ebooksgratis.com

See also ebooksgratis.com: no banners, no cookies, totally FREE.

CLASSICISTRANIERI HOME PAGE - YOUTUBE CHANNEL
Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Terms and Conditions
Talk:Vampire - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Talk:Vampire

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

↓    Skip to table of contents    ↓

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Vampire article.
Article policies
Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Featured article star Vampire is a featured article; it (or a previous version of it) has been identified as one of the best articles produced by the Wikipedia community. Even so, if you can update or improve it, please do.
Main Page trophy This article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page as Today's featured article on July 13, 2004.
This article is within the scope of the following WikiProjects:
To-do list for Vampire: edit · history · watch · refresh

Due to this article's size and controversial nature, this has to be really polished before going to FAC to avoid a bloodbath.

  • a copyedit to get the article flowing once all the references are in place.

*finish psychodynamic notes

    • Is this done?

removed text for some time in the future: Vampires are real and they are amung us. Do not confuse them with any of that "Romantic, lustful, caring" shit. They are beings who will do serious harm to you. The vampires are perverted, dignified creatures. They have pride and understanding. If you insult or provoke one they will attack. Vampires will ask for your Blood before drinking it. Otherwise they are having a vampiricheadache, this happens when they do not have enough blood, or they are just putting the scary crap out there. Vampires are not these handsome beautiful perfect beings that look like gods or godesses. Vampires may also appear in spirit form and physical being form. All vampires are now becoming day walkers but are more active at night. They can also be pranksters and fun peoples, some are very immature and some are very scary. (sources:Levithiana, who scares the living shit ou of vampiresand is also a half vampire, i am 99% vampire, Levi has Vampire who are in spirit form and are very very very very very goofy, funny, idiotic, pervertive and very frightened of her. and vampire clubs.) --~~Vampbride(mother)~~--

Since Hindus believe in the reincarnation of the soul, they maintain that leading an unholy or immoral life (e.g. committing sin or suicide) will lead the soul to reincarnate into such evil spirits. This type of reincarnation does not arise out of birth from a womb, but is achieved directly and such evil spirits' fate is predetermined as to how they shall achieve liberation from that yoni, and re-enter the world of mortal flesh in the next incarnation.

However, this was not the case everywhere; on Mount Pelion vampires glowed in the dark, while those on the Saronic Islands were described as hunchbacks with long nails, and vampires on the island of Lesbos were reported to have long wolf-like canine teeth.

In Asian legends, vampiric creatures are often warded off by holy devices such as Shinto seals.[1]

Aloe vera hung backwards behind or near a door has the same function in South American superstition.

::I thought this had been re-added? Spawn Man (talk) 23:11, 10 January 2008 (UTC)
Oops. it has. cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 00:57, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

the even more ancient bloodsucking Akhkharu in Sumerian mythology. These female demons were said to roam during the hours of darkness, hunting and killing newborn babies and pregnant women. Can include this when source is found.

Vampirism is the practice of drinking blood or lifeforce from a living being. The historical practice of vampirism can generally be considered a more specific and less commonly occurring form of cannibalism. In folklore and popular culture, the term often refers to a belief that one can gain supernatural powers by drinking human blood. The consumption of another's blood, or flesh, has been used in the past as a tactic of psychological warfare intended to terrorize the enemy and can be used to reflect various spiritual beliefs. In zoology and botany, the term vampirism is occasionally used in references to the acquisition of bodily fluids from other organisms by animals such as leeches, mosquitos, mistletoe and vampire bats in order to gain the sustenance that they need to survive.


Mesopotamia was an area rampant with superstition of blood-drinking demons. The Persians were one of the first civilizations thought to have tales of blood-drinking demons: creatures attempting to drink blood from men were depicted on excavated pottery shards.[2] Ancient Babylonia had tales of the mythical Lilitu,[3] synonymous with and giving rise to Lilith (Hebrew לילית) and her daughters the Lilu from Hebrew demonology. Lilitu was considered a demon and was often depicted as subsisting on the blood of babies. However, the Jewish counterparts were said to feast on both men and women, as well as newborns.[3] The legend of Lilith was originally included in some traditional Jewish texts: according to the medieval folk traditions, she was considered to be Adam's first wife before Eve.[4][5] In these texts, Lilith left Adam to become the queen of the demons and, much like the Greek striges, would prey on young babies and their mothers at night, as well as males. Because Hebrew law absolutely forbade the eating of human flesh or the drinking of any type of blood, Lilith's blood drinking was described as exceptionally evil. To ward off attacks from Lilith, parents used to hang amulets from their child's cradle.[5] An alternate version states the legend of Lilith/Lilitu (and a type of spirit of the same name) originally arose from Sumer, where she was described as an infertile "beautiful maiden" and was believed to be a harlot and vampire who, after having chosen a lover, would never let him go.[6] Lilitu (or the Lilitu spirits) was considered to be an anthropomorphic bird-footed, wind or night demon and was often described as a sexual predator who subsisted on the blood of babies and their mothers.[5] Other Mesopotamian demons such as the Babylonian goddess Lamashtu, (Sumer's Dimme) and Gallu of the Uttuke group are mentioned as having vampiric natures.[7][8] Lamashtu is a historically older image that left a mark on the figure of Lilith.[9] Many incantations invoke her as a malicious "Daughter of Heaven" or of Anu, and she is often depicted as a terrifying blood-sucking creature with a lion's head and the body of a donkey.[10] Akin to Lilitu, Lamashtu primarily preyed on newborns and their mothers.[11] She was said to watch pregnant women vigilantly, particularly when they went into labor. Afterwards, she would snatch the newborn from the mother to drink its blood and eat its flesh. In the Labartu texts she is described; "Wherever she comes, wherever she appears, she brings evil and destruction. Men, beasts, trees, rivers, roads, buildings, she brings harm to them all. A flesh-eating, bloodsucking monster is she."[10] Gallu was a demon closely associated with Lilith, though the word (like "Utukku") is also used as a general term for demons, and these are "evil Uttuke" or "evil Galli".[7] One incantation tells of them as spirits that threaten every house, rage at people, eat their flesh, and as they let their blood flow like rain, they never stop drinking blood. Lamashtu, Lilitu, and Gallu are invoked in different amulet texts, with Gallu showing up in Graeco-Byzantine myth as Gello, Gylo, or Gyllo. There she appears as a child-stealing and child-killing female demon,[7] in the manner of Lamia and Lilith.


  1. ^ Spence, Lewis (1960). An Encyclopaedia of Occultism. New Hyde Parks: University Books. OCLC 3417655. 
  2. ^ Marigny, Vampires, pp. 14.
  3. ^ a b Hurwitz, Lilith.
  4. ^ Bronznick, Norman; Mark Jay Mirsky, David Stern & Allan Humm. The Alphabet of Ben Sira Question #5 (23a-b). Allan Humm. Retrieved on 2007-12-29.
  5. ^ a b c Marigny, Vampires, pp. 17-19.
  6. ^ Patai, Raphael [1978] (1990). The Hebrew Goddess, 3rd enl. ed., Detroit: Wayne State University Press, p. 222. ISBN 0-81432-271-9. 
  7. ^ a b c Hurwitz, Lilith, pp. 40-41.
  8. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Article: Lamashtu. Retrieved on 2007-12-29.
  9. ^ Hurwitz, Lilith, pp. 34-35.
  10. ^ a b Hurwitz, Lilith, p. 36.
  11. ^ Lamaštu (Lamashtu). Ancient Near East.net. Retrieved on 2007-12-29.


The external link to the article Circumcising Dracula on my site has been deleted, because I linked to my own site. If someone else wants to link to the article, the link is http://www.joshuaberlow.com/drac/index.htm --Romarkin (talk) 23:37, 26 March 2008 (UTC)
Priority 1 (top) 
Archive
Archives
Archive 1 Archive 2 Archive 3
Archive 4 Archive 5 Archive 6
Archive 7 Archive 8


Contents

[edit] Vampires

Vampires, in most stories, come from Transylvania. Vampires hate the crucifix and holy water, it burns them. They hate sunlight because it turns them to dust. And, also a feather duster is bad. Cutting of their head will kill them and stabbing them in the heart with a wooden stick ( A vampire's heart is in the centre of the chest ). Burnt with fire kills them. Garlic makes them badly sick and hitting them with a hammer can kill them, I think. If a werewolf ( a human at day and a bitting and very, very dangerous wolf at night )bites a vampire they will surely die. Other vampires can all so kill them and so can angels, the devil and the grim reaper. Electrocution kills them and so does being Rundown by vehicles. Vampires are people that have risen from the dead. They are blood sucking creatures with pale white skin. They sleep in coffins and turn into bats. When they suck the blood of a human, that human will either die and haunt that very house it was in, or, turn into a vampire themselves.fangs.jpg


[edit] Religion?=

wtf —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.80.118.56 (talk) 04:48, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Disambig

Voodoo and Wild rose need disambig. Randomblue (talk) 13:09, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] This bit is wrong

Re this bit: 'After Austria gained control of parts of Serbia and Wallachia, officials noted the local practice of exhuming bodies and "killing vampires"' I would just like to mention that Wallachia was never at any time part of Austrian territory or even Austro-Hungarian territory. It was Turkish territory and then Romanian. Colin4C (talk) 21:51, 18 January 2008 (UTC)

I've adjusted the passage to specify northern Serbia and eastern Wallachia (Oltenia). Pi zero (talk) 18:47, 21 January 2008 (UTC)
It seems it was under Austrian rule for 21 years - 1718-39 - until the Treaty of Belgrade returned it to the Ottoman Empire. But I guess that was time enough to unearth a few vampires...Colin4C (talk) 19:08, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Slobodan

I went to comment on this at the FAC page and I saw that it'd been promoted. Congratulations to the editors! It's very well-done, but I still have one issue that I want to follow up on. I expressed concern on the FAC page about the claim that Slobodan Milošević was staked. I think this is a really extraordinary claim, and that it originates with an un-bylined Ananova story concerns me. None of the sources I saw had a named source, other than the supposed vampire hunter himself (and sometimes not even that), attesting to the fact that this happened. That's fishy. If this were a real story would absolutely nobody in the world have quoted a police official confirming the story? No major reliable sources appear to have covered the story. I'm just not convinced that it's true. --JayHenry (talk) 02:38, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

You're right. I am also cutting-and-pasting awadewit's last comments so we can polish them up a bit too.

[edit] Awadewit's concerns (just to tidy up)

  • I agree with Karanacs that one more go around with a copy editor to reduce wordiness would benefit the article enormously. I did just a little. I would suggest asking someone who has not worked on the article - who has spent hours staring at these sentences. :)
  • The Oxford English Dictionary dates the first appearance of word vampire in English from 1734, in a travelogue entitled Travels of Three English Gentlemen which was published in the Harleian Miscellany in 1745.[3][4] Many mentions of the subject had been made in German literature. - There needs to be a transition between these two sentences.
(I tried..)
  • Several theories of the word's origin exist. - This sentence is sitting in the middle of the paragraph - it seems oddly placed. It is also not entirely clear whether it refers to the English word vampire or the word in all languages.
  • (Note that many of these languages have also borrowed forms such as "vampir/wampir" subsequently from the West). - So how much less likely does this make the theory put forward that English derived its term from German which derived its from these languages, etc.?
  • This apparently strange name has been cited as an example of surviving paganism and/or of the use of nicknames as personal names. - Is it "and" or "or"?
('or' works better on read-through)
  • However, in 1982, Swedish Slavicist Anders Sjöberg suggested that "Upir' likhyi" was in fact an Old Russian transcription and/or translation of the name of Öpir Ofeigr - Is it "and" or "or"?
  • In most cases, vampires are revenants of evil beings, suicide victims, or witches, but they can also be created by a malevolent spirit possessing a corpse or by being bitten by a vampire itself. - This sentence just bugs me. I kept trying to find a way to word it better, but I couldn't. There must be one. All of the "be's" and "by's" are just no good.
  • I wonder if something more interesting could be done with the captions, per WP:CAPTIONS. I have become a fan of interesting captions. (It is one place to put interesting details that had to be removed from the text.)
  • As stories of vampires spread throughout the globe to the Americas and elsewhere, so did the varied and sometimes bizarre descriptions of them: Mexican vampires had a bare skull instead of a head,[26] Brazilian vampires had furry feet and vampires from the Rocky Mountains only sucked blood with their noses and from the victim's ears. - As the editors of this page are aware, I am against labeling one kind of vampire any more bizarre than another, particularly when that leads to a European/New World distinction. I think it has the appearance of POV. I will obviously not make this a condition of supporting the page, but I would encourage them to reconsider this wording.
(I am happy as is - bizarre for me highlights that these were markedly distnct from some of the european folkloric material.) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Casliber (talk • contribs) 22:11, 21 January 2008 (UTC)
  • From these various legends, works of literature such as Bram Stoker's Dracula, and the influences of historical figures such as Gilles de Rais, Elizabeth Bathory, and Vlad Ţepeş, the vampire developed into the modern stereotype. - This is just the tiniest bit unclear - at this point in the article, the reader does not know who these historical figures are or what their influences might have been. That needs to be made clearer.
(added 'bloodthirsty' as they were all traditionally considered so.)
  • During the 18th century, there was a frenzy of vampire sightings in Eastern Europe, with frequent stakings and grave diggings to identify and kill the potential revenants; even government officials were compelled into the hunting and staking of vampires. - Are we sure they were "compelled"? It is possible the government officials could have been the ringleaders. :) Instill fear in the populace and all of that.
(were compelled into --> engaged in - takes passivity out of it)
  • I am not sure what the purpose of the Voltaire quote is. I don't think it adds much to the article, unfortunately.
  • I see we have switched from "World beliefs" to "Non-European beliefs" as a heading. I'm afraid that I don't think this is an improvement. As the "Asia" section is just as long as the Europe section, I'm not sure why we are setting up this polarization of West and non-West. What about establishing a section of "Vampire beliefs" and puting "Ancient", "Europe", "Africa", "The Americas", "Asia", and "Modern" under it, making less of a Western/non-Western distinction?
(I am happy with it this way, as the european material is a mix of a cohesive set of folklore beliefs and later fiction. Outside this, the legends (and creatures) grow much more diverse, and have different antecedents.) cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 10:30, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

I've done a few. I'll wait till spawny logs on to figure out what we do with the rest. cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 10:33, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

Don't bother waiting for me - I've lost all hope. We had an excellent article and now it's been utterly mutilated for the sake of a few kilobytes. Whatever happened to WP:IAR? Who cares if the WP:SIZE page says articles should be all alike? It's really annoyed me. I'm stoked and all, but I'm just feeling a bit defeated now. I'll send out my thank you notes etc, but don't expect me to be on for a while. If you really wanted to bring anything of the old article back, you could try and put some of the slavic etc text back in (Summarised of course) and take some of the 18th century controversy out, since it's already fully covered on the subpage. But that's just from someone who nobody has listened to from the beginning of the FAC anyway... *Sigh* Spawn Man (talk) 11:49, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

the word is not swedish 4 sure --192.87.23.70 (talk) 11:15, 7 February 2008 (UTC)shehd

[edit] Porphyria

The porphyria page mentioned that a certain David Dolphin suggested a link between vampirism and this group of diseases (due to abnormalities in the haem synthesis pathway). While this is easily disproven, this factlet has commonly led to porphyria being mentioned in one breath with vampirism. Perhaps worth a mention? JFW | T@lk 07:12, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

To be sure, porphyriacs were not best pleased with Dr Dolphin JFW | T@lk 07:13, 24 January 2008 (UTC)
Holy crap! I researched this bit and had a little paragraph that I removed to summarise. Anyway, there it is. Given the prominence of porphyria in popualr origins of vamp belief and the airplay it got in the last 20 years I figured it required a subsubsection itself. Thanks for pointing this out. cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 09:45, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] AIDS

Okay, the weirdest question about vampires ever. You can already probably guess what it is, but still: Can Vampires get AIDS if they drink the blood of a person w/ AIDS? Thecutnut (talk) 08:18, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

I feel like such a geek for knowing this, but... There was an episode of Forever Knight in which the vampire population was being destroyed by a plague, utterly lethal to vampires, that had been created by humans as an unsuccessful cure for AIDS. The cure for vampires turned out to be drinking the blood of a human with AIDS. Pi zero (talk) 13:56, 31 January 2008 (UTC)
Belief in vampires stems from an time before HIV even existed, so there is no answer in traditional folklore. Asarelah (talk) 18:45, 2 February 2008 (UTC)
Interesting... very interesting... --Luigifan (talk) 03:58, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

you can imagine cause asarelah said it didnt exsist then--192.87.23.70 (talk) 11:20, 7 February 2008 (UTC) shehd

[edit] Milosevic story removed

and in March 2007, self-proclaimed vampire hunters broke into the tomb of Slobodan Milošević, former president of Serbia and Yugoslavia, and staked his body through the heart into the ground. Although the group involved claimed it was to prevent Milošević from returning as a vampire, it is not known whether those involved actually believed this or if the crime was politically motivated.[1]

There are no mentions of this in any reputable newspaper which leads me to believe it was a hoax.It can be readded if something turns up. I trawled through google refs and nothing looked like a RS. cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 08:27, 4 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Weaknesses of vampires

Okay, I'd like to know, what are methods by which a vampire can be killed or repelled? I want them in an easy-to-read list, please. Thanks. --Luigifan (talk) 03:57, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

i love vampires i want to know how real they are?--192.87.23.70 (talk) 11:05, 7 February 2008 (UTC)


1 cutting the head (not so popular and doesnt exist in some stories)

2 stabing them with a woodin stick in the heart

3 putting cross on there heart (i think if the vampire was not wearin any on his chest) may be im wrong and i wish that someone who knows beter would tell us cause i really wanna know 4 sure --192.87.23.70 (talk) 11:27, 7 February 2008 (UTC)shehd

Well, there is quite a lot. Let's see now:
  • A stake to the heart.
  • Splashed with holy water.
  • Given a Holy Cross.
  • Exposed to sunlight.
  • Burnt to dead.
  • Decapitated.
  • Scared off by garlic.
  • Hit with a hammer.
  • Biting them as a werewolf.
  • Other vampires can kill them.
  • Angels, the Devil and the Grim Reaper can kill them - I think.
  • Electrocution.
  • Rundown by vehicles.
  • Can be cured of their curse.

That's all I know, I hope this helps you out. Evilgidgit (talk) 21:42, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Still, it should be noted that the weaknesses of vampires you will hear of often depend on the religion of the person telling them to you. In the media, the Christian beliefs are the most popular--stakes, sunlight, silver, etc. (The origins of which are theorized here) I, personally, have what would be called controversial beliefs about vampires, which contradict just about every traditional one, and as such, will not post them to avoid confusion. However, this does make for a good example of, as I said, how opinions on this highly popular myth vary from person to person, (probably more than any other), and that one person's story shouldn't be taken at face value.68.33.135.17 (talk) 04:29, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Kolchak the Night Stalker

The article mentions Kolchak as "the Dan Curtis 1874 television series Kolchak: The Night Stalker". Does the TV series really date back to the 19th century? Should I inform IMDB that they've got the date wrong?

Yeah, smartass comment, but I can't edit the article myself... Zaku kai (talk) 23:07, 20 February 2008 (UTC)

I fixed it. Not only was the date wrong, but the link to the Kolchak: The Night Stalker article was wrong, and the date is given as 1974 on that page. --clpo13(talk) 23:15, 20 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Powers

Something I find this article lacking is a list of the vampire's abilities... I know it's pretty inconsistant with every depiction of vampires there are, but I think at least some of the more common or popular abilities should be listed. The ones I can recall from the top of my head are:

  • Blood draining abilities (to simply feed, to restore power or to create a new vampire).
  • Various transformations (bats, mist and strangely wolves).
  • Immortality (or rather perpetual youth).
  • Enhanced physical abilities (strength, speed, durability, stamina).
  • Magic (necromacy, hypnotism and the ability to make thunder crack whenever Dracula introduces himself).
  • Flight (a paranthesis is excessive in this case... Ooops).

Well, can someone come up with anything else? 81.228.148.36 (talk) 12:43, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

Many are mentioned through the text, Cntrl-F is good for finding things. Many are only mentioned briefly as they belong more to fictional vampires, and more down the bottom of the article. Those before then were more like revenants. Casliber (talk · contribs) 12:47, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

(talk • contribs) 20:35, 19 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Non-Undead Vampire Analogy

The "undead" concept is because the human basically dies. The vampire "curse" as it is known, is considered so because the human victim has been overtaken by something that could be called a virus, or parasite, or even something else. Personally, I say it's a demonic thing that works a bit like a virus to begin with.

Cancer usually starts off as a mark, spot or tumour on or inside the body, and it spreads. If it's caught early, then it can usually be treated and eventually cured. If left, it just spreads and the patient will inevitably die. When a person is turned into a vampire, whether it's a single bite that injects the curse/virus that causes it, or whether it's the vampire bites and then makes the victim drink his/her blood as well, it's a similar concept. However, usually the transfer is so quick that if any kind of cure was available there wouldn't be enough time to stop it. On the other hand, if you go with Bram Stoker's analogy, it takes some time (or several bites to quicken the process) for the person to be completely changed. In this case, a curative is possible if caught in time. If not a curative, then you kill the vampire that's bitten the victim in the first place (which holds absolutely no clarity in my eyes).

In Resident Evil, the T-virus KILLS the victim and then raises them as mindless undead that can think only of sustaining themselves. Vampirism is something completely different. Yes, in most cases they have the tendency to have a voracious appetite for blood that can't be satisfied, but as I have mentioned several times before, they don't HAVE to feed all the time like zombies do. In a book I read by Anne Rice, the longest a vampire went without being absolutely desperate for blood was about a month. Creatures like alligators can go entire seasons without food when there's nothing available, providing they've gorged themselves when it IS available. It's a simple fact that something that is dead has to continually replenish its sustenance - except whilst it's sleeping - because otherwise it'll just continue to rot. That's why as soon as zombies wake up, they drag themselves around trying to find food. Make sense?

I have a theory that reflects that of caterpillars and butterflies. Human victim, vampire bites, venom/virus starts to take over. The human then becomes something of a vampire cocoon. When the process is complete, a vampire is the result

Weaknesses are another thing. Everyone portrays the undead as being weak against things like water, and sunlight, etc. For zombies, their souls are gone and therefore they are simply animated corpses. Sunlight for them, well, it's pretty much the same concept as vampires yes, but there's a difference. Why are these creatures, living or dead, considered to be vulnerable to sunlight? The sun is in the sky, Heaven is in the sky (somewhere), the sun gives out light, and God's element is therefore light. They're no longer normal, and they're no longer creatures of life, and God is the giver of life. Vampires, on the other hand, are demonic by nature. Demons aren't creatures of God. They're generally against God, and God destroys His enemies. So, as vampires are considered thus, sunlight becomes a weakness of theirs. Water is something different. I'd say vampires are only weak to water that is blessed. There are different concepts, and I go with the ones that are most logical and have the most clarity.

Just because something can't be explained, or can't be explained very easily, doesn't mean it should always be bunged into the same category as something else because it has a few similarities. It's the same if you think about a vampire's biological structure. Wild carnivores such as wolves, lions, tigers and all manner of other animals all eat raw meat. They don't have the ability to build a campfire and cook it by turning it on a spit, so they were created (or in some people's cases evolved) with the ability to digest the meat in its raw form. We humans though, can't digest most raw meats because we don't have the friendly bacteria or enzymes to deal with it. Therefore we have to cook it. Vampires can be thought of in much the same way. They have human form, but perhaps their internal systems have a different structure altogether which means their diet is that much different as well. This can give clarity as to why vampires don't always have to be considered as undead.

DanceofIllusions_maj 19/03/2008DanceofIllusions maj (talk) 20:41, 19 March 2008 (UTC)

I'm sorry, but your personal theory doesn't really have a place here. Wikipedia is for verifiable information published in reliable sources. We can't take your ideas and incorporate them into the article, and the talk page here isn't the place to expand on them. -- Kesh (talk) 21:05, 19 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Slavic etymology too much of a coincidence

Isn't it a bit unlikely that the word Vampire comes from a word related to a word for "bat", when the connection between vampires and bats only arose centuries later when vampire bats were first discovered by Europeans in South America? iirc another theory proposes it comes from a Turkic word meaning witch or sorceror. That sounds a bit more likely to me. --86.135.218.31 (talk) 17:34, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

I remember something like this as well. I think Chuvash in particular was mentioned as a source. Florian Blaschke (talk) 20:03, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

A well-sourced alternative etymology certainly sounds worth mentioning; and there does seem to be a question begged here as to how far back the bat/vampire connection goes in folklore. The article doesn't say that the connection between vampires and bats is recent, though — it says that the connection between vampires and vampire bats is recent (late 1700s). The section on "Folk beliefs/Description and common attributes" says vampires were reported to be able to transform into bats; the bat-cognate etymology wouldn't really be suspicious unless those reports post-date the zoological naming. Pi zero (talk) 22:37, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Japanese Vampires?

It says clearly in the Asian vampires section that there were no Japanese vampires in there history and that the first time it appeared in cinema was the 50's. well I seem to remember a ancient form of Japanese vampire that could take off its head, and the head would float around and suck blood or something. Does anybody else know about this? Yojimbo501 (talk) 14:22, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

Yes, but they were from the Philippines and Malaysia, not Japan - they are described in the Vampire#Asia section. Thanks for asking (I am glad someone is reading the page) :) Cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 14:25, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

Thanks Casliber. I actually got it wrong I was thinking of the Nukekubi, kind of simmilar though, dont you think? Yojimbo501 (talk) 14:32, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

I geuss I was just wondering why that wasn't included.Yojimbo501 (talk) 15:09, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] mention of my book?

Hello there. This is quite a useful, well-written entry. I wonder if, at the end of the last section of your article which discusses film and literature about vampires, if you might cite my book on the subject. It is generally taken to be a key resource. Gelder, Ken (1994) Reading the Vampire (London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-08012-6) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Subcultkg (talk • contribs) 02:00, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the input Ken. I haven't seen the book. Featured Articles have inline citations, i.e. specific observations or syntheses which are supported by a reference. If you can see any conclusions which are uncited or add any that would be the best way. Cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 02:06, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] please reinstate the image "Munch_vampire.jpg" - it now exists on en

Could someone please reinstate the image "Munch_vampire.jpg" (article is semi-protected), it has just been removed from the article with this comment:

Removing "Munch_vampire.jpg", it has been deleted from Commons by Giggy because: per w:commons:Commons:Deletion_requests/Image:Munch_vampire.jpg

The image was deleted from Commons but reinstated on the english wikipedia, because it is public domain in the USA but not elsewhere (not in Norway for example). See [1]. Thanks. -84.223.78.227 (talk) 00:33, 17 April 2008 (UTC)

Done. Cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 04:46, 17 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Variance in Russian mythology

In the Russian wikipedia, there are three articles which have some similarity to this one: ru:Вампир ("Vampir", the Russian interwiki link from this page) ru:Упырь ("Upyr"; the English interwiki from the Russian side goes to Upyr, which is a redirect to this page) and ru:Вурдалак ("Vurdalak", for which the English interwiki is Undead, but I'm not sure if that's entirely analogous).

The article says (translated):

The Upyr is roughly analogous to the vampire in European mythology and has much in common with the vurdalak of the Eastern Slavic tradition, but in the 19th century these creatures were yet starkly different in the national consciousness.

I'm no expert myself. Does anyone know anything about this? Currently in the English wikipedia, no such distinction seems to be mentioned. Esn (talk) 04:07, 17 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Great article

This was very well written and useful. I'm doing a research paper for class on mysteries. I doing ,as you may have guessed, Vampires. I hate to burst your bubble, but you do know that in romania the vampire legonds aren't true. If for some reason that I am wrong about this fact then disregard this message.

Have a lovely day! :)
  • Thanks Brooke, the truth is a little more complicated than that...if only Werewolf was as polished...Cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 20:49, 19 April 2008 (UTC)


i want more than anything in the world to be a vampire. im really passionate about them.98.220.121.165 (talk) 23:22, 5 May 2008 (UTC)CASSIE

[edit] Theory

Vampires are known world wide as thirsty blood suckers hunting helpless prey. A new theory has come up that there are certain vampires who resist the thirst of human blood. They have the ability to live in a natural envoirment with people.

They would thirst on animals every so often to keep from attacing a human. theory states that the dialation of their pupils and the color of their eyes would show when a vampire is thirsty or not.

The abilities of a vampire are truely incredible. speed. strength. Some vampires may have the capibility of reading one's thoughts, having premonitions, and changing the mood of a person. Extreme beauty is a quality all vampires have.

They do NOT sleep in coffins or dislike garlic bread and crosses. They CANNOT go into sunlight or they sparkle like a diamond. Humans do not do this, in turn vampires would be exposed if they were sho —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.225.93.184 (talk • contribs)

Yes, I read Twilight too. Not a bad book, bit angsty for my taste though. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.64.156.94 (talk) 21:27, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

New topics should go at the bottom of the talk page, comments should be signed and you should not delete other users' comments. -- Gordon Ecker (talk) 08:36, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Vampires Legend

Legend says that there are vampires or people who drink blood, turn into bats, sleep in coffins, etc... etc. Vampires are disguised as human beings with skin and the basic internal and external organs that make people... humans. So there could be 'people' that drink blood, but they most probably don't turn into bats or, sleep in coffins. It is not possible, and creatures aren't capable to be human and bat. No living thing can survive without there energy, by using food and water/liquid. So in order for vampires to exist, they still need these vital essentials to survive. And if vampires exist they still are similar to humans in innumerable ways, except that they drink blood, if they get the chance to. Humans who drink blood, not necessarily human blood, any kind of blood, they can like the taste so the word for them is Vampyres Ways to avoid Vampires (Vampyres) are simple, easy ways to get rid of. Love-this is a weapon stronger than anything that my run through your mind. Love is also a healing power for anything. Love is the only power that humans have, so it's good to use it for any trouble. If you are in a situation, think about your loved ones, and family members. (That is supposed to drown all evil.) Evil is terrified of love. Certain perfumes are good too. The strong scent makes Vampires weary and they run away from that scent. Whitehorn, Buckthorn, and Babies' Breath is good plants to help keep Vampires away. Frankincense's smell is also an excellent weapon to keep Vampires away. Of course Garlic, because of their allergies, and a crucifix. Light is also a powerful weapon...

(98.211.231.220 (talk) 22:25, 18 May 2008 (UTC))

 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.148.67.1 (talk) 07:26, 24 May 2008 (UTC)


aa - ab - af - ak - als - am - an - ang - ar - arc - as - ast - av - ay - az - ba - bar - bat_smg - bcl - be - be_x_old - bg - bh - bi - bm - bn - bo - bpy - br - bs - bug - bxr - ca - cbk_zam - cdo - ce - ceb - ch - cho - chr - chy - co - cr - crh - cs - csb - cu - cv - cy - da - de - diq - dsb - dv - dz - ee - el - eml - en - eo - es - et - eu - ext - fa - ff - fi - fiu_vro - fj - fo - fr - frp - fur - fy - ga - gan - gd - gl - glk - gn - got - gu - gv - ha - hak - haw - he - hi - hif - ho - hr - hsb - ht - hu - hy - hz - ia - id - ie - ig - ii - ik - ilo - io - is - it - iu - ja - jbo - jv - ka - kaa - kab - kg - ki - kj - kk - kl - km - kn - ko - kr - ks - ksh - ku - kv - kw - ky - la - lad - lb - lbe - lg - li - lij - lmo - ln - lo - lt - lv - map_bms - mdf - mg - mh - mi - mk - ml - mn - mo - mr - mt - mus - my - myv - mzn - na - nah - nap - nds - nds_nl - ne - new - ng - nl - nn - no - nov - nrm - nv - ny - oc - om - or - os - pa - pag - pam - pap - pdc - pi - pih - pl - pms - ps - pt - qu - quality - rm - rmy - rn - ro - roa_rup - roa_tara - ru - rw - sa - sah - sc - scn - sco - sd - se - sg - sh - si - simple - sk - sl - sm - sn - so - sr - srn - ss - st - stq - su - sv - sw - szl - ta - te - tet - tg - th - ti - tk - tl - tlh - tn - to - tpi - tr - ts - tt - tum - tw - ty - udm - ug - uk - ur - uz - ve - vec - vi - vls - vo - wa - war - wo - wuu - xal - xh - yi - yo - za - zea - zh - zh_classical - zh_min_nan - zh_yue - zu -