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I recently saw yet another twilight-hating thread, argueing that "Real vampires burst into flames! I like old school vamps, not the sparkling ones!"
I couldn't decide if I should cry or laugh.
So, I decided to come to the relative safety of the guild and post what I've learned in my littrans 248: Vampire in Translation class. This information can be used for you to combat Twilight-haters supposed "knowledge" of how vamps are "supposed" to be.
ORIGINS:
1) First of all, to combat the comment on how vamps are supposed to burst into flame. One explaination for the vampire myth is that those who die of the plague, suicide, or murder were buried in quick, shallow graves. These graves would often get disturbed by dogs, or the corpse could be washed away during a storm. The corpse would be found outside the grave, immobile. People assumed it had dug out at night, and was paralyzed by the sun. No flames. Paralyzed.
So where do we get the burst-into-flames view? Oh, right, FICTION NOVELS. Yeah, so next time someone tells you vampires are supposed to flame-up in the sun, just let them know that they are JUST as influenced by media as those who prefer sparkles. It's all just fiction: there is no "right" or "wrong" way to do vamps.
2) Just to further go on with this super-interesting theme of vampire origins, there is the fact that people long ago didn't really understand the process of decomposition. Decomposing bodies release gasses, which fill the body and make for a "bloated" look to the corpse. The blood in the corpse can also re-liquify, and be forced up through the mouth by the gasses. People dig up their supposed vampire, and what happens? They see a bloated person with blood around their mouth. What would you think?
Then, on top of that, they decide to stake the body and what happens? It groans! ah! Well, today we obviously know this can be attributed to the gas escaping the lungs when their staked. Hence, Vampire myths begin.
3) Unfortunate Comatose people are buried alive, and when dug up people find the body has moved and was trying to claw it's way out. =Vampire myth. (saddest one, I think. Especially when the person wasn't buried yet, "comes back to life," and is staked alive. ew)
VAMPIRE BABY?
People can complain about this all they want, but it's actually VERY historically accurate to vampire myths (more so then other media about vampires that insist their sterile). Here's a common story from Romania:
A young widow is constantly visited by her dead husband, come back as a "Vampire." When the vampire comes, everyone else in the household runs outside in fear and hides. The widow and the vampire sleep together night after night, until one day a brave citizen steps in to save her and defeat the vampire. What do the villagers discover when they catch the vampire? It's actually a neighbor! The neighbor and the widow had killed the husband together, and had come up with the vampire idea to continue their affair!
This was a pretty common story/event. However, sometimes the vampire is never identified. The village assumes it really is a vampire, and so when the woman gets pregnant...poof! A Dhampire is born! Half-vampires were actually more co0mmon than you'd think. No one in old Romania would have argued the point that vampires could indeed have children!
I might put up more info, if anyone wants more. heart (I'm tired-only so much I can type!)
I took a class this semester, and I'm off to study abroad in Croatia this summer for the seminar "Vampires on the Border."
If anyone has any vampire-questions, I can try and answer them! I've learned a lot about vampire history in Eastern Europe and Greece.
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