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.

Vampirologists on YouTube

Vampirologists don't get much coverage on YouTube for some reason.

In fact, as of this writing, there are only two clips featuring them (at least ones that specifically include the term "vampirologist").

The first is an episode of German game show, Sag die Wahrheit. The panelists have to decide which of the three guests is vampire expert, Hans Meurer.

The second clip features Brazilian, Teodore Stille, billed as "probably todays most important scholar in vampirology on the world." I am somewhat skeptical of this claim.

A search for his name on Google only turns up 8 references to his name - and they're all connected to this clip. The bio accompanying the video also seems a tad suspect:

He was born in upstate Rio de Janeiro, he was raised and spent his teenage years in Romenia, where he begun his education in vampirology. Dr. Stille graduated at Bucarovia University and earned his Ph.D. at the most important vampirology academy in Brasilia, Brazil. Dr. Teodoro Stille travels around the world doing speeches and workshops.

Surely, a vampire scholar of this calibre would have wider representation on the 'net?

Meurer's "credentials" on the other hand, are much more easily verified. He is the author of several works concerning the undead.

Vampirologist Uncovered!

Although there's a vast array of books written on vampires, very few authors readily identify themselves as vampirologists.

Off the top of my head, only Jeanne Keyes Youngson (Private Files of a Vampirologist, 1997), Stephen Kaplan (Vampires Are, 1984), Sean Manchester (The Vampire Hunter's Handbook: A Concise Vampirological Guide, 1997) and Theresa Bane (Actual Factual: Dracula, A Compendium of Vampires, 2007), come to mind.

So, it's great to see a new addition to this lot: Joe Nickell.

His "Vampirologist" page admittedly doesn't indicate many contributions to the field, but it's good to see that he has no qualms in adopting the title.

Even if he lists it as one of his many "Personas".