by David Keyworth (July 2007) Hardback.
Index. 240x159mm
320 pages
ISBN 978-1-905328-30-7
£30.00
Since earliest times man has feared
troublesome corpses - the bodies of the dead which do not lie
still and decompose, but rise again to revisit the living. European
folklore is particularly rich in tales of vampires and reanimated
cadavers. The Undead take many forms, as do precautions to avert
an attack and methods of destruction should precautions fail.
What distinguishes vampires from other revenants? What metaphysical
agencies empower the Undead, and how do theological contortions
help explain them? And why did popular belief in the existence
of the Undead wane during the eighteenth century? These and other
vampiric questions are addressed in David Keyworth's encyclopaedic
survey of Troublesome Corpses.
Chapters:
1. THE UNDEAD-CORPSE IN ANTIQUITY
2. UNDEAD-CORPSES IN THE EARLY MEDIEVAL PERIOD
3. UNDEAD-CORPSES IN THE PRE-MODERN PERIOD
4. VAMPIRES OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
5. A COMPARATIVE TYPOLOGY OF VAMPIRES & OTHER UNDEAD-CORPSES
6. VAMPIRES AND OTHER FOLKLORIC BEINGS: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
7. SPECTRAL WITCHCRAFT, BLOOD-SUCKING FAMILIARS AND BITING POLTERGEISTS
8. BURIAL PRACTICES, PROPHYLACTIC MEASURES AND DISPOSAL OF REVENANTS
9. VAMPIRE-SLAYERS AND CHRISTIAN PARAPHERNALIA
10. PURGATORY, EXCOMMUNICATION AND SAINTLY WONDERS
11. DEVILISH MACHINATIONS
12. NECROMANCY AND RAISING THE DEAD
13. LYCANTHROPY AND THE UNDEAD-CORPSE
14. VAMPIRE OUTBREAKS IN EUROPE DURING THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
15. PREMATURE BURIAL AND OTHER RATIONAL EXPLANATIONS
16. TROUBLESOME CORPSES IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
17. THE ASTRAL VAMPIRE
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX