From demons to Dracula : the creation of the modern vampire myth / Matthew Beresford.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Beresford, Matthew.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Vampires.

Vampires in literature.

Vampire films.

Physical Description:

240 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

London : Reaktion, 2008.

Summary:

In blood-soaked lore handed down the centuries, the vampire is a monster of endless interest: from Bram Stoker's Dracula to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, this seductive lover of blood haunts popular culture and inhabits our darkest imaginings. The history of the vampire is a compelling tale that is now documented in From Demons to Dracula, which reveals why the vampire myth and this creature of the undead so fascinates us.

Beresford's chronicle roams from the mountains of Eastern Europe to the foggy streets of Victorian England and to Hollywood film as he follows the portrayal of the vampire in history, literature and art. Investigating the historical Dracula - Vlad the Impaler - and his status as a national hero in Romania, Beresford endeavours to winnow out truths from the complex legend and folklore. From Demons to Dracula tracks the evolution of the vampire, drawing on classical Greek and Roman myths, witch trials and medieval plagues, Gothic literature and even contemporary works, such as Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire and Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian. Beresford also looks at the widespread impact of screen vampires from television shows, classic movies starring Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee, and more recent films such as Underworld and Blade. Whether as a demon of the underworld or a light-fearing hunter of humans, the vampire has endured through the centuries as a powerful symbolic figure for human concerns with life, death and the afterlife.

Wide-ranging and engrossing, From Demons to Dracula casts the bloodthirsty nightstalker as a remarkably complex and telling totem of our nightmares, real and imagined.

Contents:

The ancient world: origins of the vampire

The vampire in prehistory: early ideas on death and burial

Historical roots: the vampire in the Middle Ages

Vampiric haunts #1: Transylvania, Romania

The historical Dracula: Vlad III Tepes

From myth to reality: the vampire of folklore

A friend is born: the vampire in literature

Vampiric haunts #2: Whitby, North Yorkshire, England

Phantasmagoria: the modern vampire

Vampiric haunts #3: Highgate cemetery, London, England

Conclusion: a dark reflection of human society?

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 210-227) and index.

Includes web resources.

ISBN:

9781861894038

1861894031

OCLC:

225876018