Montague Summers, Occultist

Montague Summers (1880-1948) collected real-life nightmares from around the world--the legends that have over the decades become movie and fiction fodder--vampires, the werewolf, and witchcraft. Summers maintained that each of these genuinely existed, and argued for the reality of these monstrosities as a real-life danger. Portions of the lore Summers found and included in his books on the occult and the supernatural would later be used in films from the silent era, through the Universal horror films, and would make their way into horror films such as The Vampire Lovers (1970), becoming a part of Hammer horror films "Carmilla" cycle, and extending into the present, such as Renfield, Abigail, The Last Voyage of the Demeter and even the new remake of Salem's Lot. Summers's writing on vampires and witchcraft also have found their way into popular culture, as demonstrated by Dark Shadows (1966-1971) and its various incarnations from the 1970s films through reboots in 1991, 2004, and a feature film in 2012. Summers gives his readers a special look at the legends themselves, having unearthed many of the original beliefs and folkways about how to deal with vampires, witches, and other occult entities. This first biography of the clergyman and curator of the macabre is a thoroughly illustrated celebration of his life, work, and lasting influence on horror cinema.