Reaction to Vampirism

[simon darkshade]

How would modern society react to a sudden emergence of vampirism?

[stevep]

Jul 29, 2021 5:54:20 GMT simon darkshade said:

How would modern society react to a sudden emergence of vampirism?

  The obvious response it the vast majority of cases I suspect would be horror, revulsion and violence.  Especially if the vampires are anything like those presented in fiction with considerable mental and physical powers and viewing humans as cattle/food.

[simon darkshade]

I would definitely agree there. It would be ironic for some of those who romanticise monsters to encounter them.

There was a British show called Ultraviolet in the late 1990s with a young Idris Elba about a secret UK Government anti-vampire squad funded by the Ministry of Health with input by the Vatican. It had some intriguing ideas, but only went for one series.

[stevep]

Jul 29, 2021 9:59:31 GMT simon darkshade said:

I would definitely agree there. It would be ironic for some of those who romanticise monsters to encounter them.

There was a British show called Ultraviolet in the late 1990s with a young Idris Elba about a secret UK Government anti-vampire squad funded by the Ministry of Health with input by the Vatican. It had some intriguing ideas, but only went for one series.

  I remember that although didn't realise Idris was in it, although he probably wasn't a big name then.  Those vampires were pretty much unstoppable, even 'dusting' wasn't terminal for them.   Seemed way over the top.

[simon darkshade]

It was quite early in his career and top billing went to Jack Davenport.

The vampires of Ultraviolet had that unfortunate modern tendency of being super monsters with even their weaknesses treated with comparative disdain, particularly the religious ones. This is something that has emerged in quite a lot of postmodern vampire flicks, which load the deck in favour of the beasts. Even Christopher Lee's Dracula of 1950s, 1960s and 1970s Hammer vintage still had his canonical weaknesses.

[Zyobot]

Canonical weaknesses or not, I imagine average people arming up to protect themselves from vampires (with gun sales soaring in the US, and maybe other countries that relax those laws, too). Ditto with body armor and other protective measures, with governments probably releasing PSAs on how civilians can ward off vampires, and even cope if they’re bitten.

Law enforcement may be well-trained and well-equipped, but they can’t be everywhere at once. If you find a vampire lurking in your backyard and it spots you, the fact that it’ll take a few minutes for the police to arrive doesn’t really help.

[simon darkshade]

Guns might be a bit of an issue in that they don’t work in most vampire mythos. Body armour similarly defends against a conventional threat.

Warding off the vampires would typically involve use of garlic, wolfsbane and of course crucifixes. That last one will drive some types crazy, but others may quickly adjust to the new threat and even reappraise their perspective.

If one is bitten, it does depend on which lore we take into account. The consequences vary from nothing to being doomed.

I can see a lot of mirrors going up in public places as well as very careful arrangements of not inviting strangers into a place. Night life will certainly change a bit.

[Zyobot]

Jul 29, 2021 15:05:34 GMT simon darkshade said:

Guns might be a bit of an issue in that they don’t work in most vampire mythos. Body armour similarly defends against a conventional threat.

Warding off the vampires would typically involve use of garlic, wolfsbane and of course crucifixes. That last one will drive some types crazy, but others may quickly adjust to the new threat and even reappraise their perspective.

If one is bitten, it does depend on which lore we take into account. The consequences vary from nothing to being doomed.

I can see a lot of mirrors going up in public places as well as very careful arrangements of not inviting strangers into a place. Night life will certainly change a bit.

I can see plenty of restaurants adapting their menus to have lots of garlic-themed items, with grocery stores probably having lots of exotic garlic samples sitting out. In that case, I suppose the social taboos against garlic breath will vanish, or at least be viewed as more excusable (if not necessarily desirable). That does raise a point about how normal humans who are averse to garlic would cope, though given the threat that vampires pose, they'll still have to overcome it (which we may also see a separate market arise for).

Of course, people and governments may regularly have to change protective measures as more crafty vampires adapt and find ways around them, even if it's simply by enough of them developing a tolerance to garlic or something like that. Which would trigger an arms race between human society and ever-persistent vampires, which would add a more perilous dimension to everyday life (much to the chagrin and dread of most people).

[simon darkshade]

Yes, garlic would become very popular very quickly. However, there isn’t anything in vampire lore regarding garlic after it has been consumed, but rather the flowers and intact bulbs itself.

Vampire adaption would be enough of a challenge; I’m not sure the undead can evolve to develop tolerances.

[American hist]

I’m not an expert at vampires but wouldn’t being shot by a bullet at least hurt? The problem is with vampires is that old myth about vampires have changed sometimes dramatically compared to New Age vampire goth. So are vampires affected by artificial light , because traditionally vampires can go into peoples houses and even attack others during the daytime. I could imagine the authorities enforcing curfew even if they were vampire attacks during the day.

[simon darkshade]

Interesting points.

I would say that in all versions of vampire lore that I have encountered, there is no mention of physical pain, save for when holy water, a crucifix or silver was applied to them. Even then, the pain/sensation is arguably down to the spiritual nature of the object rather than any particular variation of their nervous system. In every major version, they are undead, so aren't subject to the vulnerabilities of live humans.

Classically, the likes of Dracula in the 1892 novel were capable of walking around in the daytime, but his powers were greatly accentuated by the night. Going back in folklore, there seems to be a general agreement on the vampire being a creature of the night.

In my own writings, vampires regard being shot with a conventional bullet as minorly annoying and the impact can knock them back a bit, but doesn't hurt or put them down on the ground. They are vulnerable to the rays of the sun, which is a good offset to their array of powers and immunities. If we go too far down the 'super monster' path I referred to up thread, then there is logically no stopping them and they should have taken over the world and reduced humans to cattle in battery farms; if we make them too simplistically vulnerable, then they are just faster emo zombies with great big nasty teeth and a liking for My Chemical Romance. The best 'balance' of the vampire is one that embraces their supernatural nature and folklore, whilst still being evil monsters that simply should not be.

Whilst it doesn't fit in my current works/Dark Earth, there is an idea out there of just how horrifying and devastating such creatures would be to a society and civilisation built up around a rational view of existence and our place at the top of the foodchain. We can see some level of disquiet in the reports/audio footage of USN pilots encountering UFOs that break the rules of physics as we know them. It really takes us back to that period before the Enlightenment and the Early Modern Era, when there was a genuine fear of what could be out there in the night and in the wilds beyond the knowledge of man and all its safety...

[michelvan]

i can understand the use of Silver and Garlic on Vampire as in form of Allergic Reaction
and stake hammer true hearth is deadly for everyone (except Zombies ?)

But crucifix and holy water ? There are Symbols !
we could argument there something Pychotrope in that Symbolism that Drive Vampires to insane irrational fear
that is only "mechanic" that make sense in that dead horse of a Trope

[simon darkshade]

That is the postmodern interpretation, whereby they have to be a symbol and thus have an effect in a manner different to what they are. Additionally, the recourse to having everything ‘make sense’ is exactly what I’m talking about as a basis for cognitive dissonance - it comes from the rational idea that there have to be rules and the universe can be understood through them.

The vampire, the undead, is the antithesis of this. A being that is dead yet exists, drinks blood and breaks all sorts of rules of our understanding. And it is not only completely unnatural, but in its essence, evil.

That alone would be enough to put people into conniption fits, but being specifically hurt or repelled by Christian holy symbols…Holy moly! That would upset some people further.

In one episode of Doctor Who, back before the nonsense modern revival, a type of vampire was ‘turned’ or repelled by a Soviet commando using his hammer and sickle badge. That was the humourous depths things had fallen to in the 1980s.

The Philosophy of the Vampire. There’s a thesis out there in that topic, although I’m not sure under what area of study.

[stevep]

Jul 4, 2022 11:07:09 GMT simon darkshade said:

That is the postmodern interpretation, whereby they have to be a symbol and thus have an effect in a manner different to what they are. Additionally, the recourse to having everything ‘make sense’ is exactly what I’m talking about as a basis for cognitive dissonance - it comes from the rational idea that there have to be rules and the universe can be understood through them.

The vampire, the undead, is the antithesis of this. A being that is dead yet exists, drinks blood and breaks all sorts of rules of our understanding. And it is not only completely unnatural, but in its essence, evil.

That alone would be enough to put people into conniption fits, but being specifically hurt or repelled by Christian holy symbols…Holy moly! That would upset some people further.

In one episode of Doctor Who, back before the nonsense modern revival, a type of vampire was ‘turned’ or repelled by a Soviet commando using his hammer and sickle badge. That was the humourous depths things had fallen to in the 1980s.

The Philosophy of the Vampire. There’s a thesis out there in that topic, although I’m not sure under what area of study.

  I don't know about whether its solely Christian religious symbols that are effective.  In one of the Hammer films Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires, from 1973 which is largely set in China a Buddha, as the symbol of the primary religion in the region is equally effective.  Basically if its a matter of belief then any strong belief and related symbol would be likely to have an affect.

[simon darkshade]

Yes, I did think of that in passing. It could work, whilst raising up a number of practical complications for religions without readily available symbols. That would suggest an emergence of vampirism in multiple areas.

I did think on the details of an earlier Hammer film, Dracula AD 1972, which had a good bit about the cognitive dissonance experienced by a modern copper.