'This vampire which is amongst us is of himself so strong in person as twenty men,' notes Van Helsing. The vampire's strength is one of its popular characteristics. The trope is upheld in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga.
Does this literary and cinematic device have a folkloric precedent? Actually, it does. S.G.B. St. Clair and Charles A. Brophy discussed the vampiric state of their servant's father, apparently in the early stages of vampirism:
One night he seized by the waist (for vampires are capable of exercising considerable physical force) Kodja Keraz, the Pehlivan or champion wrestler of Derekuoi, crying out, "Now then, old Cherry Tree, see if you can throw me." The village champion put forth all his strength, but the vampire was so heavy that Kodja Keraz broke his own jaw in throwing the invisible being who was crushing him to death.1
That must've looked quite a sight. Interestingly, vampire invisibility is also found in other regions. Vukanović noted 'in the villages of Upper and Lower Srbica, they think that a vampire is only visible to his son Dhampir, to a magician or sorceror, and to nobody else'.2
2. TP Vukanović, 'The vampire (in the belief and customs of the Gypsies in the province of Kosovo-Metohija, Stari Ras and Novopazarski Sandžak, Yugoslavia)', Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society, 3rd ser, vol. 37, no. 3–4, 1958, p. 114.↩
A year goes by, another Hallowe'en arrives! To commemorate the occasion, I thought I'd share a few snippets of vampirey goodness. And lots of links. Oh, so many links.
Firstly, The Highgate Cemetery Vampire Appreciation Society–which I co-admin–has celebrated its first anniversary. We've progressed from a 'den of vipers' with six members to 102 strong. As of this writing. Our success even inspired a clone.
If you're interested in joining, it's free. Well, our 'base' is Facebook, after all. Here's our group and our page. If you're thinking 'Highgate Cemetery Vampire Wha–?', read this article. It deals with one of the most infamous and contested cases in vampire history.
Oh, I also co-admin Vampire lore and legends and Count Dracula. The latter has personal significance. It was born from the ashes of a swiped Facebook group. Unfortunately, its original owner wasn't able to reclaim it, but the group set-up in its stead rapidly gained support and sizable membership. Both groups are great. Join us there, too.
Speaking of memberships, I've just renewed my Transylvanian Society of Dracula membership. Literally. Today. That's not free, unfortunately, but still fairly cheap–an annual fee of $30. Canadian. Here's what membership gets you (courtesy of the society's page):
our quarterly newsletter, The Borgo Post
a free copy of our annual scholarly publication, the Journal of Dracula Studies
access to the Membership Directory
occasional in-house publications
on request, access to various resource materials held by the TSD office
updated information on conferences and Dracula tours, as well as discounts on TSD-sponsored events
If that tickles your fancy, come join us. Last year, I wrote a significant article for The Borgo Post. It was 'the first vampire-related article I've submitted for a print publication. Ever.' You can read it here.
My ghoulish heart was touched by a young girl having the audacity to tell Pippa Middleton that she wasn't interested in princesses, but by certain other creatures of the night...
On 29 October, I received my copy of The undead and theology (Eugene, Or.: Pickwick Publications, 2012). That was another personal investment. A financial one, this time. I've discussed the development of that book here, here and here.
In order to ensure its publication, a Kickstarter fund was set-up. I'm proud to be one of its sponsors. One of the great hindrances of vampire scholarship–though, admittedly, this book covers other undead, too–is that it's such a niche field of interest, with niches of its own.
It's a shame its editors, Kim Paffenroth and John W. Morehead, had to resort to donations, but it also means we could be seeing more and more DIY projects emerge. I welcome that. It'll encourage more authors to get their stuff out there, rather than be deterred by rejections from mainstream publishers. Sure, that also means that there'd also be a lot of crappy output to sort through–but that's no different to what we generally deal with now, anyway.
This particular book doesn't fall into the crappy pile, thankfully. It's a well-produced and researched book. Kudos to Kim, John, its contributors, donors and Wipf and Stock. You can buy the book through its publisher or Amazon.
As mentioned in my previous post, 'my Amazon trawlings have upturned a cache of upcoming books I'm really enthused about.' That post is still on the way, but I'll disclose one of them–as it's no longer 'upcoming', but out.
Tanya Erzen's Fanpire: the Twilight saga and the women who love it was released on 30 October. The timing couldn't be better, what with the last movie in the series–The twilight saga: breaking dawn – part 2–due for release on 16 November.
I also suspect it'll represent a turning point in the Twilight craze, especially as a lot of its literary thunder's been stolen by E. L. James' 'Fifty shades trilogy'. A bit of a kick in the guts, as it spun off from Twilight fan-fic. We'll probably see one last heave of vampire books in the wake of the movie's release, before things die down again and the next boom comes along.
That said, I'd be very surprised if we ever see anything as mainstreamly successful as Twilight was. Sure, Stoker's Dracula developed into a myth, an archetype–but that took decades to cultivate. Meanwhile, Meyers' saga scored her millions in a short time frame, even threatening to topple the success of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. It blows my mind.
Therefore, books like Erzen's will ironically outlast the saga's success and provide a snapshot of 21st century vampire fandom. What exactly was it about these books that made them so successful, especially as we're awash with–probably–thousands of other vampire novels? What's the appeal? Either way, it's on my wish list. You can buy the book from its publisher or Amazon.
Last but not least, I thought I'd share a tune to celebrate the Hallowe'en festivities. It's not vampire-related–yes, much disappointment all round–but it's a good 'un, nonetheless. Presenting, Stephen Lynch's 'Halloween'.
This particular version features Lynch on Last call with Carson Daly (31 October 2003). It's also available on his 2005 album, The Craig machine.
And on that note, I wish all my readers a safe and Happy Hallowe'en! Enjoy your treats.
Time flies. I just remembered that my blog's first anniversary has come and gone. You see, I started this blog on 20 September 2011 as an offshoot to my previous effort, Diary of an amateur vampirologist. Amazing. It's been more than a year, already.
You've probably noticed I haven't been updating as much of late. Life's been getting in the way. Also, few things have been inspiring me to write here. I don't see this blog as a 'job', so much as an outlet of expression. I only write about vampy things that interest me—and not much has been piquing my interest in the vampire world, lately. At least, not enough to write about.
For instance, I did wind up watching the Dark shadows remake—on DVD. It was as shite as I expected it to be. House of dark shadows (1970) is far-superior to Burton's airbrushed comedy-horror. See that, instead.
That's not to say I've been totally dormant. I've been active in my role as co-admin of The Highgate Cemetery Vampire Appreciation Society. The group's anniversary's coming up on 27 October. Come join us!
The thing that broke the dryspell was being tipped-off about the 30 October 2012 Jonathan Ferguson lecture. I'm genuinely excited by that. If I was anywhere near Leeds, I'd be there in a heartbeat! If you're able, check it out.
Ferguson wrote the brilliant 'To kill a vampire' article for Fortean Times, no. 288 (2012). Grab that issue (left) if you can. It features another excellent article, by Leo Ruickbie. Readers may recognise him as the author of A brief guide to the supernatural (2012).
A brief guide serves as a classic example to why you (ok, I) shouldn't judge a book by its cover. I was expecting a threadbare pop-culture treatment, but it's incredibly well-researched. Ruickbie certainly knows his stuff. I bought it along with a stack of other books in my latest 'book spree'. Stay tuned for a write-up on that.
Speaking of things to watch out for, my Amazon trawlings have upturned a cache of upcoming books I'm really enthused about. What did I find? Stay tuned for that, too!
I mentioned that not much had been interesting me in the vampire world of late, but there is something that caught my attention. Andrew M. Boylan recently interviewed Mark Devendorf and Mauricio Chernovetzky—who're responsible for an upcoming adaptation of J. Sheridan LeFanu's 'Carmilla', Styria.
There was a particular portion of the interview I found particularly intriguing:
T_ttlg: Your research tied suicide with vampirism… more specifically mass suicides. Could you tell us more about that?
MC: Yes, what Mark and I realized was that Vampirism not only occurred in the past, but it still happening today. Sociologists and psychologists have simply given it a more scientific name: "Suicide Clusters."
MD: These cases all follow a similar pattern: In a small community or town, one person dies or commits suicide. Soon another person, usually a friend or relative is haunted by the dead person until they fall ill or kill themselves. Soon, then the "infection" spreads until dozens are dead. Barring communicable diseases, the only explanation pre-modern villagers had was the supernatural notion they called "Vampirism."
It sounds like a compelling theory and I'd love to read more on it, but I'd give it credence if suicides were a predominant characteristic of vampire cases. They're not.
The pattern's similar, mind you—someone in the community or family dies; those visited by their 'ghost' die soon after. Repeat.
But the victims don't kill themselves. They die soon shortly after visitation in circumstances similar to psychosomatic disorder.
Or, in the case of New England 'vampire' attacks, waste away from something 'suspiciously' sharing symptoms with tuberculosis—as tastefully rendered by this meme I just created (above). I hearby dedicate it to Michael E. Bell, author of the brilliant Food for the dead (2001).
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the members of this blog, my readers and casual browsers, alike. You guys make it worthwhile. Cheers!
At the 7:29 mark, we see a bunch of people getting ripped-off during an auction—inadvertently, it would seem, but the auctioneers. It's taken from the season 1, episode 1 edition of Auction kings (26 October 2010).
If you can't be arsed watching the clip, a vampire killing kit winds up being sold to a telephone bidder for US$12,000—far higher than the US$7,500 asking price.
A seller named 'Edwin'—who repeatedly emphasises that he's keen to make a down payment on his house—had presented a supposedly antique vampire killing kit to Paul Brown.
Brown is clearly impressed by the kit, but drafts his father, Bob, in to take another look. Much to my amazement, Bob gives it the seal of approval—but tellingly recounts a story commonly associated with such kits (10:13). Indeed, it's even been established that he's sold 'two or three of these kits' before (2:55).
He's also familiar with the exorbitant prices they sell for, likely on account of their pseudohistory; namely, that they were manufactured in Europe during the 19th century for use by travellers against the undead.
Bob does little more than glance it over; a common practice when such kits are 'examined'. The stories seem proof enough, even though no auction house or museum—including Ripley's—has actually verified the associated tales.
Thankfully, not everyone falls for this routine. In the 24 October 2011 episode of Pawn stars, 'Rick or treat', a seller tries to palm one off for US$9,000. Thankfully, Rick Harrison immediately sees through it. 'There's some stuff that doesn't make sense to me . . .' (3:11); the kit utilises vampire lore associated with Stoker's novel, Dracula (1897), for instance, a mirror—that looks remarkably clean for something well-over 100 years old.
Stoker invented the vampires-don't-have-a-reflection-in-mirrors trope, which automatically pushes the kit's date further up the 19th century. Harrison also takes issue with the 'obsolete' gun included in the kit, recognising that it's something that's been retroactively added to the kit. I'm glad that some dealers don't take these things hook, line and sinker.
Unfortunately, 'antique vampire killing kits' are a thriving trade. I call it the Blomberg Effect: what likely started as a few novelty kits manufactured in the 1970s, soon turned into a 'trade' as media coverage revealed the kits selling for ludicrous prices. The rest, onward, are cash-ins—like this US$4,995 example by Tracy L. Conway.
'Antique' vampire killing kits are fake. They're generally cobbled from actual antique components—be it firearms, Bibles or prayer books, or the kit box, itself—and other items which are artificiality aged. They often come associated with a backstory—their main claim to 'authenticity' is that they were manufactured in the 19th century as a traveller's item for journeys in Europe. Occasionally the name 'Ernst Blomberg' or 'Nicolas Pomdeur' will be mentioned.
The weapons and wards in the kits, however, are often post-Stoker allusions to vampire lore. Remember, Stoker's Dracula was fiction, not a chronicle of vampire lore. He was at liberty to make stuff up. Auction houses and museums aren't.
I was recently contacted by Julia Lumley, Royal Armouries' Communications Officer, who asked me if I'd be 'interested in a talk by Jonathan Ferguson, titled How to Kill a Vampire, where he will be talking about the various means of slaying vampires in both folklore and fiction, including the real story behind the mysterious vampire killing kits.'1
Readers may recall Ferguson from the previous entry—he is the Curator of the Royal Armouries in Leeds. He also wrote a brilliant article for Fortean Times (no. 288, 2012) called, 'To kill a vampire', which concerns itself with the glut of supposedly antique vampire killing kits that've been appearing in museums and auction houses within the last two decades. I think it's fair to say that Ferguson is an expert on the topic.
Lumley's email added, 'There will also be a chance to see the kit up close' and 'Is this something you would be interested in featuring on your blog as a follow up story?' Wouldn't I!
Unfortunately, I can't see the talk or the kit up close—as much as I've love to—because I'm on the other side of the world.
However, if you're in the UK, near there or even planning a visit, Ferguson will be giving his lecture on 30 October 2012, 6.30pm at the Royal Armouries' Bury Theatre, Leeds. His talk concerns
the various means of slaying vampires in both folklore and fiction, including the real story behind the mysterious vampire killing kits.
How much will the lecture cost? A measly £5. That's it.
The lecture goes for an hour and a half and you get to see one of these fabled kits up close. Cheaper than a movie.
Lumley's also provided me with a stack of promotional pics to share2—the ones that line this blog entry. I pass them onto you, dear reader.
So, what do you think guys? Are you up for it? If you're able, do it. It's a fantastic opportunity and Ferguson certainly knows his stuff. Don't miss out!
1. J Lumley, email, Friday, 12 October 2012 2:04:25 AM.↩
For the previous instalment, click here. So, what's been happening lately? Firstly, I decided to do some 'chasing'.
After mentioning the upcoming Kickstarter-sponsored book, The undead and theology, I got to thinking about something else I'm incredibly keen to see published: the papers presented at 'Vampire (&) science: a trans-disciplinary conference'. Why? Here's a list (pdf) of them. What a brilliant cornucopia!
The last I heard about it, the event's organiser—Clemens Ruthner—was shopping around academic publishers. Has any progress been made? I emailed him on Tuesday and got this response: 'Yes, we are discussing a publication entitled Vampire(&)Science, same title as the conference', adding 'I should know more after the summer. You can gladly post it' (Tuesday, 3 July 2012 6:58:25 PM). Sweeet!
Speaking of the Kickstarter project, it's coming along nicely. One of its editors, John W. Morehead, sent me the typeset manuscript on 26 July. It looks great. In fact, the book's cover was publicly unveiled today (left).
On the 27th and 28th, I submitted revisions for W. Scott Poole's chapter, 'The vampire that haunts Highgate: theological evil, Hammer horror, and the Highgate vampire panic in Britain, 1963–1974'. Some readers may recognise his name from a recently-published book called Monsters in America: our historical obsession with the hideous and the haunting (2011). It's one of many on my Amazon Wishlist.
The first part of the book concerns itself with vampires, consisting four essays by Vicky Gilpin ('Vampires and female spiritual transformation'), Joseph Laycock ('Crossing the spiritual wasteland in Priest'), Jarrod Longbons ('Vampires are people, too: personalism in the Buffyverse') and, of course, Poole.
If you're a zombie or 'other undead' fan, there's goodies for you, too.
A coupla reprints got caught up in my Amazonian trawlings for upcoming books; but there was one more I missed. It turns out David McNally's Marxist study, Monsters of the market: zombies, vampires, and global capitalism—mentioned here—has actually been published before.
BRILL, an academic publisher based in Amsterdam, released it last year. In hardback. I'm guessing the paperback reprint is intended for a broader audience, because the xii, 296 pp. hardback edition goes for €99.00 ($136). Yikes!
I was saddened to find out about the passing of my favourite photographer, Simon Marsden; but surprised to find out it happened several months ago.
Marsden's last book, Vampires: the twilight world—'Published to coincide with the film releases of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (Part I) and Brad Pitt's Vlad, about the life of the real Dracula' (left)—was released 6 October 2011.
I grew up with Marsden. The first book of his I read—ok, flicked through—was Phantoms of the Isles: further tales from the haunted realm (1990). Borrowed it from my local library. At the time, I was deeply into the supernatural—particularly ghosts.
That lead to his 1994 book, The journal of a ghost hunter, which, unlike Phantom, features some vampire content. With hindsight, story-teller's a better description for Marsden than 'ghost hunter'. Nonetheless, what an incredible legacy he's left us with. He sought out supposedly haunted locations for his shots; and other settings associated with horror and the supernatural. His main influence was Poe. The pictures themselves, are wonderfully broody and atmospheric. See for yourself via his archive. Simon Marsden, R.I.P.
The Royal Armouries in Leeds recently acquired a '19th century vampire-slaying kit'. I've written about such kits before—here, here and here. I've even interviewed the man primarily responsible for obtaining the world's largest collection of these supposedly 'antique' kits.
If you're not familiar with my position on these kits, here goes: they're fake. There's no contemporary evidence for their manufacture. Their back-stories are highly dubious. They often feature 19th century artefacts—like pistols, prayer books or Bibles—but other components are artificially aged. Despite this, they often sell for thousands at auction houses.
In this case, the Royal Armouries purchase is intriguing because it was apparently 'left to a Yorkshire woman in her uncle’s will'. However, the article also notes:
“We’ve yet to establish a firm date for our kit,” added [Curator, Jonathan] Ferguson.
“It’s Victorian in the sense that it’s made of Victorian components and intended to represent something from the mid-19th century.
“It’s 20th century in terms of when it was actually put together, inspired by post-Dracula vampire fiction.
“We will be carrying out tests to confirm the facts, but we know it will attract a lot of interest from our visitors.”
It's good to see some balance in the curator's comments, but it does make me wonder why the armoury bothered acquiring the kit, without validating its date first.
Speaking of which, I picked up a copy of Fortean Times (no. 288) on 13 July. The cover story was 'To kill a vampire' by Jonathan Ferguson—the guy mentioned in the previous article. His article details the history and prevalence of vampire killing kits. Certainly worth the cover price.
Considering the quality of the article, I was honoured to see I'd been cited four times in his list of references. Cheers, Jonathan!
In the previous instalment, I mentioned a few details had to be sorted before publishing this follow-up. Essentially, there were two upcoming books I'd stumbled upon. They seemed 'familiar', so I double-checked whether or not they were reprints—by contacting their authors.
While that was going on, I also received two updates on upcoming works—one's only just been published. Therefore, this is the first edition of 'Upcoming books' to feature a 'Special mention' and 'Update'!
Readers may be familiar with Gray's previous book, How to be a vampire: a fangs-on guide for the newly undead (2009). Is this a follow-up? I had my suspicions, as the subtitle indicates a very similar theme. So I contacted Gray by e-mail, asking whether it was an original or a reprint.1 She said, 'Fangs is a reprint of the 2009 title. From what I understand, it's a rejacket so the only difference is the cover art', adding 'It's a little bit of a shame because there is so much more content I wanted to add about the history and archetype of vampires in cultures around the world.'2 A shame, indeed. Including her extra material could've at least justified the book's retitling as a new or revised edition, but there you go.
I didn't realise this book in Parkstone Press' 'Temporis' series might be a reprint, until I saw its inclusion on Kyle Van Helsing's blog: 'So anyways, this book is a hardcover edition of a previous release.' That info isn't mentioned in the book's Amazon description. How did he know? Trawling through the Amazons, I did find references to a similar work published on 1 February 2001 and 15 June 2001; both hardcover. Miller's publications page lists, 'Dracula. 134 illustrations. New York: Parkstone Press, 2001. Also available in French and German editions.' Might this version be an update? On June 28, I posted a message on Miller's Facebook page, asking whether the book was a reprint. She said, 'It's a reprint - so is not as up-to-date as it could have been. Published initially by Parkstone Press (2001) in coffee-table book format in English, French & German.' Mystery solved.
A femme fatale is 'is a mysterious and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations.' The vampire connection was established by the 'vamp', a figure made popular by Philip Burne-Jones' 1897 painting, The vampire and Theda Bara's movie stardom. I'm aware of at least two other books specifically devoted to this subject: Andrea Weiss' Vampires and violets: lesbians in film (1993) and Pam Keesey's Vamps: an illustrated history of the femme fatale (1997). However, Braun's subtitle suggests an emphasis on the vampiric aspect. Will it pan out? Wait and see.
Readers may be familiar with Curran's other vampire works, namely, Bloody Irish: great Irish vampire stories (2002), Vampires: a field guide to the creatures that stalk the night (2005), Encyclopedia of the undead: a field guide to creatures that cannot rest in peace (2006), Vampires (2007) and Biblio vampiro: an essential guide to vampires and, more importantly, how to avoid them (2010). The book's Amazon description suggests it'll be in the 'field guide' vein tapped into by contemporaries like Jonathan Maberry and Theresa Bane: 'The vampires that lurk in the American darkness come in a variety of shapes and sizes and can produce some surprising results.' Will it be in the same league as Michael E. Bell's Food for the dead: on the trail of New England's vampires (2001), the works of Christopher Rondina or even Thomas D'Agostino's A history of vampires in New England (2010)? I'd be surprised if it actually did anything substantially new to the genre. We'll see.
Though vampires feature prominently in the title, this work will cover a variety of monstrous wonders: 'What caused ancient Minoans to create the tale of the Minotaur that was imprisoned in a subterranean maze? Did dragons really exist? What inspired the creation of vampires and werewolves, and why have they endured as figures of horror?' I'd be surprised if the coverage given to the origin of the vampire myth will be very substantial, but the author's credentials as a 'noted science journalist and enthusiast of both the hard facts of science and the fantastic fictions of myth' are certainly intriguing.
Gelder's best-known in vampire circles for Reading the vampire (1994), one of the more popular academic works on the undead. At first, I thought this might be a retitled reprint, till I read its Amazon.co.uk description: 'A study of around forty vampire films, from 1992 to 2010. This book looks at new vampire cinema as a genre, asking what is at stake when the cinematic vampire and the modern world encounter each other'. Should be good.
Special mention
Last year, I mentioned a book in the works by Andy M. Boylan, author of vampire movie review blog, Taliesin meets the vampires. On 29 June, he informed me of the publication of his book via Facebook: 'just to let you know the reference book is out. Only on Lulu at the mo but should be picked up through Amazon etc soon.'
You may also recall my involvement in a Kickstarter project to help publish a book called The undead and theology. Here's the latest status on the book by its editor, John W. Morehead:
Among other things, working on manuscript for Theology and the Undead with Kim Paffenroth. Our editor at Wipf & Stock considers this a collection of quality pieces of academic work on a very interesting subject." A few questions to answer and then we move to first proofs to check.
Good to see it's coming along nicely.
Boylan's tip-off highlights an issue I'd like to address. My primary source for upcoming non-fiction vampire books is Amazon. However, Amazon isn't the only online marketplace for books—but it is the most accessible, convenient and well-known.
So, if you're an author whose upcoming non-fiction vampire book doesn't appear on Amazon, feel free to let me know. Reprints—retitled or otherwise—don't count, though. But revised editions do. My contact details are on my profile page.
1. A Hogg, email, Thursday, 28 June 2012 3:46:02 PM.↩
2. A Gray, email, Friday, 29 June 2012 9:21:02 AM.↩
