Mythologis
Vampires: The Complete Guide to the Undead in Myth, Folklore and Legend

Mythical Creatures Mythology

Vampires: The Complete Guide to the Undead in Myth, Folklore and Legend

The Bloodthirsty Dead, from Ancient Demons to Dracula

The complete guide to the vampire: the blood-drinking demons of the ancient world, the restless dead of Slavic folklore, the eighteenth-century vampire panics, and the long road from peasant superstition to Dracula.

180 pagesPDFEnglishMythologis Library

$14.99

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Inside this book

What you will read

  • 11 chapters, primary sources
  • Instant PDF download
  • Original ink illustrations
  • Folklore separated cleanly from fiction
  • Designed for print quality
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  1. 01The Oldest Fear: The Hungry Dead
  2. 02Blood-Demons of the Ancient World
  3. 03The Slavic Revenant: The True Vampire
  4. 04Strigoi, Moroi and the Folklore of Romania
  5. 05How to Make a Vampire: Death, Burial and the Restless Corpse
  6. 06How to Kill a Vampire: Stake, Fire and Holy Ground
  7. 07The Vampire Panics of the Eighteenth Century
  8. 08Arnold Paole and the Cases That Named the Vampire
  9. 09The Vampire Enters Literature: Polidori to Le Fanu
  10. 10Dracula and the Birth of the Modern Vampire
  11. 11The Vampire Today: From Folklore to Pop Culture

About this book

About this Mythical Creatures mythology guide

Before Dracula, the vampire was a swollen peasant corpse that villagers dug up and burned. This is the complete guide to the undead, from ancient blood-demons to the modern vampire.

Long before Dracula put on his cloak, the vampire was a peasant problem. It was not an elegant count but a swollen, ruddy corpse that would not stay in its grave, that came back to drain the life from its own family and livestock, and that whole villages would dig up, stake and burn in a fury of fear. The vampire is one of the oldest and most stubborn monsters in human imagination, and almost everything most people know about it is barely two hundred years old.

This is the complete guide to the vampire across history. The blood-drinking demons of Mesopotamia and Greece, Lamashtu and the lamia; the revenants and strigoi of Slavic and Romanian folklore, where the real vampire belief was densest; the great vampire panics of eighteenth-century Europe, when the word entered the Western languages and even the authorities went grave to grave; and the literary vampire, from Polidori and Le Fanu to Bram Stoker, who turned a rotting villager into an aristocrat.

The book separates the folklore from the fiction, drawing on the trial records, the church reports and the source texts, and every chapter cites where it comes from.

Delivered as a print-quality PDF within 24 hours of purchase.

What you will discover inside

  • The blood-drinking demons of the ancient world: Lamashtu, the lamia, the strix
  • Why Slavic folklore is the true home of the vampire
  • What a real vampire was supposed to look like, and it was not handsome
  • The eighteenth-century vampire panics that put the word in our language
  • The folk methods for finding, staking and burning a vampire
  • How Bram Stoker turned a rotting revenant into an aristocrat

Mythical Creatures mythology book at a glance

TraditionMythical Creatures mythology
Chapters11 chapters
Length180 pages
SourcesDrawn from the primary sources, cited inline
Reading levelBeginner-friendly. Every name and place is explained from scratch
FormatPrint-quality PDF
DeliveryPDF within 24 hours

Formats and editions

EditionWhat you getPrice
Instant PDFPrint-quality download, readable on any device. PDF within 24 hours.$7.99
PaperbackA paperback edition is on the way. Sign up on this page to hear when it lands on Amazon.Coming soon

About the author

Guillaume Henry, founder of Mythologis

Guillaume Henry

Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Mythologis

Guillaume Henry founded Mythologis to make the world's mythologies readable without losing what makes them strange. Every Mythologis book draws on the primary sources first, cross-references multiple translations, and avoids inventing details that aren't in the originals.

More about the author

Questions about the Mythical Creatures mythology book

When will I receive my PDF?

Within 24 hours of purchase. Your download link arrives in your inbox automatically.

Is this about folklore or about Dracula and modern vampires?

Both, in order. The heart of the book is the real folklore of the undead, especially in the Slavic world, but it follows the trail all the way to Stoker and the modern vampire so you can see exactly what fiction invented and what it inherited.

Is this book based on primary sources?

Yes. It draws on the eighteenth-century vampire reports (the Arnold Paole and Peter Plogojowitz cases), Dom Calmet's famous treatise, Slavic and Romanian ethnography, and the classical sources on the lamia and strix, with references to the standard editions.

How long is the book?

Eleven chapters, around 180 pages depending on the final layout.

Will there be a paperback on Amazon?

The PDF is available immediately. A KDP paperback edition follows once the book has been validated by readers.

What formats is this book available in?

Every title is available as an instant PDF, downloaded the moment you buy it: the link appears on the confirmation page and lands in your inbox. Selected titles also have a paperback edition on Amazon. Where the paperback is not out yet, you can sign up to be notified the day it does.

What is the return policy?

The PDF is delivered instantly by Mythologis. If a download ever fails or a file looks wrong, get in touch and we will make it right. Paperbacks bought on Amazon are handled under Amazon's own returns and refund policy.

Can I order from outside the United States?

Yes. The PDF is a digital download, so it works instantly anywhere in the world, with nothing to ship. Where a paperback edition exists, it is sold across Amazon's international marketplaces, with shipping rates and delivery times depending on your country.

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