Honestly I dont believe Vampirism is a disease. I do believe there is a disease similar to which, but not entirely. Also I believe Hollywood has distorted the true vampire image greatly, with Anne Rice helping to clear it quite a bit. Interview with the Vampire is a good movie, yes, but the book is more accurate. I've read all of Rice's vampire chronicles, and she did well. Maybe she is connected to vampires, I could not tell you. But I believe she is. She knows quite a bit.

Correct me if I am mistaken, but this is what I have gained so far.

Yes, there are "real" vampires, but they are much unlike what you will find in a movie. They mostly stick much to their own, but they do walk with us. They are not evil as potrayed. (not all anyways.) Although there are some "super" vampires mostly came fourth as lore, such as the vampire to fly on ethreal threads but if he's real or not I do not know.

The true vampires have "safe" houses. "Clubs" if you will. Were they can meet up, feed (not off of living humans but blood donated to them.)
They have a strong social bond. (obviously) and they choose not to let us ("regulars") know of their existance for fear of retribution. (since they have been portrayed as evil bloodthirsty monsters.)

Are they strong? Yes, but not super human strong. Lets say a skinny "vampire" who weighs in at 120lbs can pick up a little over twice his weight and have nearly no muscle mass.

Do they burn in the sunlight? Sorta. They dont "explode" as popular belief, but due to their skin condition they get quickly sunburned (even staying out in the sun for ten minutes could be permanantly damaging.) They will get first second and thrid degree burns.

Do they live forever? No. Although they have a lengthy life span, I have come to known that maybe a 120 years give or take is the average life span.

Do they drink blood? Yes. But they dont prey on human beings like in the movies. They have a social network of both vampires and trused normals who help supply and donate blood. They are quite civilized. (most of them.)

Like I said. They are much like oursleves. With the exception of their condition.

You dont get bitten and turn into a vampire. It is something passed down generation to generation. Its not a sickness, but an evolution. But is this evolution a dead end? I honestly cannot say. We will have to wait and see. Perhaps one day we all will become vampires.

Now there is the odd case of a rougue vampire. One that does go a bit insane and kill and feed off of living human beings. But this is why they have the "infamous" vampire killers. Pretty much all vampire killers are vampires themselves, but they are much like the police. They dont kill for fun. They either bring them in and give a trial or they terminate them.

Now I may be wrong here, and you might not aggree with what I just posted. But I hope you see the reality within.

Take care and thanks for reading!

OK, Vampires don't exist. Heres why:

-The Vampire was commonly seen as either a ghost or corpse who returned for mischief in Turkey and Greece (later Hungary and other Eastern European nations). It was NEVER seen as an aristocratic "normal" human being who just needed blood to live forever. This myth started with John Polidori's "The Vampyre" which started the Vampire craze in the 19th century (Stoker came later and provided the basic "flesh" to our modern understanding of the legend- Aristocrat, powerful sorcerer, ancient,cunning and learned etc. not a reanimated corpse or a ghost).

-Porphyria (a rare DISEASE- not some "superpower") gave people

1)Pale skin (this because sunlight burned and hiding was neccesary)
2)stretched gums (thus larger looking teeth)
3)Madness (thus individuals attacking you.)

People affected by Porphyria many times hid in cemeteries where nobody bothered them. On a side note, King George the 5th of England had a disease similar to Porphyria in it's pathology and symptoms (was he a Vampire? lol!)

-Catalepsy (an illness in which human beings entered a death like trance, only to wake up in coffins and suffocate) is another disease which could have generated this legend. In fact, some cemeteries in Europe used to have "little flags" connected to the hand of the corpse in case you were cataleptic.

-Also, note where the legend of the Vampire originated: Byzantium and Greece. These areas where rife with Roman influence, and the Romans had a strong belief (derived from the Greeks) that the dead could "live a little while" more if you sprinkled blood on them (ie: the shades in Homer's odyssey would swarm at the blood of a bull so they could remain on Earth for a few days). Perhaps this belief survived to some degree under the guise of the vampire corpse that needed blood to subsist on earth.

Vampires just don't exist. I have an open mind, but it would take quite a bit of evidence to support this one.....

[edit on 25-1-2006 by Nakash]

yeah... plus there have never been any documented proof of vampire activity or vampire attacks, the closest thing we have are a bunch of idiots claiming that they are vampires.

Thats also true. I remember watching Jerry Springer back in the day with all these Vampire wanna-bees. (goth teens who drink each others blood. LOL)

But you never know...

Originally posted by TheBlueSoldier
yeah... plus there have never been any documented proof of vampire activity or vampire attacks, the closest thing we have are a bunch of idiots claiming that they are vampires.

Not sayin atm if I believe in Vampires or not BUT.... IF a real Vampire said they were one would anyone believe them? Or would they just be labeled as *wanna-be* idiots? I mean I doubt if they were real the myths would all be true or correct. Maybe to a certain extent but not totally, so what would it take to *prove* they are real? And why would they want to prove it? I'd think they would just sit back and giggle like school girls at all the incorrect stories and do a disinformation campaign on the subject! rofl



Lil

im saying that the people who are idiots, are people who claim they are vampires without any evidence or proof. I know there are certain people who drink human/animal blood(like Ozzy Osbourne), but they are far from vampires.

Funny thing about that bat incident blue is that Ozzy went to the hospital after that show to get rabbies shots. I ,like you, view Vampires as loser sexually abused teens who watch too much blade and other Wes Craven movies and then drink their PETA girlfiend's blood for fun. Well, ok, that was harsh, but you get the point (may I also add that I hate Marylyn Manson- not Heavy metal or industrial music, just that talentless idiot, also NU-Metal MTV freaks such as Korn, Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach,etc. and the current crappy emo bands. The amount of...erm... homosexuality in those branches of music is just too much for me).

[edit on 27-1-2006 by Nakash]

thanks nakash. I think that we (the sane people) have settled that vampires, the ones that crave blood and die in sunlight, are non-exist now and forever. I'm not talking about skin conditions or diseases that make people pale, I'm talking about the media-portrayed vampires that some people are obsessed with and like to believe that they are vamps too.

Think of this:

Where is the easiest place for a real vampie(Immortal, etc.) to feed?

In the Goth Culture/Comunity.
The vampire culture where people do blood-play etc. is the best place for a vampire to feed. PICTURE THIS: A vampire goes into a nightclub or whatever where gothic people hangout and make a "friend" and has some "sustenance" but, doesn't feed to the point of death. The vampire only takes enough blood to make the person weak, groggy, and confused. It's the same if you give blood(usually a pint is taken) If a little more than a pint is taken by the vampire the person would have drunk-like symtoms & would probably wake up with a head ache (because when your body doesnt have food for a while OR you have lost blood, head aches are not uncommon). The result would be that the person who was fed upon just thinks they had a hard night of partying.

But True vampires are not necessarily goth they are most likely just average but would dress goth when they are in need of blood. I mean why go to the trouble of trying to get someone to submit to a feeding when you have a group of people who are more willing to allow it?

Beat a vampire to death with a stick? Not exactly a stake to the heart, there.

Though very interesting.

Okay, we have two diseases. The Light Sensitivity (Polyhomohemologibus or something) and Rabies. Both account for much of the Symptoms (though I never heard that infected rabies made one hydrophobic).

Rabies is an infection, the other is genetically passed down.

Blood drinking before battle was effective physological warfare indeed. So were heads on spikes (Think that was just medieval times? Look at Cambodia and Vietnam of the 60's in regards to spikes).

It would make logical sense to earlier people that drinking the blood of one would give your their strength and ability. Those greedy enough to seek such power would attempt it.

There is so much that is real and has occurred. Why is it unrealistic to believe that the P and Rabies weren't introduced onto life from a group (call them Vampires)? That these traits are the occurance of infections from people who lived to reproduce.

I'm not saying the entire lot is true, all the myths and powers, but perhaps we are looking in REVERSE. Maybe Rabies explains Vampires, but maybe Vampires explain Rabies.

i always thought that the myth started with vlad the impaler who used to drink the blood of his enemy (an old celtic ritual) as to absorb there power.

i also know that the celts used to believe that creatures lived in the trees
(the ones that have the huge wholes at the bottom like door ways) and that they were vampire like (although not called vampires) and that at the same time that they drunk there enemys blood they would offer blood sacrifices to the creatures to thank them for there victories and to make shure the creature would not come after them.

Vlad the impaler never drank his enemies blood. He would from time to time do horrible things such as dip the blood of slain turks in his bread while eating in front of them agonizing in front of stakes, but he was not a vampire.

I have seen references to porphyria being the "vampire disease". First off let me explain, there are many types of porphyria. The one that people are mostly referring to is congenital erythropoietic porphyria. This disease usually affects children, and this is probably 2 of the most severe types of porphyria affecting skin. Becasue the porphyrins build up so much it is even stored in tissues, bone marrow, skin, eyes, teeth, nails. The teeth may have a reddish/brownish tint that may look like blood. This is due to the concentration of porphyrins. Whoever said garlic makes symptoms of any of the forms of porphyria worse, they have made a mistake. Nor does drinking blood do ANYTHING. That is the most ridiculous claim I have ever heard LOL. The people with this form of porphyria have usually the worst photosensitivy issues, like severe sores and A LOT of hair growth on sun exposed areas. Even fingers and limbs falling off due to the sunlight damaging the tissue, because people with congenital porphyria have such a strong concentration of porphyrins. Bone marrow transplantation, and removal of the spleen helps this form of porphyria the most.

Porphyria cutanae tarda, is actually usually acquired, not genetic, rarely it is. And this is the only form of porphyria that is helped by phlebotomy. You get sores, and fragile skin exposed to sunlight. Other symptoms, said by one of the previous posters are wrong. They were mostly referring to congenital porphyria (and even some of their information was wrong referring to it).

There are a few others, ranging from protoporphyria, which is a photosensitivy condition that is usually mild to moderate, rarely with sores. Mostly there is extreme burning on the skin, rashes, etc. Beta carotene supplementation works well for this form of the disease for some people, and some it is ineffective, as the orange pigment helps protect the skin.

The other forms, such as variegate porphyria, coproporphyria, Acute Intermittent porphyria, and some others, are either skin and attacks, or both. This means that, they have AIP symptoms (like attacks on the body), which is severe abdominable pain, becoming mentally delusional, severe constipation, paralysis, etc...Variegate, and coproporphyria can have both photosensitivity and attacks. Attacks can be triggered by chemicals, medication, not getting enough food.

There is another extreme photosensitivy disease that is called Xeroderma Pigmentosum, which is worse then all the above in the photosensitivity department. These children and people literally cannot even be exposed to UV light at all because their DNA cannot repair itself after UV damage (we all get DNA damage after UV exposure, but don't suffer due to us getting it repaired). So these people get skin cancer very quickly (like a 2 year old having 17 cancerous tumors...), severe burns (can even be third degree), going blind from light, and retardation from DNA damage.

I have a lot of information, but it is too much. This should be a outline of the truth about those 2 diseases.

Originally posted by Valhall
Don't know what you want from me, Damefool. All I can tell you is that I have first hand knowledge of some one who suffers from porphyria cutanea tarda, and I have first hand knowledge of hearing a hemotologist explain that THIS disease (which will cause the "fanged look" and the teeth to turn red under ultraviolet light (hello, that's SUNLIGHT) was the origin of the "vampire legend" because it was found CENTURIES ago that phlebotomies would alleviate the symptoms. There is a good reason for this. Sufferers of this disease have "dirty blood"; blood that the porphyrins build up in.

In a normal person, the production of porphyrins are expelled through the urine, and the sweat glands...and no big deal. In a sufferer of porphyria, so many porphyrins build up in the blood stream that the urine cannot expell all of them (one symptom of a porphyric is that the urine looks like cherry kool-aid - that's the porphyrins) nor can the sweat glands. So what happens is the porphyrins "pool up" in the skin. Porphyrins cannot react well to ultraviolet light (the sun). So when these "pools" of porphyrins are subjected to the sun, great hideous lesions appear. And I do mean great hideous lesions...ones where you would AVOID DIRECT SUNLIGHT AT ALL COSTS.

REMEMBER, I AM SPEAKING FROM FIRST HAND KNOWLEGE.

Apparently, according to the hemotologist, it was found (around the time of the Count of Transylvania - who is alledged to have suffered from this genetic disease) that therapeutic phlebotomies help.

The reason being that it is a cyclically degenerative condition. The porphyrins are basically poisonous to the liver (it can't metabolize them). As the porphyrin concentration increases, liver damages occurs, and so the cycle degenerates. The only thing that has been found to alleviate symptoms (temporarily) is a therapeutic phlebotomy (drain blood out of the body).

FIRST HAND KNOWLEDGE - TO THIS DAY, THE BEST TREATMENT TO ALLEVIATE SYMPTOMS OF THIS DISEASE IS THERAPEUTIC PHLEBOTOMIES. Sufferers of this disease go in about every 3 months have blood (quite a bit, like when you are giving blood) taken out. That causes the liver to produce new non-gimped-up-blood, which helps until the body poisons it with porphyrins again.

THE FANGS, THE RED TEETH, THE LESIONS CAUSED BY THE SON, AND THE INTAKING OF BLOOD (the hemotologist stated that at first it was believed the DRINKING of blood) all led this disorder to be called the "vampire disease".

THAT's what I know.

yes... but what about the super speed, and unlimited strength? what about super old age with no wrinkles???

i dont know if they exist no 1 does but i belive they could do

I'm currently going to school studying occultism and vampirology....most people dont belive in classical vampires because its fantastical idea...and yes there has been a ton of superstion that is inaccurate stemming from centuries past.

HOWEVER

for as much evidence that proves that classicals do not exist there is equally as much that proves they do...you just have to know what you're looking for, have a friend or collegue (if not yourself) be fluent in historical linguistics for translation purposes, and you need to know WHERE to look for it. Looking on the net for proof is ridiculous...you need to look through actual paper documentation to find anything worth your while.

My professer just sent some rather intriguing documents away for carbon testing and such to make sure the time frame fits and that they are genuine documents and once he gets them back I'm definately going to scan them and post them a multitude of places

There are KEY events involving KEY beings/people that are remarkably accurate (details would be very hard to falsify) in Rice's work...

The dear brat prince himself was in fact a real life person. There was an actual Lestat de Lioncourt born in the exact same place Auvergene (sp) the same year 1758 I belive and died the same year 1779 ....there is detailed account and documentation of his death...his family, all that good stuff...there is also detailed documentation of his existance in N.O. years later...there is an authentic property owners deed as well as several other documents with signatures that are identical.

There are past telephone # listings for Lestat de Lioncourt in areas that match up with places he supposedly stayed/lived....

Ridicule if you like...but there are questions that eventually will be answered and as we all know the only thing you can be sure of in life is death and taxes...only in this case you cant be so sure about death

Theres a ton more to discuss about Rice's work, the "characters" portrayed and more about classical vampirism...if anyone would like to discuss...PM me