Upcoming Books 6

For the previous instalment, click here. Time for another round-up of upcoming non-fiction vampire books! Note: publication dates and titles are sometimes subject to change.

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1 August 2013

Amazon.co.uk

Vampire Culture / Maria Mellins

The Vampire Community is notoriously prickly when it comes to coverage of their culture—Joseph Laycock's Vampires Today (2009) remains relatively unscathed. Will this "ethnographic study" pass muster? We'll see.

But if anyone wants a taste of her previous work on this subject, I recommend tracking down her 2008 article for the International Journal of Media & Cultural Politics, "The Female Vampire Community and Online Social Networks: Virtual Celebrity and Mini Communities: Initial Thoughts."

15 August 2013

Fanged Fan Fiction: Variations on Twilight, True Blood and The Vampire Diaries / Maria Lindgren Leavenworth and Malin Isaksson

The release dates are a bit hazy on this one. Amazon.com lists 30 September; the publisher's website lists "Spring/Summer 2013." I'm using the Amazon.co.uk date.

This is certainly a niche field—vampire fan fic. The book includes examples, apparently. Whether that'll make you want it more depends on your taste. Nonetheless, it's interesting to see a full-length work devoted to that genre.

1 September 2013

Images of the Modern Vampire: The Hip and the Atavistic / edited by Barbara Brodman and James E. Doan

It's rare you'll see a sequel to a non-fiction vampire anthology—and this is it. It follows on from The Universal Vampire: Origins and Evolution of a Legend (2013) by the same editors. According to this H-Net Discussion Network conversation by its co-editor, it

will be an eclectic mélange of essays, including a discussion of evolution and atavism in the vampire film, The Wisdom of Crocodiles (1998); critical pieces that examine the modern Asian vampire, on stage, in graphic novels and in film; images of the Vampire in contemporary Japan (where, according to its author, vampires should be “beautiful”); an analysis of the vampire in popular Russian culture; and the obligatory studies of vampires in The Twilight Saga and the True Blood series.

You had me at "obligatory"! In all seriousness, though, I'm liking the breadth of vampire scholarship Brodman and Doan have added to the genre. Quite eclectic.

11 November 2013

The Vampire in Contemporary Popular Literature / Lorna Piatti-Farnell

Amazon.co.uk lists 23 December 2013 for this one. I'm guessing it'll cover the usual Twilight, Vampire Diaries, Southern Vampire Mysteries stuff. Still, it's good to have up-to-date writings in this field.

20 December 2013

Sexuality in Bram Stoker's Dracula

Amazon.co.uk presently credits to "Greenhaven Press Editor", so I'm guessing it'll be another anthology. I tell you what, though, I'm really getting into non-fiction vampire anthologies. They're easier to digest.

It'll be interesting to see what they can squeeze out of a book Maurice Richardson once famously described as a "kind of incestuous, necrophilious, oral-anal-sadistic all-in-all wrestling match."

31 December 2013

Open Graves, Open Minds: Representations of Vampires and the Undead from the Enlightenment to the Present Day / edited by Sam George and Bill Hughes

Its publisher, Manchester University Press, lists "December  2013" as the publication date. "Open Graves, Open Minds" was briefly mentioned in my previous blog. It also made a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance—as a poster for a conference held on 16–17 April 2010. Yep, the conference's papers are finally being published. Going by its contents, though, there's precious little in the way of the vampire's evolution from the Enlightenment era. The concentration's on the literary aspect from the 19th century onward. As most vampire books tend to be.

1 July 2014

Written in Blood: A Cultural History of the British Vampire / Paul Adams

This book is so far along the line, that not even its publisher, The History Press, has a listing for it. However, I was able to dig up the book's description via JS Campus:

Vampires, chilling supernatural creatures of the night - do they really exist? The British Isles has a remarkable association with the realms of the undead, from the nineteenth-century world of Croglin Grange, Varney the Vampire and Stoker's Dracula, through to Hammer Films and the modern phenomenon of the Highgate Vampire. In this new and thought-provoking book, illustrated with many never before seen photographs and drawing on extensive original research, is a detailed and fascinating exploration of the history of British vampirism in both fact and fiction; a modern guide where every page is truly written in blood ...

It sounds pretty generic, but the promise of it being a "thought-provoking book, illustrated with many never before seen photographs and drawing on extensive original research" has got me on the hook. Here's hoping it lives up to its promise.

Nice Try, Parasite!

Vebjørn Hästehufvud is up to his old tricks again. Not content with ripping off my blog title and Facebook group, he's now trying another tack: suggesting I ripped him off. 

My friend, Angie "Blackorchid" Watkins, posted a link to my exposé on her Facebook group, "Highgate! Highgate! Highgate!". Here's what Hästehufvud had to say:

Facebook

On the surface, that's pretty damning—only if you completely ignore the times the respective groups were founded. Here's mine:

Facebook

And here's Hästehufvud's:

Facebook

If you don't see the same times appear when you check the links out, there's a reason for that. Fellow "Vampirologist" member, Roger Peterson, explains:

Facebook

Hästehufvud also failed to explain how my time travelling capabilities were responsible for the way his fellow admin, Veritas Aequitas, was able to crib my banner design:

Fortunately, Hästehufvud addressed that issue—by not acknowledging the theft, retaining the title design, changing the background pic and adding another shitty filter on top:

Facebook

Apart from this pathetic attempt at revisionism, Hästehufvud has also edited out references to Sean Manchester in the banner. Pretty timely, in the wake of my outing Manchester as one of the group's admins.

The Parasite Strikes Again!

Readers may be familiar with a parasitic plagiarist who has tailed my online writings for several years. If not, read on. 

Not content with stealing my blog names, the parasite in question has now ripped-off my Facebook group's name, too. This shady character masquerades under several usernames, including "Demonologist", "Vampirologist", "Dennis Crawford", "The Overseer" (ripping-off a username I used to use), "Gothic", "Arminius Vámbéry", "B.O.S.", "British Occult Society" and "Vebjørn Hästehufvud". And those are just the usernames I can confirm. I'm sure there's many others.

For the record, I established and promoted my Facebook group on 25 June 2013. Hästehufvud's rip-off was formed on...26 June 2013. The shifty bugger doesn't wait long, I can tell you that!

As per usual with Hästehufvud's Facebook group rip-offs, it has three admins: himself, "Veritas Aequitas" and Bishop Seán Manchester—the unholy trinity of dodginess. His group also apes postings I make on my group. For instance, when I shared a link on Jewish vampirology, Aequitas did the same thing, shortly after.

My group's banner—wonderfully designed by David MacDowell Blue—was also ripped-off. Compare the original...

...with this mess:

Facebook

Pay close attention to the title fonts. Here's a close-up of the original:

Now here's the rip-off, close-up:

That's right: all he's done is cropped and copied my group's title and added some shitty filter to it. 

Naturally, the group's admins are banking on none of its members noticing their pathetic identity-thieving behaviour. Hopefully, with this exposé, they'll get a better appreciation for it!