Reading the Vampire ~ Hardback ~ Ken Gelder

This study investigates vampire narratives in literature and in film, from early vampire stories such as Polidori's "The Vampyre", J. Sheridan Le Fanu's "lesbian vampire" tale "Carmilla" and Bram Stoker's "Dracula", the most famous vampire narrative of all. It compares these stories to contemporary American vampire blockbusters by writers such as Stephen King, the historical vampire chronicles of Anne Rice, post-Ceausescu vampire narratives, and films such as F.W. Murnau's "Nosferatu" and Francis Ford Coppola's "Dracula". The text places vampires in their cultural contexts, showing how vampire narratives reproduce the anxieties and fascinations of their times: from the 19th-century investments in travel and tourism, to issues of colonialism, national identity and obsessions with sex.