dubiously sane vampire ponderings

[ontology]

Interestingly, in all of the vampire stories I have come across, in whatever medium, none of them have ever given any thought as to why Christian symbols -- crosses, holy water, often churches themselves -- ward off vampires. To be fair I don't recall any scientific explorations of the fending-off power of garlic or silver or stakes (wooden or iron) or why vampires can't cross the threshold of a house uninvited*, either, but they don't have the same sort of -- hmm, significance. And I've never come across any stories in which a vampire recoiled from the Koran, or a Hindu idol, or the Star of David. But then there are also very few vampire stories set outside of a Western aesthetic.



* And because I think far too much, I keep thinking about how the particulars of that rule work. Vampires tend to make homes in abandoned buildings (all right, sometimes their own seemingly abandoned homes), and if the building is abandoned, does that stop the whatever-it-is that requires an invitation? What if someone's crept off the street to sleep in an abandoned building for a night, and a vampire attempts to enter? Does the building or house have to be specifically in someone's possession? And what sort of buildings can't they enter? Homes, all right, absolutely; and usually churches, too, but for different reasons. But what about businesses? If a vampire took a notion to attend the theatre, would he have to finagle some way of being invited inside? Most of the stories that mention the invitation requirement stop with houses and don't seem to give a thought to other buildings, so presumably the rules are different, but how, and why? Can vampires enter the homes of other vampires without being invited? How does one, or can one, un-invite a vampire? (When Angel went evil, they changed the locks, but I'm not sure that fits in with how I see magic, as such, working.) At what point does spending a great deal of thought on the inner workings of fictional universes border on getting one institutionalised? Is there any hope for me? Will I ever run out of question marks? Is it less mad if it can count as novel research?

Comments

[charismitaine.livejournal.com]

As far as vampire novels, definitely read Dracula, and definitely read Sunshine if you haven't already (of course McKinley added her own stuff to the usual folklore, but it's just an awesome book anyway). If you're interested in being true to traditional lore don't read Anne Rice and stay far the heck away from that Twilight crap (not that I didn't read the whole book in one sitting. I did. And as soon as I was done with it and no longer in the world of the book I sat back and said 'well that's note a healthy thing for thirteen year olds to base their romantic fantasies on!'). And (people are going to scowl at me for this) but don't look to Buffy or Angel either. Whedon just made up his own vampire stuff, mostly, and it has only a surface relation to folklore, which has kind of been a barrier to me liking it (also I've never had the first season of Buffy, so I never had the chance to get into it at all. But I have watched Angel and I can tell you that the lore is iffy).

For actual reference books I need to give my brother a call--when I want to know something mostly I just call Brad o.0 Vampires are one of his particular areas of interest, so he knows a lot more than I do. He can go on about it at length, and has all kinds of fascinating, obscure knowledge, so he'll know more about the origins of legends and such, and can give you the names of the best reference books--I shall report back! And if you have the History channel and they're doing a lot of reruns, keep your eyes open for their special on vampires--they were airing it non-stop, it felt like, a few months ago, and they seem to cycle these things. It's interesting, if overly theatrical *cough*