Piercing the Darkness: Undercover with Vampires in America Today

Starting with the disappearance of a journalist who was exploring New York City’s vampire subculture, Ramsland follows in her footsteps and well beyond to learn about the vampires of the mid-1990s. No longer attached to images from film or fiction, these people are actively involved in live-action role play, elaborate costuming, and secretive gatherings where sometimes anything goes…including assault, sex games, and even murder. Meet lovers whose sex toys are razors, or “doms” who dress as vampires with whips, or vampire “Christians” who gather for religious rituals. From Paris to New York New Orleans, Ramsland tracks down to interview these “vampires” and even to participate in some of the gatherings.