Llewellyn, 1567183808, 179 pp. (incl. bibliography and index)
Konstantinos breaks vampires into two main categories, physical and non-corporeal, or psychic, vampires. Further, these are segregated into immortal and mortal blood-drinkers, and unintentional and intentional psychic vampires, with the latter being seen as more prevalent and more dangerous.
Vampires skims the surface and revisits many of the more popular vampiric figures in myth, legend and history, from Dracula to Countess Bathory; as well as a few second-hand anecdotes of psychic vampirism relayed to him by others and a brief encounter of his own. But perhaps most interesting are the letters from self-professed blood-drinkers, though some do read like letters to an agony aunt column, they are perhaps more indicative of mortal sanguinarians today (though this term is not present in this work). However, ludicrous leaps of faith are often required regarding the cause and explanations for the cases of vampirism presented.
Several methods for protecting oneself against psychic vampires are presented, and an entire chapter is dedicated to this subject. While he has advised others of this method and one has reported success, there is no mention of Konstantinos himself having a go at it. They may work, but most of the suggestions, even if used in combination, are hardly practical in most day-to-day situations requiring an immediate response.
Konstantinos’ conversational tone is often unfocused and repetitive, and would have benefited from some editorial tightening. The text is also peppered with statements such as ‘As in other sections of this book, what you are about to read cannot be completely proven…’1 which seems odd in light of the subtitle purporting to reveal some ‘occult truth’. It is unclear why he feels he has to ‘prove’ anything, or why it would be assumed as fact by the reader even if he did. These comments are frequent and unnecessary, perhaps Konstantinos should have more faith in his readers.
Vampires is a brief trek through vampirism in myth and history to the modern day. The book is light and presumably well intended, but not on my recommended reading list for vampire literature.
- pg 144 [↩]
