Peter Underwood - Vampire's Bedside Comp

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Peter Underwood (ed.) - The Vampire's Bedside Companion: The Amazing World Of Vampires In Fact And Fiction (Leslie Frewin 1975; Coronet 1976)

Geoffrey Bourne-Taylor

Blurb
The Amazing World of Vampires in Fact and Fiction

The Vampire's Bedside Companion is a riveting compendium of new facts and fiction on the undying' theme of vampirism.
Here is a new theory on the genesis of Dracula (surely literature's most compelling and macabre figure?); thoughts on allusions to vampirism in Wuthering Heights; first-hand experience of Vampires in Hampstead, London; publication for the first time of the story of a fifteenth-century Vampire Protection medallion that Montague Summers presented to the author ; an account by a professor of English at Dalhousie University of a visit to 'Castle Dracula' in Transylvania — The Vampire's Bedside Companion contains these and a wealth of other- hitherto unpublished material on a subject that is of enduring interest: The Vampire Legend.
To many people, vampires are creatures only of legend and fantasy with no reality outside the pages of books. Others, who have studied the folklore of many countries and the continuing reports of vampirism, maintain that there is extensive evidence not only that vampires once existed but that, in fact, they still do exist. In this fascinating book the author, himself an acknowledged expert on the Occult, presents true accounts of vampire infestation in England, America, Ireland, Hungary, China and France. Records of vampires and vampirism are, he claims, as old as the world and as recent as yesterday.

Four new, exciting and authentic vampire fictional stories by Peter Allan, Crispin Derby, Richard Howard and James Turner complete this compelling companion for dark nights, solitude and howling winds!

Illustrated with many striking photographs, The Vampire's Bedside Companion also con­tains original and evocative drawings by Geoffrey Bourne-Taylor.
It is a must for all students of the occult and every reader of the macabre.
Jacket design by Craig Dodd with drawing by Geoffrey Bourne-Taylor
© Leslie Frewin Publishers Limited, 1974
Price (UK only) £3.50

Weird mixture of fact, 'fact', folklore and fiction including lengthy entry on a then current case of "vampires" in North London. Dr. Devendra Varma studies The Genesis Of Dracula, Underwood's Can Such Things Be? and Vampires Everywhere concentrate on 'real' cases of alleged undead activity from across the globe, including the UK, although, by the looks of it, our home-grown variant are uniformly weedy variations on Varney The Vampyre and Dracula. A photo section features the now over-familiar stills from Hammer films supplemented with amusing snapshots of people striking dramatic poses.

Peter Allen - Domdaniel
Richard Howard - Dies Irae
Crispen Derby - To Claim His Own
James Turner - Mirror Without Image

Peter Allen - Domdaniel: Trad vampire, Scottish setting: superstitious villagers urge the narrator and his family to pass on their way, but, of course, they seek shelter in the big house where they encounter Henrock and his master, Damon Domain. Hero's wife and daughter fall victim to the fiends, and tale ends on a grim note as he struggles for the strength to impale his loved ones in their coffins. Splendid tosh.

Richard Howard - Dies Irae: During renovations at the monastery, a heavy wooden cross is unearthed from where it has been buried, six feet beneath the soil. Father Gerald connects the relic and the otherwise unmarked grave with the former Brother Mark, whose history is outlined in a tattered manuscript written by the once Abbot. Due to his homosexual leanings (which were quite obviously shared by the hypocrite and blackmailer Selwyn), Brother Mark was persecuted by the Monastic hierarchy, excommunicated and eventually expelled. When, in the present day, the cross is removed:

"That same night there was real peace for the first time in the village while, under the dim stars, a shadowy figure crawled swiftly to the top of the monastery wall, hesitated, and sped down the inside like a gigantic spider."

The cowled, skeletal figure has returned intent on vampirising the descendants of his tormentors.

Crispen Derby - To Claim His Own: Dr. Kocsis and his servants Ferenc and Valasy enter England illegally, having left their base behind the iron curtain, the doctor having drained the blood of a German passenger on the boat over. Kocsis is intent on claiming Marie, the sixteen year old daughter of Charles and the late Dolores Devereaux, whom he unsuccessfully attempted to vampirise in the Balkans. Her father wakes up to the menace and soon it is the usual Carry on Staking scenario with the vampire's estate going up in flames along the way. But ...

" ... as the flames at the Abbey fanned higher, her bedroom door creaked open. A soft footfall came nearer and nearer to her bed."

Did the undead keep a spare coffin and a bag of his native soil handy?

James Turner - Mirror Without Image: "Before me, on a large white divan, Pauline was lying quite naked, her eyes staring with incredible love into Elaine's. I saw Elaine crouch over the naked body of Pauline, caressing her breasts, purring with pleasure at the thought of what was to follow, her claw-like hands beginning to caress the neck of her victim. The girl allowed Elaine to do what she liked, and it was evident that she was in some kind a of trance. And then as I watched, Elaine lowered her head and began to caress Pauline's neck with her lips".

Trad vamp tale that recalls Carmilla - "Yet her loveliness still haunts me" - via The Vampire Lovers. Landred Hall estate, Suffolk: Under pressure from her friend Pauline, Elaine moves into the ruins of a thirteenth century castle which resembles "an enormous tooth, upside down with it's fangs raised." Pauline wants to renovate the interior enough for it to be habitable. Pauline inexplicably grows pale and listless enough for her mother to consult her friend and our narrator, Brook, who soon establishes that Elaine is a vampire and challenges her at her girlfriend's birthday party. He discovers that she is Elaine Heddington, who died aged 28 in 1459 - how many times has she drawn the life blood from the living to sustain her down the centuries? Brook approaches her coffin with stake poised ...