Early Kaplan Work

Yesterday, I received an excellent addition to my library.

That is, Stephen Kaplan's In Pursuit of Premature Gods & Contemporary Vampires (South Setauket, Long Island, New York: The Vampire Research Center of America, 1976).

Won it off eBay for US $99.99 (AU $108.26), which was a hell of a bargain, especially as the seller notes that there are "ONLY 40 copies IN EXISTENCE!"

He only wrote one other book on vampires, Vampires Are (as told to Carole Kane), which was published by ETC in Palm Springs, California, in 1984. You can read my review of the book here.

Kaplan (1940-1995) was the founder of the Vampire Research Center and one of the first people to openly refer to himself as a "vampirologist". In many ways, his work anticipated the coverage given to the vampire subculture.

However, his search wasn't merely for people who drink blood and don fangs, as this article reveals:

When Dr. Kaplan speaks of vampires, he is not just referring to individuals who have a mania for drinking blood, but of individuals with a special genetic make-up that enables them to live extremely long lives by drinking blood. He has met with many of these individuals and has investigated their lives. He estimates that there are 80 to 100 vampires living in the U.S. today.

You can read more about him and his Center here, here and here.