Since earliest times man has feared troublesome corpses - the bodies of the dead which do not lie still and decompose, but rise again to revisit the living. European folklore is particularly rich in tales of vampires and reanimated cadavers. The Undead take many forms, as do precautions to avert an attack and methods of destruction should precautions fail.
What distinguishes vampires from other revenants? What metaphysical agencies empower the Undead, and how do theological contortions help explain them? And why did popular belief in the existence of the Undead wane during the eighteenth century? These and other vampiric questions are addressed in David Keyworth's encyclopaedic survey of Troublesome Corpses.
