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| Jul 23, 2008 03:57 pm |
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| Jul 25, 2008 12:38 pm |
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Well to be honest my opinion changes.. Some times I accept it and love myself for what I am and for what i believe... Other times I veiw it as a virus that eats away my soul.
They craving for blood is sinister... The craving for sex is unsocialable. The needs are the deciding point for me... Depends when they hit and who i am with..
If I think of more I will post it but till then this is all i have. |
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| Jul 25, 2008 01:48 pm |
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| a fluid opinion. i hadn't considered it, but it makes sense. the same way any opinion can change, so too must an opinion of the self. merci beaucoup! (thank u) |
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| Jul 26, 2008 10:50 pm |
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| Jul 27, 2008 12:13 am |
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| hm..the most interesting terms mentioned were Snagov Lake, Dracole Waida, Arnold Paole and sailor James Brown. I was also intrigued by the article concerning the incident in Rhode Island so I will be sure to explore these topics further. but malinda, when u get a chance i would also like to hear your take on this data. because you pasted this data, i'm sure you yourself have some valuable hunches concering these articles. every1 else just keep posting as usual. it's getting more fascinating by the second. :) |
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| Jul 28, 2008 09:21 pm |
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decoder king: The Rosenbach's Michael Barsanti knows his way around Stoker's often-illegible notes, some made in Philadelphia.
Photo By: Michael T. Regan
Bloody Good
How a cruel 15th-century ruler morphed into the monster we love today.
by Michael Washburn
Just how did a suave sadist from 15th-century Wallachia, now a province of Romania, end up on a kids' breakfast cereal? Vlad Tepes' (or Vlad Dracula's) road to pop culture infamy is a strange one, but we can start close to home.
Dracula is on our radar today thanks, of course, to Bram Stoker's 1897 novel. The handwritten notes for Dracula reside at the Rosenbach Museum and Library, which is fitting: Stoker did much of his work on Dracula in Center City, and one page of notes appears on Bellevue-Stratford Hotel stationery. (Stoker toured the U.S. eight times in the late 1800s as the manager of the traveling Lyceum Theatre Company.) The Rosenbach's annual Dracula Festival — which culminates in a talk on Saturday by the Rosenbach's associate director, Michael Barsanti, and a twilight parade with freaky live music and re-enactments of the legend by the Spiral Q Puppet Theater — casts light on the process of literary creation.
"At the Rosenbach Museum, we have a collection of notes [comprising] 120 pages of material, taken by Bram Stoker as he planned and prepared to write Dracula," Barsanti says. The Rosenbach bought the notes from the Philadelphia book dealer Charles Sessler in 1970. One might argue that the Dracula craze has more to do with myth than with the historical figure himself, but it's hard to deny that Stoker's notes reflect research of astonishing diligence and scope. The novel appears to derive as directly as possible from the actual man. In fact, notes Barsanti, Elizabeth Kostova's recent best-selling novel The Historian "is predicated on the notion that Stoker told the truth about the real Dracula." The Rosenbach's notes, some of which are on display during the festival, figure prominently in Kostova's novel (the author fictionalizes the Rosenbach as "the Museum of the Book").
On Saturday, Barsanti will show his expertise at navigating the copious, and, in some places, illegible notes jotted down over seven busy years. The earliest, as featured in the Rosenbach's 1997 exhibition catalog (marking 100 years since Dracula's first appearance), date to March 8, 1890. They indicate that Stoker had planned to set the story at a castle in the region of southeastern Austria known as Styria. But if you look at notes composed later that month, which form Stoker's outline of the novel, you can see where he crossed out "Styria" and replaced it with "Transylvania." Why this change?
It was while on vacation in Whitby, a small English fishing town, that Stoker visited the local library and came across references to the Wallachian ruler, who captivated him the way that the map of a distant river in a store window grabs the narrator of Conrad's Heart of Darkness. According to the catalog text by exhibition coordinator curator Wendy Van Wyck Good, Stoker perused William Wilkinson's Account of the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, and this may have offered his first exposure to the word "Dracula." Stoker's notes contain a passage that he copied directly from a footnote in Wilkinson's tome: "DRACULA in Wallachian language means DEVIL. Wallachians were accustomed to give it as a surname to any person who rendered himself conspicuous by courage, cruel actions or cunning." The very next footnote relates the foray that Dracula made across the Danube River in 1460, in a bold counterattack on the invading forces of Sultan Mahomet II.
It is clear that an impressed Stoker craved more sources of information. One was a volume called the Dracole Waida, published in 1488. This slim book, of which only seven copies exist today — one of them, like Stoker's notes, rests at the Rosenbach — serves up a point-by-point indictment of the nobleman who became Wallachia's ruler in 1456.
Stoker did more research on Dracula, reading a pamphlet published in 1491 that differs only slightly from the original Dracole Waida. He must have learned how Dracula "had a great meal prepared for all the beggars in his land. After the meal he had them locked up in the sheds in which they had eaten, and burned them all. He felt they were eating the people's food for nothing and could not repay it." Here you have courage, cruel actions and cunning wrapped up in a single debonair package.
Clearly, Stoker's notes do far more than trace the evolution of the novel's plot and setting. As Good observes in the catalog, they chart the growth of the characters from bloodless cyphers standing for one or another social type into fully realized heroes, villains and weirdos. They evolve from "lawyer's clerk" and "mad patient" into Jonathan Harker and Renfield. The latter, one of the most memorable nutcases in literature, springs from someone referred to initially only as a lunatic with "a theory of perpetual life." And Dracula, of course, is one of the darkest blooms in all of literature.
"Bram Stoker's Manuscript Notes for Dracula," curatorial talk with Michael Barsanti, Sat., Oct. 29, 2 p.m., $5-$8, RSVP required, call 215-732-1600, ext. 113; Dracula Parade with Spiral Q Puppet Theater, Sat., Oct. 29, gather at 5:30 p.m., parade begins at 6 p.m., free, Rosenbach Museum and Library, 2008 Delancey Place. |
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| Jul 28, 2008 09:25 pm |
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Real Vampires
by Inanna Arthen
"Real Vampires"-how can this be anything but a contradiction in terms? We all know about vampires. Stock characters of fiction, guaranteed box-office draws, the media vampire has been familiar to us since childhood. Generally speaking, our blood-suckers appear with a tongue planted firmly in one toothy cheek-from Bela Lugosi hamming it up in the 1950's, to last summer's teenage "vamp" movies, to Count Chocula breakfast cereal, the media seldom treat the vampire as truly fearsome. The stereotyped vampire traits are familiar to any child: vampires have big fangs, sleep in coffins, are instantly incinerated by sunlight, and are best dispatched by a stake through the heart. But the most important "fact" that we all know of course is that there are no such things.
Of course, in terms of the mythical, literary and cinematic conventions, we are correct: there are no "legions of the undead" stalking the unwary. We have explained the folklore with politics, misunderstood diseases, and hysteria, the literary and cinematic images with psychology, history, and sociology. We of the 20th century are confident that vampires could not really exist. But then, most of us are never forced to think otherwise. For a number of people, the concept of vampires becomes a critical and often lifelong concern. To live with, love, or befriend a real vampire is to encounter a set of problems which may demand expanding the boundaries of one's accepted reality. To come to terms with being a real vampire oneself is to face a lifetime's karmic challenge.
Some people reading this article already know this. The rest are probably thinking, "Real Vampires, give me a break! Sure, there are some pretty weird people out there, but all they need is a good therapist." Yes, there are people who take on all the trappings of a gothic novel: dressing in black, claiming or pretending to be "vampires" in the supernatural sense, wearing capes, sleeping in boxes, even getting their teeth capped. There are more frightening people who seek to torture or kill animals or human beings in order to gain power, emotional release or sexual thrill, and who sometimes call themselves (or are called) "vampires". But most of these individuals are troubled people who have been attracted by the cultural myths about the vampire: supernatural powers (because they feel powerless), overwhelming sexuality (because most of them have sexual issues and no true relationships), immortality (because they fear aging and death). Individuals like these are the most recent "explanation" for humanity's persistent belief in vampires. But beyond and behind all the folklore, the psychological theories, the role playing, even the traditional spiritual assumptions, lies the real truth about vampires.
The field of vampirology is complex and mysterious. There are many aspects to the vampire phenomenon, and they would require several books to fully explore. One aspect of vampirism which frequently troubles magickal, spiritual and other small groups, the most common form of vampire, is found among living people who share with us the benefits and disadvantages of physical existence on this plane, yet are not quite human. These people appear on the surface to be somewhat eccentric members of society, yet their outward idiosyncrasies only hint at how different they are from those around them.
Each of us incarnates for a lifetime with a certain way of relating to the physical world through the vehicle of our physical body. A vampire is a person born with an extraordinary capacity to absorb, channel, transform, and manipulate "pranic energy" or life force. She also has a critical energy imbalance which reels wildly from deficit to overload and back again. This capacity for handling energy is a gift, but the constant imbalance of her own system is the cause of the negative behavior patterns and characteristics which may be notable about a vampiric person.
Real vampires do not necessarily drink blood-in fact, most of them do not. Blood-drinking and vampirism have been confused to the extent that for the average person, a vampire is defined as something that drinks blood (such as a "vampire bat"). But when we look beyond casual assumptions to the details of common beliefs, we find something quite different. Throughout both folklore and literature, there is an understanding that vampires require energy or life force. Many old folktales accept that vampires suck blood, yet never describe this actually happening. The victims slowly decline and waste away, and the survivors assume that some evil fiend is draining them of blood. They know that the Bible says, "the blood is the life", and anyone who was losing their life force must be losing blood. Yet, in many instances the vampire's "attack" does not even involve physical contact. In others, it is clearly sexual energy which is exchanged.1
Fresh blood is the highest known source of pranic energy (life force).2 Human beings have practiced blood-drinking for many reasons throughout history, but drinking blood alone does not indicate that a person is a vampire. Only real vampires can directly absorb the pranic energy in fresh blood, and for this reason some real vampires are attracted to blood and find different means of obtaining it.3 However, it is a rare vampire who cannot absorb energy in much more subtle ways. This is the mechanism that causes real vampires to inflict harm on others and themselves if they fail to recognize what is happening and do conscious work on transforming their inner natures. Vampires are no more likely to be either malicious or spiritually aware than the general population, but without awareness, they can spend their lives making themselves and others unhappy, and will continue to incarnate in this pattern until they take action to change it.
There are a number of external symptoms of vampirism, but it is important to realize that some of them are found in ordinary human behavior. Real vampires are identifiable partly because they have a majority of the symptoms, not just one or two. But more significantly, real vampires are distinguished by a certain quality to the energy. While anyone reading a description of the symptoms and behavior patterns might find a few that apply to people he knows, or even to himself, real vampires have a way of standing out vividly to everyone who interacts with them. There are few people who do not know at least one vampire.
Physically, vampires are usually "night people"" on a biochemical level. They have inverted circadian rhythms, with body cycles such as temperature peaks, menstrual onset, and the production of sleep hormones in the brain occurring at the opposite time of day from most people. They have difficulty adjusting to daytime schedules and frequently work nights. They tend to be photosensitive, avoiding sunlight, sunburning easily, and having excellent night vision. Their vitality ranges widely, and they can be vigorous and active one day, depressed and languorous the next.
They frequently have digestive trouble. Even those with cast-iron stomachs have many issues with food that are rooted in their constant hunger for energy. Contrary to the image of the vampire as thin, many real vampires are troubled by obesity because of a hunger that makes them food addicts, and a system that is sluggish in processing physical food. They are also sometimes troubled by other substance addictions for the same reasons, but since their systems are tuned to pranic energy more than to processing physical substance, they may not be as sensitive to drugs and alcohol as an ordinary person would be.
Emotionally and physically, vampires are unpredictable, moody, temperamental and overwhelming. The major distinguishing characteristic of real vampires as opposed to ordinary people who share those qualities is the vampire's intensity. Vampires are extremely intense people. They are frequently given nicknames such as "the black hole." When others talk about them (usually to complain about them), vampires are often described by such terms as "needy," "attention-seeking," "grandstanding," "manipulative," "exhausting," "draining," "monopolizes the conversation," "jealous," "huge ego," and so on. A vampire's emotions are deep, fervent, and powerful, and she usually displays great psychic ability and has uncontrolled magickal and psychic experiences. Vampires are also empaths, and while they remain unconscious of their natures, they are frequently "psychic sponges" who simply absorb vibrations from everywhere, with the expected emotional instability resulting.
A "hungry" vampire -- one whose energy level is imbalanced to the deficit side -- becomes an involuntary psychic vortex, drawing all pranic energy in the area towards her. When the energy does not flow in fast enough -- and it is typical of vampires that the energy never flows fast enough for them -- she will begin manifesting behavior patterns to increase the amount of conscious attention she gets from others. For this reason, some vampires develop a pattern of being aggressively confrontational, or of constantly antagonizing people with whom they have relationships. Nearly all vampires, whatever ploys they use, have a talent for attracting (or distracting) the attention of everyone present.
Once a vampire overloads on energy, she reverses her behavior patterns. She may become morose, silent, withdrawn and introverted. Some vampires become maniacally cheerful when they are satiated, but even their good moods seem to annoy others, and it is more typical for vampires to be infamous as wet blankets. "Hungry" and "overload" phases can occur within a few minutes or last for days at a time. Vampires are commonly loners, in part because they feel so different from those around them, but also because they have a need to control the degree of contact they have with sources of energy.
Real vampires are not the demonic fiends of Christianized folklore, but as long as they refuse to accept their inner nature, their bad reputation is not undeserved. Unconscious vampires have a tendency to reach adulthood with less than the average level of social skill and general finesse, and tend to be selfish and self-centered. The demands of their own energy systems are so distracting to them that it is difficult for them to pay attention to the needs of others. Their relationships tend to be disasters. Different vampires develop different patterns according to what works best for them in their life situation, but several patterns are common. The "femme fatale" or "lady-killer" vampire forms a continuous series of sexual connections with one partner at a time, dropping each unfortunate lover as they become too exhausted (or defensive) to support the vampire's energy needs. Other vampires form a long-term relationship with a single person: either another vampire whose energy cycle complements their own, or a person who derives satisfaction from being a psychic servant or martyr. A common pattern, especially in young adults, is to continuously join social, religious, political and magickal groups and either blow them apart or end up being thrown out. Vampires may go through roommates, housing situations, magickal groups, jobs and lovers like so much Kleenex.
Many people find that they feel "creepy" or "weird" around a vampire. This is usually due to the effects of one's own life force being drawn towards the vampire's vortex. Most people feel uncomfortable and distracted when their energy is pulled away from themselves. In addition to this, a common result of such an energy drain is for the aura to pull in tightly towards the body, and this causes a prickling sensation on the skin -- the "creepy-crawlies."
It is no more common for vampires to be psychopaths or killers than it is for any random person on the street. However, a prolonged, or very involved, relationship with a vampire can put a severe strain on the emotional and psychic energy systems of an ordinary person. Folklore suggests that victims of a vampire become vampires themselves. In reality, people who have been seriously "drained" -- that is, have had their own energy pulled off balance into a deficit -- also become psychic vortices which pull life force away from other living things. However, they are never as powerful as a true vampire, and unlike vampires, quickly recover and stabilize. True vampires are born the way they are -- no one can be "turned into a vampire." However, years of energy depletion can lead to health problems ranging from depression and malaise to a suppressed immune system and susceptibility to serious illnesses. Most people will break off the relationship before it gets that far.
Many vampires are attracted to magickal paths. In a magickal working group, their ability to wreak havoc is increased because of the psychic openness and trust that exist there. But there can be a benefit, as well. Some vampires become aware of their true natures and choose to undertake serious work to transform themselves. As soon as they begin doing so, they become more acceptable working partners and companions. Once in control of their capacity for handling energy, they become extraordinary magicians and healers. Their ability to hold the attention of others gives them the potential to be fine leaders and teachers. Ultimately, the purpose of vampires is not to plague the universe but to facilitate its healing. Vampirism is the dark, or unfocused, side of a certain kind of psychic talent, one which has been developing for many lifetimes. It is destructive only when a vampire either refuses to face the truth about herself and work with her abilities, or when she chooses to play out a sinister role because of the illusion of power it gives her.
Because of this, many of the vampire characteristics described above are far less evident in the most powerful vampires, the ones who have done considerable work on their inner selves. Many of these are poised, pleasant, competent individuals, with great personal power. They have come to terms with who and what they are, and no longer exhibit the negative qualities associated with "psychic vampirism." 4 Unfortunately, unconscious vampires are far more common than evolved ones, and it is these troubled souls who more usually appear in magickal groups.
There is no "generic advice" to give those who believe they may be dealing with a real vampire. Those who are so inclined might try to help a friend or fellow group member explore their inner nature and come to terms with their destructive behaviors. Those who feel victimized can choose to end the relationship. Each case is different, and can only be judged by the individuals concerned. But it is important for anyone involved in magickal or psychic work to understand that vampires are a real phenomenon, and that, like all perils, they should not be greeted with fear or anger. Nothing is evil by nature -- only by choice. Terror of discovery (followed by ridicule or rejection) inhibits the self-development of many real vampires. When they reach out for friendship, they are often reaching out for help.
A person who believes she may be a real vampire herself has a long and difficult process ahead of her. The most important step on her path is complete self-awareness: of her relationships, patterns, energy levels, and all other personal qualities. The most challenging work may often be summarized in the simplest of terms. Knowledge, awareness, and control are the lessons real vampires must learn in order to harness their abilities. If real vampires are not the immortals of fiction, they can at least be confident of one thing: for better or worse, they will keep the qualities they develop for many lives to come.
(The author welcomes inquiries from readers with a personal interest in the subject of vampirism. She is available at vyrdolak@net1plus.com. Readers wishing for more information about vampire lore in general are referred to the Bibliography.) |
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| Jul 28, 2008 09:31 pm |
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| it sounds like Bram Stoker did quite a bit of homework on his 'inspiration.' i'll try to get a look at his notes sometime to see if he knew anything of interest. i'm sure they're recorded somewhere. |
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| Jul 28, 2008 09:32 pm |
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[edit] Eighteenth century
Vampire fiction is rooted in the 'vampire craze' of the 1720s and 1730s, which culminated in the somewhat bizarre official exhumations of suspected vampires Peter Plogojowitz and Arnold Paole in Serbia under the Habsburg Monarchy. One of the first works of art to touch upon the subject is the short German poem The Vampire (1748) by Heinrich August Ossenfelder, where the theme already has strong erotic overtones: a man whose love is rejected by a respectable and pious maiden threatens to pay her a nightly visit, drink her blood by giving her the seductive kiss of the vampire and thus prove her that his teaching is better than her mother's Christianity. Furthermore, there have been a number of tales about a dead person returning from the grave to visit his/her beloved or spouse and bring them death in one way or another, the narrative poem Lenore (1773) by Gottfried August Bürger being a notable 18th century example. One of its lines Denn die Toten reiten schnell ("For the dead travel fast") was to be quoted in Bram Stoker's classic Dracula. A later German poem exploring the same subject with a prominent vampiric element was The Bride of Corinth (1797) by Goethe, a story about a young woman who returns from the grave to seek her betrothed:
From my grave to wander I am forced
Still to seek the God's long server'd link,
Still to love the bridegroom I have lost,
And the lifeblood of his heart to drink.
The story is turned into an expression of the conflict between Heathendom and Christianity: the family of the dead girl are Christians, while the young man and his relatives are still pagans. It turns out that it was the girl's Christian mother who broke off her engagement and forced her to become a nun, eventually driving her to death. The motive behind the girl's return as a "spectre" is that "e'en Earth can never cool down love". Goethe had been inspired by the story of Philinnion by Phlegon of Tralles, a tale from classical Greece. However, in that tale, the youth is not the girl's betrothed, no religious conflict is present, no actual sucking of blood occurs, and the girl's return from the dead is said to be sanctioned by the gods of the Underworld. She relapses into death upon being exposed, and the issue is settled by burning her body outside of the city walls and making an apotropaic sacrifice to the deities involved.
The first mention of vampires in English literature appears in Robert Southey's monumental oriental epic poem Thalaba the Destroyer (1797), where the main character Thalaba's deceased beloved Oneiza turns into a vampire, although that occurrence is actually marginal to the story. It has been argued that Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem Christabel (written between 1797 and 1801, but not published until 1816) has influenced the development of vampire fiction: the heroine Christabel is seduced by a female supernatural being called Geraldine who tricks her way into her residence and eventually tries to marry her after having assumed the appearance of an old beloved of hers.[2] The story bears a remarkable resemblance to the overtly vampiric story of Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (1872).
[edit] Nineteenth century
In a passage in his epic poem The Giaour (1813), Lord Byron alludes to the traditional folkloric conception of the vampire as a being damned to suck the blood and destroy the life of its nearest relations:
Lord Byron in Albanian Costume, painted by Thomas Phillips in 1813But first, on earth as vampire sent,
Thy corse shall from its tomb be rent:
Then ghastly haunt thy native place,
And suck the blood of all thy race;
There from thy daughter, sister, wife,
At midnight drain the stream of life;
Yet loathe the banquet which perforce
Must feed thy livid living corse:
Thy victims ere they yet expire
Shall know the demon for their sire,
As cursing thee, thou cursing them,
Thy flowers are withered on the stem.
Byron also composed an enigmatic fragmentary story concerning the mysterious fate of an aristocrat named Augustus Darvell whilst journeying in the Orient — as his contribution to the famous ghost story competition at the Villa Diodati by Lake Geneva in 1816, between him, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley and John William Polidori (who was Byron's personal physician). This story provided the basis for "The Vampyre" (1819) by Polidori. Byron's own wild life became the model for Polidori's undead protagonist Lord Ruthven. Polidori's Lord Ruthven seems to be the first appearance of the modern vampire: an undead, vampiric being possessing a developed intellect and preternatural charm, as well as physical attraction. Accorging to A. Asbjorn Jon 'the choice of name [for Polidori's Lord Ruthven] is presumably linked to Lady Caroline Lamb's earlier novel Glenarvon, where it was used for a rather ill disguised Byronesque character'[3] By contrast, the vampire of folklore was almost invariably thought of as a hideous, unappealing creature.
An unauthorized sequel to Polidori's tale by Cyprien Bérard called Lord Ruthwen ou les Vampires (1820) was adapted by Charles Nodier into the first vampire stage melodrama, Le Vampire. Unlike Polidori's original story Nodier's play was set in Scotland. This in turn was adapted by the English melodramatist James Planché as The Vampire; or, the Bride of the Isles (1820) at the Lyceum (then called the English Opera House), also set in Scotland. Planché introduced the "vampire trap" as a way for the title fiend to appear in a dream at the beginning and then to vanish into the earth at his destruction. Nodier's play was also the basis of an opera called Der Vampyr by the German composer Heinrich Marschner who set the story in a more plausible Wallachia. Planché in turn translated the libretto of this opera into English in 1827 where it was performed at the Lyceum also. Alexandre Dumas, père later redramatized the story in a play also entitled Le Vampire (1851). Another theatrical vampire of this period was 'Sir Alan Raby' who is the lead character of The Vampire (1852), a play by Dion Boucicault. Boucicault himself played the lead role to great effect, though the play itself had mixed reviews. Queen Victoria, who saw the play, described it in her diary as "very trashy".[4]
An important later example of 19th century Vampire fiction is the penny dreadful epic Varney the Vampire (1847) featuring Sir Francis Varney as the Vampire. In this story we have the first example of the standard trope in which the vampire comes through the window at night and attacks a maiden as she lies sleeping.
Heathcliff in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1847), is suspected by his housekeeper of being a vampire, in the final chapter of that novel.
Fascinating erotic fixations are evident in Sheridan le Fanu's classic novella Carmilla (1872) which features a female vampire with lesbian inclinations who seduces the heroine Laura whilst draining her of her vital fluids. Le Fanu's story is set in the Duchy of Styria. Such central European locations became a standard feature of vampire fiction.
Another important example of the development of vampire fiction can be found in three seminal novels by Paul Féval: Le Chevalier Ténèbre (1860), La Vampire (1865) and La Ville Vampire (1874). Marie Nizet's Le Capitaine Vampire (1879) features a Russian officer, Boris Liatoukine, who is a vampire.
The most famous Serbian vampire was Sava Savanović, famous from a folklore-inspired novel by Milovan Glišić.[5]
[edit] Dracula
Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897) has been the definitive description of the vampire in popular fiction for the last century. Its portrayal of vampirism as a disease (contagious demonic possession), with its undertones of sex, blood, and death, struck a chord in a Victorian Britain where tuberculosis and syphilis were common. A decade before in 1888, the press had sensationalized Jack the Ripper's sexualized murders of prostitutes during his reign of terror in East London.
The name Count Dracula was inspired by a real person, Vlad Ţepeş (Vlad the Impaler). Ţepeş was a notorious Wallachian (Romanian) prince of the 15th century, also known as Vlad III Dracula. Unlike the historical personage, however, Stoker located his Count Dracula in a castle near the Borgo Pass in Transylvania, and ascribed to that area the supernatural aura it retains to this day in the popular imagination.
Stoker likely drew inspiration from Irish myths of blood-sucking creatures. He was also influenced by Le Fanu's Carmilla. Le Fanu was Stoker's editor when Stoker was a theatre critic in Dublin, Ireland. Like Le Fanu, Stoker created compelling female vampire characters such as Lucy Westenra and the Brides of Dracula.
Stoker's vampire hunter and vampire expert Abraham Van Helsing was the archetype of all subsequent such characters in vampire literature.
[edit] Twentieth century
Though Stoker's Count Dracula remained an iconic figure, especially in the new medium of cinema, twentieth century vampire fiction went beyond traditional Gothic horror and explored new genres such as science fiction. An early example of this is Gustave Le Rouge's Le prisonnier de la planète Mars (1908) and its sequel La guerre des vampires (1909), in which a native race of bat-winged, blood-drinking humanoids is found on Mars.
Another influential example of vampire science fiction was I Am Legend by author Richard Matheson in (1954), later made into a film starring Will Smith in 2007. The story of a future Los Angeles, overrun with undead cannibalistic/bloodsucking beings changed the genre forever. One man is the sole survivor of a pandemic of a bacterium that causes vampirism. He must fight to survive attacks from the hordes of nocturnal creatures, discover the secrets of their biology, and develop effective countermeasures. This was the first piece of fiction with an analytical slant towards vampires.
The latter part of the twentieth century saw the rise of multi-volume vampire epics. The first of these was Gothic romance writer Marilyn Ross's Barnabas Collins series (1966–71) loosely based on the contemporary American TV series Dark Shadows. It also set the trend for seeing vampires as poetic tragic heroes rather than as the traditional embodiment of evil. This formula was followed in the popular Vampire Chronicles (1976–2003) series of novels by Anne Rice and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's massive Saint-Germain series (1978–). Ross, Rice and Yarbo set the trend for multi-volume vampire sagas which are now a stock feature of mass-market fiction (see below for list). Rice's work also saw the beginning of the convergence of traditional Gothic ideas with the modern Gothic subculture and a more explicit exploration of the transgressive sexualities which had always been implicit in vampire fiction.
The 1981 novel The Hunger (adapted as a film in 1983) continued the theme of transgressive sexuality and examined the biology of vampires, suggesting that their special abilities were the result of physical properties of their blood. The novel suggested that not all vampires were undead humans, but some were a separate species that had evolved alongside humans. This interpretation of vampires has since then been used in several science-fiction stories dealing with vampires, most famously the Blade movie series.
Kim Newman's Anno Dracula series (1992–) returns to Stoker's Count Dracula and gives the genre a somewhat post-modern spin.
Post-Colonial perspectives on the vampire legend are provided in Nalo Hopkinson's novel Brown Girl In The Ring (1998), which features the Soucouyant, a vampire of Caribbean folklore, and in Tananarive Due's My Soul To Keep (1995) and its sequel The Living Blood (2001).
[edit] Twenty-first century
Many books based on vampires are still published now, including several continuing series. Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles ended after many years, but many others have started up in the meantime. Paranormal romance, inspired by Rice, but mostly dropping the transgressive sexuality of her characters in favour of more conventional sexual roles, is a remarkable contemporary publishing phenomenon.[6]The most prominent exponent of this sub-genre is Christine Feehan. Other romances with handsome vampires as the male leads, include Lynsay Sands's Argegneau family series (2003–). However Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series has again shifted the genre boundaries from romance back into the territory of pornography.
The occult detective sub-genre is represented by Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden fantasy series (2000–), and Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire Mysteries (2001–). Japanese novelist Hideyuki Kikuchi's postapocalyptic vampire series (1983–), Vampire Hunter D has begun to be translated into English (2005–).
In the field of juvenile and young adult literature Darren Shan wrote a twelve book series about a boy, also called Darren Shan, who becomes a vampire's assistant, beginning with Cirque Du Freak (2000) and ending with Sons of Destiny (2004). Stephenie Meyer created an ongoing fantasy series about a teenager named Bella Swan and her vampire boyfriend, Edward Cullen (Twilight), beginning with Twilight (2005). A film adaptation of this and the other novels in the sequence is forthcoming. Ellen Schreiber created a young adult series about Raven Madison and her vampire boyfriend Alexander Sterling, starting with Vampire Kisses (2005). In Scott Westerfeld's young-adult novel Peeps (2005), the protagonist carries a contagious parasite that causes vampire-like behavior.
The king of vampires Count Dracula also continues to inspire novelists. Elizabeth Kostova wrote a detailed historical horror book connecting Vlad the Impaler to Dracula called The Historian (2005). The most recent incarnation of the Count features in John Marks's update of Bram Stoker's novel Fangland (2007). According to a review by Sinclair McKay in the Telegraph (18 August 2007) this novel is 'truly unsettling' and contains moments of 'jump-up-and-down-on-the-sofa-scariness'. A film adaptation is now being produced.[7] Count Dracula is also peripherally involved in the "Chris Cséjthe" Half Life series by William Mark Simmons involving a man who is only partially a vampire, starting in 1996 and most recently continuing in Dead Easy (2007).
Swedish author John Ajvide Lindqvist's critically praised vampire story Låt Den Rätte Komma In (2004) about the relationship of a 12 year boy with a 200 year old vampire child has now been translated into English as Let the Right One In (2007) and a film adaptation produced. The story takes place in Blackeberg, a suburb of Stockholm.
[edit] Traits of vampires in fiction
The traits of the literary vampire have evolved from the often repulsive figures of folklore. Fictional vampires can be romantic figures, often described as elegant and sexy (compare demons such as succubus and incubus). This is in stark contrast to the vampire of Eastern European folklore, which was a horrifying animated corpse. However as in folklore, the literary vampire is sustained by drinking blood. They do not need other food, water, or even oxygen. They are sometimes portrayed as being unable to eat human food at all, forcing them to either avoid public dining or mime chewing and eating to deceive their mortal victims. The fictional vampire, however, often has a pale appearance rather than the dark or ruddy skin of folkloric vampires and their skin is cool to the touch. As in folklore literary vampires can usually be warded off with garlic and symbols of Christian faith such as holy water, the crucifix, or a rosary.
According to literary scholar Nina Auerbach in Our Vampires Ourselves, the influence of the moon was seen as dominant in the earliest examples of vampire literature:
For at least fifty years after Planche's Vampire, the moon was the central ingredient of vampire iconography; vampire's solitary and repetitive lives consisted of incessant deaths and - when the moon shone down on them - quivering rebirths. Ruthven, Varney and Raby need marriage and blood to replenish their vitality but they turn for renewed life to the moon...a corpse quivering to life under the moon's rays is the central image of midcentury vampire literature; fangs, penetration, sucking and staking are all peripheral to its lunar obsession.
Bram Stoker's Dracula was hugely influential in its depiction of vampire traits, some of which are described by the novel's vampire expert Abraham Van Helsing. Dracula has the ability to change his shape at will, his featured forms in the novel being that of a wolf, bat, dust and fog. He can also crawl up and down the vertical external walls of his castle, in the manner of a lizard. One very famous trait Stoker added is the inability to be seen in mirrors, which is not found in traditional Eastern European folklore. Dracula also had protruding teeth, though was preceded in this by Varney the Vampire. In contrast, Carmilla had no fangs. Also, in the "Twilight" vampire love saga by Stephanie Meyer, the vampire characters have no fangs.[8]
In the novel, the vampire hunter Van Helsing prescribes that a vampire be destroyed by a wooden stake (preferably made of white oak) through the heart, decapitation, drowning, or incineration. The vampire's head must be removed from its body, the mouth stuffed with garlic and holy water or relics, the body drawn and quartered, then burned and spread into the four winds, with the head buried on hallowed ground. The destruction of the vampire Lucy follows the three-part process enjoined by Van Helsing (staking, decapitation, and garlic in the mouth), however, Count Dracula is killed by a kukri knife, not a wooden stake through the heart. Traditional vampire folklore, followed by Stoker in Dracula does not usually hold that sunlight is fatal to vampires, though they are nocturnal. It is also notable in the novel that Dracula can walk about in the daylight, in bright sunshine, though apparently in discomfort and without the ability to use most of his powers, like turning into mist or a bat. He is still strong and fast enough to struggle with and escape from most of his male pursuers, in a scene in the book. It is only with the 1922 film Nosferatu that daylight is depicted as deadly to vampires.[9] Such scenes in vampire films, most especially the closing scene of the 1958 Dracula film in which which Count Dracula is burnt by the sun was very influential on later vampire fiction. For instance Anne Rice's vampire Lestat and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's Count Saint Germain both avoid the lethal effects of daylight by staying closeted indoors during the day.[10]
A well-known set of special "powers" and weaknesses is commonly associated with vampires in contemporary fiction. There is a tendency, however, for authors to pick and choose the ones they like, or find more realistic, and have their characters ridicule the rest as absurd. Some vampires can fly. This power may be supernatural levitation, or it may be connected to the vampire's shape-shifting ability. Some traditions hold that a vampire cannot enter a house unless he or she is invited in. Generally, a vampire needs be invited in only once and can then come and go at will. Some tales maintain that vampires must return to a coffin or to their "native soil" before sunrise to take their rest safely. Others place native soil in their coffins, especially if they have relocated. Still other vampire stories such as Le Fanu's Carmilla maintain that vampires must return to their coffins, but sleep in several inches of blood as opposed to soil. Vampires are generally held to be unable to bear children, though the concept of a "half vampire" and similar creatures does exist in folklore and in some modern fiction. Some fictional vampires are fascinated with counting, an idea derived from folk stories about vampires being compelled to stop and count any spilled grain they find in their path. The most famous fictional counting vampire is likely Muppet character Count von Count on television's Sesame Street. Other examples include a fifth season episode of the X-Files titled Bad Blood, and the Discworld novel, Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett. Some modern fictional vampires are portrayed as having magical powers beyond those originally assigned by myth, typically also possessing the powers of a witch or seer. Such examples include Drusilla from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Drusilla was a seer before she was a vampire, and carried those powers into her undeath), and Olivia Nightshade from The Nightshade Chronicles.
[edit] Vampire hybrids
The Dhampir/Dunpeal, the offspring of a vampire and a human, known from Serbian folklore, has been popularized in recent fiction.[11] The following is a list of such vampire hybrids in written fiction, by order of appearance by year:
Blade, originally in comic books by Marvel Comics (1973), was a dhampir, a half-vampire, half-human, with the strengths of the vampire, but none of their weaknesses. Contrary to the usual method of having a vampiric father and human mother, Blade's mother was bitten while she was in late pregnancy, changing Blade in the womb.
D, a half-vampire from the novel/movie series Vampire Hunter D, is a round-personality protagonist that defies his "natural tendencies", instead hunting vampires in a post-apocalyptic world. (1980's onward)
The protagonist of Dhampire: Stillborn, a graphic novel scripted by Nancy Collins (1997), is a dhampir.
Paifu, a character from the manga series Cowa! (late 1997)
Darren Shan of Cirque Du Freak is a kind of unofficial half-vampire. The term dhampir is not used, however. (2000)
Alek Knight, the antihero of the Slayer series by Karen Koehler is born from an unknown human mother and a vampire father. He unwillingly hunts vampires for a secret sect of the Roman Catholic Church before going freelance. (2001)
Magiere, by Barbara Hendee, the Noble Dead Saga revolves around another dhampir, Magiere, daughter of a vampire father and unwilling human mother. (2001)
Riley Jenson Guardian Series, by Keri Arthur, the Riley Jenson Guardian Series revolves around another dhampir, Riley, along with her twin Rhoan, who are vampire/werewolf hybrids. Although not a human cross the term "dhampire" is referenced. (2006–)
[edit] Literature
The Giaour by Lord Byron (1813).
Christabel by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1816).
"The Vampyre" by John William Polidori (1819).
La Morte Amoreuse by Theophile Gautier (1836).
"The Family of the Vourdalak" by Count Alexis Tolstoy (1843).
Varney the Vampire or The Feast of Blood by James Malcolm Rymer (or Thomas Peckett Prest) (1847).
"The Mysterious Stranger" by Anonymous. Translated from the original German, this vampire tale appeared in the English magazine Odds and Ends in (1860).
Le Chevalier Ténèbre (Knighshade) by Paul Féval (1860).
La Vampire (The Vampire Countess) by Paul Féval (1865).
Carmilla (1872) by Sheridan le Fanu.
La Ville Vampire (Vampire City) by Paul Féval (1874).
"The Fate of Madame Cabanel" by Eliza Lynn Linton (1880).
Manor by Karl Heinrich Ulrichs (1884).
The True Story of the Vampire by Count Stanislaus Eric Stenbock by (1894).
Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897).
"The Tomb of Sarah" by F. G. Loring (1900).
The House of the Vampire by George Sylvester Viereck (1907).
The Lair of the White Worm by Bram Stoker (1911).
"For the Blood is the Life" (1911) by F. Marion Crawford.
"Wampir" ("The Vampire") (1911) by Władysław Reymont.
"The Room in the Tower" (1912) by E.F. Benson.
"Bewitched" (1927) by Edith Wharton.
"The Dark Castle" (1931) by Marion Brandon.
"Revelations in Black" (1933) by Carl Jacobi.
There were no Asper Ladies (1946) by Eugene Ascher.
"The Girl with the Hungry Eyes" (1949) by Fritz Leiber.
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson (1954).
"The Longest Night" by Ray Russell (1960).
"Pages from a Young Girl's Diary" (1973) by Robert Aickman.
'Salem's Lot by Stephen King (1975).
"The Night Flyer" by Stephen King.
The Vampire Tapestry by Suzy McKee Charnas (1980).
The Keep by F. Paul Wilson (1981).
They Thirst by Robert McCammon (1981).
Castle Dubrava (1982) by Yuri Kapralov.
The Curse of the Vampire (1982) by Karl Alexander.
Fevre Dream by George R. R. Martin (1982).
The Dragon Waiting by John M. Ford (1983).
Little Dracula series by Martin Waddell & Joseph Wright (1986–2001).
The Penguin Book of Vampire Stories edited by Alan Ryan (1988).
The Stress of Her Regard by Tim Powers (1989).
Vampire$ by John Steakley (1990).
The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klause (1991).
The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez (1991).
Lost Souls (1992) by Poppy Z. Brite.
Darkness on the Ice by Lois Tilton (1993).
Daughters of Darkness (1993) edited by Pam Keesey. An anthology of lesbian vampire stories (1993).
Dark Angels (1995). A second anthology on the same theme.
The books I, Strahd, Memories of the Vampire (1993) and I, Strahd, the War with Azalin by P.N. Elrod tells the tale of the vampire lord Strahd von Zarovich who occupies the castle Ravenloft.
The Hunger and Ecstasy of Vampires by Brian Stableford (1996).
"The Kiss" (1996) by Kathryn Reines.
Dracula the Undead by Freda Warrington (1997). Commissioned by Penguin books as a sequel to Bram Stoker's Dracula for the centenary of the latter's first publication.
Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett (1998).
Cowboy and The Vampire: A Very Unusual Romance by Clark Hays (1999).
Sunshine by Robin McKinley (2003).
What Big Teeth You Have: A Vampire Tale by Jimmy Autrey (2004).
Let the Right One In (Låt Den Rätte Komma In in the original Swedish) by John Ajvide Lindqvist (2004). Translated into English 2007.
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (2005).
Fledgling by Octavia Butler (2005).
The Nymphos of Rocky Flats by Mario Acevedo (2006).
"Morrigan's Cross", "Dance of the Gods" and "Valley of Silence" (The Circle Trilogy) by Nora Roberts (2006).
Fangland by John Marks (2007).
Asetian Bible by Luis Marques (2007).
The Society of S (2007) and The Year of Disappearances (2008) by Susan Hubbard.
[edit] Fiction series
There are several recent series in vampire fiction, of variable literary quality. They tend to either take the form of direct sequels (or prequels) to the first book published or detail the ongoing adventures of particular characters.
Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files series (2000–). It should be noted that not all of these novels concern themselves largely with vampires, but a war between vampires and wizards figures heavily in the story.
Nancy A. Collins's Sonja Blue series (1989–).
Raven Dane's Legacy of the Dark Kind series (2005–).
MaryJanice Davidson's Undead series (2004–).
P. N. Elrod's Vampire Files series (1990–).
Christine Feehan's Dark series (1999–).
Christopher Golden's Saints and Shadows Saga (1994–2003).
Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series (1993–).
Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse (Southern Vampire) series (2001–).
Kim Harrison's Hollows series (2004–).
Susan Hubbard's "Society of S" series (2007–).
Tanya Huff's Blood Books series (1991–1997).
Charlie Huston's Joe Pitt casefiles series (2005–).
E. E. Knight's Vampire Earth series (2003–).
Karen Koehler's Slayer series (2002–).
Brian Lumley's Necroscope series (1986–).
Christopher Moore's A Love Story series (1995–2007).
Kim Newman's Anno Dracula series (1992–).
Caridad Pineiro's The Calling series (2004–).
Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles series (1976–2003).
Marilyn Ross's Barnabas Collins series (1966–1971).
Fred Saberhagen's Vlad Tepes series (1975–2002).
Maggie Shayne's Wings in the Night series (1993–).
Whitley Strieber's Hunger series (1981–2002).
Freda Warrington's Bloodwine series (1992–).
Gene Wolfe's Urth: Book of the Short Sun trilogy (1999–2001).
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's Saint-Germain series (1978–).
White Wolf, a maker of role playing games, releases novels set in the fantasy world of its Vampire: The Masquerade' game. These series of novels were released in 13-book sets, each corresponding to one of the 13 clans of vampires in their game universe.
[edit] Juvenile and young adult fiction
The Little Vampire series, by Angela Sommer-Bodenburg (1979).
The Bunnicula series by Deborah Howe and James Howe (1979).
The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klause (1992).
Christopher Pike's The Last Vampire series (1994–).
Companions of the Night (1995) by Vivian Vande Velde.
Amelia Atwater-Rhodes's novels In the Forests of the Night (1999), Demon in My View (2000), Shattered Mirror (2001), Midnight Predator (2002), Persistence of Memory (2008).
Saga of Darren Shan also known as the Cirque Du Freak series (2000–4) series by Darren Shan.
Ellen Schreiber's Vampire Kisses series (2005–).
Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series (2005–).
Peeps by Scott Westerfeld (2005).
The Last Days by Scott Westerfeld (2006).
Blue Bloods and Masquerade: A Blue Bloods Novel by Melissa de la Cruz (2006, 2007).
Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series (2006–).
Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith (2007).
P. C. Cast & Kristin Cast's House of Night series (2007–).
Uninvited by Amanda Marrone (2007).
Rachel Caine's Morganville Vampire series
Saving Amy by Sarah Natalia Lee (2008).
[edit] Comic books
Comic books and graphic novels which feature vampires include Vampirella (1969), Tomb of Dracula (1972), I...Vampire (1981), Blade (1973), 30 Days of Night (2002), Chibi Vampire (2003), Vampire Knight (2005), Blood Alone (2005), Dracula vs. King Arthur (2005), Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter 'Guilty Pleasures' (2007), and Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight (2007). Proinsias Cassidy, the supporting lead male in Garth Ennis's comic series Preacher is a vampire of Irish origin (1995). In addition, many major superheroes have faced vampire supervillains at some point. In the Belgo-French comic Le Bal du rat mort, [12] police inspector (!) Jean Lamorgue is a hybrid vampire and he is a king of rats. He is guiding an invasion of rats in Ostend and he sucks the blood of his human victims.
[edit] Magazines
Magazines which feature vampires include 'Bite me' magazine (launched 1999). Typical features include interviews with vampire actors, features on famous vampire film classics, vampire-related news, forthcoming vampire film and book releases.
Defunct vampire magazines include 'Crimson' (England); 'Journal of the Dark' (USA) and 'The Velvet Vampyre' (available to members of the disbanded The Vampyre Society, England).
[edit] References
^ http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2006-06-28-vampire-romance_x.htm Vampire Romance
^ Leatherdale, C. (1993) Dracula: The Novel and the Legend:46–9.
^ A. Asbjorn Jon (2003) 'Vampire Evolution', in Metaphor 3, 2003: 19–23.
^ David J. Skal (2001) Vampires: Encounters With The Undead: 47–8.
^ Glišić, Milovan, "Posle devedeset godina" (Ninety Years Later).
^ http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2006-06-28-vampire-romance_x.htm Vampire Romance
^ Fangland.
^ Skal, p. 99.
^ Skal, David J. (1996). V is for Vampire. Plume/Penguin, p104. ISBN 0-452-27173-8.
^ Nina Auerbach (1981) Our Vampires, Ourselves: 119–47.
^ M. J. Trow (2003) Vlad the Impaler: 56–57.
^ (French)Le Bal du rat mort
[edit] Bibliography
Christopher Frayling (1992) Vampyres: Lord Byron to Count Dracula (1992) ISBN 0-571-16792-6
Freeland, Cynthia A. (2000) The Naked and the Undead: Evil and the Appeal of Horror. Westview Press.
Holte, James Craig. (1997) Dracula in the Dark: The Dracula Film Adaptations. Greenwood Press.
Melton, J. Gordon. (1999) The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead. Visible Ink Press.
Montague Summers (1928) The Vampire: His Kith and Kin, (book reprinted with alternate title: Vampires and Vampirism ISBN 0-486-43996-8). Chapter 5 - "The Vampire in Literature" is reprinted in Clive Bloom (2007) Gothic Horror: 108-126. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
M. J. Trow (2003) Vlad the Impaler. Sutton: Stroud. |
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| Jul 29, 2008 02:26 pm |
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| You know Deathrider.... i would love to just sit and talk to you for a while.. This is good information.. I love to read things that express the true meaning behnd the foklore of being a vampire. Keep it coming... |
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| Jul 29, 2008 08:09 pm |
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| Jul 30, 2008 02:13 pm |
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| aye, a third to add to that XD |
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| Aug 20, 2008 07:44 pm |
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hm...has my topic died? wah...
anyone who still has new info bout vamps should post it here. u know u want to. |
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| Aug 26, 2008 04:46 pm |
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