The Real Vampires: Death, Terror and the Supernatural

By: Richard Sugg

The real vampires were not suave, polished, cultivated or rich. They looked like ordinary dead peasants - usually shabby, and often fat. Yet for those who believed in them, vampires were terrifying: so terrifying that they prompted live burials, nervous breakdown, hysterical paralysis and speechlessness. Real vampires were so terrifying that the energy of fear they produced may well have caused poltergeist attacks. In several cases, they were so terrifying that they quite literally scared people to death. This book shows us how vampires looked and felt to those in their midst, in worlds where the soul lingered in the house of death for three days, and the dead watched their own funerals from open coffins. Prising open a dark and dazzling trove of folklore from across the world, The Real Vampires also ushers readers into the presence of beings and events stranger than fiction, in the form of Sleep Paralysis Nightmares, Alien Abductors, ghosts and poltergeists. From New England to Turkey, Romania to Russia, the Scottish borders to Crete, and from the Bronze Age to the days of Twilight, The Real Vampires takes the reader on an unforgettable tour of wonder, horror and strangeness. 'In a crisp, readable style, sprinkled with humor, Richard Sugg gives new life to a topic that a less adventurous writer might conclude had been drained of vitality through boundless repetition .... Readers feel the vampire's terror from the inside out.' (Michael Bell, author of Food for the Dead ) 'We think we know about vampires, being constantly exposed to them on small and big screens these days. But after just a few pages of Richard's book, you'll realise that's not true. He has managed that rare thing: to combine proper scholarship and research with a writing style that is accessible and readable.' (Rose George, author of Nine Pints ) 'A greatest hits of oddities from literature, folklore and history' ( The Spectator ) 'You'd think that by now everything that could be said about vampires has already been done to death. But as Richard Sugg's often charming and liberally informative work reveals, you would be very wrong ... you'll enjoy reading it enormously.' (Lynn Picknett, Magonia Reviews ) 'I would highly recommend the book, both for academics to add to their collection ... and for the general reader interested in the history of vampire beliefs and practices' (David Keyworth, Journal of Vampire Studies ) Richard Sugg is the author of 13 books, including Mummies, Cannibals and Vampires, Fairies: A Dangerous History , Bloodlust , The Smoke of the Soul , Ride Your Horse Through the Chocolate Sauce! and John Donne . His books have been translated into Turkish, Japanese and Portuguese. His newest book, Talking Dirty: the History of Disgust from Jesus Christ to Boris Johnson, is a dark alternative history of almost everything which makes us human. His podcast, Dark Histories from the Secret University, offers the strangest histories you have probably never heard of.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0BYBF4PC6
• ISBN13: 9798378561872
• Release Date: March 2023
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 442 Pages
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.1" x 6.0"