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Books Related to Encylopedia of the Undead Bob Curran - ISBN: 1564148416
I'm as open-minded as the next person and have always had an interest in things that go 'bump' in the night, thought to be honest i've never actually believed they really existed.
After reading this excellent book I can confirm that I still don't believe in ghosts, vampires, ghouls, zombies, werewolves or other night-crawlers but thats exactly what I enjoyed about this book: It never tries to convince you that these creatures do exist.
The book simply tells you the history surrounding these ancient evils and where the legends, stories and tales originate from and how they were shaped into the familiar monsters we know and love today such as the dread vampire Dracula. The author is always very careful to look at the information he has objectively and staunchly sits on the fence...which I think is very important in order to maintain credibility.
The book isn't layed out as an 'encyclopedia' in the strictest sense. Its more of a collection of stories and ancient anecdotes created by a deeply religious and Superstitious population hundreds of years ago (as well as a few more recent tales) you get the impression that it was mostly fear that created these tales rather than the actual 'truth'. Even the so-called 'confessions' of the unfortunate people accused of being werewolves were always extracted after prolonged and brutal torture. I would think after which, you'd happily confess to anything just to end the pain.
All in all a very interesting and entertaining book which I would recommend to anyone with an interest in learning more about the myths and truths surrounding the undead and their origins, some of which are very surprising...
The only way I would improve the book would be to add more pictures and make them colour rather than black and white
