Vampires, Burial, and Death: Folklore and Reality; With a New Preface

by Paul Barber

Overview

In this engrossing book, Paul Barber surveys centuries of folklore about vampires and offers the first scientific explanation for the origins of the vampire legends.  From the tale of a sixteenth-century shoemaker from Breslau whose ghost terrorized everyone in the city, to the testimony of a doctor who presided over the exhumation and dissection of a graveyard full of Serbian vampires, his book is fascinating reading.

“This study’s comprehensiveness and the author’s bone-dry wit make this compelling reading, not just for folklorists, but for anyone interested in a time when the dead wouldn’t stay dead.”—Booklist

“Barber’s inquiry into vampires, fact and fiction, is a gem in the literature of debunking… [and] a convincing exercise in mental archaeology.”—Roy Porter, Nature

“A splendid book about the undead, illuminated by the findings of morbid anatomy…. The main value of this most interesting book is to remind us how far we have come in our ability to explain the world and how this has released us from at least some terrors.”—Anthony Daniels, Spectator

“This book is fascinating reading for physicians and anthropologists as well as anyone interested in folklore.”—R. Ted Steinbock, M.D., Journal of the American Medical Association

“A fascinating and pain-staking (sorry!) thesis, which welds together folklore, epidemic panic, communal stupidity, and forensic and funereal science.”—Huw Knight, New Scientist

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300164817
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	04/20/2010
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	952,149
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Paul Barber is a research associate at the Fowler Museum of Cultural History, UCLA.

Table of Contents

Preface to the 2010 Edition v

Preface xv

Introduction 1

I Peter Plogojowitz 5

II The Shoemaker of Silesia 10

III Visum et Repertum 15

IV De Tournefort's Vrykohkas 21

V How Revenants Come into Existence 29

VI The Appearance of the Vampire 39

VII Apotropaics I 46

VIII Apotropaics II 57

IX Search and Destroy 66

X The Vampire's Activity 82

XI Some Theories of the Vampire 98

XII The Body after Death 102

XIII Actions and Reactions 120

XIV Hands Emerging from the Earth 133

XV Down to a Watery Grave 147

XVI Killing the Vampire 154

XVII Body Disposal and Its Problems 166

XVIII The Soul after Death 178

XIX Keeping Body and Soul Apart 189

Conclusion 195

Notes 199

Bibliography 215

Index 233

Editorial Reviews

"A stimulating, authoritative discourse on the relationship between the historical concepts of vampires in folklore and fiction across the ages and throughout the world."—Library Journal


"[A] meticulously researched book. . . . Offers expert description of pathological realities of decay during the post-mortem transformation of dead bodies. . . . The book takes a welcome departure from the sensation-mongering, Dracula-oriented popular literature on the shelves of occult bookstores. . . . Paul Barber’s approach to vampirism is unique and readable, and his treatment of the data is scholarly and analytical."—Linda Degh, American Historical Review


"An excellent study of the way that the folklore about vampires may have developed in Europe through the oral tradition. . . . This study of the ways in which observations of actual physiological processes can become worked into legends and folktales by the forces of oral tradition and belief is fascinating."—Kliatt


"Barber is a delightful teacher. He interweaves folklore, philosophy, and modern medical practice. . . . In his search for a scientific explanation of the origin of vampire legends. Paul Barber surprises us, and will fascinate anyone who has given even a moment’s thought to the question of what Count Dracula and his blood-sucking brothers and sisters were really like."—David George, Jerusalem Post


"In this comprehensive volume on vampirism, Barber provides a wealth of support for his thesis that the vampire lore of preliterate peoples developed largely to account for unexplainable events related to death and decomposition of the body."—Choice


"Barber’s subjects are the revenants, vrykolakes, and other Undead of European folklore, and he writes about them with a combination of scholarly deftness, wit, and clinical relish which defies criticism. His book is dazzling: it creates and satisfies a market all at once. . . . Barber’s cool commentary and immaculate use of primary sources distance the gore, leaving the fascination. He pulls back the veil on a curious corner of the European psyche in the Middle Agges, and for those even remotely interested in folklore or medieval history, this book is a guaranteed delight."—Kenneth McLeish, Country Life


"This book is fascinating reading for physicians and anthropologists as well as anyone interested in folklore."—R. Ted Steinbock, MD, Journal of the American Medical Association


"Barber’s inquiry into vampires, fact and fiction, is a gem in the literature of debunking. . . . Barber’s book is a convincing exercise in mental archaeology. . . . We should not be complacent today about our own enlightenment in these matters, as public panic over the disposal of the bodies of AIDS victims amply shows."—Roy Porter, Nature


"Combining scholarly precision and readable prose, Barber examines legends of vampires and other revenants. . . . Readers will enjoy Barber’s insights into subjects usually ’shrouded’ in myth."—Gerry Melnick, Yale Herald


"A fascinating and pain-staking (sorry!) thesis, which welds together folklore, epidemic panic, communal stupidity and forensic and funereal science. Though leaving Boris Karloff and Peter Cushing firmly in the realm of fiction, it throws much light on a macabre tradition which arose from an elaborate folk attempt to explain the phenomena associated with death and decay."—Huw Knight, New Scientist


"Learned, energetic, creepily absorbing study—definitely not for children."—Kirkus Reviews

"A well-researched, fascinating discussion of revenants, elucidating the many distinctions twixt folklore and fiction by examining preliterate cultures’ attempts at explaining the phenomenon of death. . . . The study’s comprehensiveness and the author’s bone-dry wit make this compelling reading, not just for folklorists, but for anyone interested in a time when the dead wouldn’t stay dead."—Booklist


"Barber’s inquiry into vampires, fact and fiction, is a gem in the literature of debunking. . . . Barber’s book is a convincing exercise in mental archaeology. . . ."—Roy Porter, Nature


"A pioneering work on the role of medicine in unraveling the mysteries of the supernatural. Breaking new ground, it belongs among the significant studies of folklore."—Felix J. Oinas, Indiana University

From the Publisher

"Barber’s inquiry into vampires, fact and fiction, is a gem in the literature of debunking. . . . Barber’s book is a convincing exercise in mental archaeology. . . ."—Roy Porter, Nature

Nature - Roy Porter

"Since this is essentially a scholarly work on human decomposition and historical attitudes to it, it is remarkable how often Paul Barber manages to be funny. . . . His insights, medical and cultural, hold a chastening fascination."—Hugh Barnacle, Independent

Independent - Hugh Barnacle

"This book is fascinating reading for physicians and anthropologists as well as anyone interested in folklore."—R. Ted Steinbock, MD, Journal of the American Medical Association

Journal of the American Medical Association - R. Ted Steinbock