Vampire Lovers discussion

If you read any of the early vampire books like Dracula and Varney the Vampyre and short stories like Carmilla. All these vampires are active in the day. It seems that burning sunlight came into the scene with movies. The vampires prefer the night when they're powers are at their peak. But they are not burn't by the sun. What movie or written source introduced sunlight as deadly to vampires?

I ahve no idea, I'm gonna have to do research on Wikipedia for it...

Hmm I don't know if this is right but I think it is. The Vampyre was a very influential toward vampire lore, it introduced the protruding fangs as well as vulnerability to sunlight

John Polidori's story "The Vampyre". Is very good and one of the first Vampire stories. It takes place in England and Greece. Vampires kill the hero's Greek girl friend at night in a hut. However it says nothing about the sun burning them. Only that a Vampire can be killed by a bullet and resurected if the body is stretched under the moonlight. It is definitley in movies that the sun first becomes lethal I believe. An old Christopher Lee film or the second Bella Lagossi movie "Return of Dracula". Long canine teeth are mentioned in both Carmilla and Dracula. But no harmful effect from the sun. Cary

ya this is a myth
in other books i have read like twilight
the house of night series
secret vampire
ect.
except in the house of night series there is another series of vampire that DO burn in the sun
its a really good series and the fourth book came out on the 23rd im about to read it
if u want me to post the link i will =]

Just an interesting thought. In the classic Gothic story "The Mysterious Stranger" author unknown. A passage reveals, The vampire can only be seen on moonlit nights. Because ghosts do not appear in the light of day & can only be seen at night by moonlight. Or by the light of candles or torches. Cary

hmmmmm....interesting question. we're all trying 2 find the answer now. lolzes

I think it was the movie Nosferatu that introduced the idea of sunlight killing a vampire. AND it did make for a dramatic ending. LOL

There yah go! I knew sunlight as a vamp killer came from the cinema. Oddly enough I have never seen the original Nosferatu. Especially when it has the most gnarly gruesome looking vamp to ever grace the screen,LOL.

Try and get it, it is worth it!

It's also the first Vampire movie made I believe. So it would make sense that movies coming after would follow it's lead. Espcially if the flamin vamp made a spectacular ending.

You can watch Nasferatu free on the internet at Nasferatu Joost. I only watched half of it. They used a hyena made up to look like a wolf,LOL. That is as bad as the armadillos that are supposed to be giant rats in the Bella Legosi version of Dracula. I stoped while they are ferrying Nasferatu down river towards Bremen. I have to see that great flaming ending tomorrow,LOL.

Oh man what a let down. Nasferatu just disapeared and then there was this puff of smoke when the light came in the window. I was hoping for a flamin burnout. So begins the long struggle of vampires with sunlight. Hollywoods contribution to the vampire myth.

In the traditional Slavic folklore vampires are not burned by Sunlight. Carmilla is the first story with death by staking. Previous to that vampires where not staked through the heart to kill them. Only to keep them pined in the grave. They have changed vampire mythos so much from the original damned by the Christian Church to burn in hell. To modern groovy super hero's. Choke, barf. I like vampires who are basically evil. But can exibit emotionns resembling love and something like remorse. But however are still dedicated to evil. When neccesary both Carmilla and Dracula can move about in the day time. Although they loose some of their powers. These are easily the two earliest and greatest vampire stories ever written so when it somes to rules and guidlines I follow these two books. Also to a lesser degree The Mysterious Stranger author unkown in which the vampire is a ghost and so only visible at night. This is also an early story with death by being staked into the coffin by large metal spike nailes. C

Sorry to disagree with you Cary, prior to the stories, there were myths, supersitions and folktales which had nothing to do with the Christian Church. Much much older than the 2000 years of the church. Cultures all over the world have vampire folklore. Mostly evil, not dedicated to evil in a Christian way, but just the dead who terrorize the living.THe whole holy water, cross etc... thing was much more current than most of the myths. Some eat flesh, some drink blood, some torment the living psychicly.

And no vampires were damned to burn in hell because the point was they are the undead. They don't die. They walk on the borderline and can't rest.

I find them much more interesting on a social/moral evil level than as punishment for one religion's viewpoint that came along.

ANd most of the stories are of vampire's victims becoming vampires themselves. So even though they may be the most pious person in existence they would be damned. I find that a horrid premise.

I like the whole variety of stories and that is all they are stories. Good, evil, loving, medical disease, separate race. Variety make for more fun in reading in my mind.

Just my thoughts (except the part about myths all over the world that are pre-Christanity. There are lots of scholarly books on that)

I am talking about Slavic traditional vampires. Not pre Christian legends. The very making of a vampire in the Slavic tradition has everything to do with the Catholic Church. A suicide an excomunication sin in the Catholic Church. Is one of the most common reasons for being a vampire. Or just being a plain wicked person in mortal life another excommunication type sin. It was gods punishment. Being a vampire does not sound fun to me. I can tell you are of the super hero being a vampire is fun element. They are cursed and in hell on earth. They are not immortal because they can be killed. If you read Carmilla you will read that after a vampires amphibious existance they go to a far more horrible fate on their being discovered and distroyed. First of all I am not interested in Zombies and all kinds of nutty folklore from God knows where. Only Slavic taditions and vampires as we know them in western culture. I am well aware there are blood drinking demons in Indian culture which have nothing to do with Christianity. But they are not called vampires. They have another ball game going entirely. Ever read the Magia Posthuma rocket scientist? You would love Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire mysteries. Like "Dead Until Dark" or "All Together Dead" by Charlaine Harris. They have Were Wolfs, Demons, half demons, assasin demons from other dimensions,witches,worlocks, telepaths,and lord knows what else. That is why I like Carmilla so much. It was carefully written with all the knowlege of Slavic vampire lore. Its been in print for 140 years. The very book itself is a vampire.

By the way an undead being that torments the living is a ghost or poltergist not a vampire. In the Magia Postuma is mentions the dead returning to torment the living. But the meaning is not mental torment. It is rising from the grave to prey on the living and drink their blood. The Hindu goddess of death Kali was worshiped by the Thugie cult of murders. They killed there victims and took their money and wealth leaving theyre bodies for the godess. One day one of the Thugies returned to the place he had left the body and saw Kali devoring her sacrfice. By this they mean putfification process most likely. Kali was so insenced she told the Thugies that for ever more they should burry the bodies so she could eat in pease. Actually a very convenient idea for the Thugies because burried bodies are not so easily dicovered. But Thugies are not Vampyres. There is a very interesting account of the English gentleman who broke the Thugie cult and religeon. They squealed on each other like real snitches after he had apprehended a few leaders. So much for criminals.

Sunlight only kills vampires in Movies and serial books. WORD, Cary

Yeah, it seems like an odd thing, too. Not being able to come out in the sun I mean. Why would that even happen?

I mean, it sometimes makes a good plot point, and I have nothing to add to the 'which is original' argument, but it just seems odd.

One more thing, I thought Nosferatu was fun. The filming was well captured, very artistic or poetic. (Sorry film student.)

Yeah Noferatu started the Sun burns vampires part of vampire lore. Heavily exploited by Hollywood because of the visual effects. Its so great to see the vampire flame out. However in Nosferatu they just lit some gun powder. Poof! LOL and the vamp was gone.

Yeah, lol. It was so totally a Dracula knock-off, too.

Well yeah Nosferatu made no attempt to hide the fact it was taken from Dracula. They probablly did not have the money to do the story up like Dracula. So they simplified it and changed the title. Still Nosferatu is one Nasty looking vampire. Not the kind of guy you want to hop in bed with. EKK!

I just love that scene on the ship. "AND THE DEATH SHIP HAD A NEW CAPTAIN".

My favorite part of Dracula is the begging of the book and his first conversations with Dracula and his imprisonment in the castle. Jonathan is talking to Dracula and the wolves are howling. Dracula stops for a moment and says " Listen to them,the children of the night. What music they make." Kuh reepy,LOL.

About the sun and what could happen. Vampires are never out in daytime because they are asleep. They are also undead which means they are part ghost and part demon. Ghosts usually only come out at night. But that is not always so. In Irish folk lore ghosts can only be seen at night. Ghosts usually keep their activities limited to night. That is why vampires avoid the day. But they can venture into the day when they need to. Carmilla regularly woke up at noon and walked around in the day. It was her usual schedule. Lord Ruthven as well(John Polidori), and Dracula would venture out in daylight to do important things. However he lost his majic powers during daylight making him vulnerable so he did not often go out during daytime. He was almost killed when his pursuers caught him in the day at one of his safe houses in London where he had stored boxes of earth. Quincy almost knifed him but Dracula jumped out a window and escaped into the crowd.

It is difficult to discuss a topic when fiction and myth are being mixed together. Most of the Victorian writers copied each other, including Stoker and sometimes word for word. The movie Nosferatu was an unauthorized version of the book Dracula. Mrs. Stoker sued over it and they were suppose to destroy all copies but that didn't happen. It was allowed to be shown in the US because Stoker never copyrighted the book in the US but after a time it was released most everywhere. I personally cannot stand the movie. Stoker also mixed werewolf and vampire legends together. His notes show he researched information from Baring-Gould's book on werewolfs. Certain aspects of fiction have been copied. There is no reason a vampire should not be able to go into sunlight and there is no reason they should be considered dead but not dead at least in fiction or even eat food as well as any other way of feeding. It was the werewolf legend that got the silver brought into a lot of the stories but in other countries, like Ireland, it was always iron that would ward them off among other things. If there is any way something can be killed, they are not immortal technically. An immortal is impervious to death. These creatures are thought to live a long time if for whatever reasons they aren't killed in a very specific way. In some places, (legend) they put heavy stones over graves and a long list of other things. The word vampire comes from a specific area but there are other words in other languages that meant the same thing and it appears to be superstition built around the lack of knowledge concerning the death process.

Stoker used allot of his information for Dracula on the book written by Emily Gerard. Folk Beliefs of Romania. He also borrowed a bit from Carmilla. I stick to the old Slavic mythology. Dracula was no regular vampire however, and Van Helsing describes this in detail. He hath the strength of 20 men. Dracula even dared to attend the Scholomane a school for the dark arts taught by the devil himself. Where he learned to talk to the wild animals, and shape shift, and bring himself back from death. So religion has allot to do with the Slavic mythos as well. Fear of the cross, holly wafers, holy water. People who have never read the book Dracula don't understand he was meant to be the king of vampires. As far as burning in the sun. That is a movie invention of the 20th century because it looks so cool on film when the vampire burns in the sun. Also it makes them seem more creepy. : )

Hey Vampire lovers just to rattle your cage. TrueBloods gonah be wicked tonight. For freaking sure. I can't wait. So vampires definitely make for a more spectacular end when they expode into flame on screen or turn into crumbling dust. But don't be fooled. Vampires can walk in the day as needed. Like all nocturnal animals they prefer the dark. But as Van Helsing noted. They can go into the daylight as necessary. One main reason for their nocturnal existence is vampires have very limited magical powers during the day. Dracula could only pull off one feat of magic at exactly high noon. Which means he had 60sec to perform the magical feat that would get him out a jam. When Van Helsing and Johnathan Harker are warned by Mina that Dracula is unable to cross the Thames because of the flowing tide, and is waiting for slack tide. This enables our hero's to be ready for him when he crosses the river at the change of tides heading for the Purefleet house. Johnathan says he heard a noise at the door like it was being gently tested, and then Dracula crossed the front room & entered the room in which they waited to ambush him as quick as a cat. After insulting them Dracula was barley able to dodge a blow from Jonathans knife that tore away his coat & sent all kinds of ancient gold coins across the floor. D stooped down to snatch up a handful and jumped through the glass window landing in the courtyard & disappearing across the courtyard & into the stables. Where he was able to elude them. From that point on Dracula was on the run. He took his last casket & boarded a bout for Varna on the Black Sea. Having made Mina his wife by hypnotizing her they were able to follow his movements. Finishing the last Sookie Stackhouse mow. Dead Ever After. Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Mysteries is the only modern vampire series books I can stand. Mainly because they are multi genere, and fast paced. They are horror stories, mystery stories, and light porn. So they keep you interested. Well I am off on a tangent. Keep looking for good Vampire books. Cheers, Cary