Dr. Mustafa Publishes Chapter in Book on Disability, Illness, and the Vampire
Published: January 25, 2026.
A chapter by Dr. Jamil Mustafa, professor of English Studies, has been published in (Routledge, 2025).
"Vampirism and/as Mental Illness: 'Martin' and 'The Transfiguration'" focuses on George A. Romero’s "Martin" (1977) and Michael O’Shea’s "The Transfiguration" (2016), two films in which vampirism seems psychological rather than supernatural.
To demonstrate how these films draw and blur the line between vampirism and mental illness, the chapter employs Jacques Derrida’s theory of deconstruction, which moves beyond binary oppositions, including sane/insane, an antithesis vital to canonical vampire tales.
Following their fictional antecedents, "Martin" and "The Transfiguration" question the sanity of both vampires and vampire hunters. In so doing, these films deconstruct the relationship between mental and physical disability, and that between fact and fiction.
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