Customer Reviews

Vampire Gallery: A Who's Who of the Undead

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

 

 

Similar, in format, to Melton's far-better "The Vampire book", this tome attempts to document the various kinds of vampires that have graced the screen, novels, short stories, and even comics, but does not quite succeed in whole.

Firstly, with such a wide range of media to choose from, why does Melton feel he has to cover vampires from the same stories under different entries, e.g.; Dave, Howler, Mink, Screech, Skeeter and Whipsnake - all characters in DC/Vertigo's "Vamps" series, for instance? This seems like a waste of space, and I'm sure they could have been lumped under one heading.
I felt like this space could have been occupied by further entries, more diverse than the selection the book has on offer.

Secondly, it's all well and good incorporating the vampire's archnemesis - the vampire hunter - into the book, but shouldn't this be mentioned in the title? It does make the book a little misleading afterall...Not to mention that they only have 27 enties anyway (and several also overlap, because they also feature in the same stories) for the latter section. It almost seems like this section was put in as an after-thought, or pieced together from left-over material.

Thirdly, although some may commend it for including profiles of very recently created vampires, like tv's "Angel (as portrayed by David Boreanaz)", I think this actually DETRACTS points from the book. The reason for this is, that Angel's story is a continuing one, with various plots developed revolving around himself, more revelations about the character, something impossible to keep up with without further editions of "The Vampire Gallery", and therefore, makes it seem "unfinished".

Lastly, however feasible, i would've loved to have seen every entry accompanied by a picture of the vamp it profiles. It would give it a sense of "wholeness" from which this book is sadly lacking.

A good book for the beginner vampire enthusiaist, but for this "seasoned veteran", it lacks the "cover-all-the-stops" feel of "The Vampire Book" and is somewhat of a let-down.

A suggestion (for possible future editions?): although the book is in "encyclopedia" form, perhaps it could be expanded by having double-cloumned pages - that way, far more vampire profiles could be squeezed in!

I borrowed this book from the library, and was impressed with some of the entries. I am learning about some movies and books that I'm now interested in renting or borrowing, but I've also learned to take the information in the entries with a grain of salt. As soon as I read his short bio on Ben Cortman from I Am Legend, I began scrutinizing the other entries. There was no war in I Am Legend, and it took place over a matter of YEARS, not evenings as the author states. I was very disappointed in this.

On the other hand, I was happy to see so many current vampires included, such as Angel (although he made an error there too, Angel was not born on a Greek island, he was born in Ireland), and the inclusion of vampire hunters.

All in all, I'd say this is a good reference if you don't take all the information as the last word on the subject. Other research is required.

Like Melton's "The Vampire Book," this edition contains lots of information that is outright incorrect or, worse, mixes good info with factual errors. Considering that Visible Ink is a division of Gale Research, this is inexcusable! One fact-checker could have corrected a lot of Melton's errors. Did "Forever Knight" last three or four seasons? Is Vampirella really the reincarnation of Cleopatra? All of these mistakes make the book essentially useless as a reliable source of reference!

Not an extensive collection like I hoped. I expected a multitude of unknown and a few popular vampire characters that have graced screens, tv and different books. Gordon, does great - giving a brief synopsis for each character, the role they played and the storyline to boot, but wastes paper going over many of the already known ones. Most of the persons mentioned were from a single book or series. Not very broad. This gives you a very limited look at only more successful characters that are the most popular in vampire fiction, and not enough selection.

So unfortunately, this book didn't serve me a purpose but to brush up on a memory of some of the characters I already know. Someone else new to vamp genre could find it very good to start out with.

An excellent vampire source book that will entertain for hours! Also covers non-vamp characters important to the myths (like Kolchak, Van Helsing, etc.). Highly recommended!

I am glad this book was made. The Vampire Litrature is the most interesting of all horror. I look forward to opening it up and reading about whats available to read on vampires.