Vampire Suicide

[SADShooter]

Sunlight kills vampires pretty effectively.  It did in the one in NOSFERATU post haste.

Re: Nosferatu. I thought Shadow of the Vampire starring John Malkovich and Willem Dafoe was a seriously creepy-good adaptation.

[roo_ster]

Re: Nosferatu. I thought Shadow of the Vampire starring John Malkovich and Willem Dafoe was a seriously creepy-good adaptation.

I agree with both your original and my alteration.

[MechAg94]

Seems to me, the only movie Vampires that eat animals are the "goody goody" twighlight types.

I don't want to glitter. 

The was an old twilight zone (I think) where the "good"vampire hunted stray cats or something.  There have been a few others.  Most of the serious movies just had them hunting humans that I can remember. 

[Jamisjockey]

In the HBO True Blood series there is a lot of, uh, recreational feeding. 

And any self respecting vampire who glitters should commit sepaku.

[kgbsquirrel]

Undead does not equal unperson damn it!!      




....Unless they're zombies, and in that case, I'm fetching my M1A with PVS-4. 

[drewtam]

I've been thinking that a infection based vampire story could be interesting.

Most people who contact the virus/bacteria die.
Only 0.0001% who have blood or sexual contact can survive it, they become "vampires" by symbiotic life with the organism
The vampire live very long (500-800yrs?), maybe even forever?
The vampire is not even remotely indestructible; just strong, fast, smart, and persuasive (pheromones?)
But they are blood thirsty, always needing vast amounts of new DNA to help maintain their longevity, by repairing their own with the new.

Due to the low survival rate, vampire empire building is not possible. There are only ~700,000 potentials in whole world that can survive. But not everyone is exposed to even find the potentials (such a thing would be a worldwide plague), so the actual world vampire population is maybe 35 thousand, a few tens per city of the world. If it came to open war with humans, vampires would easily get wiped out - not just from the lopsided odds, but also the nearly impossibly low replacement rate.

Lonely and living in shadows means picking off undesirables for survival. Over millenia, this behavior has grown into a "vampire culture", those new converts who make disturbance are "disciplined". The culture turns their survival behavior into a religious calling, feeding on only those directly observed doing evil. This explains the protection of the cross myth, if one is so religious as to keep a cross handy - they will often second guess the suitability of the target, or delay the meal to recheck, also maybe related to their religious calling.

[Perd Hapley]

I've been thinking that a infection based vampire story could be interesting.

Most people who contact the virus/bacteria die.
Only 0.0001% who have blood or sexual contact can survive it, they become "vampires" by symbiotic life with the organism
The vampire live very long (500-800yrs?), maybe even forever?
The vampire is not even remotely indestructible; just strong, fast, smart, and persuasive (pheromones?)
But they are blood thirsty, always needing vast amounts of new DNA to help maintain their longevity, by repairing their own with the new.

Due to the low survival rate, vampire empire building is not possible. There are only ~700,000 potentials in whole world that can survive. But not everyone is exposed to even find the potentials (such a thing would be a worldwide plague), so the actual world vampire population is maybe 35 thousand, a few tens per city of the world. If it came to open war with humans, vampires would easily get wiped out - not just from the lopsided odds, but also the nearly impossibly low replacement rate.

Lonely and living in shadows means picking off undesirables for survival. Over millenia, this behavior has grown into a "vampire culture", those new converts who make disturbance are "disciplined". The culture turns their survival behavior into a religious calling, feeding on only those directly observed doing evil. This explains the protection of the cross myth, if one is so religious as to keep a cross handy - they will often second guess the suitability of the target, or delay the meal to recheck, also maybe related to their religious calling.

There was a short-lived program on the BBC, with a somewhat similar premise - Ultraviolet. Much different on the details. Vampirism was studied and explained in terms of medical science. I think there were only about 6 episodes. It is available for free, on Hulu.

[TommyGunn]

There was a short-lived program on the BBC, with a somewhat similar premise - Ultraviolet. Much different on the details. Vampirism was studied and explained in terms of medical science. I think there were only about 6 episodes. It is available for free, on Hulu.

It was also a movie that ran on the cable Sy Fy channel.  The actor who played the paleontolgist in Jurassic Park was in it (I forget the actor's name) and it was a pretty fair movie considering the Sy Fy network's reputation for saturday evening shlock.

[Perd Hapley]

It was also a movie that ran on the cable Sy Fy channel.  The actor who played the paleontolgist in Jurassic Park was in it (I forget the actor's name) and it was a pretty fair movie considering the Sy Fy network's reputation for saturday evening shlock.

   According to Wikipedia, the BBC series has been shown on SyFy as a miniseries, but I don't think anyone from Jurassic Park is in it. There's also an unrelated sci-fi vampire movie called Ultraviolet, but I don't think it has anyone from Jurassic Park, either.

[TommyGunn]

  According to Wikipedia, the BBC series has been shown on SyFy as a miniseries, but I don't think anyone from Jurassic Park is in it. There's also an unrelated sci-fi vampire movie called Ultraviolet, but I don't think it has anyone from Jurassic Park, either.

Huh.   Just saw it several weeks ago. 
They were trying to develop a workable artificial blood because humans were becoming scarce.  JP guy was running a lab doing this.  Instead they found a cure that turned vampires back into human beings. 
I recall it pretty well.  It wasn't a fantastic movie but it was entertaining enough.

[kgbsquirrel]

Daybreakers.

[seeker_two]

Depends on,the mythology used. Sometimes silver is used on Vampires and sometimes holy symbols have no effect, depending on the writer.
I think using silver on Vampires stems from using holy relects melted down into weapons.

Most vampire myths I've read list silver as toxic. Put enough silver in them, & they die of "blood poisoning". Fire also works. An intrepid monster hunter might do well to develop a silver-tipped incendiary round for general monster-killing.....

[erictank]

The was an old twilight zone (I think) where the "good"vampire hunted stray cats or something.  There have been a few others.  Most of the serious movies just had them hunting humans that I can remember. 

In Buffy and Angel, Angel kept a fridge full of pig's blood. One episode of Angel had him (and Harmony, an airhead supporting character who'd been vampirized back during Buffy) getting their pig's blood spiked - magically, IIRC - with human blood, which increased their aggression and acted in a drug-like manner on them. They had to detox once the team figured out what was going on.

Re: poll question - yeah, it'd depend on how much control I had, how much I was changed by the vampirism. If I needed to suicide, would I still be willing to?

[TommyGunn]

Daybreakers.

Is THAT what that vampire movie with Jurassic Park Guy was titled? 
OK.
The storyline was close enough to fool me.......

[kgbsquirrel]

Most vampire myths I've read list silver as toxic. Put enough silver in them, & they die of "blood poisoning". Fire also works. An intrepid monster hunter might do well to develop a silver-tipped incendiary round for general monster-killing.....

Heh, reminds me of the Hellboy cartridges. IIRC they contained white oak, holy water, garlic, silver and cold iron shavings. Kind of a supernatural catch-all round.

[gunsmith]

I liked sci fi adaptation of BBC's Being human, the ghost girl was awfully cute.

As to the topic, I guess it could be fun for awhile ( being a vampire ) if I could locate to California and eat locally produced organic food only.

[kgbsquirrel]

I liked sci fi adaptation of BBC's Being human, the ghost girl was awfully cute.

As to the topic, I guess it could be fun for awhile ( being a vampire ) if I could locate to California and eat locally produced organic food only.

Careful, you don't know where that hippie has been.

ETA: If you fence in the entire state of California, does that still count as Free-Range Hippie?

[Viking]

That would be a concern, would you have to worry about hep c or HIV for example?

[Jamisjockey]

That would be a concern, would you have to worry about hep c or HIV for example?

For the paramaters of arguments sake, lets say that vamps aren't affected.  But the blood from dying or sick individuals doesn't quite give you the satisfaction as from a healthy strong young victim.

[Strings]

>This explains the protection of the cross myth, if one is so religious as to keep a cross handy - they will often second guess the suitability of the target<

I'm not so sure this premise would work too well. MANY evil people hide behind the symbols of a religion, to disguise their evil. But something tells me that your hypothetical vampires, observing people over time, would start to recognize the signs of such.

A more likely scenario would be that the weakness to holy symbols is something the vamps themselves have put into the mythology, to give their chosen prey (evil humans) a false sense of security...

[Ned Hamford]

>This explains the protection of the cross myth, if one is so religious as to keep a cross handy - they will often second guess the suitability of the target<

I'm not so sure this premise would work too well. MANY evil people hide behind the symbols of a religion, to disguise their evil. But something tells me that your hypothetical vampires, observing people over time, would start to recognize the signs of such.

A more likely scenario would be that the weakness to holy symbols is something the vamps themselves have put into the mythology, to give their chosen prey (evil humans) a false sense of security...

I like the notion they just think its funny.  Being very long lived, their running gags could very well become the stuff of myths.   

[Strings]

That IS a good thought. After all, we would have NO idea of the psychology of an immortal...