by Brian Righi
By the time the Internet rolled around, the community was ready to explode. Enthusiasm in vampirism soared to new heights as the age of information ushered in thousands of chat rooms and websites where vampires and those interested in them could meet, mingle, and exchange ideas. It also meant that to some degree the movement lost its underground edge to the voracious beast of consumerism. Amusingly, one indicator of its new status was the rise in vampire-themed weddings in Las Vegas. For the price of a few poker chips, a half-inebriated couple could stumble in off the Strip and be married by a guy with plastic fangs and a cheap vampire suit, all to the scratchy sounds of recorded organ music piped out of a loudspeaker.
Vampyres
When understanding the modern vampire movement, it is important to make the distinction that it draws very little from the creature’s folkloric past, but rather relies on a reinvention of the myth to suit its own purposes—a thought that would make any eighteenth-century Eastern European peasant drop his pitchfork and torch in disbelief. Yet who could blame modern vampire enthusiasts? After all, no one wants to emulate a bloated, disease-ridden corpse stumbling about in the night covered in grave dirt and blood like some mindless zombie. In fact, when referring to themselves, many modern vampires prefer to spell the word vampire with a y, as vampyre, in order to separate themselves from the revenants of Eastern European tradition.
Outside of the obvious pop culture influences of film, television, and novels, two unique trends developed to help shape the image of the vampire in the twentieth century. The first can be found in the occult writings of earlier, nineteenth-century spiritualists who broadened the concept of the vampire from a primitive blood drinker to a being with an astral nature that fed off the energy of others. This in turn opened the door for those who wished to pursue a vampiric lifestyle but were far too squeamish to engage in the traditional blood play that qualified them as one of the new living undead. The second trend was the introduction of live action roleplaying games, or LARPs, onto the scene. As an offshoot of the popular Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, first published in 1974, LARPs took roleplaying to a new level, placing the gamer physically in the role of their character and requiring that they act out their responses in order to win the game.
In 1991 the LARP Vampire: The Masquerade by White Wolf Games was published, taking as its theme a world in which postmodern vampires interact with one another through various clans to which they owe allegiance. The result was twofold. First, it provided a venue by which those interested in a vampyre lifestyle could interact and play out their fantasies. The second result was altogether unexpected, in that the fantasy game began to inspire new traditions or ideals in the vampire mythology unlike anything seen before, proving that in some cases life does imitate art.
For instance, the game is based on a series of rules that govern the interaction of the players; taking their lead from the game, many modern vampires adopted an ethical system known as the Black Veil 2.0 or “The 13 Rules of the Community.” As published in Michelle Belanger’s book The Psychic Vampire Codex, these guidelines spell out how vampyres are to treat each other and members of mainstream society. Several of these rules emphasize that discretion should be exercised at all times—both when revealing one’s self to the outside world and during blood play. Other rules state that donors should be treated with respect and never harmed either physically or emotionally, and that the utmost safety precautions should be used when drinking another’s blood. Finally, each vampire community has its own rules and hierarchy, which must be respected by members of other communities (Belanger 2004, 265–68).
While some within the subculture have criticized the list as being too closely associated with the roleplaying game that spawned it, others claim it provides a systematic overview within the community, stressing qualities such as respect, safety, diversity, and responsibility.
Lifestyle Vampyres
Although the term vampyre in its modern sense is a catch-all phrase for a wide range of practices and beliefs, there are two important types that deserve further examination. The first is perhaps the most numerous, and participants in this group are known as lifestyle vampyres, because while they do not believe they are actual vampires, they are fascinated with everything associated with the topic. Many dress in dark or Victorian-style clothing, lighten their skin with makeup, or wear special contact lenses and prosthetic fangs. Some diehards even go as far as to sleep in a coffin at night to get the full effect.
While the majority do not consume human blood, some engage in the practice on occasion out of curiosity, as part of a group ritual, or as a form of eroticism. Lifestyle and other vampyres often claim that they live in two worlds or have two natures, consisting of a dayside and a nightside persona. During the day many hold regular jobs as teachers, construction workers, or doctors. At night, however, they don their vampire clothing, pop in their fangs, and mingle with others of their kind at vampyre clubs or other similarly themed establishments.
Real Vampyres
The second type of vampyre includes those who do not define themselves by their style of dress or may not even associate with other vampyres, but who believe that they must feed off the blood or energy of others in order to survive. Members of this group, whom we’ll call real vampyres, see their vampirism as something inherent to their genetic makeup rather than a choice they make. While some resent their cravings and the social stigma it places on them, others have come to accept the need as a normal part of their lives. A few even believe that the act of feeding from another human gives them supernatural powers, including heightened awareness, night vision, premonitions, mind reading, and aura perception.
This consuming need to feed often takes one of two forms: drinking the blood of a willing donor or absorbing some of their very life energy. Those who ingest human blood are often referred to as Sanguinarians and usually do so in very small amounts, because large quantities act as a natural emetic causing nausea and vomiting. They may feed anywhere from once every few months to daily depending on their need, but many real vampyres report that if they abstain for too long they grow physically weak or sick and in some rare cases can die.
Contrary to most movie images, real vampyres do not creep into open windows at night and bite beautiful young women on the neck. In fact, the human bite is one of the most unsanitary methods available and can lead to serious infection. Instead, real vampyres feed on willing donors by making a small incision in the skin with a medical lancet or razor just superficial enough to draw a small amount of blood but not deep enough to scar. There are of course risks involved in the practice, including the transmission of bloodborne pathogens such as hepatitis and HIV. Small groups of trusted vampyres and donors frequently form what are called feeding circles to help minimize the spread of such diseases. A portion even choose to feed on the blood of butchered meat when they cannot find a trusted donor or because they disdain human blood altogether, but this too carries its own set of problems. What’s important to understand about real vampyres is their belief that blood carries within it a rejuvenating power, and while most find human blood a satisfying source, many believe the blood of another vampyre is more powerful because it carries within it the essences of those whose blood they consumed as well.
Another means of feeding is known as psychic vampirism and occurs when the vampyre feeds off the living essence, life force, or energy of another person. Many religious traditions, especially those with Eastern influences, believe that humans, and all living organisms for that matter, are in part comprised of invisible auric and pranic energy that acts as a vital living force running through the world. While psychic vampyres only ethically feed in this manner from willing donors, much as their blood-drinking cousins, some less scrupulous choose to conduct their feedings on people who are unaware that they are the target of a psychic attack.
The notion of psychic vampirism was first developed in the spiritual circles o
f the nineteenth century by writers such as Violet Mary Firth Evans, who used the pseudonym Dion Fortune from her family’s Latin motto Deo, non fortuna (“By God, not fate”). In her 1930 work Psychic Self-Defense, she laid the groundwork for this form of vampirism, claiming “that psychic attacks are far commoner than generally realized, even by occultists themselves”(p. xiv). Dion Fortune highlighted many cases of psychic vampire attacks and claimed to have been the victim of several herself. More importantly for the vampyre community that followed, she and other writers like her removed the notion that vampires now and in the past subsisted only on human blood.
Psychic vampirism is believed to occur on a number of levels, ranging from non-intrusive surface feedings where the vampyre draws upon the faint cast-off energy of those around them, to deep feedings in which they siphon large amounts of energy from a single person. A few even claim the ability to leave their body in astral form while asleep and seek out victims whom they feed upon remotely in dreams. Finally, some are said to be completely unaware that they even possess the ability and drain those around them unconsciously.
In Konstantinos’ Vampires: The Occult Truth, the author and occult expert recounts his own brush with a psychic vampyre while at a party. After entering a mildly altered state of consciousness from exhaustion, Konstantinos gazed across the room to an older woman sitting by herself and was horrified to find he could see her dark vampiric emanations, which he described as a “dark purple aura that emanated about two feet from her body. Towards its edges the aura seemed to darken so that it looked almost black, yet the darkened area did not prevent me from seeing through it to the purple area. From the dark edge of the aura, several thin, black tentacles were protruding and moving towards the group of party guests” (Konstantinos 1996, 148).
Some conditions require that all a vampyre has to do is sit in a crowded room and soak up the ambient energy around them, while at other times the vampyre can imagine a tendril of psychic energy extending from their body towards another person, which latches on to their victim’s being and drains it of energy. Usually after a vampyre is done feeding, the donor or victim may experience fatigue or exhaustion and on some occasions even illness or worse, while juxtaposed to this the vampyre is left refreshed and rejuvenated. We’ve all known people who leave us mentally and emotionally drained after spending any length of time with them just as they seem to become more energized by our presence, never realizing that we may have been the victim of a psychic assault.
As strange as many of these practices may seem to some, it’s important to note that although lifestyle vampyres and real vampyres represent the vast majority of the vampyre subculture, there are other variations or hybrid groups mixing at various levels with everything from gothic to punk to sadomasochistic eroticism. Even within the major groups that represent the modern vampyre there is much overlap, and distinguishing between a real fang and a fake fang can be difficult at times. While interest in vampires will always cycle between periods of dormancy and sheer mania, it’s exciting to watch the new face of the vampire being applied by modern enthusiasts, adding yet another chapter to the creature’s legend.
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Hence as long as one believes that the evil man wears horns, one will not discover an evil man.
—Erich Fromm, The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness
8
The Blood Drinker Next Door
Sitting like a pale specter in the dark sky, the gibbous moon wanes high overhead as you make your way through the twisting streets of the neighborhood. In another twenty minutes you’ll be back at home sitting in front of the television watching your favorite sitcom and thinking about work tomorrow. For now the crisp air muffles the sounds of your cadence, and the occasional noise of a distant dog barking is the only thing that seems to break the silence. Rounding Elm Street you quicken the pace, knowing that you’re about to enter a section that most other residents shy away from even during the daylight. Weed-choked lots spring up where houses once stood, and the few that do remain sit like quiet sleepers with their shades tightly drawn.
A twisted wrought-iron fence begins on your left, and although you would rather not look, you still glimpse the forms of the fading tombstones and moldering crypts beyond that make up Oakwood Cemetery. Of course as an adult you don’t believe in ghosts or other such nonsense, but the place does have its share of creepy tales, and walking past it at night alone does nothing to keep the hairs on the back of your neck from standing up. Moving your legs faster, you break into a nervous run past the massive gates that mark its entrance until you round another corner, losing it from sight. With aching lungs and burning muscles you eventually slow to a walk again, giving yourself time to get your heart back under control. Now that the fear is gone, you cannot help but smile at the thought of how childish it all seems. You blame your grandmother for filling your head with all those stories about vampires lurking around cemeteries just waiting to pounce on naughty little children.
Lost in your thoughts, you hardly notice the car coming up from behind until it pulls to a stop next to you. Its murky interior seems impenetrable in the darkness, and just as your brain begins to flash its warning signals the window rolls down and out pops the smiling face of your next-door neighbor, Mr. Johnson.
“Out for an evening stroll, I see,” he beams at you.
“Ye … yes,” you stutter in obvious relief. “But I’m a little winded right now.”
“Well, by all means, then, hop in, and I’ll give you a ride home,” he offers.
You hesitate at first, looking back to the bend that leads past the cemetery once more. After all, he is your next-door neighbor, right? You’ve seen him going to church on Sundays; he always keeps his yard nice; and he has a wife and kids. Bending low to enter the dark car, you think how lucky you are not to have to run past that creepy cemetery again, never realizing that the real monster is sitting in the seat next to you, smiling and adjusting the mirror as he pulls away from the curb and drives off into the night.
Days later the authorities will find your lifeless body, drained of all its blood, in a ditch not far from the cemetery, and although they have no suspects the local paper will run sinister headlines such as “Vampire Killer on the Loose,” or “Body Found Drained of Blood.” Not long afterwards, Mr. Johnson will be out in his yard pruning his rose bushes, and a neighbor will stroll by and make small talk before commenting on what a tragedy it is that someone from the block was murdered. Then Mr. Johnson will pause, smile his toothy grin, and say, “Why, yes, whoever did such a thing must be a real monster indeed.”
Throughout our ghoulish examination of the vampire, we’ve traveled to many exotic lands and delved deep into the past to hunt down some of the world’s most notorious blood drinkers. During this journey we’ve encountered some of the creature’s most frightening incarnations, but as impossible as it seems, we have yet to examine one of its most insidious— and therefore most dangerous—forms.
The worst of these infernal monsters do not have fangs, rest in graves during the day, or run screaming from crucifixes; nor do they have Hollywood movies made about them. Instead, they hold normal jobs, live in quiet neighborhoods, pay their taxes, and drive fuel-efficient cars. They live not on the fringe of society creeping around graveyards at night, but rather they hide in broad daylight, making themselves indistinguishable from the rest of us. The most diabolical vampires are not those whispered about in the superstitions of Eastern European peasantry, but rather the ones who live right next door to you.
Fritz Haarmann
Take, for example, the infamous Fritz Heinrich Karl Haarmann, whom the German press came in the 1920s to dub the “Vampire of Hannover.” Born in the city of Hannover in Lower Saxony on October 25, 1879, Haarmann was the unassuming sixth child of a stern and impoverished German family. In fact, there is little to say at all about his early life until 1898, when he came to the at
tention of authorities after he was arrested on the charge of child molestation. In lieu of prison, however, doctors found him mentally unfit to stand trial and transferred him to a psychiatric intuition, where he stayed a few brief months before escaping and fleeing across the border into Switzerland.
After several years on the run, Haarmann returned to Germany and enlisted in the army under an alias; yet despite being listed as a good soldier, he was discharged in 1903 with neurasthenia, an early medical term for mental exhaustion. Haarmann returned to Hannover, where the authorities incredulously seemed to have forgotten all about his past, and for the next decade he found himself in and out of jail for petty crimes ranging from theft to fraud. During this period his run-ins with the police allowed him the advantage of becoming a low-level informant, which he later used to deflect their attention away from his own activities. In addition to his criminal activities, he also learned a trade as a butcher and opened a shop in the seamy underbelly of the city’s Old Quarter, where few questions were ever asked and even fewer answers given.
It wasn’t until September of 1918, however, during a time when Germany languished under a harsh economic depression just weeks before its conclusive defeat in World War I, that he committed the first of a long string of murders by taking the life of a seventeen-year-old boy named Friedel Rothe. At the time police knew only that the boy had gone missing and was last seen in Haarmann’s company, but when Friedel’s family began clamoring for answers, officials raided Haarmann’s apartment, where they found Haarmann with a semi-naked, underage boy. Although no evidence surfaced as to Friedel’s whereabouts, Haarmann was charged with the sexual assault of the young boy found in his apartment and sentenced to nine months in prison.