The Vampire Tarot of the Eternal Night

Vampire Tarot of the Eternal Night
A review by Mark Reed

The Vampire Tarot of the Eternal Night from Lo Scarabeo is the newest of several vampire themed decks. This photo-real offering however, has a gothic noir realism that others lacked. The deck has a general lack of traditional symbolism that might make readings difficult, however the deck does depict a rich midnight landscape of iconic vampires whose dramatic presence and subtly horrific demeanor effectively portray a secret world bathed in moonlight, ancient memories and casual horror. At different points we see glimpses of both the smooth bloodless sensuality and the cold predatory monster that haunt ours dreams of the glamorous undead.

I am not a fan of the vampire genre but this darkly beautiful deck is something special. The rather backwards nature of the deck creates some unusual twists such as the aggressively colored Sun's portrayal of purifying fire burning away the corruption that is vampire existence. I particularly liked The Hermit. This has always been a favorite card, and I liked it's treatment in this deck. The tall brooding stranger gazes knowingly over a balustrade, while The Hermit's lantern is cleverly depicted as a streetlight. The deck is artistic and it's figures are expressive, any fan of the forever pale would find The Vampire Tarot of the Eternal Night a sanguine addition to their collection.

The Vampire Tarot of the Eternal Night is a standardized Tarot deck of 78 cards/22 Major Arcana/56 Minor Arcana. The deck measures 2.60 x 4.72 inches (6.60cm x 12.00cm). It created by Davide Corsi and Barbara Moore with companion book by Barbara Moore and was published by Lo Scarabeo in 2009.