A child bitten by a bat, a Victorian lady stroking her harmless lapdog, a soldier surprised by a rabid wolf in remote mountains... stories separated by centuries and geography, but united by the same outcome: death. Rabies is still the most lethal virus known to humankind. With a mortality rate close to 100%, it offers no respite once it reaches the brain. Its true power, however, lies not only in killing, but in instilling terror. In this work, journalist Bill Wasik, editorial director of The New York Times Magazine, and veterinarian Monica Murphy trace the cultural and scientific biography of an ancient enemy. From vampire myths to zombie fiction, from Pasteur's heroic experiments to current health emergency protocols, Rabies explores how a microscopic virus has shaped part of our culture and our fears. A masterpiece of popular science that connects modern virology with cultural anthropology and the history of science, revealing how a pathogen capable of invading the nervous system has also spread virulently in the collective imagination. In times marked by global pandemics, Rabia offers essential keys to understanding how zoonotic diseases continue to influence human destiny.