The success of Meyers' Twilight series has seen a veritable boom of books written on vampires.
Here's some more items of personal interest that have turned up in my Amazon browsings:
Here's some more items of personal interest that have turned up in my Amazon browsings:
Title: Creatures of the Night: In Search of Ghosts, Vampires, Werewolves and Demons
Author: Gregory L. Reece
Release Date: October 30, 2010
What's the Appeal? Going by the book's description, it seems to be taking an occultist tack featured in works like Tom Slemen's Vampires (2007) and Brad Steiger's Real Vampires, Night Stalkers and Creatures from the Dark Side (2009). Sure, they're generally not all that scholarly, but for a different approach, they're not without interest.
Title: A Brief History of Vampires
Author: M. J. Trow
Release Date: July 29, 2010
What's the Appeal? Trow is the author of Vlad the Impaler: In Search of the Real Dracula (2003). This is dubious in itself, as the connection between Vlad and vampires his highly contentious. However, reviews of that work complain of his attention to the undead, so maybe devoting this entire book to the subject will give him a enough legroom to explore it properly.
Title: Vampires: From Dracula to Twilight - The Complete Guide to Vampire Mythology
Author: Charlotte Montague
Release Date: March 4, 2010
What's the Appeal? Ok, I admit it. I'm sucked in by the title. That said, I'm not expecting it to be much more than a standard wade through the same old stuff. The author has an MA degree for History though, so it might rise slightly above the usual drivel.
Title: The Real Twilight: True Stories of Modern Day Vampires
Author: Arlene Russo
Release Date: March 1, 2010
What's the Appeal? This one's a bit shaky. You see, I didn't think much of her previous work on the subject, Vampire Nation (2005), but for an insight into the modern day concept of the vampire, there might be something going for it.
Title: The Legend & Culture of the Vampire
Author: Peter Henshaw
Release Date: February 28, 2010
What's the Appeal? The title on the book cover reads The Legend & Romance of the Vampire, which is much more indicative of its contents. So, I'm expecting a usual run-through of why the vampire is so appealing to readers. Well, it's gotta be better than Corvis Nocturnum's abysmal Allure of the Vampire: Our Sexual Attraction to the Undead (2009), at least, from what I've read of it thus far.
Re: From Dracula to Twilight" I picked this up at the weekend as it has already found its way into a publishers clearing house - selling for £5 rather than £17.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't bode well but, when it reaches the top of the read pile and has been read I'll review over at my blog.
Ah, Charlotte Montague's book, eh?
ReplyDeleteYeah, that doesn't sound too pleasant. Truth be told, I'm not exactly expecting much from it. Seems to be another mainstream, cover-the-same-old-thing kinda books.
However, the Amazon reviews (all two of them) have been decent.