Vampires and Vampirism : Legends from Around the World

by Dudley Wright

Vampires and Vampirism is a treasured part of the folklore canon on vampires. Inside these pages are many accounts of the presence of nocturnal creatures with an unnatural hunger. Readers will discover that tales of vampires are whispered not only in the sleepy villages of easternand central Europe but also in the Middle East, the Asian sub-continent, and the isles of Great Britain. This book is the inaugural volume in the Classics of Preternatural History series.

Genres: Vampires, Nonfiction, History, Research, Folklore, Horror

232 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1914

Reviews

[Mekatill]

I rarely leave a book unfinished, but this one ended up being one of them. I expected a compendium of stories and legends about vampires throughout the years, and to be fair, the book is full of them… I would say too full, as it didn’t make it interesting, just chaotic. Some stories were told in a single sentence; others seemed like an afterthought. I really don’t know how someone can collect vampire legends and make them extremely boring. I was very disappointed because I wanted to learn about the history of vampirism in different cultures, and all I got were a few naps after falling asleep while reading.

[Cathy]

Reading the reviews, I can see people find it a good compendium of vampire legends and folklore, but I found it lacking in the cultural and vampire beliefs. There are sections of around the world and you just get a very boring told story about a vampire from that region.
This was not what I was expecting. And I must confess this reading was boring. But may it was just my taste and my own fault for buying books without peeking inside.

Rating 1,5

[chad chrysanthemum]

Honestly just found it unreadable and ended up giving it back to Oxfam lol. It's a reprint of a book from the 1920s and reads like it.

[R.a.]

Given that Dracula was published in 1897, one cannot help but wonder if this little gem was published in response to the popularity of the Stoker novel.

An academic work first published in 1914, this book traces the vampire legend and belief through history and throughout the world.

Its discussions include: Babylonia, Assyria, and Greece; Great and Greater Britain; Germany and Surrounding Countries; Hungary, Bavaria, and Silesia; Servia and Bulgaria; Russia, and the Orient.

Reading this, I felt as though I were Van Helsing or Carl Kolchak researching a real threat.

An enlightening and fun exploration.

[Charlotte Ehney]

This is a reprint of the revised 1924 edition of this book. Dudley Wright presents legends of vampires from different countries. It is interesting to read these accounts from a 1924 point of view. Some of the stories presented were reported within 24 years of the revised edition, highlighting how serious those involved considered the problem of vampirism. The author approaches vampires with the openness of one who believes in the occult/spiritualism movement that was still active in the early 1900s. The idea of astral projection and psychic projection is taken as a reality that had been documented.

As one reads through these stories, a few common threads appear across many countries. Following the death of a person, there is are mysterious deaths of family members and/or neighbors. Upon opening the grave, the original deceased is found to be of good coloring, full of blood and not decomposing. Once the body is staked, decapitated or burned, the mysterious deaths or illnesses of the living stop. Not all the stories include the drinking of blood. Sometimes, the vampire merely appears to the living and engages in romantic trysts only for the lover to find a corpse the next morning. Sometimes the vampire causes a lack of sleep or a depression to fall upon the living.

The belief in vampires may be based on something explainable or may be a primal response to understand the unexplainable. Either way, people seem drawn to these stories as can be evidenced by the historic recounts of people across many countries in this book.

[Sir Robbiethehoo]

This book outlines vampire superstition and beliefs and how it varies in a number of different countries.

Also included are various stories of vampire incidences around the world.

The book is relatively short but packed full of information, although some of it seems added almost as an afterthought and in places has an unorganised feel to it.

An okay read but particular enjoyment is to be had if you have a real liking of vampires.

[Heike]

A must-read for anyone interested in the vampire character in literature, folklore and myth.

[Bitten_by_Books]

This charming, long-standing treatise in early vampirology is a must-have for all paranormal-fans that want a more “nonfictional” look at the bloodthirsty night stalkers. It even goes as far as to include “accounts” of vampirism, as well as many, many sources that explain the mythology behind vampires...

For the entire review please go to the Best Paranormal & Urban Fantasy Review site on the web, Bitten By Books for the review of Vampires and Vampirism : Legends from Around the World in it's entirety. You won't be sorry.

[Nicole]

You can only tell the same story so many times before it starts to get old. This is a collection of hundreds of vampire accounts throughout the ages, but all of them are basically the same with a few minor tweaks here and there. It was entertaining at first, hence the two stars, but I quickly lost interest.