The Science of Vampires - Softcover

Ramsland, Katherine

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0425186164 ISBN 13: 9780425186169

Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group, 2002

Synopsis

·         Are any vampire myths based on fact?

·         Bloodsucking villain to guilt-ridden loner—what has inspired the redemption of the vampire in fiction and film?

·         What is Vampire Personality Disorder? What causes a physical addiction to another person’s blood?

·         Are there any boundaries in the polysexual world of vampires?

·         How could a vampire hide in today’s world of advanced forensic science?

·         What is the psychopathology of the vampire?

·         What happens in the brain of a vampire’s victim?

 

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About this title

About the Author

Katherine Ramsland began her career as a writer with Prism of the Night: A Biography of Anne Rice, and has since published 59 books, including the bestselling The Vampire Companion: The Official Guide to Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles. She holds graduate degrees in forensic psychology, clinical psychology, criminal justice, and philosophy. She teaches forensic psychology and criminal justice at DeSales University.

Reviews

Biographer of Anne Rice and Dean Koontz, Ramsland (The Forensic Science of CSI) ranges over everything from quantum mechanics to feng shui in explaining the evolution of "a mostly fictional creature." Because every vampire television series, novel and role-playing game has created variations on exactly what a vampire is, Ramsland admittedly runs into some difficulty applying science to these "shapeshifters," making for some slippery discussions. For example, Ramsland reviews crime scene procedures or ponders such questions as whether vampires have a full range of bodily fluids with equal earnestness. In her quest for real-life vampires, she studies blood-drinking club goers who identify with the mysterious monsters but are not actual murderers, but also relates tales about serial killers such as Ted Bundy because they exhibit vampiric traits such as remorselessness and lust for destruction. The discussion of contemporary vampirism and its relationship to "goth" and bondage subcultures is informative, though the explanation of "psychic vampires" (those who manipulate others and feed off of their mental anguish) is less so. While this is not a scholarly book aimed at the scientific community, and it may not surprise Dracula devotees, it serves as a useful compendium of folklore and popular culture for those with a casual interest in vampires, a group whose membership regularly rises during the Halloween season.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0425186164
• ISBN 13: 9780425186169
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 305