Rabid

Rabid: A Cultural History of the World's Most Diabolical Virus by Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy, 275
pages

In Rabid, Wasik and Murphy provide an in-depth look at rabies, a ridiculously scary and deadly (still kills almost 100% of those who contract it and are not treated immediately) virus that has plagued the world for millennia. This history looks at the earliest-known descriptions and treatments of rabies and brings us through to the modern-day fight against the disease, spending a full chapter on Louis Pasteur, who created the first rabies vaccine and post-transmission treatment. Wasik and Murphy also spend plenty of time looking at rabies in popular culture, exploring how this, yes, diabolical virus permeated literature from the Brontes to Zora Neale Hurston to Stephen King, and influenced the descriptions of paranormal creatures such as vampires, zombies, and werewolves. It all makes for a fascinating and frightening book.