THE CAULDRON
Stirring the pot with Angeline Hawkes

Artwork by George Patsouras

Men fear death as children fear to go in the dark; and as that natural fear in children is
increased with tales, so is the other.

Sir Francis Bacon, Essays [1625], "Of Death"

Monsters in Horror: Why They Will Never Die
Part 2: Vampires

There are many types of monsters: the ones we classify as supernatural, to the human monster that we read about in the news. Monsters are with us whether we like it or not. When researching the origins of typical monsters, one can find similar creatures in nearly every culture. Sometimes used for religious purposes, sometimes for entertainment, or sometimes to take the place of scientific knowledge. A common misconception is that the vampire had its origins with Bram Stoker, or a bit further back in history, Vlad the Impaler.

Born in 1847, the Irish writer, Bram Stoker, did a lot to put the creepy vampire into the literary world with his 1897 horror novel, Dracula. This led to a movie boom of vampires that we still see to this day. The first adaptation, filmed amongst legal battles, was the old silent film: NOSFERATU. Directed by Friedrich Murnau. The movie was produced against the wishes of Stoker's widow who claimed, in complicated court battles that spanned years, that she had not granted permission for the adaptation, nor had she been paid royalties for the use of her husband's work. The case was ultimately ruled in Mrs. Stoker's favor, with all copies of the movie remanded to her care. Fortunately, some of the movies survived.

But, Dracula isn't a creature rooted solely in western imaginations. In fact, the vampire makes an appearance in almost every culture. In India, the vampire is known as Baital. The Slavs call them the vampir. The ancient Babylonians called them E Kimmu. In China, they are called Langsuior, and the French from Granada tell of Loogaroo . Vampires in Greece are vrykolakas and in many of the African tribes, the blood-sucking, living dead parasite of a monster is named Ovambo.

Writers for generations have incorporated the legend into their fiction. I have written about vampires countless times, touching on the multi-cultural representation of vampires in my vampire hunter story, "Opportunity". Most writers stick to the standard legend. Vampires are vampires because the mortal human was bitten by a vampire, or drank the vampire's blood. Vampires must have blood to live. They sleep by day, avoiding the sunlight, and prey on their hapless victims by night. Standard ways to rid oneself of a vampire consist of garlic, running water, holy water, crucifixes, decapitation, and the classic stake through the heart.

In recent years, vampires have taken on new dimensions. In Cathy Clamp and C.T. Adams paranormal romance book [series], Touch of Evil , the vampire as a parasite is defined literally, with the creature actually growing and forming inside of human hosts. Ann Rice is famous for her whiny, brooding vampires. Robert Weinberg chiseled out his own take on the legend in White Wolf's Red Death trilogy: Bloodwar, Unholy Allies, and The Unbeholden. Role-playing gamers everywhere have used his novels to build their Vampire: The Masquerade worlds demonstrating that vampires have branched out into RPGs, computer games, comics, and other book series. It's not your father's vampire anymore.

As far as monsters go, the Vampire is one of the oldest creatures incorporated into fiction and legend. This is one monster that is here to stay in one form or the other.