirism.Here is a new theory on the genesis of Dracula (surely literature's most compelling and macabre figure?); thoughts on allusions to vampirism in Wuthering Heights; first-hand experience of Vampires in Hampstead, London; publication for the first time of the story of a fifteenth-century Vampire Protection medallion that Montague Summers presented to the author; an account by a professer of English at Dalhousie University of a visit to 'Castle Dracula' in Transylvania - The Vampire's Bedside Companion contains these and a wealth of other hitherto unpublished material on a subject that is of enduring interest: The Vampire Legend. To many people, vampires are creatures only of legend and fantasy with no reality outside the pages of books. Others, who have studied the folklore of many countries and the continuing reports of vampirism, maintain that there is extensive evidence not only that vampires once existed but that, in fact, they still do exist. In this fascinating book the author, himself an acknowledged expert on the Occult, presents true accounts of vampire infestation in England, America, Ireland, Hungary, China and France. Records of vampires and vampirism are, he claims, as old as the world and as recent as yesterday.Four new, excisting and authentic vampire fictional stories by Peter Allan, Crispin Derby, Richard Howard and James Turner complete this compelling companion for dark nights, solitude and howling winds!Illustrated with my striking photographs, The Vampire's Bedside Companion also contains original and evocative drawings by Geoffrey Bourne-Taylor.It is a must for all students of the occult and every reader of the macabre.

From the Back Cover

Out of the mists of Antiquity comes the Vampire legend, a legend which has been horribly manifest throughout history, right up to the present day. The nearer it gets, the more real it becomes, and there are many today who doubt that it is a legend at all ... who believe.This unique volume contains a collection of evidence and folklore, of fact and fiction to chill the heart and make the blood run cold.Journey in fascinated horror in the midnight world where the demonic bloodlust of Vlad the Impaler competes with the animal excesses of the Highgate Vampire, and where love for a beautiful woman leads to unimaginable grief.Take this book to bed - then sleep if you dare!

About the Author

Peter Underwood was President of the Ghost Club (founded 1862) from 1960-1993 and probably heard more first-hand ghost stories than any man alive. He was a long-standing member of The Society of Psychical Research, Vice-President of the Unitarian Society for Psychical Studies, a member of The Folklore Society, The Dracula Society and the Research Committee of the Psychic Research Organization, he wrote extensively, and was a seasoned lecturer and broadcaster. He took part in the first official investigation into a haunting; sat with physical and mental mediums and conducted investigations at seances. He was present at exorcisms, experiments at dowsing, precognition, clairvoyance, hypnotism, regression; he conducted world-wide tests in telepathy and extra-sensory perception, and personally investigated scores of haunted houses across the country. He possessed comprehensive files of alleged hauntings in every county of the British Isles and many foreign countries, and his knowledge and experience resulted in his being consulted on psychic and occult matters by the BBC and ITV. His many books include the first two comprehensive gazetteers of ghosts and hauntings in England, Scotland and Ireland and two books that deal with twenty different occult subjects. Highlights from his published work include 'Nights in Haunted Houses' (1993), which collects together the results of group investigations, 'The Ghosts of Borley' (1973), his classic account of the history of 'the most haunted house in England', 'Hauntings' (1977), which re-examines ten classic cases of haunting in the light of modern knowledge, 'No Common Task' (1983), which reflects back upon his life as a 'ghost hunter', and 'The Ghost Hunter's Guide' (1986), which gives the reader all the advice necessary to become one. Born at Letchworth Garden City in Hertfordshire, he lived for many years in a small village in Hampshire.

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