Rethinking vampires, part 1

Bear with me: Vampires are cool! I've always loved them! But, since Twilight, vampires have become commonplace and boring. A large part of it, I think, is because the entire lore surrounding vampires has become convoluted and weird. Can vampires reflect in mirrors? Why or why not? Do they live forever or not?

The fangs. The look. The lore.

To be honest, I don't think vampires have had a fair shake recently. Therefore, I would like to discuss the basic workings of vampires, maybe even inspiring someone to write a more coherent lore than 'vampires sparkle.' Although, to be fair, though Stephanie Meyer might not be the best vampire writer out there, her work (which I read) shows that she thought about the vampire lore and, in fact, she put a lot of work into her lore. I just think we can break it down a little more.

So, right off the bat, vampires seem to fall into two distinct categories:

1. Mythical

2. Biological.

In this part, I'm going to try and cover the mythical vampires.

So, what do I mean by 'mythical' vampires? In short, those are the individuals whose vampirism is rooted in mythology. They are turned into vampires through some supernatural means.

This, then, means that you have to contend with the source of their vampirism:

1. Is it a curse (think Dracula, the movie with Gary Oldman and Wynona Ryder)?

   1. If it is a curse, did they cause the curse, or was it passed down to them?

   2. Is this curse generational, or is it a one-time thing?

      1. If it is generational, do their children inherit it? And does that mean that the vampires can conceive?

   3. Even if it's not generational, can it be passed along?

      1. If it can be passed along, how? Through biting? Through blood magic? Through cursing another?

   4. If it is a curse, what are the parameters of the curse?

      1. At this point, I want to refer you not to Dracula (which is probably the best vampire movie to date), but Dracula 2000. Not only do you get to see a young and very handsome Gerard Butler in the titular role, but the movie - as crappy as it is - has always fascinated me in how it rethought the lore. In this movie, Dracula is Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus Christ. And it is from this that the entire lore stems: Dracula fears silver, because Judas was paid 40 silver pieces for his betrayal. He fears the cross, because Jesus was crucified. And, in the end, Judas Dracula could not die except by hanging, because that is how he was supposed to die 2000 years ago. A weird movie, but I loved this explanation, for it told me someone took the time to think about the lore.

         
         

         

         See, a young, sexy Scottish vampire? Yeah, this is GB, I doubt he even tried with a Aramaic accent. Yet, I don't care how 'bad' people say he is as an actor, I simply adore him!

         
         

      2. And this is what I am trying to say: if your vampire doesn't reflect in a mirror, why? Remember, in olden times silver was a 'pure' metal, and so vampires couldn't reflect in silver-backed mirrors. But we haven't been using silver in ages for mirrors, so do they reflect in modern mirrors? The same with filming: will they appear on film that isn't silver-based?

         1. Alternatively, I would like to point out another reason why vampires don't reflect in mirrors, and might then continue not to reflect in modern mirrors or any shiny surface: For a while, people thought one's reflection wasn't just of one's face, but also of your soul. And if a creature, like a vampire, didn't have a soul, it could not have a reflection. Of course, this leaves the fun question about reflecting animals and souls...

   5. And if it is a curse, can it be lifted? There's a pretty bad romance I read as a teen - and back then, I loved it - about a guy who bought a young woman and falls in love with her and is then willing to become human for her sake again, which is the opposite of most lore, where the love interest usually joins their lover in vampiredom. I can't remember the book or its writer now, but I do remember the book went on and on about the dude only drinking a 'thimbleful' blood every night, and that in itself can be an entire post, about how some writers batter their poor readers with boring repetition.

If it isn't a curse, what is it, then?

1. Are they part of a bigger group of underground creatures (such as implied by Stephanie Meyer, as well as stories like Blade and Underworld)? And why doesn't the rest of the world know about these people? How does this culture work? What are the other creatures, and why are they always werewolves? And would the religious paraphernalia work on them?

2. Is their existence tied to something religious (Dracula 2000)? Would these vampires be vulnerable to the classic Roman Catholic paraphernalia, or those of the religions they originated from? And why?

3. Are they demons? What does it imply for them to be demons? Who summoned them? Can they be banished? Why do they only listen to Latin**?

   1. ** Although let me be honest, I love the concept of the place Latin takes up in the Christian religion. No, the Bible wasn't written in Latin. It was translated into Latin. But, ever since, Latin has been the go-to language for communication in the Roman Catholic Church, meaning it became eternal. A priest living today can read the direct words of one who lived a thousand years ago, spanning the ages and bridging the communications gap. It is something I don't see used in literature for its sheer awesomeness in facilitating communication, but always just a shorthand for 'cool ritual.' The recent Russell Crowe movie, The Pope's Exorcist, actually did this, and I'm still thrilled about it.

I suppose I'm still missing a lot, but if this a least gets someone thinking, it was worth it!

See ya soon, when we talk about biological vampires!