Vampires are mythical creatures either demonic entities with the ability to shape shift (some are thought to transform into bats or wolves) or the deceased who have risen from the grave due to being bitten and killed by a vampire in their previous life as human and thus becoming a demonic possessed version of the human. Vampire legends and myths come from all over the globe and date back centuries including with many supposed sightings and alleged attacks prevalent in both Native American Folklore and Eastern European folklore.
within literature Vampire characteristics vary due to the writers favoured version of the legend or to suit the needs of the plot however many ancient myths generally seem to follow a pattern and have common characteristics such as
- Vampires have no reflection
- Vampires have no shadow
- Sunlight will kill Vampires
- 4 ways to kill Vampires (including sunlight) others are; Stabbing the vampire through the heart with a wooden stake, decapitation, of being burnt.
- Vampires have no pulse as they are dead
- They have no breath as they do not need to breathe to live
- A Vampire can not enter a house without invitation
- Vampires can not cross running water
- Vampires can be repelled by Garlic, Holy Water, or a Crucifix
- Vampires are said to have superhuman strength
Some of the most famous historical Vampire tales are those of Vlad Tepes 1431-1476 a Romanian Prince who also referred to as Vlad The Impaler, earning his reputation as a Vampire due to gaining great pleasure from his exceedingly cruel and bloodthirsty methods of torture which he inflicted on his enemies, which allegedly included roasting children and feeding the to their parents and cutting the breasts off of women and feeding them to their husbands, after which he would impale all that was left of his victims on posts. German art images from the period of his rein show Vlad feasting amongst a field of corpses impaled on spikes. However as bloodthirsty as he may have been in Romanian Folklore he is actually seen as a national hero who fought to protect his country and his people.
Vlad Tepes was a member of the house of Draculesti, with his father who was named Vlad II Dracul being the inspiration for Bram Stoker Horror Novel character Count Dracula.
Peter Pologojowitz A Serbian peasant who allegedly rose from the grave as a Vampire 3 days after he died. The tale says that Pologojowitz returned home to appear before his son demanding food to which his son responded by feeding him, after which Pologojowitz fled the scene. However on returning to his son the next night requesting food he was turned away, and his sons corpse found by fellow villagers the following morning, after his sons death 9 more consecutive deaths occurred in the small and remote Serbian village With Peter Pologojowitz becoming the main suspect. According to folklore prior to departing this world the victims complained of exhaustion and appeared to have symptoms connected with extreme blood loss.
With tales of Vampires sweeping through Europe at the time the people of the village were terrified and called for the body of Peter Pologojowitz to be exhumed, and on doing so were shocked at what they found. Peters body was apparently perfectly preserved with no signs of decay anywhere to be found, even more chillingly was the blood present around his mouth. The villagers decided to that in an attempt to prevent any further attacked they would drive a wooden stake through Peters heart and on doing so reports say that an unusually large volume of blood gushed out from the body. As an extra precautionary measure the villagers then burnt the remains on a pyre. The 9 bodies of Peters victims were also disposed of via a stake through the heart and were then re buried with garlic and Whitethorn.
The Vampire Of Alnwick Castle this tale of a blood sucking monster actually pre dates the term "Vampire" it is reported that a man who died whilst spying on his cheating wife, by falling from a great hight (the position on the top of a roof he was using to spy) returned from the dead attacking villagers in the middle of the night and leaving a outbreak of plague in his wake. According to the accounts of chronicler William of Newburgh the villagers marched to the burial site of the man and exhumed his body, which was said to leak fresh warm blood when accidentally sliced with a spade. The villagers dragged the corpse from the grave and burnt it on a pyre until nothing remained but ashes. However in relation to this tale rumour has it that beneath the grounds of Alnwick Castle and the town nearby run a series of underground passages which are said to be home to bizarre creatures not known of this earth. Humans in the past are said to have attempted to seal the passage ways using witchcraft.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The reasons I chose Buffy the Vampire Slayer as my series are because I used to watch the show as a child/young teen and as I am not a huge fan of Gruesome scenes, I thought this series would involve far less blood and guts due to the fact that it is aimed at a slightly younger audience.
I think that Claudia has quite a lot in common with the main character of Buffy as she is a character who is bar no means perfect and has problems in her life that other people can not understand. she is a bit of an out cast and not hugely popular at school which many young women and tens can relate to. I feel that Claudia herself probably feels like an odd one out considering most people in the world have fairly normal lives and by contrast hers is very abnormal.
The series deals with a range of issues many young people are faced with everyday such as romantic relationships, and divorce again these are things that people recognize in their own lives and relate to.
The series focuses on the life of this young individual Buffy, who happens to be what is referred to as "the chosen one" she has a calling, and that is to kill vampires and other such demons in the town where she lives which also happens to be the gate way to hell called "Sunny Dale".
Other main character's in the series tend to be generally good looking which again appeals to a younger audience who place a lot of value on appearance. The characters are likeable for the most part with a few exceptions, one particular female character named Cordelia is rather unpleasant at times, being extremely obnoxious, shallow, not entirely trustworthy, also sometimes cruel and self obsessed. Her character is meant to reflect the typical American popular cheerleader type of teenage female in a high school setting. As she feels threatened by Buffy probably as she sees her as competition in terms of gaining attention from boys and being popular she takes an instant dislike to her, and as she senses there is something a little different about Buffy she likes to taunt and bring her down at every opportunity.
Other than Cordelia there are not a great deal of unlikeable regular characters, that is until the point where Buffy's boyfriend Angel turns from a good Vampire who has a soul to a soulless evil Vampire which she eventually has to slay.
Other than this, Most of the "baddies" in general only last for a 1 episode, on the rare occasion some return for a few more, however this is not typical, especially not in the first season.
Season two sees the first appearance of a character named Spike, a vampire who in sorts has two personalities, evil in terms of killing humans to feed,whilst having an almost likeable side, his part is that of a comedic role and is both entertaining and charming at times.
the series features a number of creatures and entities from other worlds including Witches, Werewolves, Ghosts, Demons, Mummy's, Curses and a range of Monsters as well as Vampires.
The Vampires in this series are for part of the time completely normal looking, in that I mean that they look just like human beings usually with just slightly paler skin. However when they are provoked or hungry for blood they turn into ugly, wrinkled, demons with yellow eyes and sharp fangs.
The main theme from the series which I am basing my Claudia and Quentin characters on is the love story behind the pair. I feel that making Quentin a Vampire provides me with ample opportunity to explore his different character traits and design looks for two personalities within the same character. The same theme is going to be applied to the character of Claudia where I shall describe the character and appearance of her in the reality of her situation whilst creating a contrasting look which reflects the person and behaviour she creates in her mind of how she would like to be seen.
Bibliography
about, read with Moonlight (aka Amanda) loves to write about (2010) ‘The Terrifying Tale of Peter Plogojowitz • Vampires.com’. Vampires.com. Available at: http://www.vampires.com/the-terrifying-tale-of-peter-plogojowitz/ (Accessed: 19 March 2015).
Dorian, M., Sorescu, M. and Deletant, D. (1988) ‘Vlad Dracula, the Impaler’, World Literature Today, 62(2). doi: 10.2307/40143599.
Miller, E. (no date) Traits of the Vampire. Available at: http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~emiller/traits.html (Accessed: 19 March 2015).
‘Vampires: Fact, Fiction and Folklore’ (no date). LiveScience.com. Available at: http://www.livescience.com/24374-vampires-real-history.html (Accessed: 19 March 2015).
Citation
(Miller, no date)
(‘Vampires: Fact, Fiction and Folklore’, no date)
(Dorian, Sorescu and Deletant, 1988)
(about with Moonlight (aka Amanda) loves to write about, 2010)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The reasons I chose Buffy the Vampire Slayer as my series are because I used to watch the show as a child/young teen and as I am not a huge fan of Gruesome scenes, I thought this series would involve far less blood and guts due to the fact that it is aimed at a slightly younger audience.
I think that Claudia has quite a lot in common with the main character of Buffy as she is a character who is bar no means perfect and has problems in her life that other people can not understand. she is a bit of an out cast and not hugely popular at school which many young women and tens can relate to. I feel that Claudia herself probably feels like an odd one out considering most people in the world have fairly normal lives and by contrast hers is very abnormal.
The series deals with a range of issues many young people are faced with everyday such as romantic relationships, and divorce again these are things that people recognize in their own lives and relate to.
The series focuses on the life of this young individual Buffy, who happens to be what is referred to as "the chosen one" she has a calling, and that is to kill vampires and other such demons in the town where she lives which also happens to be the gate way to hell called "Sunny Dale".
Other main character's in the series tend to be generally good looking which again appeals to a younger audience who place a lot of value on appearance. The characters are likeable for the most part with a few exceptions, one particular female character named Cordelia is rather unpleasant at times, being extremely obnoxious, shallow, not entirely trustworthy, also sometimes cruel and self obsessed. Her character is meant to reflect the typical American popular cheerleader type of teenage female in a high school setting. As she feels threatened by Buffy probably as she sees her as competition in terms of gaining attention from boys and being popular she takes an instant dislike to her, and as she senses there is something a little different about Buffy she likes to taunt and bring her down at every opportunity.
Other than Cordelia there are not a great deal of unlikeable regular characters, that is until the point where Buffy's boyfriend Angel turns from a good Vampire who has a soul to a soulless evil Vampire which she eventually has to slay.
Other than this, Most of the "baddies" in general only last for a 1 episode, on the rare occasion some return for a few more, however this is not typical, especially not in the first season.
Season two sees the first appearance of a character named Spike, a vampire who in sorts has two personalities, evil in terms of killing humans to feed,whilst having an almost likeable side, his part is that of a comedic role and is both entertaining and charming at times.
the series features a number of creatures and entities from other worlds including Witches, Werewolves, Ghosts, Demons, Mummy's, Curses and a range of Monsters as well as Vampires.
The Vampires in this series are for part of the time completely normal looking, in that I mean that they look just like human beings usually with just slightly paler skin. However when they are provoked or hungry for blood they turn into ugly, wrinkled, demons with yellow eyes and sharp fangs.
The main theme from the series which I am basing my Claudia and Quentin characters on is the love story behind the pair. I feel that making Quentin a Vampire provides me with ample opportunity to explore his different character traits and design looks for two personalities within the same character. The same theme is going to be applied to the character of Claudia where I shall describe the character and appearance of her in the reality of her situation whilst creating a contrasting look which reflects the person and behaviour she creates in her mind of how she would like to be seen.
Bibliography
Cult Television - Buffy the Vampire Slayer Homepage (no date) Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/buffy/ (Accessed: 5 May 2015)
VanDerWerff, T. (2012) 10 episodes that show how Buffy The Vampire Slayer blew up genre TV. Available at: http://www.avclub.com/article/10-episodes-that-show-how-ibuffy-the-vampire-slaye-89781 (Accessed: 5 May 2015)
Citation
(Cult Television - Buffy the Vampire Slayer Homepage, no date)
(VanDerWerff, 2012)
Hi Everyone, am MARY from USA,
ReplyDeleteThis was how me and my Boyfriend became VAMPIRES. I got a guy from the internet called Mr. Barry who was a VAMPIRE so i told him that me and my boyfriend would love to become VAMPIRES so he asked me of my Name ,Country, Age ,State , address and in the next 3 days i got the blood sample through the DHL which me and my boyfriend took in the blood into our body and in the next 30 minutes we turned into a VAMPIRE so if you are interested in becoming a VAMPIRE. First: Vampires is not at all like in the movies or books, Sure. I understand. You are young; you have the whole world open to you. You can be anything that you choose if you apply yourself and try hard to work toward that goal. But being a vampire is not what it seems like. It’s a life full of good, and amazing things. We are as human as you are.. It’s not what you are that counts, but how you choose to be. Do you want a life full of interesting things? Do you want to have power and influence over others? To be charming and desirable? To have wealth, health, and longevity? contact the vampires creed today via email: vampirewonden@gmail.com