The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

Inspired by THE IRISH JOURNAL OF GOTHIC AND HORROR STUDIES, whose next issue will focus on "the state of modern horrors."

I was just wondering what that is to various people, and how it might vary from country to country.

Personally, I think psychological fear or terror is much better than the thing that came from the swamp and wants to eat me. I think the acute mastermind toying with me is much more frightening.

Sadly, I am most afraid of my government right now. I hold no secrets, but the events of January 31 in Boston are enough to show that we are a trigger happy society right now. The american society is more than happy to call someone a terrorist and strike them than to ask them what's going on.

I am in a good neighborhood, but there is still that lingering fear of someone not liking me and suggesting I am operating a coiu. The exectuive branch will more than happily tear me away from my life and lock me away. I may be proven to be innocent, but I'd imagine in this time being accused of a terrorist is much like a sex crime. I wouldn't matter if it were true or not, the accusation is still there, and would still bother people in the back of their mind.

No, I am not middle eastern. I'm a cracker. It wouldn't matter. The lines people are willing to draw this day and age are absurd.

I am constantly horrified by the way we treat each other as well. I do my utmost on a daily basis to not judge people on their intolerances... it takes so much effort to love someone who is so intolerant, but it is a start, and the only way such people can work throught their own problems.

However it is my greatest horror when I find myself doing something "callous"to someone else. Fortunately, the former outweighs the later... even the instances of hate are becoming lessened.

Lawyers (which does include 90% of polititions) and moneylenders are still the most excruciatingly difficult to not find Horrifying.

I live in a town with an insane amount of cops per capita. I tend to avoid them when I see them around the diner.

I'm not saying all cops are pigs, but I deffinatly get the feeling that some of the cops around here joined the force to push people around.

The greatest modern horror to me is killing over religious differences or racial differences as we see in the Iraq and Darfour (sp/).

Horror now a days is something far more beyond local issues like police etc. in my country police here are good on average and if you had to consider everything they are good
what rally is something that we should take care of is indifference many people now a days are just indifferent f what is happening somewhere else or they just give a dam . beside that poverty and social inresponsability are the keys more many terrors miss education or nothing at all is also a hot issues.
religion wars etc are just the mature fruit of ignorance they this people have no actual education to learn and understand with there own mind therefore getting them towards freedom and a vaster mentality.
Judjement is also a hot issue some people do think that they are the key for what is right or wrong but in reality there is no right or wrong there is a way of perception and before we understand that our own civilization will suffer in terror and horror.

Religious intolerance has been one of those things I've never understood. All in all, many religions agree with the "be nice to eachother" mentality, yet there are so many that are at eachother's throats.

Well said. For example, it even says in the Christian texts that it is okay to lie to people of other religions. (I myself am a Christian, so if I offend anyone it is not my intention)

in my small town all the cops are small minded. besides, it wouldn't be them i would be afraid of. its the serial killers we have in this country. just too many from wisconsin.(where I am from)

The Things That Scare Me Are Things Like Me And My wife Divorcing, Something happening to our daughter...ect,
Things that I fear are things like those...nothing more.

read the news today that is something we should fear most. the markets are going down .....

I agree with you on the idea a subtle building suspence is much more effective then whatever come out of a swamp or any kind of bloody gore fest although I have watched a few of those.

Truly what scares the pants off me is that a majority of people are sitting on there hinneys saying wow is me due to the national security acts we allowed to be passed..

IE the government works for us only when we stop thinking like sheep and step up to the plate and challenge them to change the Consitution back to its former self.

Yes you can be arrested right now if a bad nieghbor decides to say your a terrorist.
You wouldn't be able to reach counsel because at this moment in time we have very littel rights left to stand on We let them wipe that all out in the name of national security.
Instead of using our brains we listened to a man we (well I didnt elect) elected that had no expirience talk us all into an emotional responce.
Furthr allowed him to talk our elected officals to send our men and women into a war that has nothing really to do with what actually happened.

My best suggestion here is vote know the politicans yes I know none of them are any good but some are less rotten then they ones we have now.

we will eventually kill are selves, by we i mean the world. just enjoy the time thats left. but the scariest movie ive ever seen was final destination. not really scary just had me looking over my shoulder for a week.

Please stay away from politics and focus on the topic of Horror.

Thanks.

i think that soon nobody will really have any fears we'll all adapt to seeing horrors everyday and just become acustom to being disgusted of frigtend we wont have it anymore and the world will be in a state of disary. If you know what i mean

Modern Horrors:

Global warming, Big Brother, governmental fear propoganda, ethnic cleansing as seen in so many places around the world, class cleansing (middle class is disappear while the rich get richer), explotation of the 2nd and 3rd world along with 1st world working class...

I could go on and on but i think the thing that will ultamitly destroy us is apathy and the notion of being powerless.

the government is worrying me more and more as well. have you all heard of them possibly banning wearing your pants down below the waist so that ur boxers are showing. they are going to make that illegal. the goverment is slowly trying to take control of everything. Its creepy. i thought we were supposed to be free?

Enough with the government conspiracy stuff people. Politics is not the focus of this forum. One thing that I am unnerved by is the threat of global warming. May not seem like much to any of you, but the proof is undeniable.

it sucks that when global warming suddenly takes over the sphere animals will be exstinct from parts of the rainforest and california and florda and luisiana (pardon my spelling lol) will be under water i wish there were something to save that from happening but it just cant be done all in one persons generation

The monster that creaps from the depths devouring your flesh eating your family and friends, can be killed.
But go insane and you cant escape the prospect of haveing to travel through a room of ones most extream fear to live is something that makes people loose it.

I beleive that the insanity of something like the movie Saw,Saw 2, Saw 3 is much more frightening then some creature from the black lagoon or zombies.
( please excuse my spelling )

Wow! Thats worth reading!

I have to agree. Its a tough time to be a nice person in the US.

I remember a few years back when I visited Toronto. I was amazed that a relatively close neighbor was so different. We met random people, who were nothing but nice. One person finally blurted out in conversation: "So, you're American? That's too bad, you seem like such a nice guy."

How does this particularly tie into VR? Think it might be because different might get a little more scrutiny these days?

i am lucky here in canada we are treated far more resonably thank god ,.

The other thing that scares me is the threat of a new epidemic, whatever form it might take.

We're highly overdue for a new, fast spreading, fatal infection.

I think that epidemic might just be the effects of Global Warming.

We can do things now to try to slow down any further effects, but there are some things that have started that just can't be undone.

sadly this is what our world has come too.
petty disputes can get you killed.

Indeed.

I saw on PBS that so far we're going to get a few degrees warmer for the next few decades, and if we knock it off NOW it will taper off after that.

I could see a warming planet breeding or re-releasing a forgotten infection.

What about other horrors, such as moral ambivalence?

I can deal with moral ambivilance... What gets me is moral ambivilance on one level, and a religious uprizing for more consertavisim is much more horrific.

still to date only one movie has truly frightened me and that was The Excorcist.... as for modern horror I find disease related movies make my skin crawl

Fear, whether it is primordial, modern, or (re)evolutionary is merely a way that we keep ourselves either in check. Once fear is understood and appreciated for what it actually is, only then can we find ourselves to be truly limitless in what we can do.

What I fear is Global Warming, My Government, My County, which seems to make it's own laws, and the really weird guy down the street.

I think americans are way more gun happy then most countries. So I have always been afraid to go to the states. It is psychological things that scare most people more then anything and the government is a pretty scary beast

Its not all that interesting or great in the Us id rather live in canada personally, much nicer people up there, or perhaps go live in the outback its very beautiful.

We are tearing the world apart by the seems, the scary thing about whats going on is maybe your right, maybe the conditions will be met and an ancient virus will thrive again and kill us all.....although I Personally think it would be cool if it was a zombie disease and only a few people got it then we would have to fight off zombie hords......A.W.S.O.M.E.

I personally feel that the horrors are all around.everywhere we look there is death and destruction.although i,m a vampire i still respect life.But it is in man/womans nature to destroy themselves.The armies of the night shall rule the world.

Excellent postings on this topic.
There seems to be horror coming at all of us from more angles than can easily be covered.
Orlando has experienced a record murder rate this past year. This is continuing unabated. Daily all sorts of exceptionally violent acts are committed in Otown.
The World is generally a less civil and harsher place. The day to day grind is stifilling people's spirits and draining away our basic humanity and civility.
Perhaps we should all try and revive the classic, "Random Acts of Kindness"

I feel as many have expressed that we in the US live in a less tolerant society than ever before. I must keep my religious and personnal beliefs to myself for fear of persecuction.

What horrifies me most nowadays is listening to the news. No slasher flick can compare to the things that are actually taking place. The darker side of humankind is definitely manifesting in some terrifying ways.

I think the random acts of kindness are a good idea, and may help fight off the horrors of this life..

It is sometimes really hard to look beyond what we are feeling and realizing other people are out there having to live their lives as well.

I think there is little to no sense of community anymore. I don't know anyone on the culdisac I live in. I'll smile and wave at people, but that's it. I can't really help it as I feel I live a totally different life than they do. I also feel that I'd be thought of as "odd" if I just walked up to one of them and started talking.

I may not like the idea of religion, but church really is a good place to feel that community. Maybe I should start my own church.. to get together and chit chat about life and whatever.

I'll have to call it "St. Neonate's house of chilling"

the greatest horror that comes to my mind is current generation falling the children. what kind of example are we setting as a country. that's what i fear, falling my son.

Hey! some good points since I last viewed the thread.

1) Americans as a whole are not really that gunhappy. Like any other group, a few extreme retards ruin it. Though, Canadians have TONS more guns and hardly any shootings....maybe its the water.

2) Failing to leave a good legacy and properly raise our kids to appreciate the mistakes of the past is a valid fear.

I also fear that even though we have all this communication and technology at our fingertips, that we really aren't growing any closer as a race. Even though I make a bit show of not liking people (because I don't!), at heart I hope the best for most people.

I think we need to think as a race before our 'us vs. them' attitude gets us all in big trouble. Thats a big modern horror to me.

i think the horrors are the ones done by us. we make this world and we are getting worse.

Eventually Mutually Assured Destruction will finish us all off, leaving this world only for the bugs.

There are many things in the world today that are horrific, But what is the scariest to me is when we become so unsensitized that things start to not matter any more. We just start to accept things as they are and don't fight to try to improve things.

Recently i was reading an article where two students back in china released a home made virus speficly done to modify genetical dna stracture and enchance there legs etc etc....... what worries me that if they know how to make such a thing they could propably kill everyone by creating somethign realy bad..... this would also be somethign of horror..

The earth has gone thru global warming before, then it cools off into an ice age. It is a cycle that has happened over and over. The earth survived every one of these cycles and the creatures that come back are more evolved than ever. Maybe it is just time for the purging of humanity. After all all we as humans do is take from the earth. I do not think it is scary. It is just the way of nature has to perfect herself.

If another ice age doesn't kill us off completly, at least it will kill off the stupid people.

I haven't seen anything at the cinema in years that if found scary! Maybe I'm just use to it all! Real life is always the scariest!

yes society today is dreadful and morbid. very few things are left that are pure.

Well, there are ways to try to make certain elements of your life pure. Pick and choose your friends wisely. If you have children, raise them well and teach them morals.

Though it may seem hopeless, if we each strive to be good people, then society can only become better.

When iceland melts.. it will raise sea levels everywhere... it will also change the water currents...

So britian will either be sunk or frozen either which way you look at it :)

its scary how much society has changed in the past years- and not for the better.
People aren't more violent- they're just more open with their violence..

i think the best type of horror is one that lays in the mind...the feeling of being followed when you walk home late at night. that is the true form of terror

not much further from the witch burnings is it? Same concept... different subject

i agree. i think the US is a state of modern horror. slaughtering innocent ppl for the sake of oil. personally i am ashamed to call myself an american

Global Warming, abused and neglected children, rape, murder, disease, wars, intolerance of race, nationality, free speech, and religion, loss of “family values”, teaching children right from wrong, children being raised in institutions instead of in the family home, ie: day care centers, proper education for our children, and the lack of funds, people who think more about possessions then their own families welfare and being. All of the above to me are modern horrors.

we should feer nothing. the worst possiable thing that can happent to someone is torture, than death. and death is only a release from a living hell.

guardianofmidian, I agree. I've been thinking about trying to immigrate OUT of the US.

But that would really only make things worse. Those of us that are discusted should do something... but it feels so hopeless. It's a hard decision.

Where to begin. Paranoid? Yes. Scared?Yes. Afraid? No. Scaredof theshape of things now and tocome. Not afraid of it happening because it will.

My 3 biggest horrors are
1. My own Govt (EX: Im not to sure what to think of people that invade my privacy when this is supposed to be a "FREE" country. The fact that my own people were cornered into voting the worlds biggest idiot as the president...The 1st idiot to run a country & hes done nothing but destroy all that american stands for in no time at all....Go Figure)
2. Racism/Hate (Why cant we honestly get along here? We're all 1 in the same as far as where we are from. Sure im of irish/scottish descent but im not irish nor am i scottish...Get my drift? Why do we have to hate others? All of us say that we dont "HATE" but when we see certain people we sneer our noses at them & walk away briskly.....Why do we do it? Fear of the unknown about that other person? Or fear of how they look,they dress, the skin color...?)
3. Religion (So theres Christianity,Judaism,Buddhism etc....The Torah, The Bible, Koran.....Whats the point behind of fighting between each other, fighting over lands that "BELONGED" to the other group..? I dont get it because we all worship the the same God or Deity just in different ways or in different manners. So why all the fuss? I just dont understand it but maybe thats just me & my simple outlook)

My fear sadly is becoming ill or hurt and ending up in a nursing home. I've been a paramedic 8 yrs and I have seen there is so much worse that can happen to you than death.

Nursing homes are deffinatly a modern horror. There to rot the last few years away, surrounded by senility and those who deficate on themselves.

I've found myself rather disconnected from horror stories or movies that evoke the modern fears of government or persecution.

I still find that the best horror has always come from things that leave you questioning your own surroundings. Questioning your own sanity for being silly enough to believe. When you're unsure of just how far you can slip into the story and your imagination is left to run wild with the idea of it happening to you as it happens on screen or as you read.

Stories like that have kept me reading straight through the night and on through the day. To put the book down would mean leaving open the resolution and leaving your mind to ponder your place in it. You have to finish so you can be 'at peace' and feel safe.

I believe the Shining was the first book to affect me this way. The idea of ghosts wanting to drive you mad...waiting just out of view. I was 12 and finished the book in one weekend of no sleep and straight reading.

I just want to say, that we are never hopeless. Topics that seem huge and daunting can be dealt with... we just have to demand that they are. Its not that difficult to write a senator or house rep of either the state or federal government. its not hard to write a letter to the editor. its not hard to but cans in one trash can to later take to a recycling place. there are a million different small things we all can do on ~any~ topic that scares us.

if only we would make the choice...

I strongly agree. I find that the most scary thing in the world is one's own mind. Don't get me wrong the thing that came from the swamp is still pretty creepy. But nothing quite makes my blood run cold like the true life horrors one person can inflict on another. For me it just makes it all the more real!

I have to agree the news is the worst on Horror.. Every time you turn on the boob tube its this person has killed this person ,we just found a Meth Lab in your backyard. It never ends the most time when i filp the news on I just listen for what the weather will be....

The news is also skewed and controlled by those in power. Sure, what is being covered is "the truth," but I doubt we ever receive the whole truth.

the news is an billioner dollar industry... they will tell what sells and bury the everyday tragedys... i'm sorry Anna Nicole died from an overdose, but how many noncelebrities do that and it never gets mention on any of the cable news networks...

I am horrified by the many losses of our men and woman over seas fighting in the Armed Forces.. DO you realize we have lost more at this point then we have in Vietnam.. I was talking with my dad about this.. he also agree with me.. How much longer should this really go on?
Its like a ripple affect in teh states as well.. so many people now in fear of so much.. Its horrifying to me...

I think that all Horror Movies that I have pretty much seen try to go for the Scare Factor(Saw(I, II, and III) are just a few. But I also Like Psycological Thrillers also.

im from nz were its not that horried but i have never found a horror movie "scary" i find them funny as :D

Well, what does horrify you, Manson?

whats scary for me is things you cant get away from like things inside ur mind or in you. or things that can not be killed.

Ok.. this is just.....ok well

Horror, would have to be something that you could not escape..... And horror is something that I am familiar with...............

As bad as religious intolerance is, it is hardly modern. It has been behind wars, torture, executions, and other atrocities since religion started.

Sadly, that's true.. but efforts can be made to initiate tolerance.

Wow, all of this out of one Irish publication *grins* we Irish reach the parts other beers can't..thats why we love our guinness :)

I think the fact that someone can get into my brain and play it to there advantage so that im terrified and jumping at every small noise is scarier than any creature thats ever been put in a film

If anyone thinks I'm a terrorist thats their problem, but im not going to be brain washed into joining the army to fight enemies that may or may not exist

Unfortunatly, it is your problem if you are considered a terrorist. I think though once your civil liberties are stipped and you rot in a cell for a time, you will be put on trial and most likely be found innocent.

That isn't too reassuring to me though.

what scares the hell out of me is the police they are given to much power and to much leincy when they break the law and do bad things and if you complain it's a cops word against yours it's sick

The real horror in my modern world is knowing that our society is slowly becoming less civilized. We are living in times where each new generations aren't being taught the values of things around them. So we have more problems, because the rules we had created for humans to live peacefully amongst one another are now falling apart and being ignored. There have always been crime and violent disagreements. Our next generation which is already here, are largely into drugs and or gangs and have no respect for older persons. They are aggressive, violent and destructive. I am not generalizing here, because I know there are some youth today who do not fall into such categorizing, but for the most part, what I see horrifies me. I fear for the future of our world... to me that's the best horror show anywhere.

Every generation says that about the next one.. since the baby boomer era. I think that is just a sign of society evolving so fast we don't know what to do about it.

Part of this may also be due to the fact that kids aren't kids as long as they used to be. Girls are wearing makeup and trying to look "mature" as young as 10, rather than running on the playground and continuing to enjoy their last years of being a child.

So instead of having those last years as a young kid with no worries, they're acting "grown up" with cell phones, computers, and other electronic gadgets.

I'm sure growth hormones present in various forms of meat doesn't help either.

I'm sorry.. forget what may have earlier been posted. THIS is a moden horror.

How can one have faith in the human race when crazy crap like this happens?

Yes shootings are very bad. Bad indeed. And I am sure that it will flood the news for the next few days. AP is reporting 31 people dead. If only we cried out this loud for every death here and abroad.

What makes this special? Because a massive number was killed? People die every day in horrible attacks and barely a word makes it into national news.

It is sad that every life is not valued while it is alive. We know so little about each other and the only time we seem to be snapped out of our own little world is when tragedy strikes.

personally the new horrors are our intolarence of each other and our sexes. bush is always scarry, the war in iraq, korea and the bomb. new virius', starvation in 3rd world countries, the real horror list is endless

Truthfully, the horrors that are being shown on the television and online is desensitizing the next generation. They think nothing of seeing someone blown away. It seems that most of this current generation really doesn't have a conscious.

Im not sure I completely agree with that. We see violence all the time on tv, but there have been generations where practically all the men served in the armed forces... i don't think tv violence can even compare to seeing things first hand. Older generations didnt seem as prone to violence as newer generations and maybe there are lessons to be learned from actual war that reduces ones inclination to initiate horrors here.

Movies and books that play with your psychological fear are the best. As for monter movies, I loved them when I was a kid but now not as much. I guess it just takes more than a silly monster to scare me. lol

It sounds like history is repeating itself in a different way, I mean...In England witchcraft hysteria began in 1563, it was different times for different countries by a few years, word of mouth...& if someone didn't like you they could point the finger at you & you'd be tried for being a witch, they'd implicate someone else & so on. I know it's not as severe but I see an unsettling pattern

In a simple sentence. "Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it"

Pattern maybe, I beleive its likely that vampires will survive whatever the world throws at us, and continue on.
That is to say we've endured garlic crosses and reality tv shows right? j/k

Hmmm, fear and horror.....sound like something that exist only in films. But I would say I fear deep waters and heights of grand magnitudes so apperently they are all around yet in our heads they reside.

Oops, I killed 666

News around the world is very scary
ghost

we dont need horror movies there is enuff in the news from all around the world. it want stop til we wipe each other off the map

I think horror movies should move away from the gore and blood back to the old suspense and scare tactics of the original horror movies. I have seen some that still scare the heck out of me, but modern day horrors, need a bucket to empty your stomach contents more than scare factor.

Personally I think the modern horror is the apathy in which we greet each new assualt. We are not surprised anymore when a person shoots up a school...whether it is college or public/private schools. That to me is the modern horror. We are becoming used to it.

I know of only true horror, Mans inhumanity to man, That is true evil. The most horroific things in this world are the things that can and will happen, Secrite societys with in the government the dictate what, where, when, how,and who." Nukler" devistation is as real as the sky is above you, I am not afraid to die, Rather I fear my daughter to live threw the end

True 'nough, true that!

You have said a mouthful with this topic.

The more they shoot,
The more they watch.
The more they watch,
The more they think of how famous they can be, more than the last.
We should focus on the victum, not the shooter.
The more we publicize the profile of the shooters, the more we condone stupidity.

Trivia - Maybe the indifference is due to some form of a society wide shell shock. We've seen so much violence become people that it doesn't really hit us anymore.

The day the towers fell I felt sick. I didn't know anyone in New York, it was simply the sheer horror of what had happened. I had a test that day. The professor offered to reschedule, but most of the class wanted to take the test.

There were three of us who didn't want to. He took us outside and tried to yell at us to take the test with the rest of the students.

We couldn't.. He could have asked me what 2+2 was and I would have just stared dumbly at him.

Too many people have a "it didn't affect me, so what?" type of attitude. Unfortunatly, we just can't life like that.. or it will turn us into empty husks.

Neonate: I agree. I just feel that the news media is saturating us with this information...to such a degree that we are tired of hearing it.

We can't handle anymore sorrow...if we hear it we will be sad. That too is an aftereffect of 911. I was not in the United States when it happened. I was in Guam. I cannot describe what it was like living in the "front line" area of the conflict with Afghanastan.

Our world is becoming such that we are becoming immune to violence.

I have the simplest modern day horror, the fear of your child hating you for doing the very best you thought you could for them.

Nothing else scares me more. I accept my fate as it is dealt to me in this world. That's why nothing really horrifies me accept the above stated.

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