Vampires: Encounters With the Undead

More than 600 pages of bloodcurdling vampire tales, ranging from literary classics to pulp magazine serials to actual historical accounts, pack this luscious volume featuring commentary by noted vampire authority David J. Skal. Everyone knows that vampires live forever-and our fascination with vampires seems equally durable. This big, beautiful compilation of vampire tales features two centuries of spine-tingling writing, ranging from John Polidori to Robert Bloch. Put on your cape, light your candelabra and experience works by Alexis Tolstoy, Bram Stoker, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Rosemary Ann Guiley, Henry Kuttner, Cornell Woolrich and dozens more. There's even an interview with a contemporary, self-confessed blood-drinker. Every page of VAMPIRES features a column of running commentary by the editor, expanding 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, ranging from vintage engravings to film posters and popular artifacts, make this book a true Vampire's Feast!

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."

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 the Norton Critical Edition of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. He lives in Glendale, California.

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