Customer Reviews

The Vampire Slayers' Field Guide to the Undead

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I thought I would go ahead and write a review of this since this is one of those books that you don't necessarily read from front cover to back cover. You're more likely to skip around in a book like this. That's what I've been doing, skipping around, reading what interests me most.

I am a long time fan of anything vampire-related. I read my first vampire book at age 11, and I haven't looked back since. Since then, I have encountered many legends, myths, and beliefs about vampire. This book puts many, if not all, those beliefs in one source. You learn about vampires from different regions of the world from A-to-Z. Vampires aren't the only preternatural presented in this book. You also learn about d'loup garou (werewolf), demons, dhampirs, protective stones, etc.

My only gripe with the book is this. The sections dealing with how vampires are made was a little sparse in my opinion. I did like how he used the lore that different countries believe regarding the making of a vampire, but he only mention in a passing paragraph how a vampire is made due to a bite because there seems to be a lot of different beliefs on how that works as well. All in all, though, this is an excellent book. Very informative and definitely entertaining.

Author Shane MacDougall says that many of today's popular beliefs about vampires (their habits, strengths, and weaknesses) derive from films and modern novels, and bear only tenuous relation to ancient vampire myths and folklore. For instance, he says that the Chinese Chiang-Shih is that rare vampire affected by garlic, mirrors, running water, and shapeshifting; most vampires aren't. Furthermore, vampire folklore varies widely throughout the world, at least if one defines "vampire" broadly, which MacDougall does. Psychic vampires qualify.

Much of the book is arranged by nations, making it easy to look up each country's vampire folklore. Not every nation on Earth, but it's an extensive and diverse listing, with entries from six continents (Antarctic appears to be Earth's only vampire-free continent!). Thankfully, this means the often overlooked Africa and South America are included.

Yet while this book is a useful reference tool, it can't seem to decide whether it wants to be a reference tool or pop entertainment. Amid obscure and scholarly data are padding and fluff. Some entries are scant; a page or two--and that includes illustrations (19 artists are credited). But while some illustrations are helpful or compelling, others are silly and irrelevant (such as photographs of campy women wearing fangs or carrying stakes). It's padding and fluff, and at 686 pages, this book doesn't need it.

The sequence of chapters also seems calculated for a breezy read. The nationality chapters are interspersed between more general chapters. "A World of Vampire A-F" (Albania to France) is followed by "Becoming Undead," then "A World of Vampires G-L," then "Fighting the Undead," etc. Sometimes irrelevant sidebars pepper the chapters. A sidebar on "Sirens" appears with the "Vampires of France" (why not with the "Vampires of Greece"?). The "Vampires of Byelorus" has sidebars on "Telepathy" and "Werewolves In Movies." (Even if Byelorusian mjertovjecs are shapeshifters, what have they to do with I Was A Teenage Werewolf?) Nothing wrong with irrelevant sidebars in a book intended to be read sequentially, but less appropriate for a reference tool.

Yet despite the fluff and casual arrangement, The Vampire Slayer's Guide is a useful reference tool. The meat is scholarly and impressive, although as with any such extensive work, one can always nitpick. In "Vampires of Transylvania," MacDougall writes: "During the time of Vlad Tepes, Romania's ruling class was composed of Romanian Szekelys and Hungarian Magyars." However, my father, who is a Szekeyly and born in Transylvania, insists the Szekelys are Magyars, albeit a subgroup, and in no way Romanian. (And as Magyar is Hungarian for Hungarian, "Hungarian Magyar" would be redundant).

Elsewhere, MacDougall writes: "Tangled in the complex rural histories of Romania and other Slavic countries are a number of references to different types of Strigoi." However, Romanians have long insisted that they are not Slavic, but a Latin people, descended from Roman colonists (hence, Romanian). No small point. Ethnic issues in Eastern Europe remain contentious and politically pregnant. The late Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, in seeking Western aid, would stress that Romania is "a Latin island in a Slavic sea."

I know less about the other nationalities in the book, and thus can't comment on it. I can comment on MacDougall's use of "revenant," which he defines as: "A corpse that has been reanimated and has risen as a vampire, ghost, zombie, or angel. For the purposes of this book, Revenant will be used as a term to describe those vampires that are human corpses that have returned from the dead. These vampires are often pale and shambling, their bodies showing signs of decay."

It's no biggie, but for purposes of horror film analysis, I define a revenant as a corpse with a degree of self-awareness and intent (usually revenge, as often seen in Tales From The Crypt). By contrast, a zombie lacks self-awareness and is usually under another's control (e.g., White Zombie, I Walked With a Zombie), or is of the often mindless, flesh-eating variety. Unlike MacDougall, I don't equate revenants with vampires. But then, we use the term for different purposes. Like I said, no biggie.

An oddity: The book prominently announces that Shawn MacDougall is the pen name of Jonathan Maberry. Likewise, the book's promotional material. Sort of defeats the whole point of having a pen name, no?

Oddities aside, MacDougall does a fine job gathering vampire folklore from around the world, compiling their names and characteristics, along with tales and legends for many of them. The illustrations are attractive, if not always pertinent. All black & white, aside from a 14-page "Color Gallery." 540 pages of main text, plus 132 pages of appendixes covering vampire websites, unset groups, bibliographies, filmographies, glossary, etc.

I've been a long-time fan of vampires and have read just about everything about them, but this is definitely the best book on the subject. As a creative writer myself, I can't say enough about how much this book is going to help me with my own writing. Bravo!

A friend of mine preordered a copy from the manufacturer, I loved it so much I had to order my own. It's got a ton of info, who knew how many kinds of vampires are out there? Plus, it's worth it for the artwork alone. I'm tempted to tear out some of the color pages when I get my copy and hang them up, maybe I'll have to buy an extra copy!

I recieved this book from the author the otherday, Its amazing, I have never seen a vampire book that actually gives a full insight on the undead. Its packed full of weird and intricate myths (or maybe true stories). It has everything and more init. The research put into this book most have been vast. I donated one of my artworks to this book, I am so excited that I am apart of it. You will find my painting on pg 489!! Go and buy this its well worth the dosh!!!

I've read several of this author's books (he also writes as Jonathan Maberry) and I'm always impressed by the depth of his research and the clarity of his presentation. This latest book is marvelous.

This book is not a Hollywood fiction write up. It is about actual cultures views. It gives as best background on each of the creatures as anyone could get. The real life accounts, really bring it into perspective. If you really want to know what creeps at night, then this is a must have.

I would have given it a 4.5 star if they had it. The only reason why I would take .5 away from this book, is the sometime silliness of it. There are a couple to things that I wouldn't agree to but over all a good read.

My sister bought this for me from a talk the author was giving at some writing conference. My birthday is on Halloween and I got this today! I've been sitting here reading this instead of doing work because this thing just won't let me put it down. I thought I knew everything about vampires, but this book has a zillion more things about them than I ever knew. It's so great.

I thought I knew something about vampires, now I know a lot about vampires. This is a well put-together volume for a vast store of information on a fun topic. It's best as a reference book but a great read for Halloween. Since vampires are around all year it pays to keep it close at hand.