The Dead Travel Fast: Stalking Vampires from Nosferatu to Count Chocula (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: out the feathers first, topless show, vampire stuff, Count Dracula, Dark Shadows, Vlad Dracula (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–Nuzum taps into a pervasive thirst for vampire mythology and culture. His examination of the enduring popularity of everyone's favorite monster is oddly respectful as well as hilariously irreverent. Discussions of the real Vlad Dracula, and of Bram Stoker's background and writing, are informative, and the author's acute psychological observations are enlightening. The flesh-and-blood of the book, however, is Nuzum's willingness to throw himself into his research, often with hysterically funny results. He drank his own blood, saw 605 vampire movies (overwhelmingly awful), took a vampire tour of San Francisco led by Countess Mina, went on a tacky and sometimes dangerous vampire tour of Romania, did a stint as a vampire in a haunted house, and attended a Dark Shadows convention. With heavy doses of self-deprecating humor, Nuzum recounts these experiences while slyly exposing the silliness of vampire culture. The liberal use of profanity may turn off some adults, but worldly wise teens are unlikely to be so fainthearted.–Paula Dacker, Charter Oak High School, CA
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Review

Praise for The Dead Travel Fast

"Oozing with blood, intellect and unexpected sincerity, The Dead Travel Fast is the definitive look at why society loves the man who's not in the mirror. This is the best book on vampirism I've ever read."
--Chuck Klosterman, author of Killing Yourself to Live
 
"Eric Nuzum has written a first-class, if respectful, evisceration of contemporary vampire culture. It's also the funniest vampire comedy since Love at First Bite."
--Neal Pollack, author of Alternadad
 
"Eric Nuzum walks where few writers dare to tread in his quest to ferret out vampires, traveling from Las Vegas to Transylvania, and even drinking his own blood -with predictably disastrous results. An entertaining history packed with colorful characters, arcane trivia, and keen insight into our enduring fascination with these mythical creatures."
--Jennifer Ouellette, author of The Physics of the Buffyverse
 

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books; 1st edition (September 18, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031237111X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312371111
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #788,087 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars vampires suck; this book doesn't, September 25, 2007

By	A reader (New York City) - See all my reviews

You'd think that when a guy writing a vampire book drinks his own blood in the opening pages, the rest of the story would pale. Not true here. This book is surprising in so many ways -- it's academic without being boring; it's hilarious without being condescending; and it's heartfelt without being sentimental. The yarn about taking a road trip to Transylvania with "celebrity host" Butch Patrick (Eddie Munster, now 50-something and vaguely indifferent re. the whole Dracula thing) is itself worth the price of the book.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book. Well researched and very entertaining., September 23, 2007

By	J. Meryo - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Excellent book. From the first chapter it sucks you into the world of vampires. Not only is the book well-researched, but the book is written in a way that you feel you are with the author as he travels to Transvylvania, Las Vegas, and other travels in search of the truth about vampires. The book would be entertaining even if you knew little or nothing about vampires. A must read.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Great title (2 1/2 stars), November 14, 2007

By	Max (USA) - See all my reviews

If you're interested in vampires, then you don't have much in common with Eric Nuzum, he makes it clear in his book that he's not very interested in them, and finds those that are to be lacking in some way. And it's not just vampires, if you're interested in anything that's remotely popular within American pop culture, then he seems to think of you as less than human, he even brags about not watching television. This was especially strange because in the book jacket, it says that one of his jobs was commenting on pop culture on VH1's various celebreality shows.

You name it, Friends was a terrible show (all of those respected TV critics that liked it are wrong, the VH1 vj has spoken), Vegas is fake (ok, he has a point, but come on, everybody knows this, he acts as if he's making some deep observation), he never misses an opportunity to talk down about those that he's writing about. Except for Butch Patrick (Eddie Munster), he comes out fairly unscathed, I guess because, like the author, he pretty much makes clear he doesn't have any real interest in the subject matter either.

He goes to a Dark Shadows convention, and seems fairly horrified that people would spend their free time going to such an event, I suppose their time would have been better spent staying home and watching him on VH1, making witty observations about Gary Coleman. He does force himself to watch every episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, which he grudgingly admits isn't all that bad. He discovers that several of his co-workers are fans of the show, and this is where he makes an especially insulting observation, he muses that Buffy fans are more normal than Dark Shadows fans, and that unlike the weirdos at the convention, the Buffy fans aren't fanatic about a silly TV show. Of course, there are Buffy conventions, and for all he knows, some of his co-workers might have been to one, and really, most of the people at the Dark Shadows convention probably lead normal lives when their not getting together to socialize with others that they happen to share an interest with.

Still, I give it 2 1/2 stars because he is a good writer, and although it seems he must have hated every minute of it, he did do his research, and there is quite a bit of vampire lore that he covers. He goes quite a bit into Bram Stoker, Dracula, Vlad the impaler, and Bela Lugosi, all of which was interesting. I also have to admit, the chapter that he describes a group tour he took of Translyvania is hilarious, anybody that has been on a group tour can relate. I would have preferred that a writer with at least a passing interest in vampires had written this book, Nuzzum seems to want to make money on the publics facination with vampires, but make it clear, he does not share that facination.