With the use of clinical vignettes, Kayton relates the experience, behavior, and psychodynamics of the schizophrenic to the history of the vampire legends. The vampire, usually a young suicide, partakes of another life in an oral sadistic way, then merges with his victim who in turn becomes a vampire. This plot is suggestive of the schizophrenic's fear of his intense, aggressive, devouring oral needs and his fear of fusion. The author speculates about the origin of the vampire myths. Do they represent a projection of the family's guilt over actual oral deprivation, or a conscious knowledge of the suicide's psychodynamics? Concern is expressed about the recent resurgence of interest in the occult, particularly among the young. Perhaps this reflects severe psychopathological pressures in our society.