"The Blood Is the Life!"

If you're not sick of vampire posts today--or this week--then, here's one more for you, from the vampire queen (me).

Before I go further, let me explain that when I was a teenager, I got into vampires, and the interest has stayed with me. I wrote my first vampire novel (unpublished), in 1980-'83. Now I write a series with vampires and whatnot, and I have a blast doing it!

Being that my interests were cut and clear (and they just don't teach this stuff in school, y'know?), I had to investigate it all on my own. I researched the hell out of it, looking up anything in the library that had to do with vampires, and anything in the newspapers got clipped out, and I still have those browned clippings in a file.

My first experience with the vampire came from watching the old films such as "Dracula" with Bela Lugosi. His performance as Dracula is unforgettable--on stage as well as on screen. He was the film personification of dark evil. I must say, I enjoyed staying up late just to watch these films (all of the monster movies), and earned the reputation as being "weird". Now, vampires are cool. Go figure. I think vampires, and people who get into them has finally come full circle.

Bela Lugosi as Dracula

The word 'vampire' is a Romanian word meaning 'blood-drinker'. The bat who dons this name was given it by Cortez when he remembered the vampire legends of Europe.

So how was it that the term came to apply to humans? During the middle ages European nobles interbred and this led to various genetic disorders--as one can imagine. But one was hemophilia. In this case the term "Royal Blood" held more than water in this case. Among the many disorders there was one which didn't gain enough medical attention. In fact, its mysterious problems probably caused too much attention, as far as the sufferer was concerned. This decease is called erythropoietic protoporphyria (say that three times fast--just typing it was hard, and I'm not even sure it's spelled correctly). This disorder causes the body to produce too much porphyrin, which is a substance all red blood cells must have to be normal. The absence of such results in redness of the skin, eyes and teeth. Even the upper lip tends to recede. But the most bizarre thing that really made the poor soul's life hell is that they were allergic to sunlight. The skin would crack and bleed. Yeah, nice, huh? So, you can just figure that doctors who didn't know how to treat the disease came up with having the patient locked up in a dark cellar or attic during the daylight hours (to prevent bleeding), and for any loss of blood, they were given blood to drink--gak! I'm sure it was probably animal. Transfusions were not yet invented.

Just think of the rumors which must have run rampant in a small village back then! Keeping a child, or adult in a dark cellar during the day and let out at night to drink blood!

Now, back to Dracula. As we all know Bram Stoker did NOT invent the vampire. He DID invent his character "Dracula". So, where did Stoker get the idea of vampires? He was influenced heavily by a 900-page "penny dreadful" novel called, "Varny the Vampyre", which was written by James Malcolm Rymer. The story was written in 109 weekly installments in the mid-1800's. It was the first vampire novel in English, and the first vampire fiction since the original short story by John Polidori "The Vampyre".

But where these two authors bring nothing new to the whole vampire literature scene, Bram had a fantastic idea and used an historical figure who was, himself, pretty much the bloodiest psychotic of them all, bar none.

Enter Drakulya, aka The Impaler.

Dracula, Vlad Tepes (the Impaler)
(1431-76)

First of all the names of Dracula and his father Dracul are important. Both father and son had the given name "Vlad". The names "Dracul" and "Dracula" are nicknames, and to be really confusing, these nicknames had two meanings. "Dracul" meant "devil," as it still does in Romanian today. In addition it meant "dragon."  Of course they were in the Order of the Dragon--a semi-monastic, semi-military organization dedicated to fighting the Turks. From what I've dug up is that Dracula means "son of the dragon" or "son of the devil." A most important point in this is that the words "devil" and "vampire" are interchangeable. Interesting. No?

Bram's Stoker's novel Dracula is one of the most horrifying books in English literature. Published in May of 1897, and was an immediate success, and has never been out of print, and is still a best seller.

Possibly the setting for Dracula in Transylvania was because it was, and still is, a far-away land, where anything can happen. It even sounds exotic!

Now, also there is the blatant sexual fantasies derived from the story, and those that follow it (including the films). Much of the novel's appeal comes from its hostility toward female sexuality. You've got the Oedipus complex--a kind of incestuous, necrophilous, oral-anal-sadistic thing going on throughout. What are we talking about? The blood-sucking? Pleeeeeze! It's core fantasy is all sexual.

Well, I see the hour is getting late, and I must leave you. If you have never picked up Bram Stoker's Dracula, you should, if you enjoy vampires. Speaking of which, I haven't opened my copy in a while. I may just have to pick it up again.

Let me leave you with a little bit from Dracula. Set up, Harker is snooping around the castle, trying to find a way out. He is being held captive. Finally he stumbles across boxes--coffins?

"There, in one of the great boxes, of which there were fifty in all, on a pile of newly dug earth, lay the Count! He was either dead or asleep, I could not say which--for the eyes were open and stony, but without the glassiness of death--and the cheeks had the warmth of life through all their pallor, and the lips were as red as ever. But there was not sign of movement, no pulse, no breath, no beating of the heart. I bent over him, and tried to find any sign of life, but in vain. He could not have lain there long, for  the earthy smell would have passed away in a few hours. By the side of the box was its cover, pierced with holes here and there. I thought he might have the keys on him, but when I went to search I saw the dead eyes, and in them, dead though they were, such a look of hate, though unconscious of me or my presence, that I fled again up the castle wall. Regaining my own chamber, I threw myself panting upon the bed and tried to think..."

Dracula

Bela Lugosi as "Dracula" in the
film adaptation from Bram Stoker's
book "Dracula"

Dracula
synonymous with "vampires".

Have you ever wondered why?

I did. When I was a teenager, and left to be able to stay up late to watch movies that possibly might be disturbing, I found myself fascinated by the movies about Dracula. No matter when they were made, I had to watch them, as I was fasctinated by the whole idea of vampires and vampirism.

The thought in the back of my mind was that it would be cool if there were such things.  But I knew the reality. But then again, there were things that I experienced in my pre-teen and teenage life that sort of went beyond what we consider "normal". But I wont go into that here.

In the next several days I would like to examine the myth, legends and reality of who and what Dracula is. I will, from time to time offer up suggested reading for you, if you are so inclined. I will talk about Vlad Tepes--the real "Drakulya" (which means son of Dragon or, in some languages "devil"), and how I had always wanted to write stories with vampires in them. 

I had wanted to write the historical Dracula into one of my books, and Vampire Nocturne was the perfect book in which to fit him in. I'll have excerpts of this as well as these next few days up to Halloween. Keep watching as I will be dropping prices of my three Sabrina Strong books.

See you then!

Beyond the Black Veil ~WIP & The Historical Dracula

Pince Drakulya-a.k.a. Vlad The Impaler

In case you didn't know by now, I'm working on the third book. I had decided--at some point--to somehow incorporate the historical Dracula into it. I didn't want to do some cheep rip-off, or cheeky paranormal romance with him as the romantic hero. I wanted to make him as close to his historical self as I could. I also needed a world in which he resides and rules--and is a vampire. In other words, I didn't want him showing up at Sabrina's doorstep. In this story Dracula plays a major character, and has a role throughout, to the end.

In Beyond the Black Veil, Sabrina slips into a portal while trying to locate her missing cousin, and suddenly finds herself in a Parallel World. In this world they're stuck in the late Victorian age. In this world the vampires out number humans ten to one.

 The Historical Dracula:

I've had a long on-going interest in the historical Dracula, as well as the fictional one. The historical Dracula lived during dangerous times (15th century Transylvania), and is far more complicated, and murderous than the fictional one by Bram Stoker. In 1444, Dracula's father, Dracul, had the misfortune of being be lured by the sultan across the Danube River (located south of Transylvania, beyond which lies the Ottoman Empire). He took his two sons along, and was caught and brought before Sultan Murad. In order to save his throne and his own neck, he left his sons, Dracula and Radu, to be taken as hostages. The two boys were imprisoned in Egrigoz in Asia Minor--under "house arrest". During this time is when Dracula was introduced to Turkish torture, was taught the Turkish language, and also became acquainted with the pleasures of the harem. During this time he also developed "a reputation for trickery, cunning insubordination, and brutality, and inspired fright in his own guards, in contrast to his brother's sheepish subserviency." ~In Search of Dracula - 1972

Dracula lived into his mid-forties, was able to sit on the throne twice as a prince, married twice (and many lovers), and was cut down in his last battle against the Turks--his sworn enemies. His head was severed in that battle, separated from his body and taken to Constantinople where it was displayed on a spike. His body meanwhile was taken to one of his monasteries. No one is for certain that the headless body found at this site is really Dracula's.

Monastery at Snagov where
Dracula's body was put to rest

Well, maybe it is or maybe it isn't. My writer's mind had to turn this over in my head and came up with a solution as to how Dracula's head was married back to his body, and became a vampire. Sorry, but you'll have to just wait and read the book when it comes out in order to see how he did this.

SYNOPSIS

~ partial~

Beyond the Dark Veil ~ a world where vampires out number humans ten to one, and humans are merely blood donors and objects of their sexual desire.

While trying to solve the mystery of where Lindee could be in this world, Sabrina encounters Drakulya--the real-life Dractula--a.k.a. The Impaler--who has some how managed to become a vampire living in this strange world, and rules as King. He is mystified by Sabrina's various abilities (such as being able to disappear at will from her imprisonment)--as he's decided she will become his "blood dame". Meanwhile, his son, Jett, simply wants her, despite the fact he is to marry a vassal's daughter, Penelope.