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printsofwhales 's review for:
Vampires, Burial, and Death: Folklore and Reality
by Paul Barber
Why is the idea of vampires so pervasive in world cultures? Where did the idea of blood-sucking ghouls come from? This book presents a very convincing theory in a little under 200 pages. The author starts by differentiating vampires in fiction (supposed to be intriguing) from the vampires of folklore. Since fictional vampires are pretty much by definition made up, the author concentrates on vampire folklore - what people used to believe about vampires. The upshot? Vampires are the result of an enormous misunderstanding - a misunderstanding about why people die (pathology) and decomposition (biology). The descriptions of vampires in folklore are fascinating; the old beliefs are so different from the fiction and what we understand today. My only complaint about this book is chapter 12, which describes decomposition in WAY too much detail. If you're squeamish, you may want to skip it.