Wanted Undead or Alive

398 Pages·2010·3.53 MB·English

by  Maberry Jonathan

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.
www.kensingtonbooks.com
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.
WANTED UNDEAD OR ALIVE
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 clashes, and more.
There’s certainly no shortage of examples of conflict in the human story. We
should probably feel bad about that, but it’s in our nature to accept that evil
exists and to believe, or at least hope, that something good (or less evil) will step
up to oppose it.
Along the way we’ll talk with all kinds of people, from clerics and
politicians to pop culture experts and the guy on the street. Insights on the
struggle come in all forms and frequencies.
This book is meant to be browsed, so don’t feel guilty about jumping
around. Guilt is a form of shame, which in turn is based on the belief that you’ve
done something wrong. “Wrong” is the opposite of “right,” and that’s just
another tweak on the whole good and evil thing. We don’t want you to feel bad.
Just enjoy the ride.