A historical journey in pursuit of the history, legend and lore of vampires. Where do they come from? Why do they have so much appeal today? As Twilight hits the book charts and billboards, and True Blood is on TV there are vampires in downtown clubs and never has it been more fashionable to be pale. M J Trow looks at the story of vampires and charts its origins a long way from the shopping mall in the story of the warrior prince, Vlad of Wallachia.

An authoritative new history of the vampire, two hundred years after it first appeared on the literary scene Published to mark the bicentenary of John Polidori’s publication of The Vampyre, Nick Groom’s detailed new account illuminates the complex history of the iconic creature. The vampire first came to public prominence in the early eighteenth century, when Enlightenment science collided with Eastern European folklore and apparently verified outbreaks of vampirism, capturing the attention of medical researchers, political commentators, social theorists, theologians, and philosophers. Groom accordingly traces the vampire from its role as a monster embodying humankind’s fears, to that of an unlikely hero for the marginalized and excluded in the twenty-first century. Drawing on literary and artistic representations, as well as medical, forensic, empirical, and sociopolitical perspectives, this rich and eerie history presents the vampire as a strikingly complex being that has been used to express the traumas and contradictions of the human condition.

*Includes pictures *Includes historical accounts describing vampires *Discusses the legends of vampires across various cultures and the evolution of the folklore *Includes a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents People have always been afraid of the dead. Since the dawn of humanity, people have both cared for those who have deceased yet also tried to keep them away. There are a myriad of legends and beliefs about the dead coming back, and one of the more persistent ones is of the vampire. Everyone has heard of vampires, but few people are truly familiar with the history and folklore that have made the mythical beings so popular. Indeed, there are so many legends from so many cultures that it is difficult to come up with a hard definition, and folklore is by its very nature unscientific, but most people in the Western world think of vampires as those who come back from the grave to suck the blood or life essence from the living. This common understanding of vampires actually obscures many European and most non-European traditions of bloodsucking monsters. For example, in China, Japan, and the Middle East, there are spirits that will drain the life force of an unwary person, but these magical beings were never mortal humans. In African and Native American traditions, there are monsters that do the same, but while they are supposed to be of this Earth, they too are not human beings. Furthermore, folklore changes over time, so the vampires people are familiar with today (and the ones some people claim to actually meet) bear little resemblance to the vampires of early modern Europe. Stories change, fiction turns to fact and vice versa, and beliefs are constantly reinvented. Ideas are adopted, adapted, and presented as true. All the while, the legend of the vampire remains. The History and Folklore of Vampires chronicles how vampires became so popular. Along with pictures and a bibliography, you will learn about vampires like never before, in no time at all.

A historical journey in pursuit of the history, legend and lore of vampires. Where do they come from? Why do they have so much appeal today? As Twilight hits the book charts and billboards, and True Blood is on TV there are vampires in downtown clubs and never has it been more fashionable to be pale. M J Trow looks at the story of vampires and charts its origins a long way from the shopping mall in the story of the warrior prince, Vlad of Wallachia.

This comprehensive bibliography covers writings about vampires and related creatures from the 19th century to the present. More than 6,000 entries document the vampire's penetration of Western culture, from scholarly discourse, to popular culture, politics and cook books. Sections by topic list works covering various aspects, including general sources, folklore and history, vampires in literature, music and art, metaphorical vampires and the contemporary vampire community. Vampires from film and television--from Bela Lugosi's Dracula to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, True Blood and the Twilight Saga--are well represented.

This collection of original essays presents pedagogical tools, methods, and approaches for incorporating the figure of the vampire into the learning environment of the college classroom, in the hopes of ushering the Undead out of the coffin and into the classroom. The essays foster interdisciplinary collaboration and dialogue, and serve as a collective resource for those currently teaching the vampire as well as newcomers to vampire studies. Opening with a foreword by Sam George, the collection is organized around such topics as historicizing the vampire, teaching the diverse vampire, and engaging the student learner. Interwoven throughout the volume are strategies for incorporating writing instruction and generating conversations about texts ("texts" defined broadly so as to include film and other media). The vampire allows instructors to explore timeless themes such as life and death, love and passion, immortality, and monstrosity and Otherness.

An authoritative new history of the vampire, two hundred years after it first appeared on the literary scene Published to mark the bicentenary of John Polidori's publication of The Vampyre, Nick Groom's detailed new account illuminates the complex history of the iconic creature. The vampire first came to public prominence in the early eighteenth century, when Enlightenment science collided with Eastern European folklore and apparently verified outbreaks of vampirism, capturing the attention of medical researchers, political commentators, social theorists, theologians, and philosophers. Groom accordingly traces the vampire from its role as a monster embodying humankind's fears, to that of an unlikely hero for the marginalized and excluded in the twenty-first century. Drawing on literary and artistic representations, as well as medical, forensic, empirical, and sociopolitical perspectives, this rich and eerie history presents the vampire as a strikingly complex being that has been used to express the traumas and contradictions of the human condition.