Description
The real vampires were not suave, polished, cultivated or rich. They looked like ordinary dead peasants - usually shabby, and often fat. Some of them never drank blood. Others ate apples, nuts, grapes, or green beans. Yet for those who believed in them, vampires were terrifying. So terrifying that they prompted live burials, nervous breakdown, hysterical paralysis and speechlessness. During a real vampire panic, an overworked, underfed community was so terrified that it found the energy to dig up eleven graves, and the wood to burn eleven corpses. Real vampires were so terrifying that the energy of fear they produced actually caused poltergeist attacks. In several cases, they were so terrifying that they quite literally scared people to death. This book shows us how vampires looked and felt to those in their midst, in worlds where the soul lingered in the house of death for three days, and the dead watched their own funerals from open coffins. It also uses modern medical, scientific and paranormal analysis to show how such terrors occurred, and how they connect with our own world, through Sleep Paralysis and the alien abductor. From Russia to New England, from the Scottish borders to Crete, and from the Bronze Age to the days of Twilight, The Real Vampires takes the reader on an unforgettable tour of wonder, horror and strangeness.
About the Author
Richard Sugg specialises in marginal, forgotten or tabooed histories, as showcased in his previous writing on a variety of supernatural and unusual themes. He is the author of ten books, including Mummies, Cannibals and Vampires(3rd edition 2019), A Century of Ghost Stories(2017), A Singing Mouse at Buckingham Palace (2017), and Fairies: A Dangerous History (2018). He is currently completing Talking Dirty: The History of Disgust.
Reviews
'In a crisp, readable style, sprinkled with humor, Richard Sugg gives new life to a topic that a less adventurous writer might conclude had been drained of vitality through boundless repetition. Along the way, Sugg revokes shopworn stereotypes (vampires always drink blood) and uncovers striking materializations (poltergeist vampires). Based on solid scholarship, without jargon, Sugg's sweeping examination of authentic vampires-from the ancient Old World to historical New England-delves deep, delivering insights into primal intersections between nature and culture, physiology and psychology. Sugg animates terrifying linking phenomena, such as nightmares and sleep paralysis, with actual stories connected to concrete landscapes. Readers feel the vampire's terror from the inside out.' -- Michael E. Bell, author of Food for the Dead and Vampire's Grasp
'We think we know about vampires, being constantly exposed to them on small and big screens these days. But after just a few pages of Richard's book, you'll realise that's not true. He has managed that rare thing: to combine proper scholarship and research with a writing style that is accessible and readable.' -- Rose George, author of Nine Pints
'A greatest hits of oddities from literature, folklore and history.' -- The Spectator
'I would highly recommend the book, both for academics to add to their collection of merit worthy tomes on vampires, like Montague Summer's The Vampire in Europe (1929) or Jan L. Perkowski's Vampires of the Slavs (1976), given its rich academic content, in-depth and well-researched coverage of vampire history, and intriguing analysis of particular facets of vampire folklore that have not been covered to any great extent in other previous works; and for the general reader interested in the history of vampire beliefs and practices, and intent on becoming better informed as to vampire reality and the socio-cultural circumstances pertaining to such instances. Not only do I recommend the book for its well-written prose and interesting format, terms and concepts are fully explained, especially for the layman, points of interest discussed thoroughly and elucidated by numerous examples, thereby fuelling the curiosity further and challenging the reader to ponder the matter and its ramifications, aided by the use of meticulous footnotes and references.' -- David Keyworth, Independent scholar, Australia, in Journal of Vampire Studies
Book Information
ISBN 9781445690285
Author Richard Sugg
Format Hardback
Page Count 320
Imprint Amberley Publishing
Publisher Amberley Publishing
Weight(grams) 589g
About the Author
Richard Sugg specialises in marginal, forgotten or tabooed histories, as showcased in his previous writing on a variety of supernatural and unusual themes. He is the author of ten books, including Mummies, Cannibals and Vampires(3rd edition 2019), A Century of Ghost Stories(2017), A Singing Mouse at Buckingham Palace (2017), and Fairies: A Dangerous History (2018). He is currently completing Talking Dirty: The History of Disgust.
Reviews
'In a crisp, readable style, sprinkled with humor, Richard Sugg gives new life to a topic that a less adventurous writer might conclude had been drained of vitality through boundless repetition. Along the way, Sugg revokes shopworn stereotypes (vampires always drink blood) and uncovers striking materializations (poltergeist vampires). Based on solid scholarship, without jargon, Sugg's sweeping examination of authentic vampires-from the ancient Old World to historical New England-delves deep, delivering insights into primal intersections between nature and culture, physiology and psychology. Sugg animates terrifying linking phenomena, such as nightmares and sleep paralysis, with actual stories connected to concrete landscapes. Readers feel the vampire's terror from the inside out.' -- Michael E. Bell, author of Food for the Dead and Vampire's Grasp
'We think we know about vampires, being constantly exposed to them on small and big screens these days. But after just a few pages of Richard's book, you'll realise that's not true. He has managed that rare thing: to combine proper scholarship and research with a writing style that is accessible and readable.' -- Rose George, author of Nine Pints
'A greatest hits of oddities from literature, folklore and history.' -- The Spectator
'I would highly recommend the book, both for academics to add to their collection of merit worthy tomes on vampires, like Montague Summer's The Vampire in Europe (1929) or Jan L. Perkowski's Vampires of the Slavs (1976), given its rich academic content, in-depth and well-researched coverage of vampire history, and intriguing analysis of particular facets of vampire folklore that have not been covered to any great extent in other previous works; and for the general reader interested in the history of vampire beliefs and practices, and intent on becoming better informed as to vampire reality and the socio-cultural circumstances pertaining to such instances. Not only do I recommend the book for its well-written prose and interesting format, terms and concepts are fully explained, especially for the layman, points of interest discussed thoroughly and elucidated by numerous examples, thereby fuelling the curiosity further and challenging the reader to ponder the matter and its ramifications, aided by the use of meticulous footnotes and references.' -- David Keyworth, Independent scholar, Australia, in Journal of Vampire Studies
Book Information
ISBN 9781445690285
Author Richard Sugg
Format Hardback
Page Count 320
Imprint Amberley Publishing
Publisher Amberley Publishing
Weight(grams) 589g
