Vampires walk among us

Good evening, readers. I hope you’ve been enjoying the spooky season thus far, and have your costumes ready to go for Halloween! On this rainy night in northwest Indiana, I wanted to get into the spirit of the holiday. I wanted to talk to you about something…unusual. Well, unusual to you and I, but very normal to those who claim to be one. They’ve been in movies, and tales as old as time, but do they exist? Apparently so. Tonight I wanted to talk about vampires and how they are “walking among us” (As I typed that I couldn’t help but think of the late Art Bell and how it would have sounded if he said it. He would have made it much cooler lol). 

Vampires have been on my mind a lot recently throughout October. Mainly because I’ve been watching What We Do In The Shadows on Hulu, but also because I just find them interesting. Whether they are real or not does not matter. Stories of the undead have been around for centuries, so how can I not find them fascinating? Scary? Yes. Do I want to meet one? No. But fascinating nonetheless.

Tonight, throughout my “research” (which was typing in “real life vampires in America” and scrolling for two minutes), I stumbled upon an interesting article from Discover Magazine. Are Real – Life Vampires Walking Among Us? By John Edgar Browning, Georgia Institute of Technology. He updated this article exactly one year ago (by coincidence haha I did not realize the dates lined up until I wrote this sentence. Wow). “Vampires walk among us. But these people aren’t the stuff of nightmares — far from it actually. Just sit down for a drink with one of them and ask for yourself. That’s if you can find one. They aren’t necessarily looking to be found. I’ve spent five years conducting ethnographic studies of the real vampires living in New Orleans and Buffalo. They are not easy to find, but when you do track them down, they can be quite friendly” he wrote. 

So, if you were hoping for a suck – the – blood – out – of – your – neck – immortal – vampire type of story, I am sorry but that is not what this is. It is, however, a very interesting read, and I wanted to highlight some things I found intriguing. As always, you can follow the link to the original article and read the entire thing yourself! 

Browning continues: “Real vampires” is the collective term by which these people are known. They are not “real” in the sense that they turn into bats and live forever but many do sport fangs and just as many live a primarily nocturnal existence…they need blood (human or animal) or psychic energy from donors in order to feel healthy.” So they do drink blood, just not the way we see in all of the movies and television shows lol. 

Browning then goes on to explain how people in these communities became “vampires”. He states the “self – described nature” of being a vampire presents itself to individuals “around or just after puberty.” The individuals apparently lack certain “energies” in their bodies and “it’s a condition they claim to be unable to change. So, they embrace it.”

The vampire community, according to Browning, varies. There are many different locations where these communities settle. He states “from Russia to South Africa to England and the United States…vampires are often well attuned to the community issues” (thanks to the internet). The vampire communities around the globe and in the United States appear to keep to themselves. They do, however, “combine their efforts to organize charity events, like feeding (not feeding on) the homeless” per Browning (I thought that little quip was funny). He goes on to say that even though they try and do these helpful events, they have trouble advertising for them because they are afraid of judgement from those who don’t understand them and their vampiric way of life.

That’s understandable. It’s an interesting life that these vampires live. I can’t imagine ever living that way, but that’s just me lol. So, now we know for certain that vampires do exist, but I wonder if any “real” vampires ever existed (or still exist). The immortal, blood – sucking kind. According to cbc.ca, around the 18^th century is when “European folklore began reporting on the existence of literal vampires.” 

In this piece the author, Jon Hernandez, writes about Professor Peter Gölz who “teaches a crash course on vampires at the university of Victoria.” He writes: “Gölz traces the modern vampire frenzy back to a peace treaty between the Ottoman Empire and the Hapsburg Monarchy, signed after centuries of war…That’s when the stories of eastern Europe made it into western Europe, when the stories of vampires were first popularized”, he said.

He goes on to state that after the treaty was signed, the stories of the undead started spreading fairly quickly across rural eastern Europe. Stories of alleged sightings and encounters with these blood – suckers, as they terrorized tiny villages all over the continent. Hernandez then shares a story from Gölz about “one of the most notable reports” of a vampire encounter. It was of a “Siberian militiaman named Arnold Paole, who lived in a small town called Meduegna.” Gölz then states “He told the villagers that he had been attacked by a vampire and tried to fight it off but couldn’t.” 

“Paole died in 1727” states Hernandez, “but a few weeks after his death, a group of curious villagers opened up his grave. They found a relatively undecomposed body with fresh blood flowing from his ears and mouth. They drove a stake through his heart, and he groaned as it bled, according to an investigation commissioned by the court of Vienna.” Well, that is just a lovely image in my head tonight. This is the first time I’ve ever heard this story, and I have to say, it is pretty frightening (especially if its true). The last part is the most interesting to me. Hernandez writes “The investigation, conducted by military officers, two army surgeons, and a priest, concluded that Paole was indeed a vampire.” Hmm. Well I have chills lol.

As interesting as that all sounds, Professor Gölz makes sure to mention that throughout that time period, there were many medical conditions that doctors had a hard time explaining, so they would use vampirism as a scapegoat. I wanted to add that because it’s a pretty important statement. Although it is unlikely that the man in the story was a vampire, it is still a very interesting and spooky tale, and I’m glad I found it! 

So, what do you think? Personally, I think something has been going on for centuries to warrant all the folklore about vampires. There’s something out there, but I don’t think we have figured it out just yet. This world is a lot stranger than we give it credit for, and I don’t even think we’ve scratched the surface of its strangeness!

I hope you enjoyed this Halloween/vampire inspired post! Be sure to share and subscribe.

Peter

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