Everyman with fangs: The acceptance of the modern vampire

The vampire, an enduring demon from the European middle ages has through the course of the 20th century undergone a journey of transformation. The journey of the beast describes a circle, starting and ending with the depiction of the vampire as a soulless, evil killing machine. From the Middle Ages, moving into the 18th century the vampire slowly becomes more sophisticated, becoming first Varney, then Dracula, then in the last quarter of the 20th century as the accepted and understood Vampires Louis and Lestat. From there the vampire is found in television, theatre and cinema in such films as Fright Night, Blade, and The Lost Boys. Finally with the appearance of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the vampire becomes once again everyman with fangs and the circular journey began in the European Middle Ages has been completed

Lestat, C\u27est Moi : Anne Rice\u27s Revelation of Self Through The Vampire Chronicles

In lieu of an abstract, below is the article\u27s first paragraph. To most, the word vampire conjures visions of Halloween, of old black and white horror movies, of Bela Lugosi whispering I vant to suck your blood. Yet for Anne Rice, this view of the vampire is much too limiting; true, her series of five Vampire Chronicles does focus mainly around the dark hero, Lestat, who is indeed, a blood-sucking monster. However, The Vampire Chronicles are far more than a collection of murderous escapades; they are, symbolically, a chronicle of the author\u27s spiritual journey - from her concern with commenting on social dynamics in the first installment, Interview with the Vampire, to her own personal confrontation with the religious experience and redemption in the last, Memnoch the Devil

Wendigos, Eye Killers, Skinwalkers: The Myth of the American Indian Vampire and American Indian “Vampire” Myths

Drawing on American Indian myths and folklore that previous scholarship has placed into direct relationship to the Anglo-European vampire narrative, and on recent U.S. mainstream commodifications of these myths, my paper traces and contextualizes the two oppositional yet intimately linked narratives of American Indian vampirism ensuing today: the commodified image of the “Indian” vampire and the renegotiated vampire tropes created by American Indian authors and filmmakers

Novel hemotropic mycoplasmas are widespread and genetically diverse in vampire bats

Bats (Order: Chiroptera) have been widely studied as reservoir hosts for viruses of concern for human and animal health. However, whether bats are equally competent hosts of non-viral pathogens such as bacteria remains an important open question. Here, we surveyed blood and saliva samples of vampire bats from Peru and Belize for hemotropic Mycoplasma spp. (hemoplasmas), bacteria that can cause inapparent infection or anemia in hosts. 16S rRNA gene amplification of blood showed 67% (150/223) of common vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) were infected by hemoplasmas. Sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene amplicons revealed three novel genotypes that were phylogenetically related but not identical to hemoplasmas described from other (non-vampire) bat species, rodents, humans, and non-human primates. Hemoplasma prevalence in vampire bats was highest in non-reproductive and young individuals, did not differ by country, and was relatively stable over time (i.e., endemic). Metagenomics from pooled D. rotundus saliva from Peru detected non-hemotropic Mycoplasma species and hemoplasma genotypes phylogenetically similar to those identified in blood, providing indirect evidence for potential direct transmission of hemoplasmas through biting or social contacts. This study demonstrates vampire bats host several novel hemoplasmas and sheds light on risk factors for infection and basic transmission routes. Given the high frequency of direct contacts that arise when vampire bats feed on humans, domestic animals, and wildlife, the potential of these bacteria to be transmitted between species should be investigated in future work

The Modern Vampire as Romantic Hero: Acceptance, Love and Self-Control

The vampire has existed since the beginning of civilization as a metaphor for societal issues and beliefs concerning life and death. Throughout the centuries, the vampire has evolved to suit societal trends, transforming from the bloodthirsty monster of early mythology to an alluring and complex creature of modern times. The thesis explores the popularity of the vampire in twenty-first century literature and film by evaluating two of the most popular vampire series of the time, L.J Smith\u27s Vampire Diaries series ( 1991 , 2009) and Stephanie Meyer\u27s Twilight series (2005 - 2008); these texts characterize the vampire as a romantic superhero whose driven to protect those he loves. The modern vampire has rejoined society by becoming more human than ever in his ability to give and receive love. Smith and Meyer challenge traditional vampire mythology even further by making once helpless female victims into strong, driven heroines. The romance between vampire and mortal proves profound and redeems the protagonist into a champion of Christian virtue, embodying complete selflessness and self-control in their relationships. The modern vampire is an evolved form of the aristocratic vampire who is at once superhero, ideal lover and Christ-like, rather than monster

The History Of Vampire Folklore: Fear and Introspection 2000 BCE.-2000 CE.

The History of Vampire Folklore: Fear and Introspection, 2000 BCE.-2000 CE., is an exploration of the history of vampire folklore and how legends of vampires have influenced the behaviors of different cultures for centuries. Chapter one “Ancient and Classical Vampire Legends” begins with examples of pre-Christian vampire mythology including the vampire king Abhartach from Celtic Ireland, Classical Greecian vampires, Lilith as she is depicted in Sumer, as well the Old Testament during the Talmudic period of Hebrew mythology, and finally the Rakasha from Ancient Indian legends. “Slavic Vampire Folklore” concerns European vampires, more specifically the three types of vampires in Russian folklore, as well as the key aspects found through all European vampire folklore. “Vampire Folklore in Asia and South America,” introduces examples of vampirism from Peru and Indonesia. “The Transformation of Vampires in post-Romantic Literature,” explores how vampires shifted from being a representative of failure to follow cultural capital into humanity\u27s battle with our own consciousness resulting from the publication of post-Romantic age vampire literature. “Vampires Evolution Through Film,” explores how after the release of the film Nosferatu: a Symphony of Horror in 1922, many film adaptations of both Dracula and other vampire characters influenced the vampire to once again change, causing him to become a staple in popular culture

Ganglion-specific splicing of TRPV1 underlies infrared sensation in vampire bats.

Vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) are obligate blood feeders that have evolved specialized systems to suit their sanguinary lifestyle. Chief among such adaptations is the ability to detect infrared radiation as a means of locating hotspots on warm-blooded prey. Among vertebrates, only vampire bats, boas, pythons and pit vipers are capable of detecting infrared radiation. In each case, infrared signals are detected by trigeminal nerve fibres that innervate specialized pit organs on the animal's face. Thus, vampire bats and snakes have taken thermosensation to the extreme by developing specialized systems for detecting infrared radiation. As such, these creatures provide a window into the molecular and genetic mechanisms underlying evolutionary tuning of thermoreceptors in a species-specific or cell-type-specific manner. Previously, we have shown that snakes co-opt a non-heat-sensitive channel, vertebrate TRPA1 (transient receptor potential cation channel A1), to produce an infrared detector. Here we show that vampire bats tune a channel that is already heat-sensitive, TRPV1, by lowering its thermal activation threshold to about 30 °C. This is achieved through alternative splicing of TRPV1 transcripts to produce a channel with a truncated carboxy-terminal cytoplasmic domain. These splicing events occur exclusively in trigeminal ganglia, and not in dorsal root ganglia, thereby maintaining a role for TRPV1 as a detector of noxious heat in somatic afferents. This reflects a unique organization of the bat Trpv1 gene that we show to be characteristic of Laurasiatheria mammals (cows, dogs and moles), supporting a close phylogenetic relationship with bats. These findings reveal a novel molecular mechanism for physiological tuning of thermosensory nerve fibres

Spike, sex and subtext: intertextual portrayals of the sympathetic vampire on cult television

The vampire Spike of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the latest in a long line of a mbiguous but sympathetic vampires which have caught the public imagination, stretching back to Polidori’s Byronesque vampire, Lord Ruthven. This article argues that the vampire image that circulates across contemporary vampire fan cultures is one that exceeds any individual depiction of the vampire; the sympathetic vampire operates as a metatext for vampire fans who draw on textual cues to interpret vampires sympathetically, even when the text itself does not. In the case of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the text overtly encourages a sympathetic subtextual reading of Spike by linking his glamour, sex appeal and rebellion to a hinted-at unseen suffering, which is easily recognized by fans. Fans read Spike’s bad-boy pose as symbolic of hidden pathos. Indeed, the text adopts conventions associated with fan fiction in order to encourage and sustain a surrounding fan culture

Vampires, Viruses and Verbalisation: Bram Stoker’s Dracula as a genealogical window into fin-de-siècle science

This paper considers Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, published in 1897, as a window into techno-scientific and sociocultural developments of the fin-de-siècle era, ranging from blood transfusion and virology up to communication technology and brain research, but focusing on the birth of psychoanalysis in 1897, the year of publication. Stoker’s literary classic heralds a new style of scientific thinking, foreshadowing important aspects of post-1900 culture. Dracula reflects a number of scientific events which surfaced in the 1890s but evolved into major research areas that are still relevant today. Rather than seeing science and literature as separate realms, moreover, Stoker’s masterpiece encourages us to address the ways in which techno-scientific and psycho- cultural developments mutually challenge and mirror one another, so that we may use his novel to deepen our understanding of emerging research practices and vice versa (Zwart 2008, 2010). Psychoanalysis plays a double role in this. It is the research field whose genealogical constellation is being studied, but at the same time (Lacanian) psychoanalysis guides my reading strategy. Dracula, the infectious, undead Vampire has become an archetypal cinematic icon and has attracted the attention of numerous scholars (Browning & Picart 2009). The vampire complex built on various folkloristic and literary sources and culminated in two famous nineteenth-century literary publications: the story The Vampyre by John Polidori (published in 1819)2 and Stoker’s version. Most of the more than 200 vampire movies released since Nosferatu (1922) are based on the latter (Skal 1990; Browning & Picart 2009; Melton 2010; Silver & Ursini 2010). Yet, rather than on the archetypal cinematic image of the Vampire, I will focus on the various scientific ideas and instruments employed by Dracula’s antagonists to overcome the threat to civilisation he represents. Although the basic storyline is well-known, I will begin with a plot summary