Vampire Legends in Contemporary American Culture

Vampire Legends in Contemporary American Culture PDF Author: William Patrick Day
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813153948
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 172

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Book Description
While vampire stories have been part of popular culture since the beginning of the nineteenth century, it has been in recent decades that they have become a central part of American culture. Vampire Legends in Contemporary American Culture looks at how vampire stories—from Bram Stoker's Dracula to Blacula, from Bela Lugosi's films to Love at First Bite—have become part of our ongoing debate about what it means to be human. William Patrick Day looks at how writers and filmmakers as diverse as Anne Rice and Andy Warhol present the vampire as an archetype of human identity, as well as how many post-modern vampire stories reflect our fear and attraction to stories of addiction and violence. He argues that contemporary stories use the character of Dracula to explore modern values, and that stories of vampire slayers, such as the popular television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, integrate current feminist ideas and the image of the Vietnam veteran into a new heroic version of the vampire story.

Stories of Vampires

Stories of Vampires PDF Author: Louie Stowell
Publisher: Usborne Publishing Limited
ISBN: 9781409509967
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
In these three stories, young heroes and heroines meet pale and mysterious strangers. But whom should they trust? And will they survive the night?

Southern Blood

Southern Blood PDF Author: Lawrence Schimel
Publisher: Cumberland House Publishing
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 230

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Book Description
Perhaps more than any region, the American South is haunted by the mythology of the vampire, returned from the dead to drain life from the living.

The Mammoth Book of Vampire Stories by Women

The Mammoth Book of Vampire Stories by Women PDF Author: Stephen Jones
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1510723846
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 825

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Book Description
Thirty-five uncanny and erotic tales of vampires written by supernatural fiction’s greatest mistresses of the macabre. "Fashions change, and the urbane vampire created by Byron and cemented in place by Stoker has had to move on . . . Are you, like me, ready for the new dusk?" —Ingrid Pitt, from her Introduction Prepare to arm yourself with garlic, silver bullets, and a stake. Featuring the only vampire short story written by Anne Rice, the undisputed queen of vampire literature, and boasting an autobiographical introduction and original tale by Ingrid Pitt, the star of Hammer Films' The Vampire Lovers and Countess Dracula, this is one anthology that every vampire fan—vampiric feminist or not—will want to drink deep from. From the classic stories of Edith Wharton, Edith Nesbit, Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman, and Mary Elizabeth Braddon to modern incarnations by such acclaimed writers as Poppy Z. Brite, Nancy Kilpatrick, Tanith Lee, Caitlín R. Kiernan, and Angela Slatter, these blood-drinkers and soul-stealers range from the sexual to the sanguinary, from the tormented Good to the unspeakably Evil. Among those memorable Children of the Night you will encounter are Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's Byronic vampire Saint-Germain, Nancy A. Collins' undead heroine Sonja Blue, Tanya Huff's vampiric detective Vicki Nelson, and Freda Warrington’s age-old lovers Karl and Charlotte. Nominated for the World Fantasy Award and the International Horror Guild Award, and now revised and updated, The Mammoth Book of Vampire Stories by Women fulfils the bloodlust of the somnambulist horror fan, delivering the ultimate bite.

Dracula

Dracula PDF Author: Bram Stoker
Publisher: Standard Ebooks
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 501

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Book Description
Dracula is one of the most famous horror novels, responsible not just for introducing the eponymous Count Dracula, but for laying the foundations for many of the common tropes we see in modern horror fiction. Count Dracula isn’t the first vampire to have graced the pages of Western literature—that honor belongs to Lord Ruthven in “The Vampire,” a short story by John William Polidori—but Dracula is the vampire on which the modern vampire trope is based. Dracula wasn’t as famous in its day as it is today; readers of the time seemed to enjoy it as nothing more than a good story, and Stoker died nearly penniless. But its long-lasting influence is undeniable, and for all its age Dracula remains a gripping, fast-paced, and enjoyable read. This book is part of the Standard Ebooks project, which produces free public domain ebooks.

The History and Folklore of Vampires

The History and Folklore of Vampires PDF Author: Charles River Charles River Editors
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781542755528
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 52

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Book Description
*Includes pictures *Includes historical accounts describing vampires *Discusses the legends of vampires across various cultures and the evolution of the folklore *Includes a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents People have always been afraid of the dead. Since the dawn of humanity, people have both cared for those who have deceased yet also tried to keep them away. There are a myriad of legends and beliefs about the dead coming back, and one of the more persistent ones is of the vampire. Everyone has heard of vampires, but few people are truly familiar with the history and folklore that have made the mythical beings so popular. Indeed, there are so many legends from so many cultures that it is difficult to come up with a hard definition, and folklore is by its very nature unscientific, but most people in the Western world think of vampires as those who come back from the grave to suck the blood or life essence from the living. This common understanding of vampires actually obscures many European and most non-European traditions of bloodsucking monsters. For example, in China, Japan, and the Middle East, there are spirits that will drain the life force of an unwary person, but these magical beings were never mortal humans. In African and Native American traditions, there are monsters that do the same, but while they are supposed to be of this Earth, they too are not human beings. Furthermore, folklore changes over time, so the vampires people are familiar with today (and the ones some people claim to actually meet) bear little resemblance to the vampires of early modern Europe. Stories change, fiction turns to fact and vice versa, and beliefs are constantly reinvented. Ideas are adopted, adapted, and presented as true. All the while, the legend of the vampire remains. The History and Folklore of Vampires chronicles how vampires became so popular. Along with pictures and a bibliography, you will learn about vampires like never before, in no time at all.

Vampires

Vampires PDF Author: Martin Harry Greenberg
Publisher: M J F Books
ISBN: 9781567311679
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
"The touch of cold fangs. The pallor of undead skin. The human shape that casts no shadow and receives no reflection. The nocturnal wanderer, the nighttime feeder, like the owl, the bat, and the snake ... Vampires have always been with us, in our nightmares. From the cannibal, the werewolf, and the ghoul, extract various features and mix in the right proportion, to yield that most evil, most terrifying of all human-like creatures, the vampire: among us, but not one of us; resembling us, mingling with us, but secretly stalking us. Everyone wants to live forever. Or so they think. Perhaps we would pause before accepting immortality if we knew the price was to feed forever on other human lives, on human blood. Perhaps some vampires are tortured by guilt or self-disgust. But whether or not the agonies of conscience add to a vampire's nightmare existence, from a human perspective vampires are distinctly unfriendly. Many of the world's best authors have written of the vampire, and in this collection, edited by award-winning editor Martin H. Greenberg, you will find the best of the best."--Jacket

Vampire Legends in Contemporary American Culture

Vampire Legends in Contemporary American Culture PDF Author: William Patrick Day
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813153948
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 172

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Book Description
While vampire stories have been part of popular culture since the beginning of the nineteenth century, it has been in recent decades that they have become a central part of American culture. Vampire Legends in Contemporary American Culture looks at how vampire stories—from Bram Stoker's Dracula to Blacula, from Bela Lugosi's films to Love at First Bite—have become part of our ongoing debate about what it means to be human. William Patrick Day looks at how writers and filmmakers as diverse as Anne Rice and Andy Warhol present the vampire as an archetype of human identity, as well as how many post-modern vampire stories reflect our fear and attraction to stories of addiction and violence. He argues that contemporary stories use the character of Dracula to explore modern values, and that stories of vampire slayers, such as the popular television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, integrate current feminist ideas and the image of the Vietnam veteran into a new heroic version of the vampire story.

The Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Monsters

The Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Monsters PDF Author: Rosemary Guiley
Publisher: Infobase Publishing
ISBN: 1438130015
Category : Monsters
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
Monsters and shape-shifters have always held a special fascination in mythologies, legends, and folklore the world over. From ancient customs to famous cases of beasts and vampires and their reflections in popular culture, 600 entries provide definitions, explanations, and lists of suggested further reading.

Vampires

Vampires PDF Author: Rachel Seigel
Publisher: Weigl Publishers
ISBN: 1489698604
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 32

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Book Description
Did you know that people created vampire stories to explain natural events? They believed vampires caused illness and bad weather. Learn more about these mythical creatures in Vampires, part of the Legends and Fairy Tales series. Legends and Fairy Tales is a series of AV2 media enhanced books. A unique book code printed on page 2 unlocks multimedia content. These books come alive with video, audio, weblinks, slideshows, activities, hands-on experiments, and much more

Vampires

Vampires PDF Author: Ryan Gale
Publisher:
ISBN: 1543583490
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 33

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Book Description