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Slayers and Their Vampires: A Cultural History of Killing the Dead Illustrated Edition, Kindle Edition

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 14 ratings

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 of
On 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 of
Vampires of the Slavs and The Darkling: A Treatise on Slavic Vampirism

 

“The vampire slayer is our protector, our hero, our Buffy. But how much do we really know about him—or 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 of
Fear: 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 of
Dracula and A 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 of
Theorizing Myth: Narrative, Ideology, and Scholarship,Authority: Construction and Corrosion, and Death, War, and Sacrifice: Studies in Ideology and Practice

Editorial Reviews

Review

"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 of
Theorizing Myth: Narrative, Ideology, and Scholarship, Authority: Construction and Corrosion, and Death, War, and Sacrifice: Studies in Ideology and Practice



"McClelland's brilliant insight in Slayers and Their Vampires is how much the living need the living-dead. From the folkloric tradition down to the Buffy, the vampire slayer is twinned forever with the revenants she would slay, as though they, and we, can never escape our evil twin who lives in the shadows of death. The story of vampires is the story of the human soul struggling with its darkest desire, to become death in place of dying, as though one could master death by mimicking it."
---C. Fred Alford, Professor of Government and Distinguished Scholar-Teacher, University of Maryland, College Park, and author of
What Evil Means to Us



"The vampire slayer is our protector, our hero, our Buffy. But how much do we really know about him---or 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 of
Fear: The History of a Political Idea

About the Author

Bruce A. McClelland is a writer, translator, and vampirologist in Gordonsville, Virginia. He received his Ph.D. in Slavic Studies at the University of Virginia. His work on vampires has appeared in Slayage: The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies. He has published four books of poetry, a book of translations of the Russian poet Osip Mandelstam, and his translations of Russian poetry have appeared in journals, books, and anthologies.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0719S2B86
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Michigan Press; Illustrated edition (February 11, 2010)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 11, 2010
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1896 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 282 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0472069233
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 14 ratings

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4.6 out of 5 stars
14 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2016
    Very interesting information
  • Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2023
    Dense and academic but well researched and argued. Would have like some analysis on Anne Rice who is definitely more important to current vampire culture than Kolchak, X Files and Buffy.
  • Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2016
    Arrived in great condition! Interesting required read for a college course. Discusses the folklore of and the origin of the myth of the vampire.
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2006
    McClelland takes up a rather daunting task: writing the first non-fiction book devoted to the subject of vampire hunters.

    The first half of the book is largely a chronicle of the origins of the vampire myth itself. It is certainly one of the best examinations of this rather murky area of vampire scholarship since Barber's "Vampires, Burial, and Death" (1988) and Perkowski's "The Darkling" (1989).

    Unlike most authors of non-fiction vampire literature, McClelland is versed in several languages (and one of the few that will readily admit to being a vampirologist) - which helps give us English-speakers access into a world of vampires rarely seen. His study on Bulgarian folklore is quite eye-opening.

    From there, we springboard into little known lore about Eastern and Central European vampire hunters of different name. McClelland makes a compelling link between them and their connection to shamanism (among other things) - something delved into further in Jackson's "The Compleat Vampyre" (1995).

    The next section goes into the modern incarnation of the vampire hunter, i.e., Van Helsing, Kolchak, Buffy, etc. I found this section a bit thin on the ground, especially in regards to the supposed inspiration for Stoker's perennial vampire hunter, Abraham Van Helsing.

    Overall though, I heartily recommend this book to anyone interested in learning the historic/folkloric origins and development of the myth as we know it today. I look forward to (hopefully) further publications in the field from this author who breaks out of the stale non-fiction vampire mold.
    12 people found this helpful
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