In Search of the Vampire

Max Schrek as "Nosferatu" 1922

Who can turn into a vampire?

The 7th son of a seventh son. Okay, I just won't have seven kids...

Someone who has been excommunicated... those born with teeth or a caul (whatever the hell that is), and unbaptized children can become vampires. So, watch out who you open the door to on Halloween night!

The vampire is not a recent invention by authors or film makers. Sorry, Twi-hards. In ancient Babylon a deity was known to drink the blood of babies. She was named Lilith. It is said Lilith was Adams first wife (and became his ex very quickly. See? Even God thought that under certain circumstances a divorce is probably the best thing). She left poor old Adam and became queen of the demons and evil forces. So, okay, Eve isn't such a bad bitch after all just because she cozied up to a snake and ate an apple? Hmm.

"European vampires are said to have red hair and a harelip". Dracula wasn't a red head.

Records of the Living Dead (no, not the band), were found in China during the sixth century BC. Sightings of vampires have been recorded throughout the world. But it's Europe which was rich in vampires. The Bubonic Plague was believed to be the work of vampires. The movie "Nosferatu" with Max Schreck (above), has scenes of rats on the ship--synonymous with the Black Plague. Nah, no one would think that rats would have anything to do with the plague back then (it was the fleas who were infested from the rats, actually). Anyway, because people were dropping like flies and bodies piling up in the streets from it, they were in a great rush to bury them--sometimes not checking to make sure they really were... dead... Nosferatu really depicts some of these things well. And for a 1922 silent movie it was probably quite horrific, in its day.

Which led to things like people being buried alive and trying to claw their way out of the coffin, and when exhumed they found the body covered in blood from injuries they sustained in attempting to claw their way out of their graves. Which lead to more of them thinking "Yep, by golly, I knew old Ed was a vampire."

In my search for the vampire during my teenage years, I've come across many explanations as to why there were such beliefs. Some are like the above. And there were more bizarre things I unearthed, as follows.

I've uncovered a few interesting facts that is probably so far removed from modern man that you really have to get your brain around some of it and understand how people once lived (excuse me for getting a little Richard Leakey on you here). It was understood very early on by man, the ancient hunter, that blood is the life--literally--because when blood flowed out of the wound of a beast or a man, that life drained away too. Yes, Van Helsing, "Blood is the Life!" Thus such hunters would smear their bodies with the blood of either the animal they hunted, revered, or their enemy's blood. It's probably a good thing we get our meat from grocery stores now.

Stories that have been absorbed into folklore are those that fit nicely with the vampire theme. This is one of those weird stories about diseases which mimicked ideas about vampires.

Early on I found a book in which I found a curious rare disease known as erythropoietic protoporphyra. Say that three times fast! It was not diagnosed until the 19th century, but it wouldn't take a stretch of imagination to connect the dots. This disorder made the body produce too much porphyrin--a substance basic to red blood cells. The result is redness of the skin, eyes and teeth, a receding upper lip and cracks in the skin that bleed when exposed to sunlight. Doctors of the time could only treat the condition by locking the patients away during the day and encouraging them to drink blood to replace what they lost by bleeding. But the rumors of such nocturnal blood drinkers would probably lead to superstitious folk to sharpen stakes and light the torches.

Yes, I was a vampire (lore) hunter, and was so glad when someone actually went to the trouble of finding out that Dracula--or Drakulya--actually existed. For the longest time we only thought Dracula was the figment of Bram Stoker's imagination. He obviously did a lot of digging into vampire folklore and had gone into Romanian, German, and Hungarian history, for it would be there he would come across the bloodletting tyrant known as Vlad Tepes, aka "Vlad the Impaler" who ruled in the 15th century in--yes--Transylvania. He was a prince and tyrant in times when such people ruled the world and no one went into their country and bombed them because of it. But he was very horrible, and I won't even go into detail on what he did here. If you wish to know more, just Google Vlad the Impaler.

Or...here's a great book and it's still available to anyone who is a vampire aficionado.

"In Search of Dracula" was the most thorough, well researched book of it's kind and I finally had a lot of my questions answered. I bought this book in 1973.

A true history of Dracula and vampire legends
by Raymond T. McNally and Radu Florescu

This book has helped me in researching both the vampire lore, as well as Vlad/Dracula, himself. The history on Vlad The Impaler, was useful when I went to write my third book in the Sabrina Strong series, Vampire Nocturne, because I used Vald the Impaler in this story.

Since I had always wanted to write about vampires, Dracula was always lurking back there, waiting to come out and so here, in Vampire Nocturne, I've written him in as true a form as I could to make him believable.

If you are intrigued and want to read more, tune in again.
Also... I'm asking for people to comment on this post and the next posts up until Halloween when I will be giving away one ebook, of the winner's choice from my three Sabrina Strong books, Vampire Ascending, Vampire's Trill, or Vampire Nocturne (eBooks only, or if need be an HTML version).
I will base winner on how many posts they have commented on. If there is a tie I'll have to do a number in the hat thing. (I hate raffle copters--they suck!) So, do make a comment if you want to win!

So, them's the rules, my pretties. If you have yet to buy a copy and want to win one of these, start commenting. The next post will be at the end of this week, so keep watching for them. Or better yet become a follower and maybe join up on the emailing list. That way you won't miss the next post!

Stay tuned for the next installment: The Historian, an intriguing book by Elizabeth Kostova, and other books of interest.

Please comment if you are interested in the prize of one eBook. Or, if you just want to comment, and tell me either way to include your name in the contest below! Offer ends October 31st!

Anti-Cruelty To Vampire Socitety

I am a member of the Anti-Cruelty To Vampire Society. I'm the first member, in fact, since as far as I know, I've just made it up.

So, what's it all about? Well, just as it says. I'm all for fair treatment of all vampires. I mean, really, we've been cruel to them in films and books down through the years. How can you not feel a little pity?

Well, Nosferatu was a pretty ugly vampire, I'll admit, but still. . .

When I think of all the films made, as well as books written where the vampires were staked, burned, be-headed, drowned and so forth, I simply felt sorry for the poor guy/gal. He seems to be saying "Hey, what's a vampire gotta do to get a good quick meal on the fly?"

I used to watch Bela Lugosi sweeping Lucy down to his crypt to hide her away from the men who were hunting him. Sort of a dumb idea, and if I were a vampire of Dracula's ilk, I would have found a better place to hide. He had to have known Van Helsing would know to look for him there.

Of course later on the movies which were made got a little more sophisticated, and the vampire seemed to have wised up a little more. And the old standard of the tails and tie sort of were dashed to smithereens when finally someone decided to make Dracula sexy. I mean when I saw Frank Langella do Dracula I said, "Now there's a hunk!"

The whole idea that Dracula was evil finally was shed in this 1979 Universal Pictures film version of Dracula, which was originally a Broadway play.

The books have also gone from making the vampire an evil creature to get rid of, and now perky women are making love to them. Go figure.

Seems we've gone from one extreme to the other. Although there are some books which do give better twists on the vampire lore and how we look at them, or treat them.

I'm all for giving the guys (and gals) who shun the sunlight and follow a strict liquid diet a little break. Allow them the intelligence to create their own societies under the noses of the world at large who have no idea that the person they might see getting on an elevator in a fancy hotel might be a vampire, or a werewolf, or a shape shifter.

So, I guess I'm asking if any of you wish to be a member of ACTVS? Maybe I need some sort of membership badge. What do you think?

All who want to see the vampire get the girl and live happily ever after, just let me know in comments. Or whatever you feel about vampires in general. Join up, if you feel as strongly as I do.

Welcome "John's Corner of Horror"

John became my friend years ago (he was once my boss), and we discovered we had a common interest in Dracula. I'd found that his knowledge of the old classic horror flickshas always kept me informed, enthralled, and entertained as well. I always know who to go to for some little tidbit about the old classics. If anyone knows about the old black and white horrors, it is John.

I've been able to persuade (manipulate, twist his arm, torture into submission, etc.), to do a spot for me occasionally here at my blog. I'm calling it "John's Corner of Horror".
John has delved deep into his catacombs, crypts, and/or vaults of information concerning a very, very old flick, in fact it was the very first Dracula film—or rather—it was based on “Dracula” Please welcome John:



Nosferatu is a silent film from 1922 which starred Max Shreck as Count Orlok. The movie was directed by F.W. Murnau who is today considered a genius in the art of film making and most certainly a prominent figure in the expressionist movement in German cinema during the 1920s. Nosferatu was to be the first film about Dracula but the Stoker estate would not sell Murnau the rights to the film so he took the script already written changed the title to "Nosferatu" and called Dracula "Count Orlok". He also changed all the English locations to German locations so as to avoid too much reference to Stoker’s novel. I think doing that made for a more unique vision as they made Orlok look like a giant hideous rat-bat like creature and when he came onto the screen he appeared almost to "ooze" from the shadows. The movie also benefited from on location filming and natural sets like Orlok’s castle which was not something designed for the film.

Orlok was also a carrier of plagues and rats so not only did he terrorize the town himself, but the healthy people that went unscathed had to worry about bubonic or something nastier. Anyway it might interest you to know that it is one of the first silent movies to use "special effects" and they are very interesting for their time. The average silent film was usually a melodrama or a comedy so movies like Nosferatu and “The Lost World” stood out from the rest.

The hero is actually a heroine and she sacrifices herself to save her town and husband. Unfortunately for the cast and crew Murnau was sued by the Stoker estate (Stoker's widow) and the court ordered all existing copies destroyed and the film banned from playing in Europe. It had few viewings, but did not benefit from those to help the film gain any sort of reputation.

It most likely would have been a classic horror film much sooner had it been spared the litigation. Fortunately someone was wise enough not to let the authorities get their hands on all of the copies and we have several beautifully restored versions of it today with symphonic scores and small group scores and organ scores to enhance the drama. The finest so far is available through Kino International which is a 2 DVD set entitled Nosferatu: The Ultimate Edition. This has the original score that was written for the film when it was debuted in 1922.
It also features the original movie tinted like it was then.

Another point of interest was that Max Schreck (Schreck is also the German word for fright, or terror) was a method actor and was never seen out of makeup or character while filming Nosferatu and a rumor spread that Murnau had hired a vampire to play an actor playing a vampire. This inspired the 2000 film Shadow of the Vampire which is a fictional account of the filming of Nosferatu starring Willem Dafoe as Shreck/Dracula.

If you are a fan of vampire movies and have not seen this movie yet you have not seen the first vampire movie that set a standard all that followed. I highly recommend it.

There you have it; John's first of many--I hope--instalments at Muse. Keep checking back next week for his next one.

And thank you John for the new-sized header!