J. Gordon Melton has the credentials: he's a religious historian, author of 25 books about religion and vampires, president of the American chapter of the Transylvania Society of Dracula (founded in Bucharest, Romania), and chairman of the committee that put on Dracula '97: A Centennial Celebration in Los Angeles. The Vampire Book is meticulously researched and well organized. Included are an article on the cultural history of the vampire; a historical timeline; addresses of vampire societies all over the world; a 55-page filmography; vampires in plays, opera, and ballet; a 13-page list of vampire novels; and an extensive index. The A to Z entries, each with a short bibliography, include vampire lore in more than 30 different geographic regions and a comprehensive "who's who," and cover topics ranging from fingernails to sexuality, the Camarilla to Szekelys.

author: J. Gordon Melton rating: review(s) asin: 157859071X binding: Paperback list price: $24.95 USD amazon price: $16.47 USD other availability:

Posted by Vladimir Wed, 03/21/2007 - 01:49

 

A Mind of Darkness (poem des Nocturnal Night)

I'm turning away from thy light
and lay myself into blackest night
I adore the sleepless nights
awe this endless death
A view of creation are a view of Illusion
this synopsis of sublife
a start from mud
But here I'm as anyone a part in this play
of neverending lives
of remembering it all over again
Hail to endless night away from the ugliness of the sun
showing the ugly new world growing here
all around us
A world taking away personality and human contact
a frozen lake of endless tears
and in endless pain

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German language version

Es ereignete sich, daß, mitten unter den Zerstreuungen eines Winters in London, in den verschiedenen Gesellschaften der tonangebenden Vornehmen ein Edelmann erschien, der sich mehr durch seine Sonderbarkeiten, als durch seinen Rang auszeichnete. Er blickte auf die laute Fröhlichkeit um ihn her mit einer Miene, als könne er nicht an derselben teilnehmen. Nur das leichte Lachen der Schönen schien seine Aufmerksamkeit zu erregen, allein, es schien auch, als wenn ein Blick aus seinem Auge es plötzlich hemme und Furcht in die vorher heitere und unbefangene Brust der Fröhlichen streue.

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Requiem for a Memory

When I am alone in the night
The velvet darkness reminds me:
Of the whisper-soft touchof your hair,
Of the deep midnight pools of your eyes,
Of your raiment; so like the night itself;
Clinging, cloaking, shielding
With dark mirrors of illusion,
Of the jewels at your throat; jet on ivory.
The images invoked by my memory
Catalysed by the very darkness
We shared.
Your image is engraved upon my eyelids
Inescapable.
I am a prisoner of my memories,
Trapped in a glass box
Like a killing jar,

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Baobhan Sith (Scotland)

A baobhan sith (pronounced baa'-van shee) is a type of vampire in Scottish mythology, similar to the Manx Leanan Sídhe or Irish banshee. They are also known as the White Women of the Scottish Highlands.

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Comparative vampire mythology

A comparison of various popular sources for vampire lore against the myths of history. Do all vampire have fangs? Can all vampires reproduce? How do the popular vampires of the 20th century live and die and hunt and feed? S. A. Rudy takes a look at five modern vampire themes.

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