The Weiser Field Guide to Vampires: Legends, Practices, and Encounters Old and New (Weiser Field Guides) [Paperback]

J M Dixon (Author)

Book Description

Series: Weiser Field Guides | Publication Date: October 1, 2009

From the shadowy coffin of Dracula to the high school hero Buffy the Vampire Slayer to the love story of Edward and Bella of Twilight fame, vampires have fascinated humans for centuries. The Wesier Field Guide to Vampires provides a handbook not only to mythical and historical legends, but also to the modern vampire, their community, and the science behind modern vampire feeding. Learn how to recognize a true vampire, their strengths and weaknesses, and how to tell if you are a vampire. Includes a glossary of who's who in the vampire world, and top vampire terms.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Born and raised in the mountains of North Georgia with a southern babtist influence, Dixon sought answers to the constant oddities pervading his youth from both science and metaphysics. To this day, he longs to harmonize the two in a new understanding of the natural world.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Weiser Books (October 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578634490
• ISBN-13: 978-1578634491
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 4.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #763,040 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars VAMPIRES AMONG US, OR JUST STUPID FICTION?, October 17, 2009

By 

Theresa Welsh "The Seeker" (Ferndale, Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Weiser Field Guide to Vampires: Legends, Practices, and Encounters Old and New (Weiser Field Guides) (Paperback)

Do vampires walk among us and did one of them write this book? The author does not explicitly claim to be a vampire, but that seems to be the case from the inside "knowledge" of vampire practices in this book. But is what he says real, an elaborate delusion, or simply a hoax?

Personally, I hope it is just a hoax, because the vampiric nature, as he explains it, is most unappealing. The vampire spirit is not like us humans; the vampire has no shining aura about him, rather his spirit exudes an octopus-like series of tendrils that reach out constantly to steal energy from others, preying on the unsuspecting. While the author says most vampires are "ethical," and many find willing donors, it is difficult to see this energy-stealing behavior as anything but repugnant. He tells us vampires feel "the Hunger" and must feed. Their source of energy is the rest of us.

Exactly what is a vampire? Not the undead, as in Bram Stoker's classic "Dracula." And vampires do not need to feed upon human blood, he tells us, although many do (this is one way to steal energy). He often refers to vampires as though they are a race, but being a vampire is not genetic. The vampire spirit inhabits an essentially human body, but did not inherit its vampiric nature from its parents. So any human can potentially give birth to a vampire. What a cold and horrific thought!

The author also seems to have a different view of "spirit" than authors of books on spirituality. In between telling us how "ethical" most vampires are, we get chilling tales about vampires causing illness and death to those they prey upon. To the author, "spirit" is just another word for energy, and a vampire can leave a victim with none. At times, the author does refer to vampires as "monsters" and compares them with sociopaths, who have no sense of guilt. He also claims they are "powerful," and more intelligent than mere humans. But their obsession is with themselves and their own needs and they have no empathy for their victims.

Incredibly, this book also has a chapter called "Am I a Vampire?" The author invites his readers to share his delusion. This, after telling us in another chapter about vampire wannabes. Apparently, there are people who find this dark kind of life (guilt-free exploitation of others) attractive. Kind of the opposite of a life of service to others, the usual spiritual ideal.

The book provides some historic background on the phenomenon of vampirism, equating it with peoples known from legends, like the Celtic Sidhe, the Carpathian Strigoi, and even the Biblical Nephilim. This is fairly unconvincing, if vampirism is not an inherited condition associated with certain ethnic groups, but rather a condition of the spirit. It seems to me that there ARE people who seem to leave you tired after being with them, but aren't these just annoying, selfish people? The world, after all, is full of jerks.

So why am I giving this book three stars, even while being appalled by its contents? Well, the author does cover the gamut of information about vampires, and the book is an easy read, with nice illustrations. If this subject is of interest to you, here's your chance to read all about it from an author who "tells all." However, this book did not convince me that there is anything real about vampirism, as portrayed here or in popular books about modern vampires. Personally, I'll stick with the creepy guy in the black cape who lays in a coffin by day and turns into a bat by night and is just a fictional character. Happy Halloween!

1.0 out of 5 stars Expecting so much more..., March 26, 2011

By 

Rialla - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Weiser Field Guide to Vampires: Legends, Practices, and Encounters Old and New (Weiser Field Guides) (Paperback)

I got this book expecting a good reference source with well quoted and researched material.
However I quickly found out that this book was NOT what I'd expected. First we're immediately dropped into the implication that vampires are everywhere and in charge of/leading the world around. Okay, I roll my eyes but it's still possible that it'll improve as we get into the encyclopedia segement, right?
Wrong. So we're to get some information on pre-Stoker vampire mythologies... but instead of pulling off the real legends, we get a hodge podge of Hollywoodian mythos - the worst being the implication that 'Sidhe=Vampires'. This is followed by constant references to vampires being tall, cool, beautiful, etc etc etc.
I winced my way through it, then skipped to the modern mythologies segment. To my shock it got worse. I have friends who are members of the vampire community, both blood drinkers and 'energy/psy' based. This is NOTHING like the reality, this is as if someone was trying to make the vampires of Blade what is 'real'. I showed it to three of said friends and they reacted with far more volume than I had.
Sadly I can NOT recommend this book at all. It contains false data, poorly researched data and Hollywood mythos presented as 'old myth realities'.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Vampires...., October 26, 2010

By 

J. E. Landrum "aka Daven" (Nashville, TN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Weiser Field Guide to Vampires: Legends, Practices, and Encounters Old and New (Weiser Field Guides) (Paperback)

One thing you must know before I get to the review; I hate vampires. More to the point, I hate the current "vampire craze". Especially when there are multiple fiction books out on the market that are simply thinly veiled teen angst/romance novels, targeted to a demographic that is very vulnerable to flattery and "someday my prince will come".

That being said, I had feared that this book was going to be more of the same. It would be a book full of "Vampires are sexy" and "Vampires drink blood because it's primal to our sexual energies". I was pleasantly surprised to find that the author and publisher did not fall into this trap.

The trap they did fall into was as bad if not worse. Their failure can best be described as Unverified Personal Gnosis, sensationalism or shoddy scholarship. Within the first dozen pages, I spotted many mistakes in vampire lore. The biggest (and the one that nearly made me put the book into the round file in disgust) is the author's claim that the Sidhe were a sub group of the Formorians and not the Tuatha de Dannan, and that the Sidhe were really vampires in disguise.

Those of you with knowledge of Celtic lore can already see why I wanted to chuck this book across a pond. For the record, according to the Celtic lore, the Sidhe (elves) are what the Tuatha de Dannan (Children of Dana) became called once humans settled Ireland. The Formorians were not a race of warriors that the Sidhe were part of, the Formorians were giants that the Tuatha de Dannan fought and beat in the Second Battle of Moy Tura.

I always like to give a fair review so I continued to read.

The author spends a lot of time sharing lore on "psychic vampires", those who feed on the energy of others. There is a LOT of information in there about energy feeding and the whys and wherefores of this process. The author emphasizes this information since he doesn't include much information on Sanguinarian Vampires, the blood-sucking type. I surmise that the reason for the lack of information on blood-drinkers is either the author's desire to focus on the energy-eating version or that there is more than enough information already available.

Included in this book are the standard chapters on "how to tell if you are a vampire" and "how to protect yourself from a vampire" and so on. To give the author credit he doesn't reference fictional works about Vampires as factual sources, but there is a lot of mythology and supposition that is cited as fact.

Now, since I've said this book is close to useless, let me share what's good. This book gives a very good break down of "eating" energy from others. I don't feel this can be described as vampirism at all times. Still, it does talk extensively about how those of who can remove energies from others accomplish this feat.

Unfortunately, it does so through the lens of a vampire, meaning that all the sanguinarian lore about being sensitive to the sun and so on is mixed into the actual processes of energy draining.

The author also never goes into how to prevent unconscious draining of energies by others, or how to protect yourself from the same.

To be honest, I would have preferred to see a book dealing with the lore and mythology about vampires, the breakdown of types, what they are reported to be able to do, rather than this.

It might have been better if it had been named the "Weiser Field Guide to Energy Drainers". The title would have been more accurate.

I'm going to give this book 2.5 out of 5 stars. It's okay, it is not about vampires per-se, but it's not a useless book. Take it for what it is worth.