Part One
For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you for making atonement for your lives on the altar; for, as life, it is the blood that makes atonement. (Leviticus 17:11)
Any broad exploration of pre-Industrial European society cannot help but touch upon the plethora of peasant tales that both served to entertain the populace and teach morality to the children of Europe. On surface examination, at least, this function of folklore seems apparent enough. It is a perfectly valid assessment of the function of common fable--but in many respects, it is inadequate. Peasant tales served, in many cases, as more than simple fables. The fact that the vast bulk of European humanity remained illiterate in pre-Industrial Europe should stimulate questions about the more complex and subliminal purposes of this entirely oral form of literature.
Showing posts with label Bram Stoker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bram Stoker. Show all posts
Vampire Bats
The Bat in Nature
Indigenous to Central and South America, vampire bats live in a very strong social culture. The develop bonds with other bats in the colony, and learn to recognize each other through sound and scent. Vampire bats tend to live in caves, trees, or buildings. Their colonies can reach numbers of up to 2000 bats, but most colonies tend to house approximately 100 bats.
Indigenous to Central and South America, vampire bats live in a very strong social culture. The develop bonds with other bats in the colony, and learn to recognize each other through sound and scent. Vampire bats tend to live in caves, trees, or buildings. Their colonies can reach numbers of up to 2000 bats, but most colonies tend to house approximately 100 bats.
Vampire Physiology
Blood
Blood has been a symbol of life since very ancient times. The blood in our veins has always been iconic of our continuing life. To lose too much blood is to lose consciousness, breath, and eventually, our very lives. If a person or animal is already dead and is cut open, blood does not flow. Only the living have blood that flows. Blood has been used throughout the ages as a ceremonial sacrifice. In pagan times our forefathers worshipped their gods with blood sacrifice. And today, indeed, we are not so different. Even in modern times, in our churches, there are those taking communion or the Eucharist, and drinking of the wine that symbolizes Christ's blood.
It seems appropriate, then, that this creature who is an antithesis of both death and life should gain his strength from feeding from the life's blood of humans. For the vampire, the drinking of blood is its life, its sustenance, and the single thing that makes it identifiable all around the world, regardless of the culture in which you were raised or the language you speak.
Blood has been a symbol of life since very ancient times. The blood in our veins has always been iconic of our continuing life. To lose too much blood is to lose consciousness, breath, and eventually, our very lives. If a person or animal is already dead and is cut open, blood does not flow. Only the living have blood that flows. Blood has been used throughout the ages as a ceremonial sacrifice. In pagan times our forefathers worshipped their gods with blood sacrifice. And today, indeed, we are not so different. Even in modern times, in our churches, there are those taking communion or the Eucharist, and drinking of the wine that symbolizes Christ's blood.
It seems appropriate, then, that this creature who is an antithesis of both death and life should gain his strength from feeding from the life's blood of humans. For the vampire, the drinking of blood is its life, its sustenance, and the single thing that makes it identifiable all around the world, regardless of the culture in which you were raised or the language you speak.
Vampire Hunter's Guide
Over the ages, certain artifacts have gained a reputation among popular cultures as ways to ward off, or even kill, vampires. This guide takes you through the historical meaning and reasoning behind the ways we've found to hunt the vampire. So grab your crucifix, and wade on in!
Coffins
Early mythological vampires did not sleep in coffins. Up until the 19th century, only the very rich could afford coffins, and so much of the history of vampires did not include a 'secured' burial - indeed, it was the very precarious nature of medieval burial that fostered the fear that vampires could very easily rise from their final resting place in the earth.
Coffins
Early mythological vampires did not sleep in coffins. Up until the 19th century, only the very rich could afford coffins, and so much of the history of vampires did not include a 'secured' burial - indeed, it was the very precarious nature of medieval burial that fostered the fear that vampires could very easily rise from their final resting place in the earth.
Famous Vampire Places
Transylvania
Every childhood lover of vampire movies will remember the chilling line, "I come from...Transylvania!" No other place is so easily identified with vampires as Transylvania. Bram Stoker made this area famous by making it the homeland of his fictional character Dracula. Vlad Tepes, a historical figure upon whom Dracula was loosely based, was from Transylvania.
Transylvania is territory in central Romania; in fact, it's the largest territory in the country. It's surrounded on three sides by the Carpathian mountains. Romania has strong Hungarian and German influences as well. One of the more famous cities in Transylvania is Sighisoara, a beautiful medieval town. Of particular interest in the town in the house where Prince Vlad Dracul, father of Vlad Tepes, was born.
Every childhood lover of vampire movies will remember the chilling line, "I come from...Transylvania!" No other place is so easily identified with vampires as Transylvania. Bram Stoker made this area famous by making it the homeland of his fictional character Dracula. Vlad Tepes, a historical figure upon whom Dracula was loosely based, was from Transylvania.
Transylvania is territory in central Romania; in fact, it's the largest territory in the country. It's surrounded on three sides by the Carpathian mountains. Romania has strong Hungarian and German influences as well. One of the more famous cities in Transylvania is Sighisoara, a beautiful medieval town. Of particular interest in the town in the house where Prince Vlad Dracul, father of Vlad Tepes, was born.
Essence of a Vampyre
First, I think it best to define the essence of the vampire (fictional) before attempting to define the Essence of the Vampyre (magical). In this way, I hope to invite discussion and/or debate on the topic, and to hear from other magicians' experience with this type of magic.
The word "essence," as defined by my Random House Dictionary, is "the basic intrinsic constituent or quality of a thing." It also means "the substance obtained from a plant or drug, by distillation or infusion, and containing its characteristic properties in concentrated form."
The word "essence," as defined by my Random House Dictionary, is "the basic intrinsic constituent or quality of a thing." It also means "the substance obtained from a plant or drug, by distillation or infusion, and containing its characteristic properties in concentrated form."
Women in the Vampire World
There are essentially three roles of women in the vampire world. Women may be victims or vampires themselves. The third level of attachment to the vampire world (VW) is an outside attachment, and that belongs to the women who are mere observers, such as anyone who reads a vampire book and is drawn to it. Though harder to analyze, a woman's attraction to vampire movies or literature speaks something for the appeal of the vampire in this culture, which this essay series is all about.
Dracula and Frankenstein: A Tale of Two Monsters
[This article is a slightly revised chapter from Reflections on Dracula, published by Transylvania Press in 1997. Sections of the chapter were previously published by Greenwood Press in Visions of the Fantastic (1996).]
“I considered the being whom I had cast among mankind, and endowed with the will and power to effect purposes of horror - my own vampire.” (Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, 73)
“I considered the being whom I had cast among mankind, and endowed with the will and power to effect purposes of horror - my own vampire.” (Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, 73)
Beware of the Vampires in the Human Mind
An atypical thirst for blood, an ominous debonair presence, an aversion to sunlight - these are the ingredients of vampire lore.
But don't beware of the pointed bicuspids or flashy capes, rather heed your own relationships.
The vampires may already be there.
That's according to Julia McAfee, a practicing Jungian analyst from Florida, who will lecture tonight at Old Dominion University.
But don't beware of the pointed bicuspids or flashy capes, rather heed your own relationships.
The vampires may already be there.
That's according to Julia McAfee, a practicing Jungian analyst from Florida, who will lecture tonight at Old Dominion University.
Vampires Never Die: No one's been able to drive a stake through the heart of vampire legend, professor says
If Jonathan Harker, the character in Bram Stoker’s famous novel “Dracula,” had set out for Castle Dracula in the late 1980s, his journey might have looked a lot like the one Dr. Thomas Garza undertook at the time. Garza boarded a rickety bus out of Budapest headed for the area known as Transylvania near the Hungarian/Romanian border. After the bus began its climb into the Carpathian Mountains, it deposited Garza and his companions on a narrow road. They then climbed onto donkeys to complete the trip up the steep incline.
Marginalization and Eroticization in Vampire Fiction
In studying vampire fiction, I've noticed that homoeroticism is given more significance and time than in most other genres. Whether it be innudendo or plain statement of desire, this dynamic exists in almost every work where vampirism is involved. Because homoeroticism is not usually highlighted to such a degree in most other genres, one could conclude that homoeroticism is somehow a key element of vampirism. In researching for this paper, I set out to discover from where that importance originates, but instead discovered a different dynamic, which I had before interpreted as homoeroticism.
I now hypothesize that it is not homoeroticism which is important to vampirism, but bieroticism, or sexual tension between two vampires, regardless of their genders. For example, in The Hunger, the female vampire character is "married" to David Bowie's character, also a vampire, but upon his death, she takes a female lover, played by Susan Sarandon. Later in the movie, the viewer discovers that this female vampire has taken a multitude of lovers over the centuries, without showing a preference for either gender. It is not gender that is important, but some other dynamic. I began to explore what this other dynamic might be.
I now hypothesize that it is not homoeroticism which is important to vampirism, but bieroticism, or sexual tension between two vampires, regardless of their genders. For example, in The Hunger, the female vampire character is "married" to David Bowie's character, also a vampire, but upon his death, she takes a female lover, played by Susan Sarandon. Later in the movie, the viewer discovers that this female vampire has taken a multitude of lovers over the centuries, without showing a preference for either gender. It is not gender that is important, but some other dynamic. I began to explore what this other dynamic might be.
The Compulsion of Real/Reel Serial Killers and Vampires: Toward a Gothic Criminology
ABSTRACT
The most gripping and recurrent visualizations of the "monstrous" in the media and film lay bare the tensions that underlie the contemporary construction of the "monstrous," which ranges in the twilit realm where divisions separating fact, fiction, and myth are porous—a gothic mode. There appear to be two monstrous figures in contemporary popular culture whose constructions blur into each other, and who most powerfully evoke not only our deepest fears and taboos, but also our most repressed fantasies and desires: the serial killer and the vampire.
The most gripping and recurrent visualizations of the "monstrous" in the media and film lay bare the tensions that underlie the contemporary construction of the "monstrous," which ranges in the twilit realm where divisions separating fact, fiction, and myth are porous—a gothic mode. There appear to be two monstrous figures in contemporary popular culture whose constructions blur into each other, and who most powerfully evoke not only our deepest fears and taboos, but also our most repressed fantasies and desires: the serial killer and the vampire.
Vampires, Anxieties, and Dreams: Race and Sex in the Contemporary United States
“philosophizing was always a kind of vampirism” -- Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science
There is a recurring dream in the unconscious of these white United States. It is a dream of passion, of violence, of transgression and invasion and all the titillation that these bring. It is also a dream of power, of violation, of purity, of strict and rigid and obsessive fascination with boundaries. Some would say it is a nightmare. I insist it is a dream, with all the mixing of hopes and anxieties that only our sleeping consciousness, our fantasy life, can entertain. It is a dream rarely mentioned but always circulating, rarely noticed but always present.
There is a recurring dream in the unconscious of these white United States. It is a dream of passion, of violence, of transgression and invasion and all the titillation that these bring. It is also a dream of power, of violation, of purity, of strict and rigid and obsessive fascination with boundaries. Some would say it is a nightmare. I insist it is a dream, with all the mixing of hopes and anxieties that only our sleeping consciousness, our fantasy life, can entertain. It is a dream rarely mentioned but always circulating, rarely noticed but always present.
A Freudian interpretation of the vampire myth
by Laura Collopy
The vampire is a monster that has both thrilled and terrified people for hundreds of years, from sophisticated Parisian theatre-goers to quaking Eastern European peasants. Elements of the vampire legend are found in North and South America, Europe, and Asia are older than Christianity. Although the modus operandi and physical appearance may differ from culture to culture, one thing remains constant: The vampire is an animated corpse, un-dead and kicking through the intervention of Satan and the warm blood of his living victims.
Few folkloric creations have survived for so long in such diverse cultural and geographic situations, and therefore, there must be something common to human nature to create such universality and endurance. A Freudian interpretation of the myth can uncover such a bond.
The vampire is a monster that has both thrilled and terrified people for hundreds of years, from sophisticated Parisian theatre-goers to quaking Eastern European peasants. Elements of the vampire legend are found in North and South America, Europe, and Asia are older than Christianity. Although the modus operandi and physical appearance may differ from culture to culture, one thing remains constant: The vampire is an animated corpse, un-dead and kicking through the intervention of Satan and the warm blood of his living victims.
Few folkloric creations have survived for so long in such diverse cultural and geographic situations, and therefore, there must be something common to human nature to create such universality and endurance. A Freudian interpretation of the myth can uncover such a bond.
Mortal Blood Drinkers of the Past
Dracula. The name has become synonymous with vampirism in the past century thanks to Bram Stoker's 1897 novel of the same name and Bela Lugosi's portrayal of the character on the screen. Of course, the Dracula of the silver screen does not closely resemble the literary Dracula. Whoever reads the novel after seeing any of the hundreds of images of vampires that fill stores every Halloween is likely to be quite shocked.
Bloodlines: A Brief on the life and death of Hungary's infamous Blood Countess, Elizabeth Bathory-Nadasdy
by Mathew Amaral
The infamous "Blood Countess" of Transylvania, who was purported to be a witch, vampire, werewolf, and supposedly bathed in the blood of virgins in order to maintain her beautiful and youthful appearance, has been the subject of many legends some of which have affected even the American culture half a world away. Dracula, created by the Irish author Bram Stoker, was based, albeit loosely, on the Romanian Prince, Vlad Dracula, the Impaler. Raymond T. McNally, who has written four books on the figure of Dracula in history, literature, and vampirism, in his fifth book, "Dracula was a Woman," presents insights into the fact that Stoker's Count Dracula was also strongly influenced by the legends of Elizabeth Bathory of Hungary. Why, for example, make a Romanian Prince into a Hungarian Count? Why, if there are no accounts of Vlad Dracula drinking human blood, does blood drinking consume the Dracula of Stoker's novel, who, contrary to established vampire myth, seems to appear younger after doing so? The answers, of course, lie in examining the story of Countess Elizabeth Bathory.
The infamous "Blood Countess" of Transylvania, who was purported to be a witch, vampire, werewolf, and supposedly bathed in the blood of virgins in order to maintain her beautiful and youthful appearance, has been the subject of many legends some of which have affected even the American culture half a world away. Dracula, created by the Irish author Bram Stoker, was based, albeit loosely, on the Romanian Prince, Vlad Dracula, the Impaler. Raymond T. McNally, who has written four books on the figure of Dracula in history, literature, and vampirism, in his fifth book, "Dracula was a Woman," presents insights into the fact that Stoker's Count Dracula was also strongly influenced by the legends of Elizabeth Bathory of Hungary. Why, for example, make a Romanian Prince into a Hungarian Count? Why, if there are no accounts of Vlad Dracula drinking human blood, does blood drinking consume the Dracula of Stoker's novel, who, contrary to established vampire myth, seems to appear younger after doing so? The answers, of course, lie in examining the story of Countess Elizabeth Bathory.
Bram Stoker, Elizabeth Bathory and Dracula
by Elizabeth Miller
[The following is a revised excerpt from Elizabeth Miller, Dracula: Sense & Nonsense (2000). Further details about this book can be found at http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~emiller/SNinfo.htm]
Rubbish!
[The following is a revised excerpt from Elizabeth Miller, Dracula: Sense & Nonsense (2000). Further details about this book can be found at http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~emiller/SNinfo.htm]
"[Bathory's] legend certainly played a major role in the creation of the character of Count Dracula." (Raymond McNally, Dracula was a Woman, 99)
Rubbish!
Feeding Habits of Vampires
== 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)
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)
The Butlerian Vampire
In _Nightshade_ Jack Butler introduces us to John Shade, the standard for a new type of vampire. The Butlerian vampire is a scientific vampire, a mutation of the human norm, rather than the embodiment of pure Evil that Stoker showed us in _Dracula_.
A Romanian Experience
Introduction.
In August 1994, I spent two weeks in Romania. Though I am an experienced traveller (having visited over 20 countries in the past 30-plus years), this was my first trip to Romania. That is probably because up until recently, I have never had a particular reason to undertake such a trip. But that changed, as a direct result of my scholarly interest in Dracula. Now before you dismiss me as frivolous, please bear with me while I explain this interest!
In August 1994, I spent two weeks in Romania. Though I am an experienced traveller (having visited over 20 countries in the past 30-plus years), this was my first trip to Romania. That is probably because up until recently, I have never had a particular reason to undertake such a trip. But that changed, as a direct result of my scholarly interest in Dracula. Now before you dismiss me as frivolous, please bear with me while I explain this interest!
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