Robert Eighteen-Bisang (1947 - September 29, 2020) was a Canadian author and scholar who was one of the world's foremost authorities on

vampire literature Vampire literature covers the spectrum of literary work concerned principally with the subject of vampires. The literary vampire first appeared in 18th-century poetry, before becoming one of the stock figures of gothic fiction with the publicat ...

and mythology. His book ''Bram Stoker's Notes for Dracula: A Facsimile Edition'', which was written with Elizabeth Miller, won the

Lord Ruthven Award The Lord Ruthven Award is an annual award presented by the Lord Ruthven Assembly, a group of academic scholars specialising in vampire literature and affiliated with the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts (IAFA). The award is ...

. The "Ruthven," as it is often called, is awarded annually for the most outstanding work in vampire fiction or scholarship. Other books by Eighteen-Bisang include ''Vampire Stories'', which includes vampire stories by Arthur Conan Doyle: ''

The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire", written by British author Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 12 Sherlock Holmes stories collected between 1921 and 1927 as ''The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes''. It was first published in the January 1924 issues ...

'', ''The Captain of the Polestar'', ''John Barrrington Cowles'', and '' The Parasite'', along with ''

The Adventure of the Illustrious Client "The Adventure of the Illustrious Client" (1924) is one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and one of the 12 stories collected as ''The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes'' (1927). It was first p ...

''– which Eighteen-Bisang claimed is a rationalized version of Dracula – and four more stories with tenuous connections to vampires. ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' called the book "a stretch" and something "only completionists are likely to add this to their collections."

Personal life

Eighteen-Bisang grew up in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

as the son of a professional poker player. In university, he was a

backgammon Backgammon is a two-player board game played with counters and dice on tables boards. It is the most widespread Western member of the large family of tables games, whose ancestors date back nearly 5,000 years to the regions of Mesopotamia and Pe ...

player and won four championships. Eighteen-Bisang aspired to be a university professor, but was talked out of the position by his professors themselves, believing the position would be too restrictive for him. After a career in marketing, Eighteen-Bisang gained an interest in vampire literature and started his research, collecting and writing. As an adult, Eighteen-Bisang still played in backgammon tournaments and was a member of the Vancouver Backgammon Club. Eighteen-Bisang had amassed the largest collection of vampiric literature in the world, which he housed at his personal residence. The collection included about 2,500 books, 2,000 comic books, 1,000 magazines and over 100 films, including a first edition of Bram Stoker's '' Dracula''.

Academic involvement

Eighteen-Bisang is credited with proving that the novel ''Dracula'' is based on the infamous

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer w ...

. He also discounted that Bram Stoker based his iconic character Dracula on

Vlad the Impaler Vlad III, commonly known as Vlad the Impaler ( ro, Vlad Țepeș ) or Vlad Dracula (; ro, Vlad Drăculea ; 1428/311476/77), was Voivode of Wallachia three times between 1448 and his death in 1476/77. He is often considered one of the most im ...

, as many people believe. Eighteen-Bisang was a member of the American chapter of the

Transylvanian Society of Dracula The Transylvanian Society of Dracula (TSD) is a cultural-historic, non-profit, non-governmental organization. Its members include Romanian and international scholars, folklorists, historians, esoterists, writers, cultural anthropologists, and indiv ...

, led by president

J. Gordon Melton John Gordon Melton (born September 19, 1942) is an American religious scholar who was the founding director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion and is currently the Distinguished Professor of American Religious History with the Ins ...

, and was a member of the Canadian Academy of Independent Scholars. He founded Transylvania Press, a publishing company which "publishes high-quality vampiriana for collectors, libraries and fans." He had been invited to lecture on vampires in Dallas, London, Los Angeles, Toronto, Vancouver, and Victoria. In 1997, he was guest of honor at Dracula ’97 in Los Angeles.

Literature

As author

*''Bram Stoker's Notes for Dracula: A Facsimile Edition'' by Bram Stoker, Eighteen-Bisang and Elizabeth Miller

As editor

*''Vampire Stories'' Written by Arthur Conan Doyle *''Vintage Vampire Stories'' Co-edited with

Richard Dalby Richard Lawrence Dalby (15 April 1949 – 4 May 2017) was an editor and literary researcher noted for his anthologies of ghost stories. Early life Richard Dalby was born in London on 15 April 1949 to Tom, a publishing editor, and Nancy, an amate ...

Referenced in

* ''Best New Horror, Volume 6'' *''Bram Stoker's Dracula: a documentary volume'' by Elizabeth Miller *''Bram Stoker's Notes for Dracula: An Annotated Transcription and Comprehensive Analysis'' by Michael Barsanti, Eighteen-Bisang and Elizabeth Miller *''Dracula in Visual Media: Film, Television, Comic Book and Electronic Game Appearances, 1921-2010'' by John Edgar Browning and Caroline Joan (Kay) Picart *''The Complete Vampire Companion'' by

Rosemary Guiley Rosemary Ellen Guiley (July 8, 1950 - July 18, 2019) was an American writer on topics related to spirituality, the occult, and the paranormal. She was also a radio show host, a certified hypnotist, a board director of the "National Museum of M ...

and J. B. Macabre *''The New Annotated Dracula'' by Bram Stoker * ''Pulse of Darkness'' by

Christopher Sequeira Christopher Sequeira (also published as Chris G.C. Sequeira, Christopher G.C. Sequeira, C.G.C. Sequeira) is a Sydney-based Australian editor, writer and artist who works predominantly in the speculative fiction (horror, fantasy, science fiction, ...

and Kurt Stone * ''The Soul of an Angel'' by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro * ''University Affairs'' * ''Young Lusty Sluts'' by Michael Goss

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eighteen-Bisang, Robert 1947 births 2020 deaths Canadian book publishers (people) 21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers Writers from Brantford Writers from Toronto 21st-century Canadian male writers Canadian male non-fiction writers