The Vampire, his Kith and Kin

by Augustus Montague Summers

Montague Summers (1880-1948) was supposedly a member of the Roman Catholic clergy. There is a 25 year gap in his biography during which it is speculated he dabbled in the dark arts. Summers wrote numerous serious books about the witch hunts, vampires, werewolves, and other occult subjects. He violently disagreed with Margaret Murray, and advocated the death penalty for witches!

In this work Summers discusses the vampire phenomena from a relentless Catholic perspective; he either belives in the literal reality of vampires, or is pulling our leg. However, this is not a hoax. This book has all of the apparatus to qualify as an academic study, including footnotes, extensive quotations in the original languages, and references to rare source documents. Of particular interest is the final chapter, which traces the development of the vampire craze in 19th century literature. (Quote from sacred-texts.com)

Softbound Forgotten Books (January 12, 2008)