== DISCLAIMER: the Varied Nature of the Vampire ==
There are many interpretations of the vampire myth both in folklore and legend. The nature of the vampire varies greatly from culture to culture and often from region to region with a general cultural area. There are documents available in nonfiction archives that will demonstrate some of the diversity of the legend just within the narrow geographic region of southern and central Europe. In the pages of fiction, each author has his or her own unique interpretation of the vampire. The same can be said about films concerning the vampire. The precise answer to many of the questions discussed below and on the list in general will depend on your definition of the vampire. What is written here is an attempt to distill a consensus of opinion from discussions that have taken place on the list. (VAMPYRES list ~ July 1991)
Showing posts with label Anne Rice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anne Rice. Show all posts
The Vampire and Holy Symbols
Did you know?
In the late 1400s, Pope Innocent VIII released a treatise recognizing the phenomena of incubi and succubi, male and female nocturnal demons. In the mid-1700s, Christian Monks wrote about various beliefs in the Undead that had developed in Western Europe, with hopes of dispelling the stories as superstition. These books of accumulated tales were available to the population at large, and the Undead within - previously known by any number of terms - were systematically named 'vampire'. As a result, the term vampire, vampyr, vampyre, wampire or wampirus - and all it's other translations - has become a household name (probably not the Monks' initial intention ...).
In the late 1400s, Pope Innocent VIII released a treatise recognizing the phenomena of incubi and succubi, male and female nocturnal demons. In the mid-1700s, Christian Monks wrote about various beliefs in the Undead that had developed in Western Europe, with hopes of dispelling the stories as superstition. These books of accumulated tales were available to the population at large, and the Undead within - previously known by any number of terms - were systematically named 'vampire'. As a result, the term vampire, vampyr, vampyre, wampire or wampirus - and all it's other translations - has become a household name (probably not the Monks' initial intention ...).
Vampires and Pregnancy
What should be expected from the interaction between vampirism and pregnancy depends on what characteristics one chooses for the vampiric infection, and may also be affected by one's suppositions as to whether a fetus should be considered human and/or alive. As an entity with a firm attachment to its hide in an intact condition, I hasten to add that these musings represent the purest speculation. No true wanderers of the night have any cause for outrage, regardless of their position in the choice/life/whatever street riot. The strains of vampirism tend to run along a continuum from biology to possession. The more mystical variants should be just as likely as other forms of magic to act on individual selves and lives, whose definition may become important.
Biological Models:
Some types of vampirism, of which the infections described by P.N. Elrod or Lee Killough may be considered typical, operate very much like conventional diseases. Among humans, some pathogens cross the placenta and affect the fetus while others do not. The outcome of the vampiric conversion of a pregnant woman would probably depend on whether or not the entity responsible for the infection does so. If it does, the fetus should be sustained by the infection quite as well as the woman would be. The fetus might or might not ever be born, but there is no reason to expect a miscarriage. If pregnancy progresses, the infant should be a vampire also. If the infection does not cross the placenta, a female vampire, almost certainly non-breathing, would be unable to support a still-human fetus. It would die, and, one _hopes_, miscarry promptly.
Biological Models:
Some types of vampirism, of which the infections described by P.N. Elrod or Lee Killough may be considered typical, operate very much like conventional diseases. Among humans, some pathogens cross the placenta and affect the fetus while others do not. The outcome of the vampiric conversion of a pregnant woman would probably depend on whether or not the entity responsible for the infection does so. If it does, the fetus should be sustained by the infection quite as well as the woman would be. The fetus might or might not ever be born, but there is no reason to expect a miscarriage. If pregnancy progresses, the infant should be a vampire also. If the infection does not cross the placenta, a female vampire, almost certainly non-breathing, would be unable to support a still-human fetus. It would die, and, one _hopes_, miscarry promptly.
Anne Rice's Vampires
Did you know?
The birth of Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles occurred while she was mourning the death of her daughter, the inspiration for Claudia in the 1976 novel Interview With the Vampire. The movie rights to Interview were purchased back in 1976, but the film wasn't produced until 1994.
== Method of creation of fledglings ==
In almost all cases, fledglings are created when a master vampire chooses a successor or 'child' and drains him or her almost to the point of death. The victim then, if possible, drinks some of the old one's blood in return. This is necessarily an act of will and trust as well as a physical exchange. One unusual characteristic is that after the transformation, the fledgling and the master can no longer psychically hear one another.
The birth of Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles occurred while she was mourning the death of her daughter, the inspiration for Claudia in the 1976 novel Interview With the Vampire. The movie rights to Interview were purchased back in 1976, but the film wasn't produced until 1994.
== Method of creation of fledglings ==
In almost all cases, fledglings are created when a master vampire chooses a successor or 'child' and drains him or her almost to the point of death. The victim then, if possible, drinks some of the old one's blood in return. This is necessarily an act of will and trust as well as a physical exchange. One unusual characteristic is that after the transformation, the fledgling and the master can no longer psychically hear one another.
The Vampire's Dilemma: Animal Rights and Parasitical Nature
Imagine that you are a twenty-five-year-old living in New Orleans, called Louis. The date is 1791. You suffer a terrible bereavement due to the untimely death of your brother -- a death for which you blame yourself. You spend nights drinking in New Orleans in a state of near despair. One night, just a few steps from your door, you are attacked by an unknown assailant. To experience family bereavement, to be consumed by guilt and remorse, to verge on the abyss of despair -- surely these are terrible things. Even more terrible when one is violently attacked -- without provocation -- to boot. And yet such is the way of life that as terrible things are happening to us, even more terrible things are just round the corner.
Deconstructing the Myths of Vampire Folklore and Examining the Truths of Modern Day Vampires
Why do we, as humans, have a long standing fascination with vampires? Is it our own morbid love affair with death? Or perhaps the twisted psyche of the unknown afterlife which has incarnated into this hideous, Earthly creature? It may be impossible to ever say. There is one thing for certain, however, and that is this: vampires have always, and will always, continue to emerge in various forms throughout history. They have already been with us for many generations, through a myriad ghoulish lore.
Creatures of the Night
There is no known culture on this planet that has not at one time or another cowered in fear because of the savage attacks of a nocturnal predator known as a therianthrope, a human-animal hybrid such as a werewolf, "werebear," "werelion," or a "were-something." Such creatures were painted by Stone Age artists more than 10,000 years ago and represent some of the world's oldest cave art—and they probably precipitated some of the world's first nightmares.
The Werewolf Syndrome: Compulsive Bestial Slaughterers
Attack
In 1995, a young woman in Douglas County, Washington, was unable to get her mother or fourteen-year-old sister, Amanda, to answer the phone. That was unusual, so she went to check on them. The front door was locked, so she went around to a sliding rear door that was always unlocked. Inside the home, she found their bodies. One was in a bedroom and one in the family room, both smeared in a great deal of blood. She ran to a neighbor, who called for help. The responding police officers observed that the victims of this grotesque double homicide had been sexually mutilated in a variety of ways by someone who seemed more animal than human.
In 1995, a young woman in Douglas County, Washington, was unable to get her mother or fourteen-year-old sister, Amanda, to answer the phone. That was unusual, so she went to check on them. The front door was locked, so she went around to a sliding rear door that was always unlocked. Inside the home, she found their bodies. One was in a bedroom and one in the family room, both smeared in a great deal of blood. She ran to a neighbor, who called for help. The responding police officers observed that the victims of this grotesque double homicide had been sexually mutilated in a variety of ways by someone who seemed more animal than human.
The History of Vampires
I. It Started With Blood
The Vampire persona has evolved from many true and untrue facts, legends and myths. At various times vampires, real and imagined, have been considered fiends, supernatural beings, shape-shifters, mentally disturbed deviants, satanic servants and fetish followers. However, it all began and still revolves around a taste for blood!
Contrary to the popular belief that Vampire history, stories and legends began with Vlad the Impaler, they go back much further than that. Many ancient societies worshipped blood thirty gods. This caused people to begin to associate blood with divinity, leading to the development of the early vampire cults. Regardless of the spiritual value, some people have always had a desire to drink blood and the reasons are as varied as the practitioners. In some societies the practice was accepted, as in ancient Egypt. But in others, vampirism was considered deviant behavior and condemned.
The Vampire persona has evolved from many true and untrue facts, legends and myths. At various times vampires, real and imagined, have been considered fiends, supernatural beings, shape-shifters, mentally disturbed deviants, satanic servants and fetish followers. However, it all began and still revolves around a taste for blood!
Contrary to the popular belief that Vampire history, stories and legends began with Vlad the Impaler, they go back much further than that. Many ancient societies worshipped blood thirty gods. This caused people to begin to associate blood with divinity, leading to the development of the early vampire cults. Regardless of the spiritual value, some people have always had a desire to drink blood and the reasons are as varied as the practitioners. In some societies the practice was accepted, as in ancient Egypt. But in others, vampirism was considered deviant behavior and condemned.
Vampires: Origins of the Myth
The Blood is the Life
"My Friend -- Welcome to the Carpathians. I am anxiously expecting you. Sleep well tonight. At three tomorrow the diligence [traveling party] will start for Bukovina; a place on it is kept for you. At the Borgo Pass my carriage will await you and bring you to me. I trust that your journey from London has been a happy one, and that you will enjoy your stay in my beautiful land."
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