Science. Business. Society.
Vol. 10 (2025), Issue 1, pg(s) 27-29

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

  • 1 Clarke Honors College, Salisbury University, Salisbury, MD, USA

Abstract

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.

Keywords

References

  1. “The 1940s.” United States District Court: Central District of Californiа,,https://www.cacd.uscourts.gov/newsworthy/historic al-decades/1940s. Accessed Feb 10 2025.
  2. Beaumont, Charles. “Place of a Meeting.” The Vampire Archives. Edited by Otto Penzler, Vintage Books, 2009, pp. 323-326.
  3. “Cold War History.” History, 26 June 2023, https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/cold-war-history.
  4. Groom, Nick. The Vampire: A New History. Yale University Press, 2020.
  5. “Korean War.” History, 11 May 2022, https://www.history.com/topics/asian-history/korean-war.
  6. Melton, J. Gordon. The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead. 3rd ed., Visible Ink Press, 2011.
  7. “NSC-68 and the Korean War.” Office of the Historian, Department of State: United States of America, https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/short-history/koreanwar#:~ :text =The% 20Korean%20War%20was%20difficult,when%20negotiation% 20stalled%20as%20well. Accessed Feb 7, 2025.
  8. Oinas, Felix. “East European Vampires.” The Vampire: A Casebook, edited by Alan Dundes. The University of Wisconsin Press, 1998, pp. 47-56.
  9. Perkowski, Jan L. The Darkling. Slavica Publishers, Inc., 1989.
  10. “Remembering Pearl Harbor: December 7, 1941.” U.S. Department of Defense, https://www.defense.gov/multimedia/experience/remembering-pearl-harbor /#:~:text=inside%20the%20harbor.,Casualties,Another%201%2 C178%20were%20wounded. Accessed Feb 9 2025.
  11. “Research Starters: Worldwide Deaths in World War II.” The National WWII Museum, https://www.nationalww2museum.org/students-teachers/student-resources/research-starters/research-starters-worldwide-deaths-world-war. Accessed Feb 8 2025.
  12. “The Story of the Atomic Bomb.” Air Force Historical Support Division,https://www.afhistory.af.mil/FAQs/Fact- Sheets/Article/458993/the-story-of-the-atomic-bomb /#:~:text=The%20Japanese%20bombing%20of%20Pearl,the%2 0end%20of%20the%20year. Accessed Feb 7 2025.

Article full text

Download PDF