Encyclopedia of the Undead

Encyclopedia of the Undead Summary:

Publisher: Career Press | ISBN: 1564148416 | edition 2009 | PDF | 312 pages | 14,14 mb

What lurks out there in the fog?
What was that eerie sound in the dead of night?
What flitted by at the end of the street, just beyond the farthest street lamp?
From earliest times, tales of the restless dead and their fellow travelers have terrified mankind.

Whether around a remote campfire or in the middle of a bustling city, the unquiet spirits and attendant creatures that have tormented humanity since the prehistoric darkness haven’t gone away – they still have the power to strike fear in our hearts.

Encyclopedia of the Undead traces those shadowy entities – vampires, werewolves, ghouls and monsters – that lurk just outside the range of human vision and inhabit our most frightening tales. Drawing on a wide range of beliefs and literature, it traces these horrors from their earliest recorded inceptions and charts their impact upon the human psyche. In this book, history and terror mix to create the things that lurk in the darkest corners of our minds.

This is a book for all those who are interested in the darker side of the human mind – the side that examines and even embraces those beliefs and imaginings that form the basis of our most archetypical fears. This is the book for those brave enough to plumb the depths of our worst nightmares!

Dr. Bob Curran is the author of Vampires and he adds this fine book to further enlighten and enlarge the topic of creatures unable to rest in peace. In addition to being entertaining, this book is educational.

There is a section concerning dark legends which influenced such authors as the late H. P. Lovecraft that will fascinate the reader. Covering worldwide creatures, this is without doubt one of the best books of its kind available. Following a fine preface and introduction, the table of contents is arranged for the reader's enjoyment, and ease. Topics covered include vampires, werewolves, zombies and Voodoo, ghouls and the Golem, the terrors of H. P. Lovecraft, an appendix detailing miscellaneous nightmares, and index. There is a section about the author and illustrator.

This book is good through-and-through, each chapter interesting and intriguing. Those interested in Voodoo will find that chapter exceedingly interesting.
The writing is lucid, concise, and designed to cover much information useful to the reader. Miscellaneous nightmares is a section covering items not found elsewhere. Mara and Yuki-Onna are also discussed, and their attributes revealed.

If you have not read the horror and macabre fiction of H. P. Lovecraft (1890 - 1937), you will after reading Curran's writing about Lovecraft!
Accurate information makes this a must-have book on the undead! Excellent reading. Curran knows his subject, and writes accordingly in a highly entertaining manner!

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