Vampyres

Book excerpt: Christopher Frayling has spent 45 years exploring the history of one of the most enduring figures in the history of mass culture the vampire. Vampyres is a comprehensive and generously illustrated history and anthology of vampires in literature, from the folklore of Eastern Europe to the Romantics and beyond. Frayling recounts the most significant moments in gothic history, while extracts from a huge range of sources including Bram Stokers detailed research notes for Dracula, penny dreadfuls and Angela Carters The Bloody Chamber, new to this edition are contextualized and analysed. This revised and expanded edition brings Vampyres up to date with 21st-century vampire literature, including new text extracts, commentary and a revised introduction. For the first time, Christopher Frayling also explores the development of the vampire in the visual arts in four colour-plate sections, with illustrations ranging from 18th-century prints to 21st-century film stills, demonstrating the enduring appeal of the vampire from popular press to fine art and, finally, to film.