My Senior Thesis
Posted: 2004-01-15 09:51pm
I wasn't sure if I wanted to post this, but I figured what the hell why not. That and when I told Tevar what it was about she insisted I post it.
THE INTEREST IN VAMPIRES
For thousands of years, one figure has been terrifying, delighting, and inspiring people through stories, books, movies, and television. That figure is none other than the vampire, the walking dead declared to be everything from demons, to gods, to practically saints. But what is it about these legends that they have not only survived, but thrived, from their inception in Assyria and Babylon over 5,000 years ago (Bunson 12)? Why would such a legend be able to spring up throughout the world far before the world as a whole had any contact across it (Bunson 13)? There are only three real possibilities that could explain such an interest thriving for such a long time. One of these possibilities is the side of vampires that frightens everyone, that truly demonic side of a vampire, the evil that makes everyone scream or shiver and then come right back for more. Another possibility for such an interest is the side of vampires that is rarely shown outright but seems to creep its way into any story that is simply an action movie. This is the more human side of the vampire. The final possibility is the one that leaves all readers and viewers with mouths agape as they witness a vampire’s latest act of strength or speed, the powers and weaknesses of the vampire.
The vampires of ancient stories as well as many newer stories and movies are often demonized and portrayed in an evil manner to make certain that the audience will be terrified of the vampire. This idea of the evil of vampires has been seen as far back as the third millennium B.C. with the vampire gods that were worshiped in some areas, as stated by Bunson in his book:
Like death itself, the vampire god is found in the earliest, blackest, and most dreadful memories of humanity. The terror of the night, of blood-drinking divinities, and of loosing one’s life to an utterly evil creature are found in countries all over the world. Such gods probably helped give substance to legends and to circulating tales of vampires, … They were normally depicted with fangs, red eyes, and an insatiable appetite for blood and were dressed with such adornments as human heads, skulls, and other organs. … The vampire god epitomizes the eternal nature f the undead and the general powerlessness of primitive man to oppose them (108 ).
The vampire gods were seen as some of the most evil of deities that were worshiped and the average person had no chance against their great power. With the coming of the powers of science however, these evil gods began to loose their mystique and power. Another connection the vampire has to demons and ancient times is the characterization that is put upon them by theologians, mainly the Christian church. “Many theologians, especially in the Greek church, held that demons created vampires by entering and animating the corpse” (Bunson 64).
There are also many stories detailing the idea of the demonic vampire. Most stories that are told about vampires that are noticed by society as a whole involve the evil vampire or vampires stalking and seducing a young, innocent, and naïve girl to later turn them into another of the undead. One such story is in Foster’s book, “The Warlock”, where a man before dying, asked that the wives of his three sons be brought into his death chambers on the three nights after his death. The man further instructed that the women should not be wearing the crucifix while in the presence of the body. During the first two nights, both of the women that were sent into the dead man’s chambers were found dead the next morning, having been killed by the old man, who was a vampire. On the third night the final woman kept her crucifix around her neck and when the vampire came after the woman, the vampire’s hand touched the crucifix and the vampire immediately fell dead (150). Despite the stereotype of the vampire hunting the innocent, most old stories actually involve the hero or heroes of the story struggling against the vampire. Famous stories like Dracula depict this struggle between good and evil in a rounded out battle. There are also many less known stories of old that also depict this fight, such as “The Soldier and the Vampire”, and “The Two Corpses”. In “The Two Corpses”, a soldier is on his way home when he is confronted by one of the undead who wishes to kill him. The soldier runs and hides from the vampire and as the vampire searches for the soldier another of the undead appears and the two vampires fight over who will eat the soldier. This bickering and fighting continues until sunrise when they both fall to the ground as corpses (Foster 149). In “The Soldier and the Vampire”, it depicts a soldier confronting a vampire because the vampire has been terrorizing a nearby town. The two fight for an entire night before the soldier proves to be stronger when he defeats the vampire (Foster 156).
In more recent years the demonizing of the vampire has become slightly less blatant in some movies and games. Proof of this abounds in the new Dracula movie where, although Dracula is still evil he is seen as becoming the undead over the love of his wife who died. This sainting of vampires is also evident in television shows like “Angel”, where the main protagonist is a vampire who fights and kills other vampires. But for all the idealizing of the vampire nearly a dozen movies have come out within the past year that focuses around the evil of the vampire. Examples of this include the relatively new movie called Blade by Norrington, where during a vampire rave blood begins to spray out of the sprinkler system and cover everyone inside with blood. The vampires seem thrilled at this turn of events and lap at the blood (5:30). The movie has numerous examples of the evil of the vampires as it continues, but the most evident example of the outright cruelty of vampires in the movie is mentioned by the character Whistler. Whistler tells of a time before he became a vampire hunter when a vampire had come calling at his house and incapacitated Whistler. The vampire then made Whistler choose the order in which his wife and two daughters would die and made him watch the whole thing (Norrington 59:40). Blade is not the only movie that shows the demonic side of vampires, the new Bram Stoker’s Dracula movie also shows evil vampires. Many who see movies of vampires do not expect many of the heinous acts that a vampire can commit; they just seem so inhuman that the thought of a person, or even something that looks like a person, doing that act is sickening. In the new Dracula movie by Coppola, as well as in the book, after Dracula keeps the three female vampires from killing Jonathan they ask him what it is they will eat if not Jonathan. Dracula responds by pulling out a squirming and screaming child and hands it to the women who almost immediately feast on the child (35:15).
What make these stories of evil vampires even stronger are there real life counterparts that have been seen throughout the course of time whose acts are much like a vampires. Among those who are among the most famous of “vampires” is Elizabeth Bathory:
A Hungarian noblewoman and a member of the powerful Bathory family who became known as the “Bloody Countess” for her multiple murders and obsession with blood. … Bathory became convinced that blood was a useful cosmetic and restorative when she hit a victim so hard that her blood splashed onto the countess’s face and arms; when she washed off the blood she believed the skin felt smoother and younger. Henceforth she drank, bathed, and showered in the blood of maidens, murdering hundreds of young girls who were brought into her service (Bunson 17).
It is stories of people like this that curdle people’s blood when they think of vampires. Because the acts of these people seem so inhuman and purely hideous it is hard to believe them human, as such they are classified as inhuman, as vampires. One of the most famous of real life vampires is Vlad Tepes, none other than the original Dracula:
Vlad Tepes acquired a fearsome reputation as a result of his immense cruelty and the propaganda that was spread throughout Europe to discredit him decades following his death. … In search for a model for his vampire character, Bram Stoker inevitably stumbled upon the shadowy figure of Vlad.” (Bunson 273).
In Reality Vlad actually had little to do with vampires as we think of them and is ironically enough the least known about, and at the same time the most known about, vampire. Almost everyone has heard of Dracula, but few have heard of the person Dracula was based upon, Vlad. Other less known but equally evil people have been given the title of vampire through the years, one such person is mentioned by Bunson in his book, Martin Dummolard. Martin was a mass murderer of the late 19th century who fell in love with a fellow necrophile by the name of Justine LaFayette. Dummolard would seduce and kill girls, drink their blood, and then cut them up and return to Justine with the fleshiest pieces for her to eat. Dummolard managed to kill about 80 girls before he was finally caught, he is considered to be one of the worst so-called vampires of history (82). John Haigh did not kill as many people as Martin Dummolard did but he is known because of his complete inhumanity in his actions, he killed nine people and after drinking their blood tossed their bodies into vats of acid where the bodies would be destroyed. Though that action alone is bad, what made him most notable is his complete lack of remorse over his actions, as well as a lack of sexual motivation in his acts, a characteristic of most other serial killers (Bunson 115). Most of these so-called vampires suffer from something called Hematomania:
Hematomania, a psychological fixation on blood from which an individual derives satisfaction of a kind of erotic blood lust. Such forms of gratification, called also hematodipsia, are generally rare … Today many persons wander cities and countries in search of blood donors, as researched by Carol Page, author of Blood Lust, a study of modern vampires, seemingly ordinary people who drink human blood. According to her figures, there are nearly fifty thousand “vampires” in the United States today (Bunson 119).
Despite what this might make one believe, those fifty thousand “vampires” are not mass-murderers who kill dozens of people to get their fix. Most in fact simply use blood that they will buy to drink. Only a few rare among them will ever go and kill dozens as Bathory and Dummolard did. But none the less the fact that these people exist frightens the rest of humanity.
The other possibility of the great interest in vampires lies with that of the good side of the vampire that still has its humanity. Stories and movies of good vampires are extremely rare but generally convey a strong sense of regret and a want to return to the humanity that they have lost. One movie that portrays this regret is called Blacula which is mentioned by Bunson. “Locked in a coffin in Dracula’s castle, Mamuwalde is eventually transported to modern Los Angeles and is accidentally released. He kills with regret, has sympathy for his victims, and commits suicide at the end of the film by walking onto a sunlit roof.”(27). Another showing of a vampire that is good is in the movie Blade by Norrington, where Blade saves a little girl, who was thrown onto a busy street by Frost, from being hit by a truck (1:12:30). A slightly more common occurrence than the good vampire is that of the Dhampir, a half vampire. Often in older stories the Dhampir has the powers of a vampire but is not evil like the vampire and spends it’s time hunting down its supposed kin. “Dhampirs (Half-vampires) were very effective in detecting and destroying their vampiric families.” (Bunson 69).
Most humanity that is found in vampires is not necessarily good but it does show a connection to their old selves. One theory about why vampires were created is that they were meant to be the questioning of human existence, as mentioned by Bunson. “These aspects of vampiric unlife link the creatures to the primordial questions of all human existence: the vampire appears to be the bridge between the physical and spiritual world, between life and the grave, between death and immortality.” (28 ). That is simple enough, the vampire has a connection through the fact that it is, in some small part, what people want to be. Another human trait that has been seen is in Dracula himself when he speaks of his families past, showing the human trait of great pride in something:
We Szeklys have a right to be proud, for in our veins flows the blood of many brave races who fought as the lion fights, for lordship. … when the flags of the Wallach and the Magyar went down beneath the Crescent; who was it but one of my own race who as Voivode crossed the Danube and beat the Turk on his own ground! This was a Dracula indeed (Stoker 38 ).
More recent examples of a vampires connection to humanity come from the movie Blade, by Norrington. During which a large number of vampires are found by Blade, the young vampires seem shocked and quite afraid at their seemingly imminent death (7:00). Not all connections to humanity that a vampire has have to be good connections; as long as they are not evil they show a true bond between vampire and human. Also from the same scene in Blade is just before Blade’s entrance. The vampires were in a rave like setting where they were dancing to the music and seemingly enjoying themselves as any young adult would have fun (Norrington 3:10). The want to have a good time shows a definite connection to the humanity that the vampires lost in their change whether the vampires knew it was or not. Later on in the movie another connection is seen. This connection is the want for revenge by a vampire named Quinn against Blade for everything that Blade has done to him in the past (Norrington 53:45). The final connection to humanity seen in Blade is that of Blade’s himself when he frees his mother from being a vampire. Blade hugs his mother closely and says “I must release you” before staking her and ending his mothers torment as a vampire, showing a great deal of love from Blade (Norrington 1:45:09). The connections that vampires have to humanity must generally be looked for closely to be found but they are there and show a connection through anything from the want for revenge to the love of a person.
The final possibility for an interest in vampires comes from their amazing powers and harrowing weaknesses. Such powers that vampires portray have shocked and amazed readers and viewers since the creation of the vampire, likewise a vampire’s powers tend to differ as one goes from region to region of the world. But for all the changes there tended to be many common powers among vampires, as stated by Bunson. These include turning people into vampires, the power of flight, turning into a mist, having immense strength, hypnotizing their victims, changing their size or dimensions as they see fit, as well as a great power to control the weather and other simple natural forces, vampires can exert their will upon many different kinds of animals, and can even turn into some of those animals, the vampires have eternal life, can scale walls with amazing ease, and the ability to drain the life force or psychic energy from a person (212). That in itself is a great array of many fanciful and amazing powers but all of these powers tend to focus around one thing, the blood of a vampire:
Blood has always been held to possess supernatural and mystic qualities, as it is the keeper and giver of life. … To receive it, through drinking or magical infusions, can restore lost power, heal mortal wounds, and grant eternal life. … In Dracula, for example, Count Dracula begins as an old creature, turning gradually younger as the story progresses, thanks to the blood of the living. In modern novels the undead do not need to feed every day, and truly old vampires feast on mortals only to savor the taste or the pleasure of such a meal (Bunson 28 ).
As seen in this the power of blood is immense as it can heal what would be a mortal wound, and can grant eternal life. Another point of interest is that vampires have grown considerably more powerful in the fact that they do not need to feed nearly as often as in older tales. A showing of the power of control over animals is seen in the book Dracula by Stoker. “How he came there, I know not, but I heard his voice raised in a tone of imperious command, and looking towards the sound, saw him stand in the roadway. As he swept hid long arms, as though brushing aside some impalpable obstacle, the wolves fell back and back further still.”(18 ). Some showings of the strength and speed of a vampire are shown in the movie Blade. The example of strength is when Blade throws the character Karen, across a street unto the roof of a building lower than where they were and then jumps after her, easily making the jump. The distance traveled was easily over 25 feet, and Blade still had enough precision to land Karen on a padded surface (Norrington 15:23). The example of immense speed comes from Deacon Frost. When Blade shoots at him Frost literally sidesteps the bullets with ease (Norrington 1:12:05). To be able to dodge bullets and to throw people over immense distances shows amazing powers. A less common power but still just as potent comes from the movie Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Dracula’s shadow seems to have a mind of its own and appears to be somewhat corporeal as the shadow once knocked over a small statue (Coppola 17:35). Finally there is a showing of the immensely powerful control over weather in the same movie by Coppola. Dracula has complete control over the weather over a large area, from London England to at least halfway out to the European coast where Dracula was. Dracula turned the weather into an outright tremendous thunderstorm that lasted for quite a number of days (38:30).
Included with these great powers however, is the weaknesses of the vampire. These weaknesses are usually just as powerful as the powers the vampire has and prove to be very bad for the vampire’s health. One such weakness is that of candles. “Candles, a source of illumination that has served traditionally as a powerful item used to ward off evil. While the light of the candle is not painful to the undead, it does represent, symbolically, the rays of the sun and is linked spiritually to the light of Christ.” (Bunson 38 ). The candle light is an interesting concept for a vampire to be weak against, and a very common household item as well. One of the strongest vampire repellants however is mentioned by Bunson, it is none other than the cross. The cross was used as a traditional weapon against the undead and all other forms of evil. The cross is generally seen as a weaker form of protection than the crucifix as there is no representation of the Christ figure. The cross is seen as very useful however as it can be made quickly by improvisation, from crossing two pieces of wood or swords to crossing ones fingers in the form of a cross. The cross has also been used to block the entry of a being of evil into a home, and worn around the neck as a personal shield. The cross however, does not always work as the power does not come from the substance but from the power of the belief that good will triumph over evil (56). Where a candle is seen to ward off vampires, a blaze is enough to actually destroy some vampires through either the immense symbolism of God or through the actual act of burning:
Flame or fire is revered by alchemists, hermeticists, and sorcerers as a symbol of God. It has the capacity to purify and to cleanse, purging evil or disease from a person or place. … Fire clearly threatens the vampire, although the creature is able to recover from severe burns through its regenerative strength (Bunson 98 ).
The final weakness of vampires mentioned here is one of the most common throughout the world oddly enough:
Garlic is an occult food, a pungent herb that has wide use against evil and is now synonymous with the protection against vampires, so much so that it is heavily caricatured. Vampirologists, scholars, and even cooks note that it is a virtually universal weapon against vampires (Bunson 104).
The weaknesses of a vampire are what often prove to be the creature’s downfall. These weaknesses against certain things are used far more often to kill a vampire then outright strength or anything of that sort, mainly because the powers of the vampire are so strong.
So what is it that makes the vampire so interesting? After the collection of data it is apparent that it was formerly the fact that the vampires were so evil that kept people coming back for more. But in more recent times that has fallen to the wayside and the real interest in vampires lies in the amazing feats that they do, as well as the debilitating weaknesses that the vampire must endure.
I'm not looking for any real critique's... just... showing it to you people.
THE INTEREST IN VAMPIRES
For thousands of years, one figure has been terrifying, delighting, and inspiring people through stories, books, movies, and television. That figure is none other than the vampire, the walking dead declared to be everything from demons, to gods, to practically saints. But what is it about these legends that they have not only survived, but thrived, from their inception in Assyria and Babylon over 5,000 years ago (Bunson 12)? Why would such a legend be able to spring up throughout the world far before the world as a whole had any contact across it (Bunson 13)? There are only three real possibilities that could explain such an interest thriving for such a long time. One of these possibilities is the side of vampires that frightens everyone, that truly demonic side of a vampire, the evil that makes everyone scream or shiver and then come right back for more. Another possibility for such an interest is the side of vampires that is rarely shown outright but seems to creep its way into any story that is simply an action movie. This is the more human side of the vampire. The final possibility is the one that leaves all readers and viewers with mouths agape as they witness a vampire’s latest act of strength or speed, the powers and weaknesses of the vampire.
The vampires of ancient stories as well as many newer stories and movies are often demonized and portrayed in an evil manner to make certain that the audience will be terrified of the vampire. This idea of the evil of vampires has been seen as far back as the third millennium B.C. with the vampire gods that were worshiped in some areas, as stated by Bunson in his book:
Like death itself, the vampire god is found in the earliest, blackest, and most dreadful memories of humanity. The terror of the night, of blood-drinking divinities, and of loosing one’s life to an utterly evil creature are found in countries all over the world. Such gods probably helped give substance to legends and to circulating tales of vampires, … They were normally depicted with fangs, red eyes, and an insatiable appetite for blood and were dressed with such adornments as human heads, skulls, and other organs. … The vampire god epitomizes the eternal nature f the undead and the general powerlessness of primitive man to oppose them (108 ).
The vampire gods were seen as some of the most evil of deities that were worshiped and the average person had no chance against their great power. With the coming of the powers of science however, these evil gods began to loose their mystique and power. Another connection the vampire has to demons and ancient times is the characterization that is put upon them by theologians, mainly the Christian church. “Many theologians, especially in the Greek church, held that demons created vampires by entering and animating the corpse” (Bunson 64).
There are also many stories detailing the idea of the demonic vampire. Most stories that are told about vampires that are noticed by society as a whole involve the evil vampire or vampires stalking and seducing a young, innocent, and naïve girl to later turn them into another of the undead. One such story is in Foster’s book, “The Warlock”, where a man before dying, asked that the wives of his three sons be brought into his death chambers on the three nights after his death. The man further instructed that the women should not be wearing the crucifix while in the presence of the body. During the first two nights, both of the women that were sent into the dead man’s chambers were found dead the next morning, having been killed by the old man, who was a vampire. On the third night the final woman kept her crucifix around her neck and when the vampire came after the woman, the vampire’s hand touched the crucifix and the vampire immediately fell dead (150). Despite the stereotype of the vampire hunting the innocent, most old stories actually involve the hero or heroes of the story struggling against the vampire. Famous stories like Dracula depict this struggle between good and evil in a rounded out battle. There are also many less known stories of old that also depict this fight, such as “The Soldier and the Vampire”, and “The Two Corpses”. In “The Two Corpses”, a soldier is on his way home when he is confronted by one of the undead who wishes to kill him. The soldier runs and hides from the vampire and as the vampire searches for the soldier another of the undead appears and the two vampires fight over who will eat the soldier. This bickering and fighting continues until sunrise when they both fall to the ground as corpses (Foster 149). In “The Soldier and the Vampire”, it depicts a soldier confronting a vampire because the vampire has been terrorizing a nearby town. The two fight for an entire night before the soldier proves to be stronger when he defeats the vampire (Foster 156).
In more recent years the demonizing of the vampire has become slightly less blatant in some movies and games. Proof of this abounds in the new Dracula movie where, although Dracula is still evil he is seen as becoming the undead over the love of his wife who died. This sainting of vampires is also evident in television shows like “Angel”, where the main protagonist is a vampire who fights and kills other vampires. But for all the idealizing of the vampire nearly a dozen movies have come out within the past year that focuses around the evil of the vampire. Examples of this include the relatively new movie called Blade by Norrington, where during a vampire rave blood begins to spray out of the sprinkler system and cover everyone inside with blood. The vampires seem thrilled at this turn of events and lap at the blood (5:30). The movie has numerous examples of the evil of the vampires as it continues, but the most evident example of the outright cruelty of vampires in the movie is mentioned by the character Whistler. Whistler tells of a time before he became a vampire hunter when a vampire had come calling at his house and incapacitated Whistler. The vampire then made Whistler choose the order in which his wife and two daughters would die and made him watch the whole thing (Norrington 59:40). Blade is not the only movie that shows the demonic side of vampires, the new Bram Stoker’s Dracula movie also shows evil vampires. Many who see movies of vampires do not expect many of the heinous acts that a vampire can commit; they just seem so inhuman that the thought of a person, or even something that looks like a person, doing that act is sickening. In the new Dracula movie by Coppola, as well as in the book, after Dracula keeps the three female vampires from killing Jonathan they ask him what it is they will eat if not Jonathan. Dracula responds by pulling out a squirming and screaming child and hands it to the women who almost immediately feast on the child (35:15).
What make these stories of evil vampires even stronger are there real life counterparts that have been seen throughout the course of time whose acts are much like a vampires. Among those who are among the most famous of “vampires” is Elizabeth Bathory:
A Hungarian noblewoman and a member of the powerful Bathory family who became known as the “Bloody Countess” for her multiple murders and obsession with blood. … Bathory became convinced that blood was a useful cosmetic and restorative when she hit a victim so hard that her blood splashed onto the countess’s face and arms; when she washed off the blood she believed the skin felt smoother and younger. Henceforth she drank, bathed, and showered in the blood of maidens, murdering hundreds of young girls who were brought into her service (Bunson 17).
It is stories of people like this that curdle people’s blood when they think of vampires. Because the acts of these people seem so inhuman and purely hideous it is hard to believe them human, as such they are classified as inhuman, as vampires. One of the most famous of real life vampires is Vlad Tepes, none other than the original Dracula:
Vlad Tepes acquired a fearsome reputation as a result of his immense cruelty and the propaganda that was spread throughout Europe to discredit him decades following his death. … In search for a model for his vampire character, Bram Stoker inevitably stumbled upon the shadowy figure of Vlad.” (Bunson 273).
In Reality Vlad actually had little to do with vampires as we think of them and is ironically enough the least known about, and at the same time the most known about, vampire. Almost everyone has heard of Dracula, but few have heard of the person Dracula was based upon, Vlad. Other less known but equally evil people have been given the title of vampire through the years, one such person is mentioned by Bunson in his book, Martin Dummolard. Martin was a mass murderer of the late 19th century who fell in love with a fellow necrophile by the name of Justine LaFayette. Dummolard would seduce and kill girls, drink their blood, and then cut them up and return to Justine with the fleshiest pieces for her to eat. Dummolard managed to kill about 80 girls before he was finally caught, he is considered to be one of the worst so-called vampires of history (82). John Haigh did not kill as many people as Martin Dummolard did but he is known because of his complete inhumanity in his actions, he killed nine people and after drinking their blood tossed their bodies into vats of acid where the bodies would be destroyed. Though that action alone is bad, what made him most notable is his complete lack of remorse over his actions, as well as a lack of sexual motivation in his acts, a characteristic of most other serial killers (Bunson 115). Most of these so-called vampires suffer from something called Hematomania:
Hematomania, a psychological fixation on blood from which an individual derives satisfaction of a kind of erotic blood lust. Such forms of gratification, called also hematodipsia, are generally rare … Today many persons wander cities and countries in search of blood donors, as researched by Carol Page, author of Blood Lust, a study of modern vampires, seemingly ordinary people who drink human blood. According to her figures, there are nearly fifty thousand “vampires” in the United States today (Bunson 119).
Despite what this might make one believe, those fifty thousand “vampires” are not mass-murderers who kill dozens of people to get their fix. Most in fact simply use blood that they will buy to drink. Only a few rare among them will ever go and kill dozens as Bathory and Dummolard did. But none the less the fact that these people exist frightens the rest of humanity.
The other possibility of the great interest in vampires lies with that of the good side of the vampire that still has its humanity. Stories and movies of good vampires are extremely rare but generally convey a strong sense of regret and a want to return to the humanity that they have lost. One movie that portrays this regret is called Blacula which is mentioned by Bunson. “Locked in a coffin in Dracula’s castle, Mamuwalde is eventually transported to modern Los Angeles and is accidentally released. He kills with regret, has sympathy for his victims, and commits suicide at the end of the film by walking onto a sunlit roof.”(27). Another showing of a vampire that is good is in the movie Blade by Norrington, where Blade saves a little girl, who was thrown onto a busy street by Frost, from being hit by a truck (1:12:30). A slightly more common occurrence than the good vampire is that of the Dhampir, a half vampire. Often in older stories the Dhampir has the powers of a vampire but is not evil like the vampire and spends it’s time hunting down its supposed kin. “Dhampirs (Half-vampires) were very effective in detecting and destroying their vampiric families.” (Bunson 69).
Most humanity that is found in vampires is not necessarily good but it does show a connection to their old selves. One theory about why vampires were created is that they were meant to be the questioning of human existence, as mentioned by Bunson. “These aspects of vampiric unlife link the creatures to the primordial questions of all human existence: the vampire appears to be the bridge between the physical and spiritual world, between life and the grave, between death and immortality.” (28 ). That is simple enough, the vampire has a connection through the fact that it is, in some small part, what people want to be. Another human trait that has been seen is in Dracula himself when he speaks of his families past, showing the human trait of great pride in something:
We Szeklys have a right to be proud, for in our veins flows the blood of many brave races who fought as the lion fights, for lordship. … when the flags of the Wallach and the Magyar went down beneath the Crescent; who was it but one of my own race who as Voivode crossed the Danube and beat the Turk on his own ground! This was a Dracula indeed (Stoker 38 ).
More recent examples of a vampires connection to humanity come from the movie Blade, by Norrington. During which a large number of vampires are found by Blade, the young vampires seem shocked and quite afraid at their seemingly imminent death (7:00). Not all connections to humanity that a vampire has have to be good connections; as long as they are not evil they show a true bond between vampire and human. Also from the same scene in Blade is just before Blade’s entrance. The vampires were in a rave like setting where they were dancing to the music and seemingly enjoying themselves as any young adult would have fun (Norrington 3:10). The want to have a good time shows a definite connection to the humanity that the vampires lost in their change whether the vampires knew it was or not. Later on in the movie another connection is seen. This connection is the want for revenge by a vampire named Quinn against Blade for everything that Blade has done to him in the past (Norrington 53:45). The final connection to humanity seen in Blade is that of Blade’s himself when he frees his mother from being a vampire. Blade hugs his mother closely and says “I must release you” before staking her and ending his mothers torment as a vampire, showing a great deal of love from Blade (Norrington 1:45:09). The connections that vampires have to humanity must generally be looked for closely to be found but they are there and show a connection through anything from the want for revenge to the love of a person.
The final possibility for an interest in vampires comes from their amazing powers and harrowing weaknesses. Such powers that vampires portray have shocked and amazed readers and viewers since the creation of the vampire, likewise a vampire’s powers tend to differ as one goes from region to region of the world. But for all the changes there tended to be many common powers among vampires, as stated by Bunson. These include turning people into vampires, the power of flight, turning into a mist, having immense strength, hypnotizing their victims, changing their size or dimensions as they see fit, as well as a great power to control the weather and other simple natural forces, vampires can exert their will upon many different kinds of animals, and can even turn into some of those animals, the vampires have eternal life, can scale walls with amazing ease, and the ability to drain the life force or psychic energy from a person (212). That in itself is a great array of many fanciful and amazing powers but all of these powers tend to focus around one thing, the blood of a vampire:
Blood has always been held to possess supernatural and mystic qualities, as it is the keeper and giver of life. … To receive it, through drinking or magical infusions, can restore lost power, heal mortal wounds, and grant eternal life. … In Dracula, for example, Count Dracula begins as an old creature, turning gradually younger as the story progresses, thanks to the blood of the living. In modern novels the undead do not need to feed every day, and truly old vampires feast on mortals only to savor the taste or the pleasure of such a meal (Bunson 28 ).
As seen in this the power of blood is immense as it can heal what would be a mortal wound, and can grant eternal life. Another point of interest is that vampires have grown considerably more powerful in the fact that they do not need to feed nearly as often as in older tales. A showing of the power of control over animals is seen in the book Dracula by Stoker. “How he came there, I know not, but I heard his voice raised in a tone of imperious command, and looking towards the sound, saw him stand in the roadway. As he swept hid long arms, as though brushing aside some impalpable obstacle, the wolves fell back and back further still.”(18 ). Some showings of the strength and speed of a vampire are shown in the movie Blade. The example of strength is when Blade throws the character Karen, across a street unto the roof of a building lower than where they were and then jumps after her, easily making the jump. The distance traveled was easily over 25 feet, and Blade still had enough precision to land Karen on a padded surface (Norrington 15:23). The example of immense speed comes from Deacon Frost. When Blade shoots at him Frost literally sidesteps the bullets with ease (Norrington 1:12:05). To be able to dodge bullets and to throw people over immense distances shows amazing powers. A less common power but still just as potent comes from the movie Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Dracula’s shadow seems to have a mind of its own and appears to be somewhat corporeal as the shadow once knocked over a small statue (Coppola 17:35). Finally there is a showing of the immensely powerful control over weather in the same movie by Coppola. Dracula has complete control over the weather over a large area, from London England to at least halfway out to the European coast where Dracula was. Dracula turned the weather into an outright tremendous thunderstorm that lasted for quite a number of days (38:30).
Included with these great powers however, is the weaknesses of the vampire. These weaknesses are usually just as powerful as the powers the vampire has and prove to be very bad for the vampire’s health. One such weakness is that of candles. “Candles, a source of illumination that has served traditionally as a powerful item used to ward off evil. While the light of the candle is not painful to the undead, it does represent, symbolically, the rays of the sun and is linked spiritually to the light of Christ.” (Bunson 38 ). The candle light is an interesting concept for a vampire to be weak against, and a very common household item as well. One of the strongest vampire repellants however is mentioned by Bunson, it is none other than the cross. The cross was used as a traditional weapon against the undead and all other forms of evil. The cross is generally seen as a weaker form of protection than the crucifix as there is no representation of the Christ figure. The cross is seen as very useful however as it can be made quickly by improvisation, from crossing two pieces of wood or swords to crossing ones fingers in the form of a cross. The cross has also been used to block the entry of a being of evil into a home, and worn around the neck as a personal shield. The cross however, does not always work as the power does not come from the substance but from the power of the belief that good will triumph over evil (56). Where a candle is seen to ward off vampires, a blaze is enough to actually destroy some vampires through either the immense symbolism of God or through the actual act of burning:
Flame or fire is revered by alchemists, hermeticists, and sorcerers as a symbol of God. It has the capacity to purify and to cleanse, purging evil or disease from a person or place. … Fire clearly threatens the vampire, although the creature is able to recover from severe burns through its regenerative strength (Bunson 98 ).
The final weakness of vampires mentioned here is one of the most common throughout the world oddly enough:
Garlic is an occult food, a pungent herb that has wide use against evil and is now synonymous with the protection against vampires, so much so that it is heavily caricatured. Vampirologists, scholars, and even cooks note that it is a virtually universal weapon against vampires (Bunson 104).
The weaknesses of a vampire are what often prove to be the creature’s downfall. These weaknesses against certain things are used far more often to kill a vampire then outright strength or anything of that sort, mainly because the powers of the vampire are so strong.
So what is it that makes the vampire so interesting? After the collection of data it is apparent that it was formerly the fact that the vampires were so evil that kept people coming back for more. But in more recent times that has fallen to the wayside and the real interest in vampires lies in the amazing feats that they do, as well as the debilitating weaknesses that the vampire must endure.
I'm not looking for any real critique's... just... showing it to you people.
