So I was talking with a friend...and realized that some of us have ever really had a thread directly relating to the chance to debate whether or not we believe that HLV's (Human Living Vampires) actually have some substance to their claims or not.


For instance: Several HLV's claim that they "need" blood. Several claim that they have a real problem with the sunlight. Several claim heightened awareness levels. Heightened response levels.

So....what do you all think about it? Real? Not real? Maybe real?

Yes, I'm aware that this is liable to be an inflammatory topic, so should you not be able to post without being an ass to someone who doesn't hold your views....then stay out of it. :D

O-kaaaaaaay.....

How to do this without sounding condescending, arrogant, or just generally like I laugh at a lot of people (this perception of me is very far from the mark by the way)...

Needing blood - No. There is no nutritional value in blood, in fact drinking blood on its own is actually bad for you - and if you had enough of it you would cause yourself to vomit.

Furthermore, there is no addictive quality in blood (unless the donor is a coke addict), many people may become addicted to the thrill of drinking someones blood (much the same as people become addicted to the smoking of marijuana - but they aren't addicted to the plant itself), or become addicted to the idea of taking something from someone else. Should this get to the point where they feel the need to attack people - then they are nothing more than a criminal and should be dealt with as such.

Sunlight harms them - People have different tolerances for the radiation that people like to call sunshine. Personally I go lobster red after five minutes in the sun - but I'm reasonably sure I'm not a vampire. Some people are actually allergic to sunlight, although this is incredibly rare. One last point on this, if you spend all your time in a dark room, don't go out until it's dark out, and generally don't see the outside of your house for long periods of time - you aren't going to react too well to a nice sunny day spent in the park.

Heightened senses - Ever done coke? Or speed? Or ecstacy? Or acid? There are many things which can artificially boost your awareness of surroundings, most of them through stimulating endorphins in the brain. Sometimes this just occurs naturally - you wake up one morning feeling like shit, the next day you wake up feeling on top of the world. There's no real explanation for this - but it doesn't happen just to people who think they are vampires.

I believe the only way one needs blood is in that they need blood in their body (But that's everyone) No one needs to drink blood. I don't believe people can suffer from withdrawal symptoms from lack of blood (As I have been "told" before).

I don't believe anyone that is an HLV is more sensitive to the sun than any normal person (because of HLVness, or anything related to it, that is).

Same response for Heightened senses/abilities etc.

I think my views are pretty clear: if you get to thinking you have Vampiric symptoms, those symptoms will become incredibly enhanced... it's psychosomatic, or auto-suggestion.

Therefore, I try not to look down on HLV's even though I am very sceptical myself...it's their life not mine. Once upon a time I used to feel the same way, although I never openly discussed it with anyone. Being very analytical I knew what was causing it. Anyway, imagining yourself immortal is rather close to never having to grow up, it offers you a ready-made identity: I found my identity and grew up.

I think that sometimes people want to believe they are vampires so much that they convince themselves they need blood. I know this may not be the case with all hlvs but i dont doubt that some are.
P.s dont be offended its only my opinion and it'll prolly change as i read the replys.

My thesis:

Reality is based on perception, to alter your perception is to change your reality.

Therefore, if someone really believe they're a vampire - then they are in their own mind.

Now, to the rest of us they aren't, but I guess that HLVs are real vampires in their own minds. That accounts for something.

Doesn't mean I treat them as vampires, just people who want to be vampires.
Because a vampire is a creature of myth and fiction.
HLVs aren't immortal, and therefore that makes them pretty much worthless in the "monster market". Because yes, vampires are undead monsters.

Hard to say really, I surely don't dislike HLVs, but I don't really like debating their authenticity because its just opinion vs. opinion.

I don't believe that anyone is addicted to blood or that they would suffer withdrawal symptoms if they don't get it. I think they believe it though.

As for the allergy to sunlight, some people do have problems with the sun. This does not make them vampires.

Heightened Senses - I guess if we want something bad enough, we can convince ourselves of almost anything.

Please do not think that I don't like HLV's. I don't even know one. And if I did meet one, that would hardly be representative of an entire subculture. Of course, my opinion may change later.

I do hope that some HLV's respond here...I would hate for this to be entirely one-sided.

I guess a person could be addicted to blood through their mind. Physically they don't need it at all.

Kind of like cannabis, as someone has mentioned allready.
The blood may become a mental addiction. Which is an addiction and also hard to over come. :cofpap:
I suppose similar to what others have allready said. They like the rush they get from it.
:imu:
I suppose like a 'placebo'.
I gave my friend orange juice all night and told him it was vodka and orange. He was showing all signs of being drunk.T'was really funny. :lol: He thought he was drunk becuase he thought that he had taken something that would effect him that way. Maybe that is what HLV's do. If they think they are getting some sort of sensation or effect from the drinking of blood, then maybe they do get it.

There are always doubts in everyone's mind. The way vampirism became available to the public is...a very long time ago there was a very rare disease of the face. The disease makes looking at direct light very harmful to your EYES. Also, the gums are messed with and a few random teeth become longer. Vampirism was created through fear of people that were different in this way. Real vampires, well who really knows. Go with your instinct. I used to not believe. Now, all I can say is that something a long time ago has changed my mind.

~Samoht

Sorry, but after thinking for a few minutes I realized that the disease came from the blood. That is also where the idea of blood drinking came from. What people believe about vampires is what the public has rubbed into their minds. Who says vampires have to do all the things the public portrays them to do.

~Samoht

I think all of you are right, in each their way. Well... yes, vampirism as we know it today just derives from Bram Stokers "Dracula" whom we all have come to love. BUT, the real vampires, as desribed in myth (not HLV´s) were ghastly monsters, that so absolutely were not living, nice or even smelling good.
HLV´s though... -Why shouldn´t they exist?
Basically; if somebody THINK they are vampires, without being it.... don´t they then just need help from a psyciatrist? Being afraid is ok, but actually believing, one is a vampire, without being it is sick. Especially if they crave blood.
HLV´s on the other side... if they really do exist, why then, should we not just accept it, and get along better. I am fully aware of though, that the first time somebody would claim to be a vampire, and actually be that... That he or she probarbly just would wind up in a laboratory. Poor person!

But this is exactly where HLV's go wrong, they simply act up to a stereotype of the vampire - therefore losing any claim to individuality that they had.

There's no denying the existence of HLVs because they do exist - just people who want to be something different from what they are.

I'll just be pedantic here: ONE of the ways Vampirism became part of human tradition is through misunderstood illnesses, but a read around of some of the topics here will show you that it's much more complex an issue than that.

To date we have identified the following possible reasons for historical belief in vampires.

1) Fear of Death, confusion about the afterlife, scare-mongering by the Church.
2) Misdiagnosis of post-mortem changes in the body.
3) Social and political ostracism of eccentric individuals and rumour-mongering.
4) Misunderstood illnesses causing changes associated with 'vampirism' - including epidemics of things like TB ("My entire family are dead! There is evil in our midst!! ").
5) Mental illness of some individuals, (such as Elizabeth Bathory), expressed as a lust for blood.
6) Innate need for humans to connect with their hunter/gatherer primal, pseudoerotic instincts.

Please add to this list if you think I have missed one. I know I have a selective memory.

My Thesis:
To be an HLV, one needs to be a rich spoiled bitch.

Factors to this:

• One can´t work in a reasonable fashion (how many vampire 7-11 clerks do you know)
• The clothes are expensive
• You have to have an extensive access to drugs in order to just spout "i´m a vampire"
• The days in the hospital after the beatings you get invalidate working (see point one)
• The only places that actually will acomodate a place to stay for you must be high-class joints (no one staples all the windows for a working class man on a flophouse)
• To have time to read and write "poetry" about being dead, you need to be in a place where no one will fall to the floor laughing
• On a related subject, there´s a reason why Byron is Lord Byron, and there isn´t a Lord Chupacabras (Thanks, Marx!!!)
• Finally, to really really really be a vampire, you´ll need cool minions, named like Igor or something, that goes "Yes, Mastheth"...they cost a lot of money...ergo, you must already have the money, because you can´t work, and my thesis is law!!!

The problem wiht the validity of the HLV statement is that it's the most nonexclusive and nontrying club in the world to join.

All you have to do to be an HLV is simply state "I am one". There are no other qualifications. This in itself destroys the validity of being one.

One can just as easily state "I breathe air!". With no real qualifications, it's meaningless. You don't have to do anything, you don't have to be anything, and you don't have to believe anything. You just have to say it, and then act outraged when other people don't take you seriously.

The sunlight issue...

I have claimed in the past to be a vampire "just to be a smartass and screw with the kiddies" but I am neither a vampire nor a HLV. However, I understand the sunlight issue, if I spend too much time in the sun I get sick as hell, it makes me weak and nauseous and generally saps all my energy. I have an aunt that has an allergy to the sun, if she spends any time at all in direct sunlight she gets red splotches wherever the sun hits her "I'm not saying instantly but after a couple of minutes" and if she is in direct sunlight to long she will actually begin to blister.

So... got any naked pics of her?

As far as heightened senses go, that could be applied to anyone. If you're put into a situation where you get scared, and not necessarily afraid for your life, your senses do become heightened. That whole fight or flight thing.

Hey, you know...that´s all the sympthoms for hard coke use:

• You have "heightened senses"
• You feel you can fly
• You become more of a night person
• You get allergies to the sun

So, we can asume all vampires are drug adicts with serious reality issues?

Interesting point. Reminds me of "The Addiction".

The James Tucker film?

Cool movie.

I think HLV's are real. But I think to truly know you have to have be or meet an HLV.