The Vampire Tarot

This handsome boxed set is a great value for the money. The cards are large and varnish-coated, and come shrink-wrapped and you will probably have to pry them apart, as the high-gloss finish makes them sticky. My cards came apart however without damage. I thought the size and finish might make these cards difficult to shuffle, but the cardstock proved surprisingly supple. One minor disappointment: the square corners on these cards - I would have preferred rounded corners, and I may end up taking a craft store corner-rounder to them.On to the images. If you are familiar with Robert Place, you know that some of his interpretations are different from the standard Rider Waite, and more in line with Marseilles-type interpretations. That said, the images he has chosen can be interpreted in a number of ways and are not inconsistent with the more widespread (in America, anyway) RWS meanings, with the exception being the Cups suit, where the author really diverges from the Rider Waite system (the 8 of cups, for example, shows a stack of weapons, and the card meaning is "variety"). Also, the minor suits are renamed: Garlic Flowers for Pentacles, Holy Water for Cups, Stakes for Wands, and Knives for Swords. All are weapons used to defeat vampires.There is a hefty companion book describing in great detail the Bram Stoker novel Dracula, which inspired this deck (although other sources are used, including works of Poe and Coleridge). There is also a long history of tarot, which will be familiar to those who have already read Place's other works. The companion book does a good job with meanings on the major arcana, but the descriptions for the minor arcana are short, and feel a little perfunctory. Again, this is consistent with the companion books for Place's other decks.Most importantly, the artwork is stunning. Place continues to use his terrific line-shading, but combines it with color shading to produce a new impression of three-dimenality. Some of the vampire faces just seem to glow in bluish white. The colors are vibrant, high-impact, with sharply contrasting white and black, and lots of browns, reds, and purple-blues. The court cards are portraits of famous artists, associates, and characters of gothic literature, set to backgrounds of dusky turqoise, rose, green and amber. They are truly lovely. If you are a fan of 19th century literature, or of vampires, I predict you will want this deck. (But if you still need further prompting, you can see all the cards at Tarot Connection, where you can order a votive candle of your favorite card.) Get this deck!

I just purchased this deck a week ago. I own the Alchemical Tarot and decided to add this one to my growing collection of tarot decks. Mr. Place's interpretations, (and meditations) on the tarot is refreshing and intuitive, he is clearly someone who knows the history, importance, and the divinatory significance of tarot--and it shows in this deck. This deck is not simply a tarot deck with vampire illustrations; it is a thoroughly researched creation that incorporates both the vampire literary and gothic genres (Bram Stoker, Polidori, Le Fanu, Byron, Anne Rice & even Buffy) while combining iconic and archetypal images with those of the traditional/divinatory tarot. It comes in a sturdy and handsome box with a thick soft cover companion book. What is amazing is the price. This deck is big, larger than other decks I own, and the cards are contained in a protective holder which keeps them in place. A very minor drawback is that the card edges are square, so shuffling should be done carefully. Overall, this is a great tarot deck that incorporates the vampire mythos in the literary and gothic tradition of Dracula, Interview with the Vampire, Varnney and Carmilla.

There are now a number of vampire tarot decks (though some are sold out and true collectors items). This one doesn't have that hip modern feel to it, which I have come to dislike. Instead it's themed around Stoker's Dracula story, and somehow doesn't throw every bit of the Rider-Waite's symbology out the window. Not to say it's not a departure, but anything gothic is going to be more than a mild twist on a standard deck.The look is in keeping with its theme. You will get the impression of hand colored woodblock prints, and the colors are suitably dreary for the deck. The suits have also been tweaked to fit with Dracula. Cups are vials of holy water, disks are garlic blossoms, and wands are (can you stand the suspense) stakes! The court cards are actual historical personalities which is a nice touch. Major Arcana stands out the best though as parts of the original story.I am a fan of big Tarot decks, and the cards are certainly bigger than standard. What I didn't like was the surface they put on the cards. It almost feels laminated, so there is a tendency for the cards to stick together. That makes them harder to work with, as well as to shuffle. The other thing I have qualms about is the enclosed book. I find it dry and can't commit to reading it straight through like other books. It's loaded with comparisons to standard decks and historical references to the time setting of Bram's book, but it has no gothic feel, and no delight in the darkness of the theme. The card meanings are less than 1/4 of the book (the spreads are a nice twist, well the two of them that are pictured). I given the book, I have to think of this as a deck I'll grow into.**UPDATE**in the end this deck moved out of use.My vampire loving friends spend time looking at the deck but it's not the one they pick out when they want to draw a couple of cards for a reading/discussion. The reserve on the subject of vampires is appealing in a historic way but not nearly passionate or campy enough for goths (genuine or pretend). The deck has moved to the back of the basket where the bulk of my decks are kept.

i love this deck and how Robert M. Place shows how dracula is like a tarot deck

I am no one to review a masterpiece of Robert Place. This is a must have for a dark deck lover

Superb. I have trimmed the corners. I give RWS meanings to these cards. I accept that in so doing so, I lose a little with regards to the special meanings and character of the deck....but I accept this gladlyThe cards are great stock, very hardy but are not readily reversible but this can be overcome by ardent reversal fans like me with just a little thought and ingenuity

This is Robert Place, and that alone should be enough to guarantee for you that the art is superb. These cards are THE reference for vampire tarot decks, now and in the future. Don't buy anything else before you have THIS deck. A must-have, if you collect vampire decks. 500 Gold Stars!

このイラストレーターは他に２〜３タロットカード描いていますが、どれも結構オーソドックスとはかけ離れた個性的なデッキです。この吸血鬼タロットもかなりエグイですね。。もちろん例の吸血鬼のお話に出てくるキャラが描かれています。ネットの画像であらかじめ見たイラストの印象がちょっとオドロオドロしいかな、、と思っていましたが、実際手にして見るとけっこう楽しい雰囲気が伝わって来るので不思議。サイズは手のひらほどあり大きめです。四つ角は丸くなくスクエアなカード（角丸の型抜きでなく四方断ち）です。外箱もかなりデッカくて、分厚めのりっぱなサイズのBookとセットです。私は1にも2にもコレクション用に買いましたが、実占には向いてないと思います。。なんといってもカードの質が困りものです。紙がぶ厚くてしかもビニールコーティング（PP張り）なので一枚一枚がバリバリとくっついています。最初バラバラにするのに一苦労。一旦剥がしてもこれをスムーズにシャッフルは出来そうにもありません。イラストは素晴しいのでコレクターにはお勧めです。