Vampire Lore

     The October country has arrived.  What better night of the year is there to celebrate chills down the spine and things that go bump in the night then the fast approaching Halloween?  Dozens costumed as witches, werewolves, zombies and vampires will saunter down streets to add candy to their bags of sweet booty.  But each iconic creature has a heritage beyond the common ideas of modern writers and readers, of bizarre beliefs that people once cherished as the best way to survive supernatural encounters.

     My monster of preference has always been the vampire.  But what really are the facts behind the ancient fanged predators of the night?  Did you know that vampires might be the first and only OCD  monster as it was once believed that if one dropped a handful of pebbles the creature would take the time to count the fallen objects instead of pursuing its prey?  And don’t think you can kill a vampire with a wooden stake through the heart.  A wooden stake will just pin the vampire in its coffin, ’cause the creature is already dead!  My how the vampire’s reputation has evolved over the years, from filthy smelly undead beast whose scent was stronger then garlic to a figure of dark romance.

     I’ve written about vampires in several stories and even a novella titled Terror’s Taste in which I attempted to add to the vampire legacy with my own origin of the species dating back to Atlantis, and answer some of the mystery of the vampire’s special relationship with mirrors.  All in all though I’ve tried to remain loyal to the original personality of the vampire – a creature cursed to the night with little humanity remaining.

     At Monstermania in Baltimore I listened with great curiosity to Christopher Sarandon speaking of fashioning his vampire character for the 80’s film Fright Night.  Apparently the director wanted each actor to dwell on their character’s backstories and further flesh out who they were portraying.  Faced with playing an ancient vampire, Sarandon chose to turn his attention to bats and found that there were more fruit eating bats then vampire bats.  Hence his character was often seen munching on an apple, as a tribute to the character’s bat lineage not focused on blood.

     Have a happy Halloween, whichever monster you may embrace for it.  And I hope you’ll enjoy one of my frightening stories from Midnight Writings or Summoned Secrets available at http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/wrigler

Fright Night reunion at Monstermania with Christopher Sarandon (far left)