Vampires are familiar monsters in fiction, appearing in popular novels, movies, and television series. Horror writers have transformed the image of vampires from a horrific to hip, from murderous monsters to heroic, charming and intelligent creatures.
Dracula by Bram Stoker, has become more than a novel. It has become a culture in and of itself. Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice ignited a movement of fantasy and role playing. Some have taken the lifestyle one step further, actually consuming blood. Modern vampires are international, diverse and social, gathering in covens.
Vampires are “Coming out of the Coffin”, exposing themselves to the curious and cautious.
Don Henry has emerged as a celebrity in the community after appearing on a reality TV show, which featured “Alt” personalities. Henry has seen spirits and auras since a young age. He is considered a “lifestyler” consuming the energy of his victims rather than blood. The Psychic Vampire Codex, by Michelle Belanger, teaches “Psy” vampires to tap into the energy shared by everyone.
“While the vampires of fiction and folklore are admittedly not real, many occult and metaphysical works have been devoted to a different type of vampire. The “psychic vampire” is a person who preys upon the life energies of others.” 1
Sequin vampires or “Seq” actually consume blood. Sequin vampires remain hidden, even within the subculture.
Blood is the common theme in all vampire legends. Eastern European vampires are repulsive monsters who hunt the living. Vampire lure was used to explain disease or bad luck. Natural decomposition was thought to be signs of vampirism. Sightings were so common vampire hunters made their living traveling the countryside and offering their services, including staking corpses to the ground so the undead wouldn’t rise.
Today, Romania attracts tourist interested in Bram Stroker’s Dracula, a fictional character, and Vlad Dracula, a historical figure. Stroker studied vampire legends from around the world, and discovered stories of the blood thirsty Romanian Prince. He was a sadistic murderer, known to his enemies as Vlad the Impaler, but a hero to his countrymen.
Before Stroker’s Dracula, vampires were decaying creatures, evil and horrific. There was no seductive charm or sexual attraction. The sexual undertones appealed to Victorian sensibilities.
The story speaks to each generation, but in different ways. Bela Lugosi transfixed audiences who desperately needed to escape the hardships of The Great Depression. He was represented power over the most unforgiving circumstance, death. Since then, reluctant vampires, tragic heroes who agonize over their identity have become popular.
Horror writers will have some say in how vampires will be portrayed and perceived in the future.
1. Belanger, Michelle: Psychic Vampire Codex : A Manual of Magick and Energy Work, Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC, Boston MA, 2004
