I did not enjoy reading "A history of the Vampire in Popular Culture" and I almost DNFed it.

I did like the beginning when the author dove into the history of Vampires from different countries, myths and legends. When we're getting into the pop culture references, there's a lot of info dumping happening and not much new or groundbreaking information and I didn't see the point the author wanted to make. Those chapters felt all over the place and I'd have preferred to go through less examples, but dive deeper into the subject.

Unfortunately not my cup of tea, but I can see other readers enjoying this more than I did.

Thank you Netgalley for granting a wish in exchange for an honest review.

This is an intriguing and fascinating dive into vampire the myth the legend in popular culture. And one that will find great interest from avid fans of that culture. I do have issues with it and one that really irks me, is the fact a lot of the middle section is taken up by verbally abusing and mocking the Twilight sagas, yes for some this is an abomination and should be not read, I am sorry this makes me laugh at the hypocrisy of what this book is trying to achieve and yet at the end still comes out with the usual bullshit pretentious crap. Sorry but if you are going to do something like a history of, please do it well, I have to admit by the end I got thoroughly bored till we came again to some sort of interesting snippets. I didn’t feel like I came away with anything new or enlightened.

Vampires are one of pop culture's most enduring mythological figures, and the possibilities for new types of stories and new lives to give them seems virtually endless. Whether they're enticingly beautiful and seductive or repulsive creatures of the shadows, we return to them again and again. Violet Fenn's History of the Vampire in Popular Culture attempts to examine what about them appeals to us so enduringly by looking at some of her favorite (and not so favorite) examples in literature, film, television, and music. She also weaves in examples of the vampiric myth from all around the world, and interviews several fascinating people, from prominent figures in the Goth scene to descendants of Bram Stoker himself.

While ultimately an interesting and fun read for an afternoon turn, Fenn does circle back to some of her topics and rehash them in essentially the same way in multiple chapters, from Polidori's position as the first vampire author to an endlessly critical (though not unwarranted) reading of the Twilight series. She states up front multiple times that this project is based on her own subjective favorites and is in no way meant to be a necessarily overarching analytical text about all of vampiric history, and the tone of that shows through, for better or worse. It offers enough interesting perspectives to keep you reading, though, and is easy enough to read through in one sitting. Personally I won't soon forget the Hungarian "miracle chicken".

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

An entertaining look into the history of vampires throughout film, novels, and television. The author offers their witty commentary while providing contextual information for a variety of films, television, and books.

I enjoyed the interview with...the vampire. Ha! No, there was an interview at the end with one of the "What We Do In The Shadows" (Film) actors and it was pretty fun to read.

As others said, the book jumps from history to the present day back and forth often but I didn't really mind it too much, though I can understand why it would be difficult to read. I enjoyed the chaotic style and liked reading about some dude from the 1800s and then jumping to the 1980s!

The Twilight bashing was hilarious. Though realistically, the title should be changed to something like "A Look Into Vampires in Pop Culture" rather than "History" because it's really not super detailed on *all* vampire mediums and the author often interjects their sense of humor into the book, which makes it feel less "textbooky' which to me, contradicts the title. I really do enjoy their sense of humor and wit, I feel like it's not a complete history of vampires, just more like a look into how vampires have evolved through different art mediums while giving contextual information for some of the historical angles. And interjecting with how ridiculous Twilight is, haha.

I also hadn't heard of some of these vampire movies so I added them to my to-watch list, so that'll be fun. The author does give enough description and context for the films mentioned so I wasn't entirely lost, despite not having seen half of these films, which I appreciate.

A great read for any vampire fan(g)s!

A great guide to vampire origins and how the idea of vampires has gained speed and ground throughout the years. For anyone who is intrigued by mystical history and the vampire legend!

The fascination of vampires...does it revolve around blood, death and sex? I mean the envisioned lust for a vampire story is pretty sexy isn’t it? When one thinks of the film portrayals of vampires, I would say it’s pretty sexy and most lustful, but what goes into the depth of the vampire history?

The vampire is such a bad boy/bad girl image in a fantasy world. That longing for something oh so good, but oh so bad. Deadly, but then, immortal. This book explores their erotic nature, and their origins, along with their appeal in both literature and film. It’s one thing to watch or read a steamy vampire story, but it’s another to explore why they are so appealing, and that’s exactly what this book does.

Although a good mix of history (albeit nothing new that hasn’t already been discussed through books and films) and pop culture, I felt like I was reading information that I already knew. The chapters are pretty long so reading is cumbersome and a bit boring at times, even some content seems repetitive in the chapters, but honestly that is just my personal opinion, and another reader may feel completely opposite. For those reasons, I gave it the rating I did.

I started reading this book and was quickly impressed with the author's way of talking about the subject. I read very few vampire stories these days but will still pick one up once in awhile. This book was interesting and a true reading delight. Written in a way that kept my interest and far from being encyclopedic that it made it a joy to read.

this was a great nonfiction vampire book, I learned a lot from it and never felt bored when reading this. The author was able to create a interesting book and I enjoyed reading this.

From Dracula to True Blood and so many other works in literature, film and television, book does what it says on the tin. Pop culture is rife with vampires and all the different forms these supernatural creatures have taken over the centuries and this book explores many of them. She goes in on certain myths of women bathing in blood and how these people have influenced vampiric women over the years. If you’re interested in a fresh take on vampires in media, I recommend this book.

I'd like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book. Here is my honest review.

I enjoyed some parts of this book, but as a whole it felt like a summary of anything in pop culture that featured a vampire in it. I wanted more about the historical aspects, how it has impacted people over time, and less of an omnibus of pop culture featuring vampires. The addition of the interviews in the end didn't interest me at all and took away from the flow of the book.

I really wanted to like this book, but the pacing was much too all over the place for me. I found it to sort of meander around topics and references in a way that I don't find satisfying, returning to to the same films or books seemingly at random without a sense of overarching structure. There are often long stretches of just summarizing what happens in a piece of media without any real analysis, which bothered me as well. Fenn is clearly a great writer with a lovely sense of humour, I just maybe wish a little more structure had been applied in the editing. I could see this book being a great fit for someone who isn't put off by the above, but it wasn't for me unfortunately.

I found some very interesting types of vampires here. Did you know there is one kind who sucks blood through her hair? No, the author of A History of the Vampire in Popular Culture couldn't explain how that works, either.

I wish the beginning of the book was more serious. The opening seemed too light-hearted and I thought the book would be frivolous. Soon, Ms. Fenn got down to serious business, but if I'd been a casual browser in a store I would have read the first couple of pages and thought to myself that it wasn't serious research.

Some of it did wander into territory that wasn't vampire-ish. There's a couple of murders that didn't seem to have anything to do with vampires. But, some of it was delightfully bizarre, such as the hordes of British children in the 1950s patrolling a cemetery at night, looking to kill a vampire. Parents blamed American comic books and tried to have them banned. Why hundreds of little children brandishing stakes and mallets hasn't been turned into a movie, I don't know.

Yes, there is some really good stuff and some blah information, too. I'd probably buy it as a reference book since I write horror and I'm always looking for some new creature--like blood sucking hair.

A History of the Vampire in Popular Culture that explains the basis for the vampire legend through books, movies, television, and interviews with certain influencers in the vampire community. It is never stronger than when Violet Fenn provides analysis of recent vampire/Dracula pop culture media. She provides summaries, as well as, examines their impact on modern views of vampires.

The weakest part of the book is when Fenn provides the history of the modern views of vampires. Anyone who is interested in vampires will already be aware of much of the history she provides. Where Fenn shines is when she brings modern day media into the discussion. Recent movies and television shows make up most of it. Another fun part of the book is the interviews that she conducts. She interviews scholars, an actor, as well as, a descendant of Stoker, who is an author himself.

I wasn't expecting to have my wish granted when I, well, wished for this book, but here we are.

The book started out okay for the first 50 or so pages, but then I started to realise that the author was just giving her opinions on all things vampire compared to the history of them. Dracula is good, Twilight is bad, and then the book switches courses and goes into a bunch of interviews, which I was not expecting.

I love vampires and am always tempted by any book featuring them, whether fiction or non-fiction, so naturally I was quick to request a copy of A History of the Vampire in Popular Culture when I saw it on NetGalley. First, the pros. This book was only written recently, so it includes many up-to-date references, such as the recent BBC production of Dracula, which are not included in similar but older works. Also, Fenn's enthusiasm for the topic definitely shows through in her writing, which is lovely. Finally, I appreciated her comments early in the book regarding that fact that a lot comes down to personal opinion, and some of her favourite representations might not be the same as her readers' choices. Unfortunately, overall this book did not thrill me. Despite the new references, there was really nothing here that hasn't already been discussed in other works of the same ilk, so I struggled to see what value it brought/what the need for it was. I also spotted several factual errors when Fenn was discussing plot points in a couple of the books she referenced, and those irked me. Those errors aside, there is nothing 'wrong' with this work, and those coming to it with no prior experience of such texts will doubtless find something to enjoy in it. But if, like me, you've read several similar books in the past, there is not a great deal in this one to set it above the others as it covers all the usual points with nothing majorly new to say. For me it's a 2.5-star read, but I will round up to a 3 rather than down to a 2 because, as I said, it's not a bad work in and of itself if you are new to the topic.

Violet Fenn definitely has a deep and enthusiastic interest in vampires. This book isn’t an encyclopedia or a completely exhaustive guide to the vampire but hand picks examples to take readers along on a historical journey of the vampire trope throughout the centuries, portraying them as seductive lovers and monsters.

For myself, this was a bit on the dry side and slightly too historical. But, if you’re a huge fan of vampires...this will be right up your alley!

Sure to be go-to, essential reference material for those seeking a broad view of vampires in pop culture. Reads easily and offers a wide-variety of Nosferatu-themed lore with supporting discourse

A quick review of the idea of the Vampire that begins with a basic examination of myth that may have contributed to the Vampire mystique (which can be found in almost any vampire reference), followed by a survey pop culture portrayals in literature, cinema, music and goth culture. Although presented as a summary, for somebody with only a passing interest in the concept, it was almost too long; but Violet's enthusiasm for the topic comes through and it was ultimately a very interesting read, just not late at night.

I was given this free advance reader copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
#AHistoryoftheVampireinPopularCulture #NetGalley

I don't envy any author the task of writing a history of the Vampire in Popular Culture because it is such a broad subject, and what people think of the broad works contained within it is so subjective.

That said, I feel like Violet Fenn does a great job. Her obvious enthusiasm for the topic leaps off the page - and it is an infectious enthusiasm. It seems like a very personal book - certainly a labour of love - the author states that she's cherry picked the examples of vampires in popular culture to illustrate what she's talking about. This means that I've found lots of new films and books to watch surrounding Vampires - but also some omissions (there's a chapter called The Vampire Next Door but no mention of one of my favourites - Fright Night 😢🧛).

To be fair, the author states early on that the book is intended as an overview rather than a chronology or encyclopaedia - and the book is indeed very accessible and light enough to enjoy. It's definitely a great place to start for people new to the genre and the filmography and bibliography at the end of the book make for a great resource.

And one more plus, I don't live too far from Anfield Crem - as soon as lockdowns allow - I'm off to explore!

Book Review for A History of the Vampire in Popular Culture by Violet Fenn
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