Vampires Are Real?!?

A review of Vampires, Werewolves, & Demons: Twentieth Century Reports in the Psychiatric Literature by Richard Noll

This book found me right when I needed it. I know that probably seems like a weird thing to say regarding the topic of this book, which is exactly what the title boasts. However, as someone who aspires to write creepy stories and is in the middle of trying to write a Vampire story, having this book that deals with Vampires in a scholarly fashion come to me when I am stuck seems like a supernatural push in the right direction. Thus, I wanted to give a brief synopsis of the book and then share some general observations I made while reading it.

Synopsis: This book is broken into three portions with each one focusing on a creature mentioned in the title. There is an introductory essay for the book and for each section. Further, each section is a compilation of scholarly articles concerning vampires, werewolves, or demons. These articles come from sources such as the American Journal of Psychiatry. As the title suggests, all of the articles are from the 20^th Century.

Readability: While this book ultimately leans scholarly in its tone, sections of it read like a horror or even a true crime novel. Noll’s introductory materials do a good job of laying the necessary groundwork for readers to appreciate the research articles that follow. The research articles are a little denser. However, I was still able to breeze through them largely because of the tone and topic. I do recommend that readers do not try to read these case studies like a novel. They contain so much information that it is challenging to absorb all of it without slowing down. {I might have given myself a headache from pushing myself to read a significant portion of the book in one sitting}

In terms of content, I would say that anyone who struggles to read true crime or anything with gory details should avoid this book. While this anthology aims to be more scholarly than sensational in its approach, it does mention some disturbing actions individuals who believed themselves to be vampires, werewolves, or possessed have taken.

I want to take a moment to point out that while I neither condone nor celebrate violence, I do think that books like this one are important. They help readers understand how conditions like these were treated in the past. Almost all these cases describe the methods that psychiatrists took to treat these individuals. In several cases, the individuals reacted positively to treatment.

Other observations/thoughts:

Vampire section:

The case of the “Acid-Bath Murderer” was particularly disturbing.

I recently read a quote that essentially says that vampires are always about sex…it looks like he was right.

Werewolves section:

The bits about this condition going back to ancient times were interesting. I did read somewhere else that it was widely believed that Nebuchadnezzar from the Bible suffered from this condition.

I didn’t realize that Lycanthropy can involve animals other than wolves, although most people with this mental disorder do believe that they are wolves. There was one person in this literature who thought that he was a gerbil.

Demons section:

The section I had the most misgivings about reading is the demons section. I watched The Exorcist when I was nine. Before viewing this film, I had no concept of demonic possession or anything else like it. I was shaken up by the realization that these things happen. As it would turn out, one of the case studies in this book follows four different individuals who were deeply affected by viewing this film back in the 1970s when it debuted. Psychiatrists involved in studying these individuals noted that almost all of them had other underlying issues that impacted their response to the film. For instance, one young woman cited in this case study fell into the trap of magical thinking because she thought that her thoughts were the cause of her mother having a stroke (Bozzuto 191). She thought that this magical thinking was evidence that she was possessed. From my understanding of the article, all of these individuals were successfully treated via psychotherapy, medicine, or a combination of both.

I find Bozzuto’s explanation for why this movie and the concept of demonic possession was so traumatic for these individuals interesting: “not because of its use of violence, or aggression, but because it portrayed uncontrollable forces within the person, which could be unleashed by outside forces over which one had no control” (196).  Isn’t that so human? To fear what we cannot control. The more I think about it, I can see where this fear is also at the root of the werewolf cases because one loses control of oneself when one “transforms.” I suppose vampires can fall into this category too because, the ones in these case studies at least, became controlled by their desire for blood. I would love to hear which of the three beings people found the most disturbing.

Final takeaways:

I will not say that supernatural beings do not exist. As a Christian, I believe in a spiritual realm filled with both good and bad beings. However, I will say that I am thankful for modern medicine, and I do not think that Christians have to divorce themselves from modern treatments, especially concerning possession cases. Since possession cases are rare, I think that possession cases caused by supernatural means are even rarer. Always pray. Keep the faith.  However, modern medicine might be the answer to a prayer.

I am curious how much the field of psychology, especially concerning studies about these disorders, has changed since this book was published.

Works Cited

Buzzato, James C. “Cinematic Neurosis Following ‘The Exorcist’ Report of Four Cases.” Vampires, Werewolves, and Demons: Twentieth Century Reports in the Psychiatric Literature, edited by Richard Noll, Brunner/Mazel, 1992, pp. 187-197.

Noll, Richard. Vampires, Werewolves, and Demons: Twentieth Century Reports in the Psychiatric Literature. Brunner/Mazel, 1992.