forum Vampires

Started March 19, 2018 by Deleted user

tune

Has anybody got any facts about vampires? Thinking about writing a story about them and I don't really know where to start.

They appear in the worst love story ever.

Yeah, it seems like they're always in terrible love stories. Not what I'm going for, though.

They… drink blood and turn into bats? Or maybe your vampires don't drink blood. And maybe diurnal vampires. One character in my story is sort of like a vampire. She's a cat-human (from her mother's side)/dragon-human (from her father's side). She also has webbed wings and black hair, and her ears are on her head. Also, are humans in your story?

Yeah, humans are in my story. I'm thinking a vampire and a human form an unlikely alliance to help each other out. I'm trying to think of ways they can help each other out. Ways one's abilities help the other out.

I could really use the help as well, my story includes a street fighting delinquent vampire who becomes best friends with a skeleton man who's all office professional. It's hard to stay away from the vampire stereotypes, cause it's literally all I know.

Skeletons and vampires are different things.

I can't help but be obsessed with skeletons and vampires, of course I'm going to put them in a story together. Heck, there's witches and fox spirits in the same story too, and talking magical cats! I just don't really know what special abilities to give to the vampire, cause I wanna stay away from the burning in sunlight and the whole blood sucking thing. Like I want my vampire to drink peach smoothies, and like to tan but I also need him to be like immortal and scary.

I feel like most things you would know about vampires
I believe originally vampires were depicted as decaying old guys who were pretty much already dead, pale blood sucking zombies I think I heard someone call them. But I doubt that's what you were going for.
Some vampire stereotypes- they are either sensitive to light or burn in the sunlight, they drink blood to survive, they're supernaturally strong and fast (which personally I don't like), they turn into bats, they live in mansions, they live in family groups called covens, sometimes are necromancers, can enslave people/hypnotise.

My personal versions of vampires- They are nocturnal and only ever hunt at night, they drink blood but can also eat raw flesh if they must, they come together in covens, they can enslave the dead, they often don't live among humans and prefer to avoid them, they are incredibly pale because of their nocturnal nature but otherwise look human.

I dunno just to toss some ideas around. You might not even need ideas anymore actually…

@Reblod
I love the 'enslave the dead' idea. I think I'll use that.

Vampires have a lot of powers (supernatural strength & speed, night vision, hypnotism, etc.) but there is a lot more detriments and weaknesses. A vampire cannot enter a building without being invited in, running water annihilates them within a few minutes, wooden stake (isn't permanent unless head is anointed with holy water) There are also more types of vampires such as nosferatu, new blood, and half blood. I can explain if you'd like more.

@Lord_Hellstrande Please do explain! I've never heard of these types of vampires, and I've never heard of the running water thing.

So, basically a half blood, or dhampir, is exactly what it sounds like. When a vampire bites a pregnant woman, there is a chance that the baby could be born half vampire. They sometimes share traits with their undead parent (fangs, a thirst for certain humanoid blood, dazzled by sunlight) but they are not full vampires. Some reject their undead heritage and actually become vampire slayers. New bloods are what you would call a fledgling vampire or a new vampire. They have just been turned a few hours/days ago and have a ravenous hunger that must be satiated more often than an older vampire (in worst case scenario, feeding every day) who would only need to feed every once in a while. Nosferatu are ancient vampires, the first actually, but they are created because of a different curse. Nosferatu cannot create vampires, but they have powers that normal vampires don't. A normal vampire can turn into a dire bat/wolf but a nosferatu can transform into a swarm of bats/rats/spiders/centipedes. Normal vampires can call wolves to them, it's a real thing, but a nosferatu cannot. Nosferatu have telekinesis & telepathy, can climb on any surface in their normal form, and look feral and sickly. It's a lot easier to tell a nosferatu than a normal vampire. Nosferatu are not necessarily happy about their "condition" and some are even so bold as to hope for a cure that doesn't involve their death (conditions are the same for normal vampires). Hope this helps and if there are any more questions, I'll try to get back to you as soon as possible.

I think this is good enough for me to start writing, if I need to know anything else I'm sure I could do my own research. If you have any sources please share!

From my limited knowledge of vampires, I know that they have a weakness to silver, as it is considered to be a holy metal. I apologize for not really having any sources, but you might be able to find a few stories including this weakness.

It's considered a pure metal, yes, but the Nosferatu and the half-bloods actually don't have this weakness. Wooden weapons (stakes, arrows, etc.) are the bane of the nosferatu

In the original Dracula, he could turn into a pack of wolves and also do fog stuff. Pairing this with the power of suggestion, and telekinesis, this vampire made a formidable foe.

Dracula is closer to the nosferatu vampire than the common vampire

Vampires from European folklore were usually either dark skinned or ruddy, not pale. They also had some qualities that have fallen out of favour in the vampire mythos - such as arithmomania - it was said that if you spilt, say, a bag of rice in front of a vampire, they would have to count each individual grain before being able to do anything else. They also sometimes could fly or have control over nocturnal animals. Also, the idea that a vampire can be killed with a wooden stake is very old, but in older stories, it takes about as much effort to push a wooden stake into a vampire's heart as stabbing a human with a stake would - that is, a lot. Usually, it would be hammered into the vampire while they were sleeping, not just poked into a vampire in a fight like you might see on Buffy or something like that. Also in some myths, it needs to be made of a particular type of wood - hawthorn or oak perhaps.

It was usually hawthorn I think.