The Rise of the Vampire

The cultural-studies literature of vampirism has expanded greatly in recent years. The best popular or semipopular book has been "Our Vampires, Ourselves" by Nina Auerbach (1995), with the pretentious "The Vampire: A New History" by Nick Groom, which I have reviewed here on Amazon, a distant second. I just got around to reading "The Rise of the Vampire"--and it has vaulted ahead of Auerbach in my personal ranking. It came out in 2013. Why did I wait so long? I actually bought it some time ago but was put off by the fact that the reviews quoted on the back cover were from the Washington Times and the New York Journal of Books--not to be confused with the New York Review of Books, and a much less prestigious venue. How good could Butler's book be, if those were the best quotable reviews it could generate? Actually, very good. Also working against it was the fact that it was published by Reaktion Books, a niche publisher (mainly cultural studies) in the U.K., little-known here outside its particular niche. Reaktion has in fact published a great deal of quality material, little of which has made it outside specialty circles.At any rate: Butler does not try to be encyclopedic, but he does a magnificent (and highly readable, jargon-free) job tracing the evolution of the concept of the vampire from its folk roots in the Balkans through a series of literary manifestations--tying the classics (Ruthven, Varney, Dracula, Carmilla…) to the contemporary versions in which the predatory nature of the vampire has been softened (some of today's young-adult fiction vampires are virtual vegans), so that vampirism becomes merely an alternate lifestyle instead of a horrifying phenomenon of undeadness. This turn has accompanied the rising role of the zombie as a popular cultural icon. The subtle, personality-rich, individual vampire, who can be quite sympathetic (cf. Carmilla!) is now contrasted with the mindless hordes of interchangeable zombies milling around outside the mall in search of brains to devour. One of the most edifying discussions concerns the vampiric implications of Gilbert and Sullivan's "Ruddigore," whose protagonist is provocatively named Ruthven (Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd).This book actually manages to make the contemporary incarnations of the vampire interesting, which is quite an achievement.(Personal confession: Years ago I conducted a freshman seminar about vampires. We read Carmilla by LeFanu, and I wanted to show "The Vampire Lovers," the soft-core Hammer Studios film based loosely on it--but I inquired of our legal eagles and was told I would be on shaky ground requiring even soft-core if someone objected. So I merely recommended that interested students find and see it on their own. Butler gives quite a good discussion of the film and its relation to the original, more or less the way I intended to do it. If I ever do a vampire seminar again I think I'll require this book.

The back cover notes that "whether they're evil, bloodsucking monsters or sparkling like diamonds in the sunlight, vampires have been capturing our imagination since their modest beginnings in the rustic fantasies of southeastern Europe in the early eighteenth century. Today, they're everywhere, appearing even in movies in Japan and Korea and in reggae music in Jamaica and South Africa. Why have vampires gone viral in recent years? In The Rise of the Vampire, Erik Butler seeks to explain our enduring fascination with these creatures of the night."I would argue, however, that vampires have not just "gone viral" in recent years--for their position atop the pantheon of monster popular culture has always been cyclical. Yet I did find much to like inside the pages of "The Rise of the Vampire." Butler's often sardonic look at the modern interpretation of the bloodsucking undead is certainly one of the highlights; I especially appreciated his comments regarding the ever-popular sparkling vampire clan--"Twilight enjoys an air of moral respectability on account of the reserve that characters demonstrate in sexual matters. Yet in celebrating the notion that 'true love conquers all', Twilight basically urges readers--young women, primarily--not to give up on manipulative stalkers who threaten them with violence...Twilight is about scaring girls into traditional roles and showing them, through the example of Bella, the joys of masochism."Book-ended by an introduction and conclusion are five main sections:1. Portrait Gallery of the Undead: how classic literature, films, and television shows have visually influenced the vampire's visage.2. Generation V: how classic vampirism--which was essentially an impediment to sexual experience--morphed into something much more in the late 1960s.3. All-American Vampires (and Zombies): how Western European vampires changed when they reached the shores of the New World.4. That Sucking Sound: regarding the vampire's failure to flourish musically.5. The Key to Immortality: vampires rarely die for long, because we really won't let them.Butler's research casts a wide net, covering folklore, literature, film, journalism, political cartoons, music, television, and video games. You'll likely be inspired to track down all the cited examples found in his exhaustive list of references. This is an excellent study of how the vampire has evolved over the years, and how it has managed to maintain its grip on the human psyche--and will surely be enjoyed by academics and vampire-obsessed fans alike. Highly recommended!Erik Butler is also the author of  Metamorphoses of the Vampire in Literature and Film (Studies in German Literature Linguistics and Culture)  and  The Bellum Grammaticale and the Rise of European Literature .

This is a fantastic book for anyone who wants to learn more about the vampire phenomenon--when it began (more recently than you'd think), where (not in Transylvania), and why it is the ideal modern monster. Butler's range is breathtaking--the book goes from Serbian peasants to "Twilight," from British melodrama to Buffy. I seriously didn't know the vampire had its fangs in so many parts of history and culture. Fascinating.

This reads primarily like an academic thesis. As such, it requires the author to present an argument, and some of the points he makes are dubious. Still, it's an interesting book, dealing with vampires as diverse as Carmilla, Dracula, Nosferatu, and the vampires in Twilight, True Blood and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. We are also presented with the origins of the vampire myth.