First of all, there’s no biting – that’s neither safe nor sanitary – and with too many vital arteries, the neck isn’t the favored spot. Transactions aren’t carnages leaving the victim lifeless behind in a dark alley, and nor do vampires sleep in coffins or burn in daylight. They’re generally cool with garlic. Most of them don’t even have fangs.
Instead, modern vampires get their sustenance from inch-long incisions made by a sterilized scalpel on a fleshy part of the body that doesn’t scar. Though the vampire may suck it up directly from the source, medically trained personnel usually perform the procedure. There’s paperwork too: “donors” don’t just have to consent, but also provide health certificates proving the absence of blood-borne diseases. Still, feeding is a sensual and sacred ritual.
The people who claim to be vampires are in the thousands worldwide, with demographics transcending borders, class, race and gender. And increasingly, researchers study them.
“We’re people you pass on the street and likely socialize with on a daily basis,” says Merticus, the 37-year-old founding member of Atlanta’s Vampire Alliance. “We often keep this aspect of our life secret for fear we’ll be misunderstood and to safeguard against reprisals from what society deems taboo.”
Merticus has identified as a real vampire since 1997, and speaks eloquently and passionately about what vampirism is and what it is not. (“Not a cult, a religion, a dangerous practice, a paraphilia, an offshoot of the BDSM community, a community of disillusioned teenagers and definitely not what’s depicted in fictional books, movies or television.”)
An antique dealer by profession, married with two dogs, he’s one of exceptionally few vampires to be open about his identity (“I hide in plain sight,” he explains). For almost a decade, he has personally worked with academics, social scientists, psychologists, lawyers, law enforcement agencies and others on how to best approach, research and understand the vampire subculture.
An Atlanta native, he is known as Merticus both legally and personally – even on his Starbucks card. And while he mostly dresses head-to-toe in black, he doesn’t don colored lenses or fang prosthetics. In fact, he is keen to say he isn’t into it because vampirism is “cool”. Real vampires don’t care much for pop culture buzz, and most don’t look the stereotype (only some 35% of real vampires are into goth, he claims). Some even sneer at the “lifestylers” (also known as “fashion vampires” and “posers”).
Apart from the societal taboos attached to the practice, consuming human blood is generally not advisable: not only can it carry a range of diseases – including Hepatitis, HIV and parasites – but also hazardous amounts of iron. Indeed, modern vampires often insist that their cravings are not voluntary – life would have been easier without them – but something they’re born with. Yet, it isn’t necessarily sexual: though they can and do overlap, real vampirism should not be confused with blood fetishism.
Insiders refer to the realization of one’s vampiric nature as an awakening. It isn’t like the dramatic process often portrayed in movies, and one isn’t be “turned” through vampires bites. For most vampires, it’s a gradual and frightening process, normally manifesting itself in puberty or possibly following trauma. Through trial and error, vampires learn what curbs their hunger.
No one knows what causes haematomania, the craving to drink blood. Those who experience it describe it as an intense thirst-like sensation, an addiction with withdrawal-like symptoms. Animal blood or rare steaks may act as substitutes, but for most vampires nothing beats fresh blood. Frequency and amount vary but for many a few teaspoons once a week is enough. This, naturally, is supplemented with a normal diet: after all, real vampires are humans with human needs.
“Most people are able to maintain healthy energy levels through diet, exercise, social interactions and the occasional cappuccino,” says Mertucus. “We’ve had to develop alternative means to sate our energy needs.”
Not all drink blood, either. The community generally acknowledges two types of vampires: the blood vampires (“sanguinarians”) and the psychic or energy vampires who drain of “life-force” (also known as prana or chi) rather than blood from others.
“We do not identify with fictional characters, supernatural powers, or immortality, nor do we have any difficulty distinguishing between fantasy and reality,” Merticus says, adding that if anything, pop culture is catching up to them.
Real vampires, he says, have existed as an organized community for nearly 30 years, and in solitary for far longer. As there is no “test” for vampirism, everyone is welcome and it’s a remarkably diverse crowd, ranging from doctors, lawyers, soldiers, scientists, soldiers, artists, teachers and parents of all age, gender, ethnicity and religion. Some chose to align with like-minded through courts and houses, though the majority, he says, do not.
If there’s one thing real vampires seem to have in common, it is their reluctance to tell the world about who, and what, they are.
by Kim Wall, The Guardian | Read more:
Image; Alarmy
