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

by Eric Nuzum (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: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #351,078 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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Dead Reads Fast (and Fun!), August 31, 2008

By	lochnessa7 "lochnessa7" (Half Hollow Hills, NY) - See all my reviews

The Dead Travel Fast offers a fresh look at the fascination of vampire lore, remarkably lacking in cliches, and an honest yet humane look at the people who obssess over it. Author Eric Nuzum cheerfully undertakes experiments that would daunt the casual vampire fan (i.e. sampling his own blood, watching every vampire movie ever made). He visits Romania on a tour of vampire history with uncomfortable conditions and limited appeal. He spends months trying to contact a real vampire. Nuzum journeys to the very outskirts of accepted culture to find source of the undead's universal appeal. He attempts to reconcile the equal strength of the mainstream's fascination and the fringe's obsession with vampires and he does so with wit, spunk and an open mind.