The Darkling: A Treatise on Slavic Vampirism

Rating:
Summary: Unusual work of scholarship in this field
Review: For those actually interested in the background of the folklore associated with vampires, this is a reasonably thorough and well researched ( if short ) work on the subject.

This work will be of interest to anyone with an anthropological bent, or with a strong interest in traditional folklore. Although the author wastes a bit of time in the first chapter tracing the migration of the traditional stories from the slavic world into Western European Novels and from there into modern pop culture, he then redeems himself with a reasonably thorough overview of the origins, social aspects and history of the traditional folktales and beliefs, as well as personal accounts of their continued existence in Serbia.

Overall, I would say that this book is worthwhile reading on the subject for those interested in the origins of these myths.