Customer Reviews

The natural history of the vampire

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

 

 

This book is a must read for anyone researching the true origin of the Hollywood Vampire. It gives the most accurate description of Vampires from days long ago to present. The fact is not everyone who reads about vampires knows why we as humans fear them. This book will explain it in detail.

Although this is an older book, it was still very informative. Many on the references are from other books written in older centuries with details of situation and superstitions of their day. After reading this book, I realized that many of the sci-fi books I read (Dresden Files, Anita Blake, and so forth) really do their homework. This book was actually recommended by Laurell K. Hamilton.

I haven't read the book thoroughly yet, but what I have read is excellent. This book has details in it that no other book on the subject that I've read has. Definitely worth buying.

Anthony Masters really did a good job of digging up all the legends and myths of vampires from around the world. Half the book deals with vampire traits and practices, with follow up chapters on Pagan Vampires and vampires in Christianity. Where the book fails to really dig in and give us the deatils we want is when he starts to write about vampires in fiction. The chapters on vampires in literature and in the field of entertainment are slim. Even the chapter on vampires today seems to be nothing but an afterthought. The bibliography is useful for those interested in going to the raw sources.
Overall, if it had just been on folklore vampires, I would have given it five stars. But the title promises more and, frankly, did not deliver.

Masters gives us a detail description of vampire's believes in different countries, what makes me doubt about how much of this is fact, it is the big mistake he does when he talks about the vampires in Peru, the name of the god in his book is not an Andean name (quechua, aymara, etc.) it is a Mayan or Aztec name. If he makes that mistake how many others the book might have.