In the present work, Mr. Montague endeavored to set forth what might be termed the philosophy of vampirism, and however ghastly and macabre they may appear, he felt that here one must not tamely shrink from a careful and detailed consideration of the many cognate passions and congruous circumstances which, there can be no reasonable doubt, have throughout the ages played no impertinent and no trivial but a very vital and very memorable part in consolidating the vampire legend, and in perpetuating the vampire tradition among the darker and more secret mysteries of belief that prevail in the heart of man.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The definitive work on vampirism!,
By
This review is from: Vampire: His Kith and Kin (Paperback)
This is the textbook of vampirism and, is about as entertaining as any college textbook would be. It is the first of several books on the subject written by Montague Summers. It was written in the days before the Hollywood vampire and, reads like an Audubon Society field guide to birds. If you are looking for the definitive non-fiction work on the subject, you have found it. If you are looking for "Vampire: The Masquerade" type kitsch, you're in over your head here.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dracula Lives!,
This review is from: Vampire: His Kith and Kin (Paperback)
In this work Summers discusses the vampire phenomena from a relentless Catholic perspective; he believes in the literal reality of vampires! This is not a hoax. This book has all of the apparatus to qualify as an academic study, including footnotes, extensive quotations in the original languages, and references to rare source documents. Of particular interest is the final chapter, which traces the development of the vampire craze in 19th century literature
5.0 out of 5 stars
Summers goes all out !,
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This review is from: The Vampire, His Kith and Kin (Kindle Edition)
I was preparing to write a book with vampire characters, so I downloaded "The Vampire: His Kith and Kin" in order to do some research. The author of this book is all in! The work is written at the level of an academic thesis. He details the vampire mythology as seen in many cultures, including the ancient Sumerians and ancient Hebrews. He recounts stories that date from ancient times all the way up to the modern.
He discusses the attitude of the 18th Century Church toward vampires, vampire scares in Europe, and vampires in literature. Another commenter says that Summers believed in the reality of vampires. I'm not certain that is true. He does relate the accounts of vampirism dispassionately, without expressing either belief or open skepticism. If you are interested in a comprehensively scholarly study of vampire mythology, "The Vampire: His Kith and Kin," is a first place to look. The down side is that if you're not looking for a scholarly look, you should probably give this book a pass. It has two difficulties: It was written in 1928, and the writing style reflects the era. And, Summers has a disconcerting habit of breaking into page after page of foreign language text. So, unless you are multilingual, you have to let a great deal of information go by. The two problems that I see...foreign language exposition and dated writing style...can be overlooked. I'm giving this one five stars, because the book does what it set out to do. Eater of Souls: The Food
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
THROUGHOUT the whole vast shadowy world of ghosts and demons there is no figure so terrible, no figure so dreaded and abhorred, yet dight with such fearful fascination, as the vampire, who is himself neither ghost nor demon, but yet who partakes the dark natures and possesses the mysterious and terrible qualities of both. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
vampire tradition, sur les apparitions, les vampires, des sorciers, premature burial, excommunicated person, vampire legend Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Lord Ruthven, Dom Calmet, Alan Raby, The Vampyre, Leone Allacci, Campbell Thompson, Der Vampyr, Lord Ruthwen, Raby Castle, Macedonian Folklore, Malleus Maleficarum, Orthodox Church, Dion Boucicault, Gioseppe Davanzati, Lord Clavering, Our Lady, United States, West Indies, Ada Raby, Discours des Sorciers, Gervase Rookwood, Havelock Ellis, Holy Church, Lady Margaret, Lady Pelagia New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!
THROUGHOUT the whole vast shadowy world of ghosts and demons there is no figure so terrible, no figure so dreaded and abhorred, yet dight with such fearful fascination, as the vampire, who is himself neither ghost nor demon, but yet who partakes the dark natures and possesses the mysterious and terrible qualities of both. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
vampire tradition, sur les apparitions, les vampires, des sorciers, premature burial, excommunicated person, vampire legend Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Lord Ruthven, Dom Calmet, Alan Raby, The Vampyre, Leone Allacci, Campbell Thompson, Der Vampyr, Lord Ruthwen, Raby Castle, Macedonian Folklore, Malleus Maleficarum, Orthodox Church, Dion Boucicault, Gioseppe Davanzati, Lord Clavering, Our Lady, United States, West Indies, Ada Raby, Discours des Sorciers, Gervase Rookwood, Havelock Ellis, Holy Church, Lady Margaret, Lady Pelagia New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 69
books:
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34
books
cite this book:
See all 34 books citing this book
- Malay Magic Cb: An Introduction to the Folklore and Popular Religion of the Malay Peninsular by Walter William Skeat on 4 pages
- Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia by R. Campbell Thompson on page 268, and Back Matter
- The Room in the Tower and Other Stories by Edward Frederic Benson on page 321, and Back Matter
- Psychology of Sex; A Manual for Students by Havelock Ellis on page 139, and page 213
- Vikram and the Vampire by F. Richard Burton on page 250, and Back Matter
See all 69 books this book cites
- The Living Dead: A Study of the Vampire in Romantic Literature by James B. Twitchell on 5 pages
- Dracula in the Dark: The Dracula Film Adaptations (Contributions to the Study of Science Fiction and Fantasy) by James Craig Holte on 5 pages
- Blood Read: The Vampire as Metaphor in Contemporary Culture by Joan Gordon in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- The Vampire: In Legend, Fact and Art by Basil Copper in Front Matter, page 162, and Back Matter
- The History of Gothic Fiction by Markman Ellis on page 161, page 198, and Back Matter
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