Dissertations upon the Apparitions of Angels, Demons, and Ghosts, and concerning the Vampires of Hungary, Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia.

By the Reverend Father Dom Augustin Calmet. 1759
(orig. published in 1746)

Antoine Augustin Calmet, born in 1672, was a French Benedictine monk, eventually becoming abbot at two different monasteries.  He was a learned scholar, writing several volumes of Biblical exegesis as well as histories of different regions of France.  This volume, however, focuses on paranormal spirits and other beings, exploring the different characteristics of vampires and other demons, ultimately dispelling commonly-held superstitions and beliefs.

Selected chapters include:

“Story of the mark of a hand made upon a
handkerchief by a soul from purgatory.”

“Causes of the fluidity of blood, and growing of
the hair and nails in vampires.”

“Instances of the bodies of excommunicated
persons not putrefying.”

“Whence comes it that vampires give no account
of what they have seen in the other world, if
they are really dead.”

– Text by Stuart Hinds