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Vampires
Vampire:
"1. A blood sucking ghost or reanimated body of a dead person believed to come from the grave and wander about by night drinking of the blood of sleeping persons.
2. One who lives by preying on others; a bloodsucker..."
--Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary
What is a vampire? How can one understand a creature that drinks the blood of its victims. Is this creature a myth, a legend? Perhaps merely the romantic designs of horror writers. Then again, maybe there is some fact in the stories, at least to some degree.
The popular conception of the vampire is the dark mysterious count that lives in a castle high in the mountains. The European sophisticated gentleman of noble parentage. Well educated, refined and always polite, and yet, there is something strange about him. The classic definition of the vampire in the 1931 film "Dracula" starring Bela Lugosi. The romantic aspects of the vampire portrayed on the silver screen. This could be someone just like us, except for one thing. It is not wine that fills his goblet, nor meat upon his plate. He does not partake of food and drink as we do for he can only sustain his life with one thing. Blood. Fresh blood, taken from the living.
A more modern portrayal of this creature is now seen in America. Anne Rice created a world of passion and romanticized the vampire in her novel Interview With The Vampire. As with Count Dracula they are still educated and elegent, cultured and refined, but they also have an intense savagery. Their appeal also comes from their sensual allure. These vampires are not just cold bloodsuckers, but passionate lovers that exude sex appeal, making every person that reads about them want to touch the passionate beast. Like a child that sees the mighty lion and merely wants to touch it's fur not realizing that beneath the pretty exterior lies a killer. Still the beauty of these creatures almost makes it worth the risk.
The legend of the vampire dates back to the earliest times of human civilization. Assyrians, Babylonians, and even the peoples of the ancient Orient had their own legends of the vampire. The vampires of old were not romantic figures of sex appeal and suave manners, they were monsters, killers, demons of the night, and all who heard the tales would cringe in fear and very few dared venture out after dark.
Welcome to the world of vampires.....
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