Upcoming books 2 & update

For the previous instalment, click here. I periodically trawl through Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk—the latter has a greater span—for new works on vampires. 

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Previously, occult-based and cinematic coverage were the dominant themes. This time, it looks like vampire hunters are making a resurgence. 

Going on its title, Valerie Estelle Frankel's Buffy and the Heroine's Journey: vampire slayer as feminine Chosen One is a feminist slant on the Hero's Journey—or monomyth—espoused by Joseph Campbell. This is basically confirmed by its publisher's listing: 'Television’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer represents a different kind of epic--the heroine’s journey, not the hero’s. This provocative study explores how Buffy blends 1990s girl power and the path of the warrior woman with the oldest of mythic traditions.' According Amazon.co.uk, it'll be available on April 1st.

April 26th will see the release of The vampire hunter's guide by Otto De'Ath (groan). This one's for junior Van Helsings. It's also part of Franklin Watts' 'EDGE - Monster Tracker' series. Here's other titles.

Roger Ma's The vampire combat manual: a guide to fighting the bloodthirsty undead will be released on October 2nd. His previous work—The zombie combat manual: a guide to fighting the living dead (2010)—will likely serve as a good barometer to this one. In the meantime, here's an interview with the author discussing that work.

From vampire hunters to their close cousin, the vampire expert—September 18th will see the release of István Pivárcsi's Just a bite: a Transylvania vampire expert's short history of the undead. First time I've heard of him. The Amazon.co.uk description reads: 'Mustering his extensive experience on the scene of the world's richest source of vampire lore, Transylvania, historian and author István Pivárcsi seeks to peel away the effects of popular culture and set the record straight, addressing essential questions in dozens of bite-size chapters'. I must admit, the 'bite-size chapters' bit makes me a lil suss. 

Tundra Books

Don't worry, though, there's still some sympathy for the Devil with Victoria Nelson's Gothicka: vampire heroes, human gods, and the new supernatural on April 13th: 'The Gothic, Romanticism's gritty older sibling, has flourished in myriad permutations since the eighteenth century. In "Gothicka", Victoria Nelson identifies the revolutionary turn it has taken in the twenty-first century. Today's Gothic has fashioned its monsters into heroes and its devils into angels.' Indeed. In fact, now they're practically pin-up, as attested by works like Dark angels revealed by Angela Grace (2011).

Lastly, another work for the kiddies—a compendium, from the looks of it—Denise Despeyroux's The big book of vampires. Stay tuned August 14th for that one.

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And now, the update. On February 14th, I received the other belated Christmas present from Jo, ordered through Amazon.co.uk—Anja Lauper's Die ›phantastische Seuche‹: Episoden des Vampirismus im 18. Jahrhundert (2011). To find out what the other was, click here.