"Make no mistake, this is a serious, scholarly, altogether professional book--but it also has all the elements of a Stephen King novel. Filled with real-life tales of mystery, misery, and psychological mayhem, it challenges us to realize the unfathomable and to reexamine traditional definitions of fact and fantasy. And Richard Noll proves a sure-footed guide as he crosses the boundary of standard psychiatric nomenclature into the world of identity transformation and blood obsession." "Meticulously researched and edited, the book brings together an international selection of contributions--historical and current--to reveal the depth and breadth of psychopathology as it manifests in vampirism, lycanthropy, and demonical possession. Mr. Noll's own explorations of the subjects weave together clinical, anthropological, and literary perspectives to create a rich and multitextured portrait of these psychiatric disturbances. As the labyrinthian nature of the human psyche unfolds within these pages, we are reminded again and again of the power of the beast that lurks beneath the surface of day-to-day existence." "This is not a book for the faint of heart. But for those whose thirst for knowledge compells them to question the unquestionable, it is a unique and provocative exploration of disorders that lie beyond the reach of current genetic, biochemical, and neurophysiological understanding."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Originally published: New York: Arcade Pub.: Distributed by Little, Brown and Company, c1998.

"From myth to manga, an artistic visual history of the human mind through an imaginative collection of fantastical monsters from around the world"--Provided by publisher.

Monsters and shape-shifters have always held a special fascination in mythologies, legends, and folklore the world over. From ancient customs to famous cases of beasts and vampires and their reflections in popular culture, 600 entries provide definitions, explanations, and lists of suggested further reading.

Vampires and werewolves; phantoms and phantasms: looming out of the fog leaps the menacing spectre of the lycanthrope, ghoul or blood-crazed zombie. Intrigued by some of the most sinister, yet at the same time most compelling, legends of western civilization, Gregory L Reece dusts down his stake and crucifix, loads his silver bullets and takes off into the wilds in search of answers and fresh adventures. Rummaging around in crumbling tombs and cobwebbed sarcophagi, his latest quest leads him into the haunted realm of the dead and the undead: of those carnivorous, nocturnal hunters that might perhaps better be left undisturbed. Why, he asks, is our culture obsessed by the eerie and the macabre? Why, despite its horrors, does the 'dark side' of the supernatural - its seances and ghost-hunting, demonic possession and the occult - call to us with such dangerous allure? Whether tracking night-stalking werewolves, chanting black magic mantras with Satanists, or interviewing a funereal modern-day Count Dracula, Reece is determined to uncover the truth. A wry exploration of a secret and secretive subculture, "Creatures of the Night" is at the same time a bold and startling journey into a wraithlike world that has so often seemed to lie beyond the limits of rational comprehension - until now.

From myth to manga, an artistic visual history of the human mind through an imaginative collection of fantastical monsters from around the world • Includes more than 300 color illustrations • Reveals monsters to be essential companions to the gods and the necessary complement to the perfect human archetype of the hero Every culture on earth has its own monsters. Their stories, their curious habits and diets, and the ways in which they can be warded off create a picture of imaginations running riot. But what does our creation of monsters say about humankind? Why do we find one-eyed giants both in Japan and ancient Greece, or the same dragons in Europe and China? Hindu legends abound with creatures that are half man, half beast. Pliny described the monstrous races that lurked on the edges of Roman civilization. Even modern imagination is populated by monstrous beings such as the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot. This universal fascination with monsters is as old as humanity and continues to grow with each generation. Why? Because monsters respond to a sense of the supernatural that lies deep within us. The battle between order and chaos, good and evil, is made visible through gods and monsters. Introducing a bestiary of bizarre creatures from the furthest reaches of artists’ imaginations, this book offers a unique visual history of the human mind through a collection of fantastical monsters drawn from all over the world--from the earliest prehistoric depictions to the classical world, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance, up to the first glimmer of modern science and Romantic horror. From myth to manga, from dreams to nightmares, Christopher Dell’s mythic-religious study of monsters shows them to be essential companions to the gods as well as the necessary complement to the perfect human archetype of the hero.