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Vampire Definition: vampire — noun
A reanimated corpse that is believed to rise from the grave at night to suck the blood of sleeping people.
A person, such as an extortionist, who preys upon others.
A vampire bat.
Vampire’s Story
A long time ago, people believed that their dead could actually rise again. The myths that most closely resemble our modern interpretation of vampires come from Eastern Europe. The Romanian strigoi, which stems from strix (screech owl) and strigoica (witch), is one of the most well known. They were often considered to be attractive female witches who would become blood-sucking fiends after death. The classic method of dispatching vampires was to exhume the body, either stake or remove and split the heart, and use a variety of herbs (such as garlic) or flowers on them.
Many of these beliefs are mirrored in the more modern tales of Dracula. Assumed to come from the tales of the blood-thirsty ruler Vlad Tepes, Dracula the vampire has enjoyed many incarnations. From his beginnings in Bram Stoker’s classic book, “Dracula,” he has been seen in everything from Hollywood movies to breakfast cereal. In popular media, he was portrayed as a highly sensual being fraught with elegant lusts.
This tragic romantic vision of the vampire was renewed with the publication of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles. The world almost completely abandoned the image of vampire as rotting beast, and embraced the beauty of the dark gift. Vampire stories, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, became very popular. Vampires became prevelant in role-playing games such as Masquerade, and in video games as well.
But some are not content to leave vampirism to the realm of fiction and myth. There are thousands of self-proclaimed vampires living in th world today. Katherine Ramsland, the biographer of Anne Rice, wrote a sociological study of them called “Piercing the Darkness.” Vampyres, as the new spelling usually is, often divide themselves into two groups: psychic vampires and sanguinarians: the actual blood drinkers. There are also large contingents of blood fetishists who do not call themselves vampires, and role-players who adopt the look, but not the practices.
Addendum from Louie:Vampyres… you gotta be kidding me. Here’s my take on the whole thing. You want to suck some blood, be my guest. Blood’s good… tastes good and is really nourishing… protein and stuff. You want to wear black and skulk about looking spooky, you do do that. But why mess with the spelling?
Vampires, on the other hand. Yeah, I’ve known a few. One benefit of being a dragon… vampires don’t really wanna mess with me. I’ve chatted with a few: some are pretty angsty (and really boring!), but most are really great. Well, not like invite-them-over-to-babysit-the kiddies alright, but, ya know, cool to hang with.
