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The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead (The Real Unexplained! Collection) Paperback – Illustrated, September 1, 2010

by J Gordon Melton (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 135 ratings
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The Ultimate Collection of Vampire Facts and Fiction

From Vlad the Impaler to Barnabas Collins to Edward Cullen to Dracula and Bill Compton, renowned religion expert and fearless vampire authority J. Gordon Melton, PhD takes the reader on a vast, alphabetic tour of the psychosexual, macabre world of the blood-sucking undead. Digging deep into the lore, myths, pop culture, and reported realities of vampires and vampire legends from across the globe, The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead exposes everything about the blood thirsty predator.

Death and immortality, sexual prowess and surrender, intimacy and alienation, rebellion and temptation. The allure of the vampire is eternal, and The Vampire Book explores it all. The historical, literary, mythological, biographical, and popular aspects of one of the world's most mesmerizing paranormal subject. This vast reference is an alphabetical tour of the psychosexual, macabre world of the soul-sucking undead.

In the first fully revised and updated edition in a decade, Dr. J. Gordon Melton (president of the American chapter of the Transylvania Society of Dracula) bites even deeper into vampire lore, myths, reported realities, and legends that come from all around the world. From Transylvania to plague-infested Europe to Nostradamus and from modern literature to movies and TV series, this exhaustive guide furnishes more than 500 essays to quench your thirst for facts, biographies, definitions, and more.

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Previous page
  1. Part of series
    The Real Unexplained! Collection
  2. Print length
    944 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Visible Ink Press
  5. Publication date
    September 1, 2010
  6. Dimensions
    7.1 x 1.91 x 9.26 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    157859281X
  8. ISBN-13
    978-1578592814
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The third edition of this comprehensive encyclopedia of vampires and vampire lore is exhaustive, covering vampire esoterica, vampire novelists, historical figures like Vlad the Impaler, and much more, and featuring an extra decade of vampire knowledge that allows Melton to incorporate the Twilight phenomenon and acknowledge the cultural importance of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and other developments in the bloody field. Melton's (The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomenon) research is meticulous and readers with even a passing interest in vampires will be amazed by the staggering wealth of information presented. However, Melton's volume is redundant in the extreme and some of what he includes (such as entries like the London of Dracula's Time) are only tenuously related to vampires. At times, it's difficult to tell if Melton has an extremely dry sense of humor or none at all, since his entries are so obsessively single-minded. Ultimately, readers who really want something to sink their teeth into will find this indispensible, but more casual enthusiasts will likely be overwhelmed.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Written by religious scholar and fearless vampire authority Melton, this updated edition is a thorough guide for all things relating to vampires. The previous edition was published in 1998, and as Melton notes in his introduction, there has been a “radical increase in vampires’ presence in popular culture in the last decade.” More than 400 A–Z entries cover both the popular and the more scholarly aspects of vampirism. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dark Shadows, and the Twilight novels have entries, as do vampire legends in many countries of the world, vampires in music and poetry, and Psychological perspectives on vampire mythology. Additionally, there are entries for Blood, Fangs, Destroying the vampire, Homosexuality and the vampire, and various other topics. Other features of the volume include a vampire chronology and a detailed index. Sure to be popular with readers whose interest in vampires has been sparked by the current trend. --Susan Awe

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Visible Ink Press; 3rd edition (September 1, 2010)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 944 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 157859281X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1578592814
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.1 x 1.91 x 9.26 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 135 ratings

About the author

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J. Gordon Melton

J. Gordon Melton

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J. Gordon Melton is the Distinguished Professor of American Religious History at the Institute for Studies of Religion, Baylor University, and the Director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion also based in Waco, Texas.

He is the author of more than 35 books, the great majority reference works or scholarly texts in American religious history, including the "Encyclopedia of American Religions" (eighth edition, 2009), and most recently "Religious Celebrations: An Encyclopedia of Holidays, Festivals, Solemn Observances and Spiritual Commemorations" (2011). He has also written several reference books in Dracula and vampire studies including the award winning "The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead" (third edition 2010).

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
135 global ratings
Contents great, shipping condition very sad
4 Stars
Contents great, shipping condition very sad
Awesome book inside, no complaints there. However, the condition of the book upon arrival was sad. Now I’m mad. It’s a sad mad deal, you know? I mean come on, how difficult is it to place a book into a box without dog earring the corner and 52 pages? Do better people. Try a little bit harder, pretend it’s your book and you love it and want to keep it pristine. Pretend you care about your job and the integrity you should have.This was purchased as a birthday gift. I don’t give birthday gifts from garage sales. Not when I’ve paid full price for a tome that should therefore arrive in full price condition. But we have a full price book in garage sale condition. 🙄 And the photo attached is days later after stacking heavier books onto the damaged one trying to flatten the creases. Pffft. That didn’t work.
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Top reviews from the United States

J. Harrington-B
5.0 out of 5 stars Massive Compendium of the Undead
Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2012
Verified Purchase
This book is a big book containing thousands of references to all subjects related to vampires. If you have a vampire enthusiast in your family, this is the book to get them. Everything from movies, music, popular culture, literature and games, this book references every known subject related to vampirism. From legends, to myth and folklore, to how vampires are depicted in hundreds of global cultures, this book has it.

Seriously, this book is massive!
2 people found this helpful
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Breeze
5.0 out of 5 stars The Night is Dark, Wake Vampies of Your Mind to Thought of The Written Word Or is It
Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2018
Verified Purchase
I love Vampires as only movie, folk lord stories, books. I have all three editions of The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia Of The Undead. I love to read a lot and I like gothic books and stories. Good reading to me on a dark raining night just a light from a candle to read by. Enjoy my friend a good read and more to your mind of occult of horror of vampires.
6 people found this helpful
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Unknown-knowns
5.0 out of 5 stars It’s kind of ehh...
Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2018
Verified Purchase
It’s cool, kind of lame it’s more about vampire movies than anything
5 people found this helpful
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Tj McLaren
5.0 out of 5 stars Vampire Encyclopedia
Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2020
Verified Purchase
Loved it. It helps with my writing!
3 people found this helpful
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ED Bohanan
4.0 out of 5 stars Contents great, shipping condition very sad
Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2023
Verified Purchase
Awesome book inside, no complaints there. However, the condition of the book upon arrival was sad. Now I’m mad. It’s a sad mad deal, you know? I mean come on, how difficult is it to place a book into a box without dog earring the corner and 52 pages? Do better people. Try a little bit harder, pretend it’s your book and you love it and want to keep it pristine. Pretend you care about your job and the integrity you should have.
This was purchased as a birthday gift. I don’t give birthday gifts from garage sales. Not when I’ve paid full price for a tome that should therefore arrive in full price condition. But we have a full price book in garage sale condition. 🙄 And the photo attached is days later after stacking heavier books onto the damaged one trying to flatten the creases. Pffft. That didn’t work.
Customer image
ED Bohanan
4.0 out of 5 stars Contents great, shipping condition very sad
Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2023
Awesome book inside, no complaints there. However, the condition of the book upon arrival was sad. Now I’m mad. It’s a sad mad deal, you know? I mean come on, how difficult is it to place a book into a box without dog earring the corner and 52 pages? Do better people. Try a little bit harder, pretend it’s your book and you love it and want to keep it pristine. Pretend you care about your job and the integrity you should have.
This was purchased as a birthday gift. I don’t give birthday gifts from garage sales. Not when I’ve paid full price for a tome that should therefore arrive in full price condition. But we have a full price book in garage sale condition. 🙄 And the photo attached is days later after stacking heavier books onto the damaged one trying to flatten the creases. Pffft. That didn’t work.
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Olivier Dunrea
5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT Reference Book!
Reviewed in the United States on December 21, 2019
Verified Purchase
This is a great reference book! Has pretty much anything and everything you might ever want to look up about vampires. Nicely packaged. Quickly shipped.
2 people found this helpful
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Donald B. McGinnis, Jr., MA
5.0 out of 5 stars I particularly liked the constant cross-referencing and the fact that Melton gives ...
Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2015
Verified Purchase
Aside from some grammatical errors, I found this book excellant. What is helpful is the list of sources at the end of each entry, which allows one to continue to pursue subsequent information about each entry. I particularly liked the constant cross-referencing and the fact that Melton gives the historical context of some of the legends and foklore.
3 people found this helpful
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Obi-Wan
5.0 out of 5 stars Vampire Book
Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2011
Verified Purchase
everything you always wanted to know about Vampires but did not dare to ask!
that could be the title of this gigantic Encyclopedia of 900 pages on Vampires!
from the earliest movies to the latest,so many entries on Vampiric Life!
from the wolfsbane to the use of garlic!
everything is mentionned!
and more serious topics as well!
very learned work!!!
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 30, 2015
Verified Purchase
Ok
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Leonardy, Romain
4.0 out of 5 stars unfoundet suggestions
Reviewed in Germany on January 27, 2011
Verified Purchase
Hi,

In the overview of Vampire movies (filmographie) at the end of the book appears a film, produced in the late 1910s in Russia. I am not confident with that information for I disagrea with the idea that the russians had the needed equipment to make such a movie at that time. And in addition to that, there is no recorded material which proves that this film has ever been made. For the hungrian production from 1920/21 is proved by some sort of pictures or screenshotes having been found in the 60s.
I would recommend that the author, if he insists in having this disappeared movie in his filmographie, to give any information about where he has found it, for I have not found any reliable information. Neither online nor in the existing literature.
All in all, the book is a great encyclopedia and is worth the money for all fans, scientists and normal people who are interested in vampirism in its realisation in film and literatur. At least I wanna say, that I am highly amused by the fact that postmodern vamipre literature/films has not appeared in this encyclopedia so far, cause they have absolutly nothing to do with the dreadly night-haunting god forsaken creature. The book shows that creepy white emo-teenies are no vampires at all! Thanks for that.

so far...
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