Piercing the Darkness - Undercover with Vampires in America Today [Audio Cassette]

Katherine Ramsland (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1998

In 1996, Susan Walsh, an investigative reporter, disappeared while researching the Manhattan vampire underground. Her body was never found. In Piercing the Darkness, psychologist and writer Katherine Ramsland investigates her frightening disappearance and, in the process, discovers the bizarre vampire culture hidden to most eyes. In her search for the answer to Susan's fate, Ramsland unearths characters that range from simple roleplayers to people who form covens for blood-drinking rituals to genuine psychotics who use the vampire identity to give their violence a magical context. Piercing the Darkness is a fascinating, true-crime look at one woman's pursuit of truth and her descent into the vampire underworld.

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Harper Audio (1998)
• ASIN: B000YQFWMQ
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Katherine Ramsland began her career as a writer with Prism of the Night: A Biography of Anne Rice. She had a bestseller with The Vampire Companion. Since then, she has published 40 books and over 1,000 articles, reviews and short stories. From ghosts to vampires to serial killers, she has taken on a variety of dark subjects. She holds graduate degrees in forensic psychology, clinical psychology, criminal justice, and philosophy. Currently, she teaches forensic psychology and criminal justice at DeSales University. Her books include The Forensic Psychology of Criminal Minds, The Human Predator: A Historical Chronicle of Serial Murder and Forensic Investigation, Inside the Minds of Serial Killers, Inside the Minds of Sexual Predators, and Inside the Minds of Mass Murderers. Her background in forensic studies positioned her to assist former FBI profiler John Douglas on his book, The Cases that Haunt Us, and to co-write a book with former FBI profiler, Gregg McCrary, The Unknown Darkness, as well as The Real Life of a Forensic Scientist with Henry C. Lee and A Voice for the Dead with James Starrs. She speaks internationally about forensic psychology, forensic science, and serial murder, and has appeared on numerous documentaries, as well as such programs as The Today Show, 20/20, 48 Hours, NPR, Coast to Coast, Montel Williams, Larry King Live and E! True Hollywood.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A must-have for vampire fans, January 4, 2001

By 

Tracy Rowan "dargelos" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Piercing the Darkness: Undercover with Vampires in America Today (Mass Market Paperback)

Ramsland's name should be familiar to fans of Anne Rice; she's the author of THE VAMPIRE COMPANION and PRISM OF THE NIGHT: A BIOGRAPHY OF ANNE RICE among others. In PIERCING THE DARKNESS, though, Ramsland moves somewhat beyond her academic interest in the Great Mother of the Vampires into the shadowy world of "real" vampires in America. And if a fault can be found with this book, I believe it's here at the most fundamental level, when Ramsland fails to define her terms to a degree which I could find satisfying. Ostensibly she has chosen to follow in the footsteps of another journalist, Susan Walsh, who disappeared in 1996 while investigating vampire cults in Manhattan. However it seems clear to me that Walsh is something of an excuse for Ramsland, and understandably so, since Walsh's story is a cautionary one. Using it as a foundation for her own investigation would be an aid in walking the fine line between investigative journalism and actually becoming involved in the subculture of America's vampires. Unfortunately it's hard to get a fix on Ramsland, and perhaps that's not a bad thing for a journalist in her position who should remain professionally non-judgmental, but I found it disturbing never to know quite what her position was in terms of what constitutes a "real" vampire as opposed to a poseur. Indeed, she has a discussion along these lines with another investigator, but I found no answer there either.

Never mind all that, though, because the book itself is eminently readable and the subject matter fascinating to anyone who enjoys vampires in film and literature. I would strongly caution readers with delicate sensibilities to give this book a pass, though, since it deals with some very disturbing subject matter: descriptions of blood-letting, sexuality which some consider highly deviant, accounts of body modification and the like all serve to make this book a walk on the dark side. Ramsland is innately honest and doesn't flinch from the grotesque or bloody, nor from describing it, though without recourse to sensationalism. And she writes sympathetically about the people she encounters, never putting herself above or beyond them in any way. In fact, one of the most interesting aspects of the book is her own responses to what she uncovers, her fascination with and willingness to enter this milieu.

For those who find the subject worth investigating further, Ramsland provides a good bibliography, and an excellent list of vampire resources both on and off the net. For my money this book is a fascinating read and well worth your time if you're a vampire aficionado. Highly recommended.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Piercing the Darkness, January 16, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Piercing the Darkness: Undercover with Vampires in America Today (Mass Market Paperback)

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, although I admit, I did have to wade through a lot of irrelevant information such as the tiresome references to Anne Rice books. I appreciated Ramsland's presentation of the different ideas of what a vampire is and what it represents and possible influences. I really don't feel that she was especially "deep undercover" though. She really didn't go too far past what I would consider to be "goth" culture. Whether or not some of the accounts were true or fabricated (i.e. the Wraith story) they were interesting and even occasionally thought provoking. It was a bit tamer than I expected it to be. I'm not sure the author was completely willing to take any serious risks that might have given the story a better climax.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not at all that it claims to be..., December 13, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Piercing the Darkness: Undercover with Vampires in America Today (Mass Market Paperback)

I sat in my chair for a good while trying to figure out a way in which to not completely trash this book, and could come up with none. While the back of the book promises to take one "deep inside the little known yet growing 'vampire' subculture," it instead drags you through page after page of homo-erotic vampire sex stories. Even the chapter on vampire roleplaying (LARP)degenerates into more homo-erotic nonsense by the end. Is there sexuality in the vampire subculture? Most certainly. Are homosexuals and bisexuals a part of this culture? Yes, they certainly are, and they have their stories to tell too. I just wish it would have been for one chapter instead of the entire book.
In many great vampire works we see the sexual tensions of vampires (Between Louis and Lestat in 'Interview with a Vampire' for example). But it is purposefully underspoken and leaves the viewer/reader to wonder about the true nature of vampires, whether real or lore. Ms. Ramsland can't seem to get past Ms. Rice's work and the more sexually promiscuous vampires she has encountered. Her work on Rice's books was certainly more insightful and enjoyable.