So there I was, minding my own business to the degree I normally do, when I struck up a conversation with an unattended woman. None of the usual warning signals appeared (staring into space, downing triple vodkas more frequently than I breathe in, sudden pain to side of head as enraged boyfriend asserts himself with a pool cue, that sort of thing), so the conversation flows freely, and all is well until she casually tells me she's a vampire. Quick check; sarcasm detector reading zero, irony and satire likewise. Essentially, there's no clue that this lady thinks she isn't telling the truth i.e. she believes that she's telling the truth. Novel situation for me (both the truth telling and the vampire theme), so after eyeballing the exits again (I always do so anyway so that in the event of a fire I can help conduct an orderly and safe evacuation, but sometimes one feels the need to be doubly sure one knows where the exits are) I decide to take the bait.
Her belief (and I'm not knocking it, I'm not saying it's true or not true) revolved around the idea of a "psychic vampire", by which I don't mean a vampire who could make a fortune in Vegas, but rather a vampire who rather than uses blood as a source of energy or food (which to my mind was pretty much the crux of being a vampire, so this night out was turning into a real education), somehow feeds off people's emotions or states of mind. To be honest my questions weren't quite as rigorous as they could have been (but I'm drinking alot less nowadays), but as I understood it by being around people in outgoing, happy, states of mind she could recieve some kind of sustenance - whether physical or mental I didn't ask, instead taking a moment to consider the possibility (which I didn't voice) of someone being sensitive to people's moods and easily influenced.

Further questioning revealed further abilities; an ability to detect other vampires, as I understood it in a similar way to the immortals in the film "Highlander", but presumably without the sudden extreme rotating close-ups and cool music. "So there's more of you, are there?" I asked. Oh yes. Apparently there's a whole sub-culture out there, or should I say "out here"?

The conversation continued, although ever safety-concious I'd stopped drinking alcohol a while ago and was on the water, when she mumbled something about how most people either left when she announced she was a vampire, or they got all weird. I managed to hold my sarcasm inside ("Gosh, really? I wonder why they do that?") and decided that whilst it had made for a diverting conversation a part of my psyché was drawing comparisons with previous female companions and reminding me of the exact locations of the exits I'd noted earlier. I've always been in the habit of trusting the sensible part of my mind whenever I've been drinking, so I carefully and without causing offence extricated myself from the conversation and went home.

Upon the clearness of the next day I found myself vaguely piqued by my encounter of the previous night, so I thought I'd do a little research in the spare bandwidth whilst I waited for "Hot, Wet and Ready" to finish downloading. Turned out there was indeed a whole vampire subculture on the internet. I found myself fascinated by this subculture; let's make it clear, my fascination was not with vampires but with the people who believe themselves to be vampires of whatever sort, and those who believe in the existence of said vampires - for the record, I hereby make it clear that I don't believe one way or the other and I can quite happily exist in a state of choosing not to believe in the existence or non-existence of vampires in any sense (one of the few benefits of my several years worth of flirting with quantum physics).

The best way I thought to examine such a subculture would be to lurk for a while here and there, and then having the courtesy to make my presence known. So here I am. Early twenties unprofessional male living near London, for those that like to know that sort of thing.

Anyway, as I said, there's an awful lot of stuff out here. Some of the more interesting are the adverts from people wanting to be "donors"; I mean, the hospitals are always asking people to give blood to save lives and these guys want someone to drink theirs? That's something interesting right there. Likewise I've seen alot of adverts from people asking to be changed into a vampire; lots of terms for this, "turned", "brought over", etc. I've got to wonder what kind of person wants to be a vampire. Can anyone shed any light on this?

The vampire subculture may always be linked to some of the others, such as the Goth subculture, but I think I'm seeing a gradual separation of the two. I'm not sure why; I suspect that the creation of the internet has allowed the previously unconnected parts of the vampire subculture to link, becoming large enough that they no longer need to be part of the Goths etc. and can exist in their own right. However, there were signs that this was happening before the internet really hit the big time - for example, the rise of vampire related RPGs, the most successful of which seem to have a solid base in what we could refer to as "Live RPG". I even went so far as to acquire one of these to study further; as I said, I was becoming fascinated by the existence of this group of people who belived in the existence of, and sometimes believed themselves to be, vampires. And of course, a certain successful television series and spin-offs hasn't exactly hurt the popularity of this subculture, but I've seen some anger towards it, as though it somehow trivialises what some take very seriously, and attracts people into the subculture of a type that some other members of the sub-culture do not appreciate. Any thoughts, anyone?

Well, I've written a fair amount there. I hope I'm not intruding too much, and to reiterate; I'm happy existing in a state where belief or non-belief are not considerations. I've got more thoughts which I might voice later, depending on how well or poorly this missive is recieved.

Essentially, this looked like a good place to start.

Thanks for your time; any comments welcome.

Jim.

I have read your "thoughts"......It seems to me that you are probably a person who believes that science can explain everything......Although I am not here to judge or be mean.......Your encounter with her seems as if you almost wanted something like that to happen....But who knows.....And whether you believe in Vampires or not.....Don't put the thought out of your head......No one has been able to prove that they don't exist....And about the people wanting their blood being drank by someone......It must be a surge of excitment or energy or something of that nature......But never the less....Your "thoughts" were very interesting.

Thank you BlackDragon...::hugs you::

thoughts, huh? you seem to have plenty... what do you want mine for? *nudges you and winks* i'm just fooling... i like you already, actually.

what sort of person wants to be a vampire? in all honesty, the sort of person that wants to be a vampire is the sort of person that doesn't realize they already are. this is something i've expounded upon before, but i believe that a vampire is someone that needs something from others in order to survive... the folkloric view is that vampires need blood, and that they kill others to obtain it. but the truth of human nature is that we all need things from people to survive and thrive, and that we will hurt others to obtain those things.

which is not to say that there are not degrees of this. some people need more than the mainstream human being. some need different things than the mainstream human being. some are more aware of their need than the mainstream human being. these are the people that tend to term themselves "vampire" and to be a part of the subculture.

now that i'm done with my cracked out theories on what a vampire is, i'll get to your other question, which is closely related to the first.

those that ask to be "turned" are generally those that want admittance to the subculture, and do not really understand or take seriously the implications of being vampire. for this reason, they are not looked kindly upon by those that are vampire and do understand and take seriously those consequences. the anger at certain successful television shows and other media outlets is that they have brought more such people in search of the subculture.

~reads his post~ Well, you appear to be articulate, funny and smart. You even managed to throw in a couple of constructive questions. All and all.... not a bad first impression. ~smiles~

My favorite part.... that you spent several years flirting with quantum physics. ~grins~
Well.... that should have prepared you nicely for the concept of real living vampires. I suppose for some... believing in the existence of modern day vampires does become something of a process. A process of forgetting about simple logic..and embracing what appears to be a bizarre theoretical possibility. If you wrestled with theories related to quantum physics... were able to accept that in theory....some things exist.... no matter how bizarre. And that those things .... when coupled with certain probabilities... find truth. Well hell son..... our existence ought to be a cup of tea for you ..... ~much much laughing~

As for your question on why people want to be donors. Perhaps they are looking for a front row set on that whole probability thing. They believe in.... desire to be something that finds its basis in a concept or theory. Something for which... they have no tangle fact. By offering to be a donor... I think that many believe they will find proof to what had... until that time.....simply been a personal desire to believe. Proof of what society in general believes to be.... at the very least improbable.

As for why a person or group of people would believe themselves to be, or refer to themselves as"vampire" I have stated this before...... it may actually be a matter of semantics. Of finding a word or theory that bests suits their reality of themselves and their existence.

As Gwin said..... much of the concept of "vampires" is that they "TAKE" something (blood, energy,life-force) from someone of something. And that what is being taken.... is both a necessary part of the existence, health, and well being of both the person from
whom it is being taken ...... and the person doing the taking. That by either taking....willingly (donors) or non-willingly (prey).... the one taking...the "vampire”... enhances and or benefits his or her own existence.

So.... if you can believe in the concept that someone can willingly ....take blood, energy..... or life-force from another human being, living thing or element .... then no matter what they actually call themselves.... you have at least...... a theoretical possibility... that the human living vampire exists.

*smiles* :) cute...*smiles softly* (no sarcasm)

The term vampire which is used now...by everyone...is actually really a way to describe particular characteristics...

In essence the meaning of vampire is A person whom drains blood/energy/aura or any thing material in order to sustain him/herself...meaning someone who preys off victims...*like a conman could also be considered a vampire...

Its the Type of vampire, which derives from this old subculture i.e. "Vampire", that people tend to relate to as The vampire real or mythical

well something like that anywz...*sighs and laughs* you arguement or rather statement is fully justified and plausable...In any case...its cute...

I am impressed. your comments and thoughts ammuse me, but i really do not think that you took the time and effort you say you did after seeing this woman, just to come on here and announce you do not choose wether to believe or not. i admire that you have done some homework, and seem very educated in your speech. my question to you however, is did you, or do you now believe that this woman is a vampire, and have you seen her again.

however, you sound like a cautios person by your need to know your exits, and i believe that your statements saying you do or do not believe, and your statement saying that you may reply if... is simply securing yourself means to leave, and exit if you will.

hate me for writing my thoughts, but not for being judgemental, for i am wrong, prove me wrong, that is what it is you are here to do right. you have sized us up, now it is my honor. and do not be mistaken as i mean no offence by any of this, if you are offended, my deepest apologies, tell me and i will ratefy the situation to the best of my ability.

the thought of vampires concerns you. you were made uncomfortable when you could not percieve sarcasm in her voice. it has had some effect on your drinking too, so you must be considering some sort of reality of it, assuming there is not an unnamed reason for the reduction in drinking. it is a safe assumption on my part there is not, i do believe. you were also effected by trying to cut alchohol that night.

you next adress donors, and who would want to be a vampire.

for donors, i agree, that they do it to be up close and see what is going on, and to also believe or be proven that vampires exist in the first place. donors give or do not give blood out of desire, some like the thought of it, some want the proof.

for who wants to be a vampire, most people in society believe in a mythical vampire, beutiful, graceful, and immortal to most extents. these are qualities almost no one on this earth would refuse, so you tell me who would like to be a vampire. the difference between myth and fact is a great gap, but asuming most people believe in myth vampires. if you were offered this would you refuse. some people want to be a vampire to escape who they are, to be strong, may even take some vengence on this hateful world who knows. but the concept of it is very inticing.

next you compare vampires to gothics, and although some may be classified as this, many or most do not, they are 2 different things. a typical mythical vampire is goth, dressed in black, cloak and dagger look if you will. but really it is just what you want to be, nothing more.

to be honest you have sent a spark of interest here, i look forward to more "thoughts" of yours. the way you speak i assume you have read quite a few of our posts before speaking, another sign of caution.

in light of your closing statement, saying that belief or non belief should not be considered, i then do not ask wether you believe, but take an approach a edducated man such as yourself may use.

is it possible

Thoughts of † Seth †

ps, i do believe there is no intrusion here, it is not my place to say so but this forum is open to all.

She seems to know what she was and all about Vampires. However it seems that you dont know the Difference between Vampire and Vampyre. I do believe it is very possable that she is a vamp , however dont warrie , she wont be tracking you down and sucking you dry...

She wont live much after 100 , and she will still age , it isnt that bigger deal...

The type that people think about like in Blade and Queen of the damned are commonly called Vampyre... it is us that you should be warried about, it is us that you should run if you see in the dark ally....