Encyclopedia of the Undead: A Field Guide to Creatures that Cannot Rest In Peace

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 LAMP? ....From earliest times, tales of the restless dead and their fellow travellers 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 men 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 shapes that lurk just outside the range of human vision and inhabit our most potent and frightening tales - vampires, werewolves, ghouls, and monsters, every one of them the stuff of nightmares. Drawing on a wide range of belief and literature, it traces these horrors from their earliest recorded inceptions and charts their impact upon the human mind. You'll find detailed descriptions of terrors from all over the world - from the mist shrouded mountains of Eastern Europe to the sweltering jungles of the Caribbean islands; from the dark, stone-lined tombs of the uncoffined dead beneath the remote New England hills to the dark magic that lurks beneath the thriving, colourful surface of a city such as New Orleans. Encyclopedia of the Undead also details some of the things that gnaw at the edges of men's minds - Incubi and Succubi, the Mara, and the dark legends that have influenced writers such as H.P. Lovecraft. This is a book for all those who are interested in the darker side of the human mind, one that examines the beliefs and imaginings that form the basis of our worst fears. Within its pages, history and terror mix to create the things that lurk in the darkest corners of our perceptions.