SOCIETY
“The Gas Bombs and the Disease and the Flying Pestilences”: Beaumont’s “Place of a Meeting” as a Depiction of the American Reality in the 1940’s and the Early 1950’s
Science. Business. Society., Vol. 10 (2025), Issue 1, pg(s) 27-29
The vampire figure has been present in Western culture for centuries and its popularity has been steadily increasing. The vampire can be viewed as a universal shapeshifter who skilfully adapts to the pressing issues and challenging questions of the time. Through the figure of the vampire people express not only their utmost fears, doubts, and anxieties, but also their hidden temptations and desires. Beaumont’s 1953 vampire story “Place of a Meeting” depicts a post-apocalyptic deserted world where vampires mourn the loss of human life thus becoming a representation of the cultural and historical landscape of the United States in the 1940’s and the early 1950’s.