Build Your Own Vampire Project
Objective: The goal of this project is for your team to create the rules and attributes of your own vampire universe. While creativity is necessary, research is actually the focal point. The caveat is that your vampire universe must be based on research your team completes about stories associated with vampires from any point in time, history, folklore, or fiction.
Rules: Make a COPY of this document and place it in the appropriate folder. Each question must be completed. In the area of “justification,” you will include BOTH your written analysis (can be 1-2 sentences) AND a citation to your research. Please use MLA format AND make the title a hyperlink so this also serves as a hyperdoc.
Student Blogger (Presentation): Finally, one student from your team should be selected as the “Student Blogger.” I will need the student blogger’s email address by March 27, 2019 to give the blogger digital access. Remember, this blog will be GLOBALLY PUBLISHED. The important point is to properly label the blog (in the tagged area) as “Modern Mythology 2019.”
Grading: Your grade is holistic based on 1) Research, 2) Teamwork, 3) Creativity, 4) Timeliness. Teams will SHARE grades, so it is imperative you SHARE the work.
Team Name: Vladdy Issues
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Class Period: 8
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Team Members: Sin, Christina, Evan, Jeff, Leland
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Student Blogger Email: sin.lin@sitechhs.com
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Vampire’s Ethnicity: Hebrew
Gibson, Lyn. “The Estrie – A Jewish Vampire Legend.” Author Lyn Gibson, 28 Apr. 2014,
authorlyngibson.wordpress.com/2014/04/28/the-estrie-a-jewish-vampire-legend/.
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Justification: Our vampire is a descendant of the Estrie, female demons that are closely related to Succubi. They were beautiful and bloodthirsty, and preyed upon Hebrew citizens, with accounts of attacks taking place during the 1400s. They had the ability to shapeshift into animals and their “spirit form”, as well as possessed the power of flight when their hair was loose.
There is also the mention of Lilith and her daughters, the Lilu, in Hebrew folklore. They possessed many of the same abilities as the Estrie (turning into cats, magical hair, etc.) and were closely related in actions and emotions. They were described as demonic and unique in their abilities and desires but had many traditional characteristics that modern day vampires possess.
The concept of a Hebrew vampire is enticing when considering the religion that came out of Israel, Judaism. In the Torah, it explicitly states that eating blood is strictly forbidden, and one who does so attains demonic aspects. The story of Lilith is also well known across the Jewish people, and amulets blessed with apotropaic magic are still told to this day. It would be interesting to see if our vampire would be able to or how they would interact with their people.
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Vampire’s Abilities:
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Justification: In stories vampires, all appear to have a superior construct of the body than of a human. (3) Some examples are enhanced speed, enhanced strength, enhanced senses, faster regeneration, and many more. Like the belief that getting rid of one sense seemingly enhances the other senses, the death of their human self may completely enhance all their vampire capabilities. Another common belief is that vampires derive their power from the life force of blood. These enhancements are depicted in Interview With the Vampire by Anne Rice, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, Hotel Transylvania and many more. As a vampire, its basic ability would be sucking blood, if not then it wouldn’t be a vampire. Vampires are also often depicted to able to change their body, known as shapeshifting. An example of this is vampires transforming into bats as depicted in Hotel Transylvania.
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Vampire’s Weakness(es):
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Justification: In fiction, vampires have hosted a number of weaknesses ranging from unpleasant compulsions to deadly weapons. Our vampire has few but dangerous weaknesses, with most having the ability to kill him.
The “Crucifix Glitch”, referenced in Blindsight by Peter Watts, is a (fictional) biological explanation to a vampire’s revulsion to crosses. In vampires, their retinas are wired differently than the normal human, mixing up receptors. The receptors that recognize horizontal lines are mixed up with the ones that recognize vertical lines, and when a crucifix is seen by the vampire, both receptors fire off simultaneously (as there is both a horizontal and vertical line in a cross), triggering a “neuroelectrical overload in the visual cortex.” This overload would lead to seizures that could end up killing the host.
Andrea to Armageddon: the Biology, Evolution, and Resurrection,
rifters.com/real/shorts/VampireDomestication.pdf.
Arithmomania, as cleverly depicted by Count von Count in Sesame Street, is a compulsion possessed by vampires to count things around them (it’s also a real disorder commonly associated with OCD). If multiple small objects surround the vampire, such as seeds, coins, or grain, they will feel the need to count every piece before being able to do anything else. This is a critical weakness, as a vampire could hypothetically be trapped forever in a loop of counting seeds, or be used as a distraction to kill them.
> Curiosity Staff. “Sesame Street's The Count Loves To Count Because Of This Real-Life Vampire Legend.”
Curiosity.com, 2016,
curiosity.com/topics/sesame-streets-the-count-loves-to-count-because-of-this-real-life-vampire-
legend-curiosity/.
As demonstrated in Interview With The Vampire by Anne Rice, blood of a dead human could severely incapacitate a vampire to the point of death, as seen with Lestat. While Lestat would’ve most likely perished if he were alone, he was able to barely hang on by feeding on animals in the swamp he was thrown into, eventually gaining the strength to come back with vengeance. This would require our vampire to only seek out living donors, making keeping his true identity hidden a much bigger challenge.
> Rice, Anne. Interview with the Vampire. Ballantine Books Trade Paperbacks, 2014.
Decapitation was an after-death measure taken by 19th century Europeans. They were fearful that the vampire they were burying was not truly dead, and as an extra measure, beheaded their corpse so there was no chance at life. This could either snuff out a vampire who’s just faking it, or prevent one from pulling a Lestat and somehow rising from the grave.
> Tucker, Abigail. “The Great New England Vampire Panic.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 1
Oct. 2012, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-great-new-england-vampire-panic-36482878/.
Wooden stakes are one of the most popular vampire weapons in the media, as well in history. Popular shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The X Files have depicted the use of wooden stakes to kill vampires. TV Tropes’ hypothesis for wood being the ultimate weapon is that a wooden stake is the same as a vampire: the stake was once a living tree and ultimately killed, just like a vampire was once a living human. However, as TV Tropes also mentioned, this also means that a pencil could just as much kill a vampire as a stake.
Sunlight is one of the most well-known weaknesses of vampires. Our vampire, while sensitive to sunlight, won’t be killed by direct exposure unless exposed for a long amount of time and under intense rays. As seen in The Vampire Diaries, different levels of vampires are affected in different ways, where some experience no reaction, others blister and burn, and others are set on fire and ultimately die.
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Vampire’s Reproduction: Sexual Intercourse (vampire and vampire or vampire and human union),
Or by turning others into vampires through blood exchange/fusion for companionship
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Justification: Dhampirs were the result of a vampire and human union (usually of a male vampire and female human). In the Balkans it was believed that male vampires have a great desire for women, so a vampire will return to have intercourse with his wife or with a woman he was attracted to in life. Indeed, in one recorded case, a Serbian widow tried to blame her pregnancy on her late husband, who had supposedly become a vampire, and there were cases of Serbian men pretending to be vampires in order to reach the women they desired. In Bulgarian folklore, vampires were sometimes said to deflower virgins as well. Legends state that Dhampirs were, for the most part, normal members of the community. But Dhampirs, especially male, of paternal vampire descent, could see invisible vampires and practice sorcery, often starting careers as vampire hunters, which would be practiced for generations from father to son.
(“Dhampir.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 23 Mar. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhampir.)
The first vampire may be traced to Greek mythology in the story of a young Italian man named Ambrogio and love of his life, Selena. According to the myth, Ambrogio fell in love with Selena after visiting the Oracle in Apollo’s temple. He asked her to marry him, but the jealous Apollo wanted her for his own. Apollo cursed Ambrogio by causing his skin to burn whenever it was exposed to sunlight. Ambrogio turned to Hades for help. After stealing Artemis’ silver bow to fulfill a deal made with Hades, Artemis cursed Ambrogio so silver would burn his skin. She later took pity on him, though, and gave him super strength, immortality, and fangs to kill beasts to use their blood to write love poems to Selena.
Eventually, the mortal Selena escaped Apollo and reunited with the immortal Ambrogio. Artemis told Ambrogio he could make Selena immortal by drinking her blood which would kill her body but make her spirit live on. Their combined blood could then turn anyone who drank it into a vampire.
(Editors, History.com. “Vampire History.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 13 Sept. 2017, www.history.com/topics/folklore/vampire-history.)
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Vampire’s Camouflage: Self-tanner (“Olivia Moore.” IZombie Wiki, izombie.fandom.com/wiki/Olivia_Moore.) Facetune (Charles, James. “HOW TO TAKE YOUR SELFIES FROM DRAB TO FAB! FACETUNE TUTORIAL.” YouTube, YouTube, 21 Mar. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYbot1VxB84.)
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Justification: Like a modern-day vampire, our vamp hides in plain sight as a social media influencer. They won’t have to worry about conforming to the norms and staying with the trends if they’re the ones setting the trends. Due to their sensitivity to sunlight, they can utilize modern day tools like self-tanner and editing apps to conform to society’s beauty standards. Their distinctly otherworldly appearance can be attributed to editing apps like Facetune, which allows them to upkeep their unrealistic but still desirable appearances. Due to a vampire’s stereotypically glamorous lifestyle, their status as an influencer allows them to stay on top of the social pyramid, holding quite a bit of power and sway over the general public. A con of this is that they are always in the spotlight and being watched, so they must live with caution and deliberation, an obvious occupational hazard.
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Vampire’s Home: Hollywood
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Justification: As shown throughout history, vampires tend to dwell in area densely populated by humans. Two of the popular starting region for vampires are Europe and Asia. This could be because the earliest large human civilization began in Europe and Asia and thus vampire had a much easier time finding people to feed on. Evidence of vampires residence in Europe can be found throughout European folktales. Although they have different names --such as “mura” and “vapir”-- the idea of walking corpses shares the idea of a supernatural being that arose from death and goes around hunting people was prevalent throughout Slavic Europe. This also applies to Asia, where similar being such as the Jiang-Shi from Chinese mythology and the Bhoot from Indian mythology shares these traits. Today, vampires continue the trend of living in large cities. Hollywood was the ideal home for our vampire since humans are abundant and it’s easier to brush off vampire’s unnaturally pale skin as the handiwork of an overly enthusiastic make-up artist.
Sites:
“Slavic Europe.” Vampire Legends Around the World, vampiresaroundtheworld.weebly.com/slavic-europe.html.
“Asia.” Vampire Legends Around the World, vampiresaroundtheworld.weebly.com/asia.html.
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Vampire’s Preferences: Young vegans with type O blood, but because he won’t know whether or not his food is type O beforehand, it gives him a rush of excitement and adrenaline before his meals. He stresses that his food is young (from the ages of 16 to 24, because too young will mean the serving size is too small, while old blood will be lacking in flavor). As for it being vegan, it has something to do with his obsession with the media.
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Justification: Throughout many novels of vampires, vampires have all different kinds of preference of prey. Usually, these preferences are influenced by their past experiences, personality, hobby, personal interest and etc. For example, in Interview With the Vampire by Anne Rice, Claudia in the beginning “seemed obsessed with women and children.”(pg 104) Because when Claudia was turned into a vampire she was still a child and lost her mother, which made her long for maternal love. The fact that her body won’t grow and her jealousy of children having a mother to love them she targets women and children.
James’s obsession with young vegans is attributed to the social media craze currently taking place. Many influential social media stars (such as Jenna Marbles and Emma Chamberlain) are vegan, and the lifestyle is heavily associated with successful, Californian young stars. James can never truly be a “vegan” since he’s both a killer and needs blood to survive, but his obsession with fitting into the influencer mold leads to him projecting his wants through his victims. As for his preference for blood type and age, they are simply for the taste. According to The Vampire is Just Not That Into You by Vlad Mezrich, vampires that seek out type O blood are extroverted adrenaline junkies. This can definitely describe our vampire, as he is a monster hiding in the spotlight, and likes to take risks with his food.
Mezrich, Vlad. “The Vampire Is Just Not That Into You.” Scholastic.com, 2009,
www.scholastic.com/internationalrights/pdfs/Vampire_Interior_Spreads.pdf.
Rice, Anne. Interview with the Vampire. Ballantine Books Trade Paperbacks, 2014.
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Vampire’s Appearance: Our vampire is based off of a popular picture of social media star James Charles called “Flashback Mary”. His face is pure white, and he is known for having claw-like acrylic nails.
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Justification: We have based our vampire’s appearance off of social media star James Charles, specifically his well-known picture at a meet & greet nicknamed “Flashback Mary”. In the photo, his setting powder reacted with the flash photography, leaving his skin looking pale white. Paired with his love for acrylic nails, which have been seen shaped in a claw-like way, he became our vampire. As such a famous and influential makeup artist, we found it interesting to think of a vampire that was in the spotlight, and how they would work around being in the public eye without getting caught. (This photo has been acknowledged by James Charles and he has publicly shown that he has no qualms with it, making multiple jokes of his own and even dedicating a whole video to him “recreating” the look.)
> Messina, Victoria. “After People Trolled His Makeup Fail, James Charles Clapped Back in the Most Hilarious Way.” POPSUGAR Beauty, 9 Apr. 2017,
www.popsugar.com/beauty/James-Charles-Responds-People-Trolling-His-Makeup-Fail-43396756.
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Vampire’s Background: From Transylvania to Trans-continental
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Justification: As mentioned earlier, vampires most likely either came from Greece or the Middle East. From there they moved to densely populated early civilizations for easier hunts. However, vampires were having a difficult time reproducing because of people’s fear towards them and the vampire hunts that resulted. One exception to this is Transylvania, the homeland of Vlad the Impaler, which is located in modern-day Romania. Prince Vlad was a well respected and beloved hero of Romania, known for resorting to brutal scare tactics (actually just covering up for Vlad’s feeding) to protect Romania from invaders. Being a hero and prince meant that Vlad had all the humans needed to reproduce and spread vampirism within Europe. This significant increase in aristocratic vampires through Europe could be the reason why the introduction of vampires in contemporary culture began in European literature and are generally associated with aristocrats instead of mindless walking corpses in ancient Slavic mythology and Chinese mythology. Ever since vampires have spread throughout the world during the European age of exploration and colonialism, and through China into many Asian countries.
Our vampire is a descendant of Vlad and shares a lot of his desires. Due to his aristocratic origins, our vampire has an obsession with being rich and being in the limelight. He would use any measure, no matter how extreme or strange, to distinguish himself from us normal humans. His need to run multiple successful businesses and social media accounts attribute to his large following, which has brought in enough wealth to set him up as a well-known influencer.
Sites:
Pallardy, Richard. “Vlad the Impaler.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1 Jan. 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Vlad-the-Impaler.
Dhwty. “The Living Dead: Chinese Hopping Vampires.” Ancient Origins, Ancient Origins, 8 June 2016, www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends/living-dead-chinese-hopping-vampires-006050.
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