Vampires, Burial, and Death by Paul Barber

Groom accordingly traces the vampire from its role as a monster embodying humankind's fears, to that of an unlikely hero for the marginalized and excluded in the twenty-first century. The vampire first came to public prominence in the early eighteenth century, when Enlightenment science collided with Eastern European folklore and apparently verified outbreaks of vampirism, capturing the attention of medical researchers, political commentators, social theorists, theologians, and philosophers. Much more than simply a scary creature of the human imagination, the vampire has been and continues to haunt the lives of all those who encounter it-in reality or in fiction.Īn authoritative new history of the vampire, two hundred years after it first appeared on the literary scene Published to mark the bicentenary of John Polidori's publication of The Vampyre, Nick Groom's detailed new account illuminates the complex history of the iconic creature. The essays examine the history of the word “vampire ” Romanian vampires Greek vampires Serbian vampires the physical attributes of vampires the killing of vampires and the possible psychoanalytic underpinnings of vampires. The Vampire: A Casebook takes this legend out of the realm of literature and film and back to its dark beginnings in folk traditions. Eleven leading scholars from the fields of Slavic studies, history, anthropology, and psychiatry unearth the true nature of the vampire from its birth in graveyard lore to the modern-day psychiatric patient with a penchant for drinking blood. For the first time, detailed accounts of the vampire and how its tradition developed in different cultures are gathered in one volume by eminent folklorist Alan Dundes. Vampires are the most fearsome and fascinating of all creatures of folklore.

Vampires, Burial, and Death by Paul Barber