In general, this book is a fun exploration into the world of vampires, and the larger implication of vampires in popular culture. Firstly, I am so glad this book did not end up as "Yea this whole thing started from Dracula" because that is simply not true. Vampires have been around for as long as superstition has been around. I really loved how the author connected the human psyche and experience to the creation and propagation of the myth. It's so easy to just say, "Yea vampires are sexy" but that can't just be the bare bones of the popularity. Fenn talks about the eroticism of vampires, but also the implications of life and death, as well as the male and female and experience. Highly recommend it as a fun non-fiction read.

Over the years vampires and other supernatural creatures have become more popular both in books and also films. As someone who does watch and also read books that contain vampires, I was interested to see what the authors' view was.

The author steps into a world that has its origins in myth, legend and folklore. She references some earlier literature as well as more modern both as a view to the points she makes and also to give various examples.

Referencing early works and how they were portrayed by writers and also how they were adapted to film. How they were received by censors, readers and viewers. She uses history to good effect as changing attitudes have given over to a wider acceptance of all things fanged.

More modern film and TV have glamorised the vampire, they are sharp-dressed, well educated and not all are the blood-sucking, bodice-ripping fiends. She delves into how they have become the "good guy" in some respects rather than a creature that should be cowered from.

This was a really entertaining read with many, many references to films and books across the years. It does give an insightful look at how perceptions have changed and how they have become more socially acceptable and almost have morals that mirror some of our own, humanised if you like.

This is a book that I found interesting and also thought-provoking giving an insight into the authors' thoughts on the legend of the vampire. It is one I would recommend.

I enjoyed learning about the changing views on vampires throughout the years in this book. Some of the themes were familiar, though I wasn't familiar with all the references. The main aim of the book is to discuss the changing opinions on vampires and their prevalence in popular culture. As a non-fiction book, it does a good job to examine various aspects of the history of the idea of vampires and also the subcultures that are influenced by the idea of vampires. There is a handy “Short Chronology of Vampire History” near the end of the book.

Given that the book didn’t intend to be an encyclopedia, I didn’t expect it to cover as much ground as it did. It also contained a few interviews on the topic of vampires and the goth subculture.

The media texts covered are many, from books, to movies, to shows, to musicals. The book mentioned Dracula BBC (2020) so the book is very up to date on vampire related shows. Not all media texts get the same amount of space in the book, typically those that had more space were used to illustrate themes or change in opinions of vampires.

My favourite part of the book is seeing how the idea of vampires developed. I enjoyed reading the various explanations for why certain views about vampires could have emerged such as about ‘vampires’ ‘shrieking’ when stabbed. Some of the information I have heard before but there were also some interesting things I have not heard about.

An aspect of the book that I didn’t like as much was the many summaries of the media texts. While they are interesting, I didn’t connect as much to the theme when I haven't watched/read the show/film/book. At the same time, I could still understand the themes so it was just the number of summaries that were a bit much.

Overall, I enjoyed reading the book, it was informative and interesting read. The conclusion wrapped up the themes nicely in a satisfying way.

***I received an ARC copy from NetGalley***

Thank you to the publisher and author for the ARC.

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.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - This book was totally out of character for me. I don’t read too many books like this and was granted a wish through Netgalley. I was excited to get started with this because I became a huge vampire fan when Twilight came out and have continued with the vampire genre in books. This book takes you through the history of vampires in Pop Culture. What was my favorite part about the book? All of the new things that I did learn about vampire genre. What did I take away from it? A lot. A lot more than I expected. Hopefully new soon to be favorite movies, new places to visit and most importantly a favorite new author. Thanks @violetfenn and @penandsword_co @netgalley #netgalley #vampire #popculture #history #wishgranted #AHistoryoftheVampireinPopularCulture #bleedinglove

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!