This engaging study provides readers with a natural history of the vampire, an examination of the work of Bram Stoker, a history and analysis of many film adaptations of Dracula, a survey of contemporary criticism and theory, and an extensive annotated bibliography of vampire film, fiction, and criticism.

One hundred years after his creation by Bram Stoker, Dracula is still fascinating us. This study traces the changing nature of film representations of Dracula, from the early silent adaptations to recent popular dramas. Holte suggests that vampire films and Dracula adaptations have become an independent genre, the dark romance, with its own set of narrative conventions and audience expectations combining horror and eroticism. This engaging study provides readers with a natural history of the vampire, an examination of the work of Bram Stoker, a history and analysis of many film adaptations of Dracula, a survey of contemporary criticism and theory, and an extensive annotated bibliography of vampire film, fiction, and criticism.