#vampire lore

(asking because i have a vampire OC myself, and over time ive noticed specific topics i am interested in. and that is reflected in how the thing works - in my stories being a vampire is not a supernatural occurrence, it's more like a disease, something that happened out of poverty and desperation)

so what would be your angle? 👀

Deathlessness in the face of a world that wants those of us on the fringes to die is defiance. Vampires are one of my favorite metaphors for that, and of course there’s the Gothic romance/horror aspect of the storytelling. I’ve sometimes wondered what parameters I’d set for vampire lore in an original-writing context, but you’re the first person to ever ask me to answer that question! At this stage, I feel the following laundry list of preferences is made more of idle preliminaries than concrete conclusions:

I don’t think I’d have daywalking be possible for my vampires—neither as a result of great age, nor as a rare ability right from the get-go in some individuals. I feel like I’d set stronger limits on other abilities/gifts, too; for example, I don’t think I’d have telepathy or telekinesis be possible for them, either. Strength and speed, though, I think I’d leave in place. I’m unsure about flight. Bottom line, I’d set stronger limitations than many vampire-lore paradigms do.

When it comes to vampire parameters derived from folklore and subsequently the broader literary canon, I admit that I’m a sucker for vampires having to be invited into buildings and habitations of the living. I’d likely keep that!

How can you kill them? I’d probably do away with most of the other superstitions like staking, etc. It makes sense to me to keep burning, seeing as I’m saying, no, my vampires can’t withstand the sun. Recovery from even the most extreme of bodily wounds otherwise seems desirable, though; I admit that’s a facet of Anne Rice’s vampire theory that I like.

How does turning work? I’d want to make that trickier, too, believe it or not. How does your human blood-type play into what happens once you’re a vampire? I’ve given thought in the past to making it so that turning is a tricky proposition if your maker doesn’t have a blood-type that’s compatible with yours. If your would-be maker couldn’t have successfully been a blood donor for you in life, then the turning is going to fail. This does make for a world where, for a very long time pre-scientific understanding, turning is something that so often fails, and nobody understands why.

Does nix drink period blood?

You know what, I actually have an answer to this one at the ready because Twilight pissed me off enough with their whole "it's rotten blood" (it isn't! it's just different!) and since you asked you're getting it.