<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Summers and the world of vampires
Review:
In 1973, I received a document on Prince Vlad III Dracula, also known as Vlad Tepes or Vlad the Impaler. I was later able to translate the 18th century document and turned it into a graduate research paper. It was in that same year that I re-read Bram Stoker's Dracula for the third time.
Like Sherlock Holmes, Dracula has remained a personal classic. It was therefore a passion of mine to spend many hours in the graduate stacks at the University of Mississippi reading books on vampires and werewolves. I found the folklore and history of such mythological creatures to be an "academic" pursuit while I spent my first year as an EDPA Graduate Fellow working on a history degree. Although I later transferred to educational history, I was fortunate enough to discover Montague Summers. Summers has, according to most historians and folklorists, remained the leading authority on vampires, werewolves and demons. Perhaps the two most important books written on vampires, during the 20th century were The Vampire: His Kith and Kin (1928) and The Vampire in Europe (1929).
To understand these exceptional works, one must first understand the author. Perhaps no one in the current century is better able to describe Summers than Nigel Suckling:
"Alphonsus Joseph-Mary Augustus Montague Summers (1880-1948) was a fascinating character in himself. Throughout his life he was described by acquaintances as kind, courteous, generous and outrageously witty; but those who knew him well sensed an underlying discomfort and mystery. In appearance he was plump, round cheeked and generally smiling. His dress resembled that of an eighteenth century cleric ... He wore sweeping black capes crowned by a curious hairstyle of his own devising which led many to assume he wore a wig. His voice was high pitched, comical and often in complete contrast to the macabre tales he was in the habit of spouting. Throughout his life he astonished people with his knowledge of esoteric and unsettling occult lore. Many people later described him as the most extraordinary person they had known in their lives."
Summers two books on vampires have remained my personal favorites. Although I currently possess over 70 books on vampires and werewolves (i.e. histories, folklores, psychological studies and sociological ramifications), the extensive footnoting and citations by Summers places his works far above anything written since. Summers believed in the existence of vampires. It is this belief that made the reading of his books worthwhile. It is also well worth the time and effort needed to translate all of the sources that Summers utilized in his massive works.
Dr. Carl Edwin Lindgren
Professor of Military and Medieval History
Member, Royal Historical Society (University of London)
Rating: 
Summary: One of the few vampire books written by an actual believer
Review: I find this book's description a tad misleading ("Renowned occultist and clergyman Montague Summers explores the realm of...Anne Rice's INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE") as there is no romanticism of the vampire myth here, or stories told from the vampire's point of view. Instead, Summers (1880 - 1948) catalogues instances and beliefs relating to the Undead under the following headings: "THE VAMPIRE IN GREECE AND ROME OF OLD", "THE VAMPIRE IN ENGLAND, AND IRELAND, AND SOME LATIN LANDS", "HUNGARY AND CZECHO-SLOVAKIA", "MODERN GREECE" and "RUSSIA, ROUMANIA AND BULGARIA".
(See "Vampires & Vampirism: Legends From Around the World" by Dudley Wright if you are interested in this aspect of vampirism.)Summer's was convinced that vampires were real and also creatures in the Devil's service, so, in effect, his books on the subject attempt to convince the reader of his view by presenting them with "evidence" of this sort. As a whole, the book is an excellent source of knowledge for the budding vampirologist, but I've detracted a point from it, as Summers had the annoying tendancy to quote certain sources for his material in their original language-be it in ancient Greek, Latin etc. without providing any English translation.
Rating:
Summary: Very Informative
Review: This book is very informative regarding the vampire folklore in various regions and does a good job summarizing various vampire stories. Though a bit dry, Montague Summers does his usual job at making it hard not to believe.
Rating:
Summary: An interesting collection of "true" vampire tales
Review: Without getting into an academic dissection of their origin and meanings, Montague Summers provides a fairly interesting collection of the stories from the old Europe and the new America about vampires that served as the building blocks for the glut of horror movies for the last century. There might not be much depth, but there is a lot of breadth to this volume.
<< 1 >>
|
