Book review: Vampires: A Handbook of History & Lore of the Undead

It’s ironic that 15th-century Vlad the Impaler became mixed up with the folklore of a bloodsucking vampire. Vlad III of Wallachia, son of Vlad II Dracul, was known for his military exploits. And while he did own a castle in Transylvania (present-day Romania), Prince Vlad wasn’t the intimate type who would suck the lifeblood of his victims. Instead, he preferred impaling his enemies on wooden stakes, watching them writhe in agony until death overtook them.

Bram Stoker may have used Vlad’s home, his Dracula title, and his age—centuries old—in the 1897 gothic horror novel, but not the man’s character. In Stoker's book, Count Dracula displayed aristocratic demeanor and charm, despite living in a crumbling castle.

In Vampires: A Handbook of History & Lore of the Undead by Agnes Hollyhock, we learn the Count was a revenant, a reanimated corpse who haunted the living. While we may be accustomed to the stylings of Dracula through such characters as Barnabas Collins of Dark Shadows, Lestat de Lioncourt from The Vampire Chronicles, or Edward Cullen from Twilight, different kinds of vampires show up in mythology, folklore, fiction, and even the Bible. 

Hollyhock covers vampires around the world and across the ages, their strengths and weaknesses, connections to certain diseases, and, most fascinating to me, why the idea of vampirism grew during the Medieval ages. 

Luckily, the author provides techniques for banishing the undead—you know, just in case. After all, there are rumors about Vlad the Impaler's demise, including his beheading, but no one knows for certain where his body is buried.

rating: ★★★★

Vampires: A Handbook of History & Lore of the Undead

by Agnes Hollyhock
Wellfleet Press