Sunday 1 September 2013

FACTUAL REVIEW: How to Kill a Vampire - Liisa Ladouceur

Release Date: 01/09/13
Publisher:  ECW Press

SYNOPSIS:

Citing examples from folklore, as well as horror films, TV shows, and works of fiction, this book details all known ways to prevent vampirism, including how to protect oneself against attacks and how to destroy vampires. While offering explanations on the origins and uses of most commonly known tactics in fending off vampirism, the book also delves much deeper by collecting historical accounts of unusual burial rites and shocking superstitions from European history, from the “real” Serbian vampire Arnold Paole to the unique Bulgarian Djadadjii, a professional vampire “bottler.” It traces the evolution of how to kill the fictional vampire—from Bram Stoker’s Dracula and the Hammer horror films beginning in the 1950s to Anne Rice’s Lestat and the dreamy vamps of Twilight, True Blood, and The Vampire Diaries—and also celebrates the most important slayers, including Van Helsing, Buffy, and Blade. In exploring how and why these monsters have been created and the increasingly complex ways in which they are destroyed, the book not only serves as a handy guide to the history and modern role of the vampire, it reveals much about the changing nature of human fears.


REVIEW:

With so many films out there that follow perhaps the most popular undead creatures out there, it sometimes becomes a mystery as to how some of the lore has not only become mixed up but also added to over the years. What this book by Lisa Ladouceur does is take a lot of the lore and make sense of it with cracking information, stories from the various cultures and of course film lore within.

It’s a fun read, has some great facts and when added to the authors clear love of the genre all round makes this a book that you’ll just love to own. Solid and informative.


1 comment:

Bea said...

I've seen this around on a few blogs; it looks really interesting.