Customer Reviews

VAMPIRES AMONG US

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I really enjoyed this book and hard a hard time putting it down. The stories are great and Ms. Guiley is a good story-teller. There are some strange people out there, and this book is an interesting look at them. Plus, I learned a lot about vampire folklore, which was really fascinating. Well-written, fun.

Vampires Among Us had a romantic quality to it which the person who wrote a review for it previous ot mine didn't seem to comprehend. Let me also point out that almost anything melodramatic can be made to sound foolish. Think about it - the line "Oh Romeo o Romeo where for art thou Romeo" sounds utterly rediculous when spoken alone. However, Romeo and Juliet is a time-honored tragedy.

Vampires Among Us was written in a factual if slightly dramatic voice - however, the intensity of the writing was probably necessary to make something that sounds like such a foolish thing into an alternate reality.

Let me start by saying that my rating of this book has nothing to do with how it is written. It is, in my opinion, a rather well written documentary-styled work of narrative nonfiction. I first read this book roughly 15 years ago, and reread it just recently. I enjoyed it both times.

That being said, Guiley REALLY needs to update this particular work in a new edition...or at least publish some sort of an updated follow up of some kind. A lot of the info is far too dated, especially considering how perceptions of vampires have DRASTICALLY changed in just the last 5 years.

Like I said ... this is NOT a BAD book ... in fact, I would recommend it ... I just feel that it the content is too out of date to receive more than 3 stars.

I read this years ago and thought it was fun...
This book has various stories in it, some funny, some weird, and one in particular that is pretty creepy.
It's about something that supposedly really happened to a group of young girls who messed with a Ouija board in an attempt to contact vampires. Instead they contact something else that begins to invade their lives.
It follows the girls into their own homes and the girl telling the story describes how she tried to escape it by removing all thoughts of it from her mind... by avoiding the friends she summoned it with.
Later, as a grownup she meets a guy and has a relationship with him... and tells him this strange story from her youth. The guy becomes fascinated by her story and keeps asking her things... to the point that she breaks up with him out of fear that his interest will cause the visitations to start up again.
Anyway... I just saw Paranormal Activity and it very much reminded me of that story... like and alternate ending where she doesn't break up with him and suffers the consequences.

From the back cover:

Enter the mysterious private world of a special breed of people...

For centuries, vampires have been the stuff of myth and legend, dreams and nightmares. Now, a journalist and psychic investigator reveals- for the first time- the secret lives of modern-day vampires. Based on dozens of interviews and first-person accounts, Vampires Among Us presents the fascinating stories of men and women who lead a bizarre double life. Some are lonely haunted by a thirst for blood- "the food that cures all." Others "feed" only on positive energy and sexual vibrations. Many seek out vampirism for its promise of special powers and use it for psychic insight and healing. Come meet the exotic, beautiful, sometimes frightening creatures who call themselves vampires...

~*~

A very interesting book that touches on all sorts of vampires. People that drink blood, psychic vampires, dream vampires, and entities that attack like vampires but are not called such. I skipped over some of the history parts as I've read that before in other books and history doesn't change. I am visiting England next year. Gave me some ideas on where to sight see.

When I started reading this book, I thought it was the most poorly written book I'd read in a long time. For example: instead of just making a statement in the beginning that some names and places had been changed, every chapter contained sentences such as "Jane (not her real name) believed..." or "Joe lived in D____." I was very annoyed by this. As I read farther into the book, I began reading passages aloud to my co-workers & we'd laugh for hours. I found myself making references to the book in numerous conversations. I also emailed quotes to my friends in order to amuse them. This book might be terrible, but it's loads of fun.