Coming Soon from Brazos Press - The Vampire Defanged

Well, I haven’t seen any of the Twilight movies but I did watch some episodes of Dark Shadows when I was a kid. (I didn’t realize it was just a soap opera with some vampires and werewolves thrown in for good measure.) Better than that was the portrayal of Dracula by Bela Lugosi. We’ve come a long way from then which brings us to a new book coming from Brazos Press called The Vampire Defanged: How the Embodiment of Evil Became a Romantic Hero by Susannah Clements. Vampires are big money today but they aren’t what they used to be. Today they can be downright chivalrous, winning the hearts of young girls without a single bite. Here’s the catalog description of The Vampire Defanged:

"Vampires first entered the pop culture arena with Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, Dracula. Today, vampires are everywhere. From Buffy the Vampire Slayer to the Twilight Saga to HBO's True Blood series, pop culture can't get enough of the vampire phenomenon."

"Bringing her literary expertise to this timely subject, Susannah Clements reveals the roots of the vampire myth, showing how it was originally immersed in Christian values and symbolism. Over time, however, vampires have been "defanged" as their spiritual significance has waned, turning what was once the embodiment of evil into a teen idol and the ultimate romantic hero. Clements offers a close reading of selected vampire texts, explaining how this transformation occurred and helping readers discern between the variety of vampire stories presented in movies, TV shows, and novels. Her probing engagement of the vampire metaphor enables readers to make Christian sense of this popular obsession."

And here’s the table of contents:

1. Why Vampires Matter
2. Bram Stoker's Dracula: Sin and the Power of the Cross
3. Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles: Eternal Guilt and Transcendent Love
4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Sin and Sacrifice, Postmodern Style
5. Sookie Stackhouse: Sex and the Socialized Vampire
6. Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga: The Vampire as Teenage Heartthrob
7. Vampire Sinners
8. Vampire Saviors
Conclusion
Timeline of Referenced Vampire Texts

This will be a fascinating read for those with an interest in the development of vampires in English Literature and the American cinema and pop culture.

Susannah Clements (PhD, University of South Carolina) is associate professor and chair of the department of language and literature at Regent University in Virginia. She is a contributor to the Dictionary of Literary Biography and has presented papers and taught courses on subjects including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Jane Eyre, and J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Get your cloves of garlic ready and watch for The Vampire Defanged this coming March. It will be a paperback and sell for $14.99.