Killing the dead: vampire epidemics from Mesopotamia to the New World

Preface and acknowledgements

Introduction

Part I: Approaches. 1. Who Were the Dangerous Dead? ; 2. Fearing Dead Friends, Killing Dead Enemies : Are Animated Corpses a Human Constant? ; 3. The Dangerous Dead in Society ; 4. Rest in Peace (and Don't Come Back) : Hovering on the Threshold of Death's Door ; 5. Understanding Stories (1) : The Spoken and Written Word ; 6. Understanding Stories (2) : Vampires in Print ; 7. Understanding Corpses : The Evidence of Burial Archaeology

Part II: Dynamics. 8. The Circumpolar World and Northern Asia : Corpses and Life-Forces ; 9. India and China : Lumpen Corpses and Lustful Hyena-Women ; 10. Flying Demons and Dangerous Women ; 11. The 'Carmilla Template' in China and the Eastern Roman Empire ; 12. Wonder-Working Women : The Power and the Danger

Part III: From the Ancient Middle East to the Early Medieval North. 13. Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome before Christ ; 14. The Later Roman World and Christianity ; 15. The British Isles and Northern Francia, 200-600 : Social Trauma, Wise-Women, and Mortuary Theatre ; 16. The Christian English, 600-700 (1) : Saintly Women and Holy Incorrupt Bodies ; 17. The Christian English, 600-700 (2) : Sinister Women and Dangerous Incorrupt Bodies ; 18. Francia, England, and Scandinavia, 700-1000

Part IV: Europe in the High Middle Ages. 19. Motifs Taking Shape : The Making of the 'European Vampire' ; 20. An Icelandic Epidemic? ; 21. The English Walking Dead, 1000-1200 (1) : Stories and Corpses ; 22. The English Walking Dead, 1000-1200 (2) : Breaking God's Law and the King's ; 23. Central and Southern Europe, 1000-1400

Part V: Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe. 24. The Eurasian Reservoir of Beliefs : Night-Battlers, Damned Huntsmen, and Bloodsucking Corpses ; 25. Life-Forces, Shape-Shifters, and Dangerous Corpses : Eastern Europe, 1400-1750 ; 26. The Dead Retreat Northward Again : England and Scotland, 1200-1750 ; 27. Noxious Corpses and Noisy Shroud-Eaters : The German-Speaking Lands in the Age of Reformation ; 28. Movers and Shakers : Active Corpses in Bohemia and Silesia, 1330-1600 ; 29. The Dangerous Dead between Witchcraft and the Enlightenment : East-Central Europe, 1550-1700 ; 30. From Moravia to Transylvania : The Carpathian Arc, 1700-25 ; 31. Vampires in the News, 1725-57

Part VI: The Modern World : Towards Folklore and Fiction. 32. Vampires for a Scientific Age : Pennsylvania and New England ; 33. 'The Horrible Scenes of Old Time' : Europe after 1750 ; 34. Vampires of Colonialism and Slavery

Conclusion: The Dangerous Dead as Mirrors of Reality.