Vampire Forensics: Uncovering the Origins of an Enduring Legend by Mark Collins Jenkins is a fascinating, winding journey through the legend of the vampire, particularly as it is associated with pestilence and disease. It has no real thesis, or conclusion for that matter, but it rather a collection of anecdotes, which rather unnerved the historian in me. But it was interesting nonetheless, and a hefty portion of the book is its notes and recommended bibliography. When you read on the Kindle, as I did for this book, there is no indication of page (because the text can be changed in size and spacing), but there is a bar at the bottom listing location and giving you an idea of the progress you're making through the book. I was surprised when the book ended, because the bar still had about a fourth of the book left. That's the bibliography.
Although the bulk of the book deals with European concepts of vampires, it includes an overview of vampires from all over the world and the few places (like Aegypt) where they were entirely absent (the Aegyptians having spent such care in making sure their bodies were processed correctly for the afterlife). Vampires are almost always, throughout the world, the result of deaths or death rites gone wrong. The book also contains all sorts of worldwide remedies for dealing with a vampire.
All in all, it was a decent book. I'm not sure I'd read it again, but I'd definitely use the bibliography to pursue more study. Some of the books are quite obscure and liable to be of interest. Incidentally, I finished this Saturday; with the game (where we have, indeed, been traipsing about Transylvania), I'm just getting around to writing about it.
Okay, time to get ready to go out into the snow. Good day.
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