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Post by dem bones on Jul 18, 2012 11:53:27 GMT
Professor Leonard R. Ashley - The Complete Book Of Vampires (Souvenir, 1988: BCA 1989) Introduction
The Vampire's Deathless Appeal
The Vampire In European Tradition
The Vampire In American Tradition
The Vampire In The Rest Of The World
The Vampire On The Screen
A Clutch Of Vampire Tales
The Vampire In Literature & Folklore
Index
Includes
Montague Summers - Fritz Haarmann ‘The Hanover Vampire’ (non-fiction)
John Polidori - The Vampyre
F. Marion Crawford - For The Blood Is The Life
M. R. James - An Episode In Cathedral History (abridged)
Sir Rabindranath Tagore - The Hungry Stones
Bram Stoker - Dracula's Guest
'John Ludwig Tieck' - Wake Not The Dead
Elizabeth Lynn Linton - The Case Of M. Cabenal
E. F. Benson - The Room In The TowerA mini-encyclopaedia, anthology, bibliography, and Count Dracula Joke book in roughly equal parts, Professor LEONARD R.N. ASHLEY's "THE COMPLETE BOOK OF VAMPIRES", as it's title suggests, strives to be all things to all vampire buffs - which, given the large-ish typeset and just the 366 pages to play with, is asking plenty. The surfeit of similar titles throughout the late eighties and early nineties - Bunsen's The Vampire Encyclopaedia, Guiley's The Compleat Vampire Companion, Melton's The Vampire Book, Skal's V is for Vampire etc. - put Prof. Ashley at something of a disadvantage and veteran campaigners may find they're already on obscenely familiar terms with a fairly sizeable chunk of the material. The author's determination to squeeze in everything makes for an abundance of information but often results in the entries amounting to little more than tantalising snippets. Complete ... is all over the map, flitting bat-like from the sublime to the ridiculous and back again, often within the space of a few paragraphs. Dr. Sweiten - whose withering swipe at the credulity of those who authorised a "vampire" burning in eighteenth century Devon is worthy of a Paul Barber - fights to make himself heard over the clamour to bestow some kind of Sainthood on Frank Langella. A sombre reflection on the horrors of premature burial is, for no discernible reason, directly followed with an appreciation of Vampirella , and the then obligatory interview with an over-indulged "personality" segues into a brief essay on the squeamish subject of cannibalism. Augustus Hare's Croglin Grange Vampire is presented as non-fiction: the late Dr.Stephen Kaplan sits up in his coffin to receive his abuse-jabs for the month. and so on, and so on. That the index is n't the least comprehensive only adds to the chaos. It's when Ashley tears himself from his reference library and turns his attention to contemporary matters, that we get the "controversy" which resulted in at least one throwaway item being dumped from the hardback edition. The author is not shy of venturing an opinion, damning or otherwise, and the less I agreed with, the more I warmed to the book. Among the bigger noises keeping the unfortunate Kaplan company in the sin-bin are Nancy Kilpatrick, whose tug-of-love chiller, Children of the Night, comes in for a dreadful pasting, and Werner Herzog for having the audacity to remake Nosferatu. But it's the fans, in particular the vampire practitioners and certain among the self-appointed "experts", who try his patience to the limit. The Vlad's and Countess so-and-so's who spilled their guts into the ready laps of Norine Dresser and Carol Page are dismissed as "wannabe celebrities" and later, "mumbo-jumbo bozo's." The fanzines are so "ephemeral', he had to be talked into listing the few he does, which, given some of the superfluous junk on offer here - "Juvenile jokes for the under-teens" - is a bit rich. Elsewhere the digs are tempered with something akin to affection, "It's hard to be a teenager in America today", he reflects, in Blood Lust Turns Kids into Hemo-Goblins, an angry stab at the obsessive scaremongering of the media and their irresponsible handling of the Rod Ferrill 'vampire murders' trial. "Many kill themselves. Some kill others. None are real vampires, not even the ones who angrily wish they were". Drink Up takes a pop at blood fetishists who proclaim themselves to be the genuine undead article, but even as he's baiting them he conjures forth the terrible spectre of AIDS and urges those who indulge to look after themselves. I've not put any effort into establishing whether or not all of the stories are abridged because it's unlikely you'd buy this for a bunch of over-familiar public domain tales. Main reason for including it here is that it might hold appeal for fellow fans of Peter Haining's The Vampire Scrapbook.
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Post by ramseycampbell on Jul 18, 2012 12:43:15 GMT
I hope no levity about the H***g*te "Vampire" is to be seen.
By gum, I've been censored! Has some demonic influence seized my text? There were no asterisks or quotation marks in it when I typed it...
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Post by dem bones on Jul 18, 2012 12:52:16 GMT
I hope no levity about the H***g*te "Vampire" is to be seen. By gum, I've been censored! Has some demonic influence seized my text? There were no asterisks or quotation marks in it when I typed it... Sorry, Ramsey, but indeed you have. The names of certain individuals connected to the "case" will likewise trigger the swearometer. i've lost several sites and one board thanks to the adorable serial complainer and his pals (even monkey the magnificent was banned by orange at one point!!!!). I like vault too much to see it wiped off the face of the internet just yet. |
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Post by ramseycampbell on Jul 21, 2012 21:01:44 GMT
I hope no levity about the H***g*te "Vampire" is to be seen. By gum, I've been censored! Has some demonic influence seized my text? There were no asterisks or quotation marks in it when I typed it... Sorry, Ramsey, but indeed you have. The names of certain individuals connected to the "case" will likewise trigger the swearometer. i've lost several sites and one board thanks to the adorable serial complainer and his pals (even monkey the magnificent was banned by orange at one point!!!!). I like vault too much to see it wiped off the face of the internet just yet. Don't worry! Mind you, it's a bit like not being able to type Summer 2012 for fear of the Olympics watchdog. |
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Post by dem bones on Jul 22, 2012 12:50:43 GMT
[ Don't worry! Mind you, it's a bit like not being able to type Summer 2012 for fear of the Olympics watchdog. It can be frustrating for me, too, as, from your introduction to a recent Stephen Jones collection, i believe we share a mutual admiration for a rather idiosyncratic 'official sequel' to some novel by a fellow named Stoker, but that's the way it is. We just got a nice open letter from the Mayor of Tower Hamlets advising us that, although we may have missed out on tickets from the official site "or my own Mayor's Ticket Bonanza", we can still join in the fun though we will have to "cope with some disruption" in the coming weeks. Maybe it's me, but as Lutfur warms to his theme, the letter takes on a decidedly A Street Was Chosen aspect. |
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