Slayers And Their Vampires

by McClelland, Bruce

• ISBN13: 9780472069231
• ISBN10: 0472069233
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-07-28
• Publisher: Univ of Michigan Pr

Summary

The first book to explore the origins of the vampire slayer "A fascinating comparison of the original vampire myths to their later literary transformations." Adam Morton, author ofOn Evil "From the Balkan Mountains to Beverly Hills, Bruce has mapped the vampire's migration. There's no better guide for the trek." Jan L. Perkowski, Professor, Slavic Department, University of Virginia, and author ofVampires of the SlavsandThe Darkling: A Treatise on Slavic Vampirism "The vampire slayer is our protector, our hero, our Buffy. But how much do we really know about himor her? Very little, it turns out, and Bruce McClelland shows us why: because the vampire slayer is an unsettling figure, almost as disturbing as the evil she is set to destroy. Prepare to be frightened . . . and enlightened." Corey Robin, author ofFear: The History of a Political Idea "What is unique about this book is that it is the first of its kind to focus on the vampire hunter, rather than the vampire. As such, it makes a significant contribution to the field. This book will appeal to scholars and researchers of folklore, as well as anyone interested in the literature and popular culture of the vampire." Elizabeth Miller, author ofDraculaandA Dracula Handbook "Shades of Van Helsing! Vampirologist extraordinaire Bruce McClelland has managed that rarest of feats: developing a radically new and thoroughly enlightening perspective on a topic of eternal fascination. Ranging from the icons of popular culture to previously overlooked details of Balkan and Slavic history and folk practice, he has rethought the borders of life and death, good and evil, saint and sinner, vampires and their slayers. Excellent scholarship, and a story that never flags." Bruce Lincoln, Caroline E. Haskell Professor of History of Religions, University of Chicago, and author ofTheorizing Myth: Narrative, Ideology, and Scholarship,Authority: Construction and Corrosion,andDeath, War, and Sacrifice: Studies in Ideology and Practice

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	p. ix
Preface	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xvii
Introduction	p. 1
Back from the Dead: Monsters and Violence	p. 15
Conversion in the Balkans: A Thousand Years of the Vampire	p. 31
Scapegoats and Demons: A Thousand Years of the Vampire, Continued	p. 49
Into the West: From Folklore to Literature	p. 78
Seers and Slayers	p. 92
Seeing the Dead	p. 111
The Rational Slayer	p. 126
From Vienna to London	p. 147
The Slayer Generation	p. 168
The Alien Vampire	p. 187
Notes	p. 193
Bibliography	p. 233
Index	p. 257
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