Theology and Vampires

Reviews / Votes

Theology and Vampires provides an historically and geographically comprehensive account of the theological journey undertaken by the vampire from the nineteenth century to the present day. From Britain to India and Japan, these essays bear witness to the complex manifestation of vampirism in a variety of national and theological contexts. This volume charts the rich theological development of the undead vampire in novels, films, and manga. This is an important book for any scholar working on the history of the vampire across media forms. -- Andrew Smith, University of Sheffield, UK This welcome new volume, edited expertly by Madeline Potter, applies the recent "religious turn" in Gothic studies to one of horror's most enduring archetypes: the vampire. It does so within a rich global context, examining literary vampirism's engagement with different theologies around the world and beyond the West. Collectively, the impressive contributions reveal how the vampire has retained an intimate relationship with shifting concepts and practices of belief from the nineteenth century to the present day. -- Christine Ferguson, University of Stirling Contrary to popular images of the vampire as a demonic prince of darkness that fears the sign of the cross, this fine collection of essays reveals a complex figure that continues to be re-invented in changing religious, national and theological contexts. If the vampires that emerge here can still be the enemies of the sacred and a lens through which to examine the nature of human and metaphysical evil, they can also confront a secular culture with profound theological questions. Recent scholarship has recognized the Gothic's engagement with religion; this collection adds to the field by demonstrating the range of theological ideas embodied by one of the genre's most famous monsters. -- Simon Marsden, University of Liverpool