Tag: vampires

Vampire Lore

I’m a sucker for a good vampire tale, having cut my teeth on Bram Stoker’s Dracula—the book, not the movie. I believe I first read the tale in junior high school, and afterwards immersed myself in everything having to do with vampires.

As a result, I have no patience with tales that stray from Stoker’s vampire lore. Vampires drink blood. It’s the only food they can ingest. Garlic, crosses, and holy water are absolute no no’s for a vampire, and any film that allows a vampire to scoff at such things is just wrong. Wrong, I tell you.

Vampires have no reflections and are most commonly killed by having a stake driven into their heart; although, the sun can burn them to a crisp if a stake isn’t at hand. Of course the problem with that is in luring the undead into the light of day. Good luck with that.

I have been known to yell at the screen or a book when the rules aren’t followed. And sparkly vampires? Don’t get me started.

The Netflix limited series, Midnight Mass, is a vampire tale; although, I don’t believe the word “vampire” was ever uttered. I might be wrong, though. The story covered at least two of the rules; I won’t say which two, but the scenario never included any mention of garlic or reflections in a mirror.

And as for crosses and holy water, well, I need to watch the whole thing again to see if they toed the line. It is, after all, titled Midnight Mass. They may have skirted the holy water rule on a technicality, but I’m fairly certain there were crosses involved. And how am I supposed to handle that? Am I going to allow (gasp!) an exception to the rules?

Peace, and sweet dreams, people!

Snapshot #117

I have it on good authority that these charming little blossoms are celebrities, and apparently might be repelled by garlic and direct sunlight…. I couldn’t have come up with a better title than the one on its tag: “Calibrachoa Mini Famous, Vampire and Compact.”

What I’m Reading

Since I’m certain everyone is dying to know, I’m currently engrossed in The Dresden Files series by author Jim Butcher.

The Dresden Files series revolves around Chicago wizard/private investigator Harry Dresden who uses his significant powers to help find lost items and to solve crimes. Early on, Harry becomes embroiled in the supernatural happenings in the Nevernever and takes on the three, yes three courts, of vampires, setting off a war with the vampires of the Red Court.

I have something of a literary crush on Harry Dresden, whose full name I won’t reveal because names hold power, don’t you know. He’s a combination of Han Solo and Indiana Jones with a good measure of Harry Potter thrown in for good measure, and his skill for tossing out witty wisecracks is matched only by his integrity.

Deep into book 11 in the series I realized last night that I’ve been dreaming about Harry and his closest friends, Bob, Murphy, Michael, Butters, and Thomas. Even his pets, Mister and Mouse have been featured in my nocturnal adventures lately. I care about them, and that’s how I know it’s a good series.

I highly recommend The Dresden Series to readers who enjoy their scifi/fantasy mixed with humor and occasional romance. Harry and company are a whole lot of fun.

   
       

Vampires and Zombies and Werewolves, OH My!

A blogger whose posts I follow posed the question yesterday, “What is the difference between vampires and zombies? I jumped on the question immediately, because while I don’t know much about anything of importance I know a great deal about supernatural creatures.

My response to my friend was that zombies are dead, while vampires are undead. In my scholarly opinion, zombies, while deadly, are not inherently evil, while vampires are. They are both quite dangerous and should be avoided at all costs.

Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula is the guidebook for all things undead. Anyone claiming to be knowledgeable about vampires who has not read Stoker’s tome is a mere pretender. While I can appreciate the sparkliness of Twilight’s Cullen clan, they are not true vampires. They are some aberration and should be treated as such. Cute and cuddly, but hardly worth guarding against with garlic and holy water.

Zombies, by all accounts, are simply reanimated dead people driven by a desire to eat human flesh, preferably brains. Some accounts attribute the zombie condition to an infected brain stem which remains functional despite the death and decay of its host body. The virus is the only living thing inside of said zombie. And they do decay, unlike vampires.

Werewolves are an entirely different matter. They are very much alive, perhaps too much so. One must survive a werewolf bite or flesh rending attack in order to become a werewolf. Perhaps that explains why they are so few in number. For the better part of each month werewolves live quite normal lives, attending PTA meetings and congressional hearings; however, during the full moon they transform fully into bloodthirsty beasts and terrorize all within their hunting range.

I hope this small treatise clears up any confusion about the nature of these denizens of the dark. If you have any questions of a scholarly nature I’ll be glad to entertain them at 1-888-Vampire. (Not really. I made that part up.)

The Walking Dead

series starts tonight if you’d like more zombie input.

Peace, People!

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