Customer Reviews

The Vampire: His Kith and Kin

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The Vampire: His Kith and Kin by Montague Summers

In 1973, I received a document on Prince Vlad III Dracula, also known as Vlad Tepes or Vlad the Impaler. I was later able to translate the 18th century document and turned it into a graduate research paper. It was in that same year that I re-read Bram Stoker's Dracula for the third time.

Like Sherlock Holmes, Dracula has remained a personal classic. It was therefore a passion of mine to spend many hours in the graduate stacks at the University of Mississippi reading books on vampires and werewolves. I found the folklore and history of such mythological creatures to be an "academic" pursuit while I spent my first year as an EDPA Graduate Fellow working on a history degree. Although I later transferred to educational history, I was fortunate enough to discover Montague Summers. Summers has, according to most historians and folklorists, remained the leading authority on vampires, werewolves and demons. Perhaps the two most important books written on vampires, during the 20th century were The Vampire: His Kith and Kin (1928) and The Vampire in Europe (1929).

To understand these exceptional works, one must first understand the author. Perhaps no one in the current century is better able to describe Summers than Nigel Suckling:

"Alphonsus Joseph-Mary Augustus Montague Summers (1880-1948) was a fascinating character in himself. Throughout his life he was described by acquaintances as kind, courteous, generous and outrageously witty; but those who knew him well sensed an underlying discomfort and mystery. In appearance he was plump, round cheeked and generally smiling. His dress resembled that of an eighteenth century cleric ... He wore sweeping black capes crowned by a curious hairstyle of his own devising which led many to assume he wore a wig. His voice was high pitched, comical and often in complete contrast to the macabre tales he was in the habit of spouting. Throughout his life he astonished people with his knowledge of esoteric and unsettling occult lore. Many people later described him as the most extraordinary person they had known in their lives."

Summers two books on vampires have remained my personal favorites. Although I currently possess over 70 books on vampires and werewolves (i.e. histories, folklores, psychological studies and sociological ramifications), the extensive footnoting and citations by Summers places his works far above anything written since. Summers believed in the existence of vampires. It is this belief that made the reading of his books worthwhile. It is also well worth the time and effort needed to translate all of the sources that Summers utilized in his massive works.

Dr. Carl Edwin Lindgren

Professor of Military and Medieval History

Member, Royal Historical Society (University of London)

I will send a picture or send a video of it, on this days,I havent finished reading it as soon as i finished i will send more info. I purchase it because of a friend who as well as me love vampires. Thanks.