Folklore is a combination of mythical frightening legends such as vampires and werewolves. Vampires are known as undead monsters that preyed on humans and lived by sucking the blood of their victims. While vampires are known to be nothing but creatures of fictitious stories in ancient times, many cultures still believe in the existence of vampires.
Similarly, lycanthropy, the concept of a human being shifting into a werewolf is linked to the legend of werewolves. Werewolves were an integral element of the ancient culture where a human turned into a werewolf, whether willingly or by being put under a curse, are cursed creatures that were to be executed in witch-hunts.
Both vampires and werewolves became an important part of folklore; that persists to this day in movies, books, documentaries, video games, etc. and are significant elements of the horror genre.
This collection takes on both informative content, including the historical stories related to these folklore legends, as well as ancient stories revolving around the existence of these creatures. It also provides insight into how specific cultures saw vampires and werewolves in their stories. For anyone who is interested in vampires and werewolves, this collection is a treat to learn more about these mythical legends.
Take a look at the sample pages taken from just some of these books in the collection.
All of the book titles that are included in this DVD are listed as follows:
Vikram and the Vampire - Tales of Hindu devilry by Richard Francis Burton 1893
The House of the Vampire by By George Sylvester Viereck 1907
The Vampyre - A Tale, by John William Polidori 1819
The Vampire Nemesis and Other Weird Stories of the China Coast 1905
Dracula by Bram Stoker 1897
The Land beyond the Forest: facts, figures and fancies from Transylvania by Emily Gerard 1888 (This was the book Bram Stoker used for research)
Wandering Ghosts by Marion Crawford 1911
The Stolen Bacillus, and Other Incidents by HG Wells 1904 (contains THE FLOWERING OF THE STRANGE ORCHID, Wells' unique vampire tale)
Pan's Garden, a volume of nature stories by A Blackwood (contains The Transfer, a vampire tale)
In a Glass Darkly (Volume 1) by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu 1872
In a Glass Darkly (Volume 1) by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu 1872
In a Glass Darkly (Volume 1) by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu 1872 (In a Glass Darkly contains a story called Carmilla, a lesbian vampire)
The Wizard of the North, The Vampire Bride and other Poems by Thomas Lidell Ravensworth 1833
Ligeia by Edgar Allen Poe (Poe's unique vampire story) 1911
Modern Ghosts by Guy de Maupassant 1890 (contains The Horla, about a female vampire)
The Sad Story of a Vampire (1894) by Count Stenbock
The Occult Sciences - Sketches of the Traditions and Superstitions of Past Times, and the marvels of the Present Day 1855 by Edward Smedley
The Cabinet of Curiosities (Vampires and Vampirism) 1824
Ghost-stories of an Antiquary by MR James 1905 (contains the story of Count Magnus)
Transylvanian Superstitions by Emily Gerard 1885
The Phantom World: the history and philosophy of spirits, apparitions etc by Augustin Calmet (107 mentions of Vampires)
WAKE NOT THE DEAD (Bride of the Grave) by Johann Ludwig Tieck 1826
Great Ghost Stories (contains the Vampire story: What Was It? by Fitz James O'Brien) 1918
Varney the Vampire 1847
The True Story of A Vampire by Eric Stenbock
Good Lady Ducayne by M. E. Braddon 1896
The wind in the rose-bush and other stories of the supernatural by Mary Freeman 1903 (Contains the story of Luella Miller, an early example of psychological vampire viction)
The Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain 1916
Lycanthropy - On the Popular Superstitions of Europe, article in The American monthly magazine 1833
Sex and Sex worship by OA Wall 1922 (section on Lycanthropy at page 321)
Fruit Between the Leaves by Andrew Wynter - 1875 (chapter on Were-wolves and Lycanthropy)
A List of Works Relating to Lycanthropy 1920
The Origin of the Werewolf Superstition by Carolina Taylor Stewart 1909
The Book of Were-wolves: Being an Account of a Terrible Superstition by Sabine Baring-Gould 1865
Wagner the Wehr Wolf by George William MacArthur Reynolds 1884
Lays and legends of various nations by William John Thoms 1834 (poor quality)
Phantasmata or, Illusions and Fanaticisms of Protean forms, productive of Great Evils by Richard Robert Madden 1857, Volume 1
Vandover and the Brute by Frank Norris 1914 ("The most revolting story of lycanthropy is in Frank Norris's posthumous novel, Vandover and the Brute. This is a study in soul degeneration...We see a young man, at first sensitive, delicate, and with high ideals, gradually through love of ease and self-indulgence, through taking always the line of least resistance, becoming a moral outcast. The brute that ever strains at the leash in man gains the mastery and the artist soul ends in a bestial creature. Dissipation brings on madness, called by the doctors "lycanthropy-mathesis." In his paroxysms of insanity the wretch thinks that his body is turned into the beast that his soul symbolizes, and runs about his room, naked, four-footed, growling like a jungle animal and uttering harsh, raucous cries of Wolf-wolf!" ~The Supernatural in Modern English fiction By Dorothy Scarborough)
The Phantom Ship by Captain Marryat 1839 (an episode in this novel featurs a demonic femme fatale who transforms from woman to wolf.)
The History of Little Red Riding Hood 1850
Little Red Riding-Hood by Andrew Lang 1912 ("In the fairy-tale Little Red Riding Hood, the figure of the werewolf is more ambiguous and subject to an allegorical or Freudian interpretation. These tales are the inspiration behind modern fiction such as The Company of Wolves (1979) by Angela Carter (filmed as The Company of Wolves (1984) and the film Ginger Snaps" ~ wikipedia)
Hugues, the Wer-Wolf by Sutherland Menzies 1838
Tales of an Antiquary by Richard Thomson 1828 (contains _Wehr-wolf, Legend of the Limousin_)
Light and Darkness - The Mysteries of Life by Catherine Crowe 1850, Volume 1
Light and Darkness - The Mysteries of Life by Catherine Crowe 1850, Volume 2
Light and Darkness - The Mysteries of Life by Catherine Crowe 1850, Volume 3 (contains the story: The Lycanthropist)
The Wolf-Leader by Alaxander Dumas 1904
The Were-Wolf by Clemence Housman 1896
The Door to the Unreal by Gerald Biss 1920
Beasts and Super-beasts by Saki 1914
The Abasement of Nebuchadnezzar, article in Bibliotheca Sacra 1905 (discusses the Lycanthropy of Nebuchadnezzar - who knew the Bible had one of the first possible were-wolves)
Human Animals by Frank Hamel 1915 ("The belief that men can change into animals and animals into men is as old as life itself. It originates in the theory that all things are created from one substance, mind or spirit, which according to accident or design takes a distinctive appearance, to mortal eye, of shape, colour, and solidity. Transformation from one form to another then becomes a thinkable proposition, especially if it be admitted that plastic thought in the spirit world takes on changed forms and conditions more readily than in the world of matter.")
Algonquin legends of New England by Charles G Leland 1884 ("In the beginning of things, men were as animals and animals as men; how this was, no one knows. But it is told that all were at first men, and as they gave themselves up to this and that desire, and to naught else, they became beasts. But before this came to pass, they could change to one or the other form; yet even as men there was always something which showed what they were.")
Werwolves by Elliott O'Donnell 1912 (Werwolves and Exorcism, How to Become a Werwolf, Werwolves Vampires and Ghouls etc)
Dogmas and Ritual - Transmutations by Eliphas Levi ("I propose to speak of lycanthropy, or the nightly changing of men into wolves, so celebrated in our country night-watches by stories of werewolves; stories which are so well attested that in order to explain them, incredulous science has recourse to furious manias and to travesties into animals.")
Curious Creatures in Zoology by John Ashton 1890 (has a chapter on werewolves)
Curiosities of Indo-European tradition and folk-lore by Walter Kelly 1863 (has a chapter on werewolves)
The Supernatural in Modern English Fiction by Dorothy Scarborough PhD 1917
Modern Vampirism: Its Dangers and How to Avoid Them by A Osborne Eaves 1901
The Vampire, article in The Theosophist 1891
Supernatural Stories, article in New monthly magazine 1849
The Magic of the Middle Ages by Viktor Rydberg 1879
A Book of Marvels by HC Adams
Fenris the Wolf - a Tragedy by Percy MacKaye 1905
Myths from many lands by Eva March Tappan 1907 (How the Wolf Fenris was Changed)
A Were-Wolf Story, article in The Living Age 1905
An introduction to folk-lore by Marian Cox 1895
The Room in the Tower by EF Benson 1912
"And then a hand was laid on the side of my neck, and close beside my ear I heard quick-taken, eager breathing. Yet I knew that this thing, though it could be perceived by touch, by smell, by eye and by ear, was still not of this earth, but something that had passed out of the body and had power to make itself manifest."
Folklore, Parallels and Coincidences, article written in 1897 which discusses the Indian Bhuta Vampire.
Unusual, Ghostly, Superstitious, article in Current Opinion which discusses the Vrykolakas (Greek vampires) 1902
Macedonian folklore by By George Frederick Abbot 1903
La Bas, also known as Down There or The Damned by JK Huysmans 1895
Metamorphosis of the Vampire plus The Vampire by Charles Baudelaire 1857 (these poems were initially included in his "Flowers of Evil" but these 2 works were removed because they were considered offensive).
Christabel, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1907 (a lengthy poem written in 1773, a vampiric motif "ranked as one of the great early examples of vampire literature." ~The Vampire Encyclopedia
Haunted Houses: Tales of the Supernatural, with Some Account of Hereditary Curses and Family Legends (features the Croglin Grange Vampire) By Charles George Harper 1907
Stories by Charles Gautier 1908 (contains "Clarimonde" known also as The Dead Lover and as The Beautiful Vampire)
Bluebeard - An Account of Comorre the Cursed and Gilles de Rais by Ernest Alfred Vizetelly (one or two pages unreadable) [Gilles de Rais was one of the most notorious murderers in history, an historic vampire)
The Poems of Goethe 1891 - has the Bride of Corinth, a sort of a corpse bride
Similarly, lycanthropy, the concept of a human being shifting into a werewolf is linked to the legend of werewolves. Werewolves were an integral element of the ancient culture where a human turned into a werewolf, whether willingly or by being put under a curse, are cursed creatures that were to be executed in witch-hunts.
Both vampires and werewolves became an important part of folklore; that persists to this day in movies, books, documentaries, video games, etc. and are significant elements of the horror genre.
This collection takes on both informative content, including the historical stories related to these folklore legends, as well as ancient stories revolving around the existence of these creatures. It also provides insight into how specific cultures saw vampires and werewolves in their stories. For anyone who is interested in vampires and werewolves, this collection is a treat to learn more about these mythical legends.
Take a look at the sample pages taken from just some of these books in the collection.
All of the book titles that are included in this DVD are listed as follows:
Vikram and the Vampire - Tales of Hindu devilry by Richard Francis Burton 1893
The House of the Vampire by By George Sylvester Viereck 1907
The Vampyre - A Tale, by John William Polidori 1819
The Vampire Nemesis and Other Weird Stories of the China Coast 1905
Dracula by Bram Stoker 1897
The Land beyond the Forest: facts, figures and fancies from Transylvania by Emily Gerard 1888 (This was the book Bram Stoker used for research)
Wandering Ghosts by Marion Crawford 1911
The Stolen Bacillus, and Other Incidents by HG Wells 1904 (contains THE FLOWERING OF THE STRANGE ORCHID, Wells' unique vampire tale)
Pan's Garden, a volume of nature stories by A Blackwood (contains The Transfer, a vampire tale)
In a Glass Darkly (Volume 1) by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu 1872
In a Glass Darkly (Volume 1) by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu 1872
In a Glass Darkly (Volume 1) by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu 1872 (In a Glass Darkly contains a story called Carmilla, a lesbian vampire)
The Wizard of the North, The Vampire Bride and other Poems by Thomas Lidell Ravensworth 1833
Ligeia by Edgar Allen Poe (Poe's unique vampire story) 1911
Modern Ghosts by Guy de Maupassant 1890 (contains The Horla, about a female vampire)
The Sad Story of a Vampire (1894) by Count Stenbock
The Occult Sciences - Sketches of the Traditions and Superstitions of Past Times, and the marvels of the Present Day 1855 by Edward Smedley
The Cabinet of Curiosities (Vampires and Vampirism) 1824
Ghost-stories of an Antiquary by MR James 1905 (contains the story of Count Magnus)
Transylvanian Superstitions by Emily Gerard 1885
The Phantom World: the history and philosophy of spirits, apparitions etc by Augustin Calmet (107 mentions of Vampires)
WAKE NOT THE DEAD (Bride of the Grave) by Johann Ludwig Tieck 1826
Great Ghost Stories (contains the Vampire story: What Was It? by Fitz James O'Brien) 1918
Varney the Vampire 1847
The True Story of A Vampire by Eric Stenbock
Good Lady Ducayne by M. E. Braddon 1896
The wind in the rose-bush and other stories of the supernatural by Mary Freeman 1903 (Contains the story of Luella Miller, an early example of psychological vampire viction)
The Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain 1916
Lycanthropy - On the Popular Superstitions of Europe, article in The American monthly magazine 1833
Sex and Sex worship by OA Wall 1922 (section on Lycanthropy at page 321)
Fruit Between the Leaves by Andrew Wynter - 1875 (chapter on Were-wolves and Lycanthropy)
A List of Works Relating to Lycanthropy 1920
The Origin of the Werewolf Superstition by Carolina Taylor Stewart 1909
The Book of Were-wolves: Being an Account of a Terrible Superstition by Sabine Baring-Gould 1865
Wagner the Wehr Wolf by George William MacArthur Reynolds 1884
Lays and legends of various nations by William John Thoms 1834 (poor quality)
Phantasmata or, Illusions and Fanaticisms of Protean forms, productive of Great Evils by Richard Robert Madden 1857, Volume 1
Vandover and the Brute by Frank Norris 1914 ("The most revolting story of lycanthropy is in Frank Norris's posthumous novel, Vandover and the Brute. This is a study in soul degeneration...We see a young man, at first sensitive, delicate, and with high ideals, gradually through love of ease and self-indulgence, through taking always the line of least resistance, becoming a moral outcast. The brute that ever strains at the leash in man gains the mastery and the artist soul ends in a bestial creature. Dissipation brings on madness, called by the doctors "lycanthropy-mathesis." In his paroxysms of insanity the wretch thinks that his body is turned into the beast that his soul symbolizes, and runs about his room, naked, four-footed, growling like a jungle animal and uttering harsh, raucous cries of Wolf-wolf!" ~The Supernatural in Modern English fiction By Dorothy Scarborough)
The Phantom Ship by Captain Marryat 1839 (an episode in this novel featurs a demonic femme fatale who transforms from woman to wolf.)
The History of Little Red Riding Hood 1850
Little Red Riding-Hood by Andrew Lang 1912 ("In the fairy-tale Little Red Riding Hood, the figure of the werewolf is more ambiguous and subject to an allegorical or Freudian interpretation. These tales are the inspiration behind modern fiction such as The Company of Wolves (1979) by Angela Carter (filmed as The Company of Wolves (1984) and the film Ginger Snaps" ~ wikipedia)
Hugues, the Wer-Wolf by Sutherland Menzies 1838
Tales of an Antiquary by Richard Thomson 1828 (contains _Wehr-wolf, Legend of the Limousin_)
Light and Darkness - The Mysteries of Life by Catherine Crowe 1850, Volume 1
Light and Darkness - The Mysteries of Life by Catherine Crowe 1850, Volume 2
Light and Darkness - The Mysteries of Life by Catherine Crowe 1850, Volume 3 (contains the story: The Lycanthropist)
The Wolf-Leader by Alaxander Dumas 1904
The Were-Wolf by Clemence Housman 1896
The Door to the Unreal by Gerald Biss 1920
Beasts and Super-beasts by Saki 1914
The Abasement of Nebuchadnezzar, article in Bibliotheca Sacra 1905 (discusses the Lycanthropy of Nebuchadnezzar - who knew the Bible had one of the first possible were-wolves)
Human Animals by Frank Hamel 1915 ("The belief that men can change into animals and animals into men is as old as life itself. It originates in the theory that all things are created from one substance, mind or spirit, which according to accident or design takes a distinctive appearance, to mortal eye, of shape, colour, and solidity. Transformation from one form to another then becomes a thinkable proposition, especially if it be admitted that plastic thought in the spirit world takes on changed forms and conditions more readily than in the world of matter.")
Algonquin legends of New England by Charles G Leland 1884 ("In the beginning of things, men were as animals and animals as men; how this was, no one knows. But it is told that all were at first men, and as they gave themselves up to this and that desire, and to naught else, they became beasts. But before this came to pass, they could change to one or the other form; yet even as men there was always something which showed what they were.")
Werwolves by Elliott O'Donnell 1912 (Werwolves and Exorcism, How to Become a Werwolf, Werwolves Vampires and Ghouls etc)
Dogmas and Ritual - Transmutations by Eliphas Levi ("I propose to speak of lycanthropy, or the nightly changing of men into wolves, so celebrated in our country night-watches by stories of werewolves; stories which are so well attested that in order to explain them, incredulous science has recourse to furious manias and to travesties into animals.")
Curious Creatures in Zoology by John Ashton 1890 (has a chapter on werewolves)
Curiosities of Indo-European tradition and folk-lore by Walter Kelly 1863 (has a chapter on werewolves)
The Supernatural in Modern English Fiction by Dorothy Scarborough PhD 1917
Modern Vampirism: Its Dangers and How to Avoid Them by A Osborne Eaves 1901
The Vampire, article in The Theosophist 1891
Supernatural Stories, article in New monthly magazine 1849
The Magic of the Middle Ages by Viktor Rydberg 1879
A Book of Marvels by HC Adams
Fenris the Wolf - a Tragedy by Percy MacKaye 1905
Myths from many lands by Eva March Tappan 1907 (How the Wolf Fenris was Changed)
A Were-Wolf Story, article in The Living Age 1905
An introduction to folk-lore by Marian Cox 1895
The Room in the Tower by EF Benson 1912
"And then a hand was laid on the side of my neck, and close beside my ear I heard quick-taken, eager breathing. Yet I knew that this thing, though it could be perceived by touch, by smell, by eye and by ear, was still not of this earth, but something that had passed out of the body and had power to make itself manifest."
Folklore, Parallels and Coincidences, article written in 1897 which discusses the Indian Bhuta Vampire.
Unusual, Ghostly, Superstitious, article in Current Opinion which discusses the Vrykolakas (Greek vampires) 1902
Macedonian folklore by By George Frederick Abbot 1903
La Bas, also known as Down There or The Damned by JK Huysmans 1895
Metamorphosis of the Vampire plus The Vampire by Charles Baudelaire 1857 (these poems were initially included in his "Flowers of Evil" but these 2 works were removed because they were considered offensive).
Christabel, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1907 (a lengthy poem written in 1773, a vampiric motif "ranked as one of the great early examples of vampire literature." ~The Vampire Encyclopedia
Haunted Houses: Tales of the Supernatural, with Some Account of Hereditary Curses and Family Legends (features the Croglin Grange Vampire) By Charles George Harper 1907
Stories by Charles Gautier 1908 (contains "Clarimonde" known also as The Dead Lover and as The Beautiful Vampire)
Bluebeard - An Account of Comorre the Cursed and Gilles de Rais by Ernest Alfred Vizetelly (one or two pages unreadable) [Gilles de Rais was one of the most notorious murderers in history, an historic vampire)
The Poems of Goethe 1891 - has the Bride of Corinth, a sort of a corpse bride