The Experts Shiver
for
WANTED UNDEAD OR ALIVE
“Wanted Undead or Alive is a fascinating, far-ranging analysis of the nature of evil and those who rise to fight it…in real life, in pop culture, in literature, and in legend. A must-read for those who want to dive deep into the reasons for why we are fascinated by monsters…and love those who make it their business to take them down.”
—Rachel Caine, author of the Morganville Vampires series
“Wanted Undead or Alive is a riveting chronicle of all things that drop fangs in the dead of night. All aficionados must have this in their library!”
—L. A. Banks, New York Times bestselling author of The Vampire Huntress Legends series
“Jonathan Maberry and Janice Gable Bashman probe into pop culture’s Heart of Darkness, and what they find is both fascinating and thought-provoking. This book is a great addition to the library of anyone who’s ever wondered why vampires are popular, ever dressed in a Klingon costume, or ever pondered the boundary between bad and evil.”
—Charlaine Harris, creator of True Blood and the Sookie Stackhouse novels
“Wanted Undead or Alive is your handy guidebook to fending off the fearsome and fangy fiends who go bump in the night. Weird, insightful, and a scary amount of fun.”
—Lloyd Kaufman, president of Troma Entertainment and creator of the Toxic Avenger
ALSO BY JONATHAN MABERRY
NONFICTION
They Bite (with David F. Kramer)
Zombie CSU
The Cryptopedia (with David F. Kramer)
Vampire Universe
FICTION
The Wolfman
Rot & Ruin
The Dragon Factory
Patient Zero
Bad Moon Rising
Dead Man’s Song
Ghost Road Blues
WANTED UNDEAD OR ALIVE
VAMPIRE HUNTERS
AND OTHER KICK-ASS ENEMIES OF EVIL
JONATHAN MABERRY
AND
JANICE GABLE BASHMAN
CITADEL PRESS
Kensington Publishing Corp.
From Jonathan…
This is for the real-world heroes—firefighters,
members of law enforcement, doctors, soldiers
in the field and returning veterans, teachers, aid workers,
hospice care workers, staff and volunteers at shelters,
anyone on the front line fighting for civil and human
rights; and, as always, for Sara Jo.
From Janice…
To all the real-world heroes and the heroes in my life,
especially Sam, Howard, Mom, and Dad—may you
always continue to inspire.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Introduction: That Whole “Good and Evil” Thing
1. The Roots of Good vs. Evil
2. Heroes and Villains
3. It Didn’t Start with Van Helsing
4. Hunting the Fang Gang
5. Fangs vs. Fangs
6. Legendary Heroes
7. Did You Use Protection?
8. A Priest and a Rabbi Walk into a Crypt…
9. Who You Gonna Call?
10. Pulp Friction
11. Spandex to the Rescue
12. Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things
13. Real Evil
Appendices
A. The OFCS Top 100 Villains of All Time
B. Spirit Superstitions
C. The Top 40 Genre Movies of All Time
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This series has been a massive undertaking and there have been a host of people who have generously provided information, assistance, insights, and support. Thanks to Sara Jo West, Don Lafferty, Tony Finan, Jessica Price, Sam West-Mensch, Brandon Strauss, and our good friends in the Horror Writers Association (www.horror.org). Special thanks to David F. Kramer, Stephanie Lechniak-Cumerlato, Online Film Critics Society.
INTRODUCTION: THAT WHOLE “GOOD AND EVIL” THING
Paul Gustave Doré, Cain Kills Abel
To many, Cain’s killing of his brother Abel was not only the first murder, but also the first crime. Whether the story is true or merely a parable used to make a point about morality, the need for laws, and the sanctity of life, it allows us to take a hard look at the enormous consequences of the act of violence.
Depending on whom you talk to—or which spiritual path you follow—the struggle between good and evil is either the oldest conflict known to man or the second oldest. If we factor evolution into the mix, then the oldest struggle is for basic survival—food, shelter, and safety from natural predators. But once early man had something of a handle on those, back during those first hours of leisure time huddled around cook fires in caves, the struggle against evil began. With the advent of a belief in a larger world—God or gods, demons, monsters, and elemental forces—the struggle became a battle. The rise of religion turned the battle into an outright war, and the development of philosophy transformed that struggle into an art.
Now, here at the beginning of the second decade of the new millennium, we see this conflict played out in countless forms. It shows up in politics, in the friction between ideologies, in sports, in pop culture, in war, in dating, and just about everywhere else. Where there is no obvious evil (a serial killer, a tyrant’s attempt at ethnic genocide, etc.) we personify natural disasters so that tsunamis and hurricanes become evil. We demonize sickness so that the process of treating a disease becomes a fight against death—as if death was a conscious being with a personal stake in it.
Funny thing is, we humans kind of groove on the conflict. The fight between good and evil, whether as an external battle against a monster or an internal struggle against temptation, makes for great storytelling, and we are certainly a storytelling species. Storytelling is in our nature, a fact we’ve known since the earliest humans learned how to mix pigment and paint on cave walls.1
In Wanted Undead or Alive, we’ll explore a number of variations on this eternal struggle. The central theme will be the fight against supernatural evil, but along the way we’ll investigate personal evil (what Joseph Conrad labeled the “heart of darkness”), temptation, corruption, ideological