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Rating: 
Summary: Represents the local 'scene', however.....
Review: I gave this 1 star because that's as low as Amazon will let you go. Where does this lady get her information? What really upsets me is the way she approaches the "West Memphis Three". I've got news for you Katherine...they were not a "satanic cult". Why don't you and HarperTorch publishing get your s#@!t together and get your facts straight before you decide to print this garbage.
Rating: 
Summary: Not at all that it claims to be...
Review: I sat in my chair for a good while trying to figure out a way in which to not completely trash this book, and could come up with none. While the back of the book promises to take one "deep inside the little known yet growing 'vampire' subculture," it instead drags you through page after page of homo-erotic vampire sex stories. Even the chapter on vampire roleplaying (LARP)degenerates into more homo-erotic nonsense by the end. Is there sexuality in the vampire subculture? Most certainly. Are homosexuals and bisexuals a part of this culture? Yes, they certainly are, and they have their stories to tell too. I just wish it would have been for one chapter instead of the entire book.
In many great vampire works we see the sexual tensions of vampires (Between Louis and Lestat in 'Interview with a Vampire' for example). But it is purposefully underspoken and leaves the viewer/reader to wonder about the true nature of vampires, whether real or lore. Ms. Ramsland can't seem to get past Ms. Rice's work and the more sexually promiscuous vampires she has encountered. Her work on Rice's books was certainly more insightful and enjoyable.
Rating: 
Summary: must have
Review: i was ultamitly impressed.i injoyed the book the entire time i was reading it, and i couldn't put it down. what i loved about it so much is the description of the people in this book. katherine ramsland also goes into detail about her feelings towards this project of hers and that sets the mood for the reader. this book also contains referrences to books and movies and such that she resurched. this book is a must have for anyone into vampires.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting book, but not about what it claims
Review: I'd seen ads for this book for a while, playing up the fact that it was a 'True Crime' book. If you want to read it for that reason, skip it. Ramsland starts of looking for a missing reporter, but then goes in a completely different direction. At times over a hundred pages go by without a single mention of the missing woman. Ramsland doesn't turn up any new information. When a person disappears in New York you don't end up in San Francisco, Paris, New Orleans, etc unless there was something pointing you there.Now, what the book actually is is a interesting look into parts of the Vampire subculture. She talks to quite a number of interesting people, though the section on "Wraith" was much too long. One complaint about the book: you would think that in her home Ramsland has an altar to Anne Rice. Rice's name gets dropped every few pages. Yes, we know you are close to Rice. You've written her biography, multiple books about her books. You don't have to keep bringing her up, no matter how much she has comtributed to the culture. What is the point in going to a conference, mentioning the famous people attending, then specifically mentioning that Rice woldn't be attending? So what? A decent book, and it lets you see some insight in a subculture many would never realize it is there, let along get to see.
Rating:
Summary: She is Human Garbage!
Review: So what we have is
human garbage discussing human garbage.
This book is a total POS - -
just like the author.
A 'psychologist' would NEVER
make such unverifiable claims.
Very sad.
Rating:
Summary: Why this book is....by J.Raoh
Review: The author spends a lot of time discussing her forays into Goth, vampire, and fetish communities, but gives mostly soundbites about the people she encounters. We go from anecdote to anecdote, without really figuring out why people enter these subcultures, and what their everyday lives are like. She meets some nasty, scary types, with some deeply internalized pain and hostility, and does little to help us understand or sympathize with them.
Rating:
Summary: Amazingly Boring...
Review: This account of Ms. Ramslands investigation into the disappearance of Susan Walsh and subsequent exposure to the "underground vampire scene" is dead boring. Ramsland loses the Walsh story within the first two chapters and then the book cascades into her snooze provoking adventures into underground clubs (which appear to be your standard pseudo-bondage pick up bars). The contacts she meets are also of no particular consequence and the only slightly frightening aspect about them is their need desperate of psychologic help.
Rating: 
Summary: Not accurate representation
Review: This book is interesting to read, but it is *not* an accurate representation of real vampires. It's far more representative of the "vampyre lifestyle", nightclub and "party scene", BDSM and dark fetish, and flamboyant, attention-seeking people who are only vampires in their own minds. "Vampirism is not a world. It's not a lifestyle. It's not a fetishism. It's something you are born as. Drinking blood doesn't make you a Vampire, nor does acting like one and being "vampyric". -- Quote from an elist. I've had it with so-called non-fiction writings about real vampires and vampirism which do not portray an accurate representation of the life or individuals. Of course, it's the attention-seekers who are the ones who always get into these writings (as well as talk shows). I wish people would start making an effort to give an accurate account of such things. We don't need any more outsiders looking in. I'd say this book is way overrated. I would not recommend it unless you're someone who doesn't really care about learning anything real about the vampire community and just want to read something for entertainment. If you want facts, do a web search for real vampires. There are plenty of good sites with accurate information from those who KNOW what they are talking about because they are a part of it.
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