The Secret History of Vampires: Their Multiple Forms and Hidden Purposes

Bella Lagosi is stil among us according to Claude Lecouteux, the author. Were they real? Items of fiction? Misunderstoond figures in literature and film? Lecouteux is someone who believes that belief in vampires predates the Roman Empire. And, modern science, does it explain the unexplainable? Vampires, multiple souls in one individual, blood suckers, and ghouls? Fact, or fiction?

The Secret History of Vampires: Their Multiple Forms and Hidden Purposes is an insightful look into the origins of vampire folklore and mythology, examining a diversity of inspirational incidents, records, and myths that may have contributed to the modern concept of the vampire - well before Bram Stoker's classic horror novel "Dracula". Incidents recorded as fact in newspaper and judicial archives long past piece together a variety of different predecessors to the modern-day vampire: shroud eaters, appesarts, nightmares, and even the stafia, which supposedly arose from masons secretly interring the shadow of a living human being into the wall of a building under construction. Anyone curious into the origins of myths in general and the public perception of vampires in particular absolutely must read The Secret History of Vampires! Highly recommended, especially for public library folklore shelves.