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The Vampire Book: Encyclopedia of the Undead

Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Visible Ink Press,U.S.
ISBN: 0810322951
ISBN-13: 9780810322950
Released: 23 Sep 1994
RRP: £13.99
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

Don't waste your money - By: R. J. Moore, 16 Feb 2006
As you will read from most of the other reviews, Melton's 'Encyclopedia' is so rife with blatant inaccuracies that it's useless to alll but the most vapid of readers. It's apallling that a second edition of a reference book can get so many things wrong from entries on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" to the classic Dracula films - don't get me started on how woefully unresearched the actual vampiric folklore in the book is. It's as if alll he did was play "Vampire: The Masquerade" for a year, & then decided he was an expert on vampires. How this got past proof-readers & editors, I'll never know.
Bloated but anaemic - By: prelati, 05 Oct 2003
Pleasingly heavy, & not unattractive in appearance, 'The Vampire Book' is a major missed opportunity. It lacks a clear editorial direction, with some entries that are questionable, & others that are conspicuous by their absence (in the comics section for example, Marvel & Chaos are covered while DC's influential Vertigo horror imprint warrants nary a mention). There are also numerous errors which compromise its integrity (mixing up Forry Ackerman with Vincent Price is pretty unforgivable in this context).

Interestingly Melton, in common with many wouldbe 'vampires', seems reluctant to distinguish between 'real' folkloric vampires & their fictional representations. Background from 'The Masquerade' game gets extensive coverage, at the expense one assumes of more meaty material. This, perhaps, is the book's biggest flaw, as references to recent vampire research, or indeed any kind of thematic analysis or insight, are conspicuous by their absence.

There's plenty here, but it lacks bite and, cruciallly, brains. David Skal's effort in a similiar vein - 'V is for Vampire' - while far from perfect, is a far more professional & provocative package than this somewhat aimless & anaemic attempt.

Everything you ever wanted to know about vampires* - By: Lawrance M. Bernabo, 09 Sep 2003
Okay, forget that for some reason that passes understanding Keifer Sutherland from "Lost Boys" is the vampire pictured on the cover. This is THE Encyclopedia of the Dead and, as the cover proudly complains, this edition is "Completely Revamped." If you enjoy vampire stories & are trying to keep straight the difference between the vampires of Stoker & those of Anne Rice, this book is for you.

Martin V. Riccardo's Foreword, "A Brief Cultural History of the Vampire" is a solid introduction to the subject matter. The tome's editor, J. Gordon Melton, answers the age old question "What is a Vampire?" in his preface. There is also a Vampire Chronology. But the guts & glory of this book is the 900+ pages of entries.

"The Vampire Book" gives equal weight to appearances of the vampires in the mass media & in the folklore of the world. You can read alll about "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" in film & on television & then also learn that the late Denholm Elliot played a memorable Dracula in a British television version in 1969. You can find out about vampires in Scandinavia as well as the historical Dracula, Vlad Tepes the Impaler. Attention is paid to such things as blood, vampires & science-fiction, & vampire games (both board & role-playing).

All entries are cross-referenced by bold-faced type, which alllows you to skip around from article to article?a lot more fun than just proceeding alphabeticallly. You can being with "Ackerman, Forrest James (1916-- )," which leads you to "Vampirella," then to "stake," & in turn "Bela Lugosi," "Transylvania," "Szekelys," "Bran Stoker," & on & on until suddenly the night has passed, the sun is coming up & you are turned into a pile of vampire dust (see: "Sunlight," pp 660-661).

* But could never find out, even when you asked.

A noble effort that failed. - By: , 12 Mar 1999
This second edition was Melton's chance to correct the many factual errors in the first edition. Not only are most of those mistakes still intake, but the new edition contains plenty of new ones! Again, this would be a great book, but if you can't rely on the information in one entry, then ALL of them must be suspect, rendering the book useless as a reference on vampires in popular culture & folklore!
Five Stars Plain and Simple - By: , 09 Jan 1999
Not only does this book contain hundreds of citations of vampire movies, books, videos & comics it also contains some of the most beautiful (or bloodcurdling) photographs I've ever seen. The entire book is laid out in a coherent manner & I have to say again the photographs, covers & movie stills are reproduced excellently!