True Vampires: Blood-Sucking Killers Past and Present [Paperback]

Sondra London (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2003

Some vampires are not fictional creatures.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

To begin with, London considers what a vampire is. Precise definitions are elusive, it seems, but given blood drinkers, flesh eaters, corpse fuckers, and their deeds that London efficiently presents, so what? She nicely balances old and new ghouls, reviewing the cases of Vlad Tepes, inspiration for Dracula, and fellow Transylvanian Countess Bathory, who bathed in blood rather than consumed it. Among contemporaries, London notes six-foot-eight aspiring rapper Big Lurch, arrested in L.A. in 2002, "buck naked, loping down South Figueroa[,] . . . his mumbling mouth slathered with blood, raw gore streaking down" his front. He was fresh from dispatching his girlfriend, having pulled out her right lung for a chew in the process; a "medical examination found human flesh and blood in the rangy rapper's stomach." Since London also discusses noncriminal, self-styled vampires and their motivations and exploits, perhaps it's wrong to view this as just a particularly bloody true-crime compendium. Still, gore is probably the main attraction of this exposure of some of "our most primordial fears." Mike Tribby
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

A classic of the genre; there is something new and shocking on virtually every page of this astonishing volume. -- Harold Schechter (The A-Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers)

Destined to become a classic. London, best known as a fine criminologist, here reveals herself as a remarkable historian. -- Colin Wilson (The Occult, The Outsider)

London is a darn good investigative journalist who warns us that there are, indeed, real vampires who take human life. -- Brad Steiger (The Werewolf Book)

Provocative...eerie... compelling reading. -- Mysteries Magazine

Sondra London knows her vampires. She has always been a superb journalist and writer, and this book is her best. -- Jack Olsen (Misbegotten Son)

TRUE VAMPIRES is a masterpiece; this genuine work of high scholarship on this sanguinary subject carries my highest recommendation. -- Dr. Franklin Ruehl (Mysteries from Beyond the Other Dominion)

The best overview of the subject to find its way into print... your ticket to wallow in the bloody mire. -- Dennis P. Eichhorn, SCRAM

Product Details

• Paperback: 380 pages
• Publisher: Feral House (October 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0922915938
• ISBN-13: 978-0922915934
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #660,536 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Truly bad, August 16, 2005

By 

Professor Rowe "Dr. Rowe" (North Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: True Vampires: Blood-Sucking Killers Past and Present (Paperback)

Ms. London has been called the Queen of the serial killer groupies for her "dating" several killers, and this poorly written book seems to have been thrown together. Little real analysis, doesn't even have a bibliography.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Appalling Twaddle, July 7, 2009

By 

Demelza "gothgirl" (Poconos, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: True Vampires: Blood-Sucking Killers Past and Present (Paperback)

This book is appalling. The author does not seem to understand the difference between vampires and cannibals. There are virtually no "vampires" in this collection of sickening cannibalistic serial killers, let alone any "true vampires". I did not expect to read about "real vampires" since there are none in the true sense of the term but I did expect to find some correlation to vampirism. The "research" seems suspect since there are no notes let alone a bibliography. There are odd statements made like "putative vampire Boris Yeltsin". (?!) It also full of nonsensical theories that seem to say that anyone who wears black clothing and plays role playing games is susceptible to "media virus". So if I understand the thinking, nuns are vampires and people who play role playing games are too stupid to understand fact from fiction and will immediately become psychotic serial killers. I also find it odd that someone who seems to have such disdain for vampires and the lifestyle chose to feature drawings by Nicholas Claux - a convicted murderer from France who killed in the name of Satan. The author is a very confused woman indeed. She needs to do a lot more research before she writes such a biased and, quite frankly, ridiculous book. I did get quite a few laughs reading it at least.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A bibliography would help, November 19, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: True Vampires: Blood-Sucking Killers Past and Present (Paperback)

While most true crime does not bother with references, their scope is more limited than 'True Vampires'. I thought this could only benefit from a bibliography since it is international and has so many cases. Otherwise, it is pulpish and just shock material. There is little flow to the writing and little organization. It seems to digress to non-vampiric sensational serial killers, like Ted Bunday saying "I feel like a vampire". Again, this is not high end literature, but the points above distract from reading the book.