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In works for fiction, I still believe in a fair amount plausibility for a story to hold my interest.

One thing I have never been able to "accept" is a Vampire's heart not beating. Without the heart, you wouldn't have blood pressure. Without blood preasure, all of your blood would flow down to your feet due to gravity and make your feet and legs bulge like a sack full of water.

My questions are:

Does anyone else have a problem with this?

Why do authors still stick to that old "story", can they not just have the heart beat?

Does anyone know of any stories that have a more realistic physiology to them?

Is this just a stigma of "tradition" that no one wishes to change? ie: "We were taught that Vampires are "dead" so no heartbeat for them"

I have a problem with it. If the story is otherwise good, I shove that discrepancy aside in order to enjoy the book.

The question always remained for me: Where does all that blood go? The body has to be circulating it, and using it in some way.

Some modern authors don't mention the heart, or address vampirism as a virus invading an otherwise human entity, endowing it with all the usual vampire strengths and weaknesses. They can eat human food, still piss, breath, etc.

Great post and an undying revelation brought forth, if the heart was not beating the energy of the blood would not circulate to the rest of the organs, tho lore has it they are dead and only consume blood to live,

yet hollywood lately has shown that as the vampire becomes whole after blood the heart start beating. so maybe hollywood has taken this to a new revelation of the vampire lore of being undead. yet we must presume the heart does beat for why wouold hunters drive a steak into the heart of all places another question to ponder. Great post.

Exactly, if the heart where already dead, why drive a stake through it?

I think we just need to update the paradigm, and say well, maybe what we just "correct" the lore a little and make the heart beat, it can still be undead, etc.

I have a problem with it too... and that problem obviously rings true for some authors, because they take different twists with their vampires. Those vampires do have beating hearts :)

In a fictional way, I go for the sponge effect.. so with that possible angle once blood is coagulated it is of no use for consumtion by a vampire, and it could point to why fictional vampires prefer active victims, over wounded victims.

maybe the heart doesnt beat the blood is circulated throughout the body in another form or way

LD35 good point i never thought that their could be another way they circulate the blood
i to have a problem with it if their dead where does the blood go??

A lot of the newer vampire books that are very popular right now tend to have the heart either beating or able to beat when the vampire is awake and almost non-existant when in the day sleep period. I've even read some where the vampire can control their heartbeat themselves. It makes it much more realistic when they do have a heartbeat or the capability of it. Especially as you pointed out that staking or taking of the heart is one of the main ways to kill the vampire.

I like the imagined idea that the reason they have super hearing is because they can stop there heart from beating. If the ghost in a cadaver lore was used it could well be the ghost that "beats" the heart. But the brain would that be "active"?

I agree that an entity such as a vampire would need to have a functioning heart in order to be animated. In the earlier stories of vampires the reader was not as critical of such things as the anatomy and physiology of the undead as we have become, especially here on VR. As the readers of vampire fiction become more sophisticated, the writers become more creative with their characters. Most of the books I have read in the last 10 years or so do not describe the details of vampire cardiopulmonary systems, but dwell more on their sexuality and eroticism. Still, most vampires in fiction are usually pale and their hearts slow to beating once a minute or so when they sleep, and they are usually in a very deep somnolent state.

i have a huge problem with this i always have,
i think vampire storys should change this matter
i mean its comon sence for them to have aheart i mean
if they have no heart were does the blood go to.

I think we must take inconsideration, that some lores about vampires were lost and many poorly written with out percise detail. so we only assume they have no heart, yet the blood must pump thru the body some how. they donot feed and when the bloods gone thro it back up, had seen that in hollywood this is not to me the answer.

Most fictional vampires were killed and 'rose from the dead' as errrr the undead !

Being the undead was what made them really difficult to kill on the grounds that you can't kill what is already dead.

If you restore the heart beat they would then be not so much the undead but more the 'resuscitated' and then you would have a hard time explaining why they were so difficult to kill.

I thought that staking it through the heart wasn't so much the act of destroying the organ, but more linking it back to the earth/nature from where it was taken (that's why the stake had to be wood)

Perhaps upon a vampires bite it sets off an enormous internal change and circulates blood another way entirely. We'll never know until we can slice one open :)
But modern writers certainly are getting more creative and need to be to keep the readers attention.

I like that petal, could the vicitims/donors pulse be the ultimate attraction, then the "nutrients" take second place, as a lub perhaps, Imagining the process of absorbing, and utilization of blood, I look forward to reading that book, some one here mentioned a Doctor that was turned running his own expiremnts, I hope they mention that book again.

As a writer myself, I can give a possible answer to why writers stick with the "normal" vampire. it is because most of us want to get our work out to people so they will buy it and read it. It is risky for a writer to go against the grain so to speak, too many chances of something going wrong.

It would be nice to see some different takes on the vampire though. Maybe I will start a new project and make it a different type of vampire, and create my own lore for it.

Artemka, you're absolutely correct about "undead" and the wooden stake, but the old myths anchoring the vampire to nature (staking to earth) seem to be disappearing.

If this is true, and the vampire is something outside of nature, does that make the vampire supernatural? If undead means supernatural, is magic involved?

You're right, Xodus, that does make a lot of sense. I would be curious to see what you come up with.

I think my version of a vampire would not be so much the traditional "undead", but a living breathing immortal being.

Not too different from humans in appearance and inner workings, but they don't suffer from cell degeneration, have more strength, etc. Kind of like a super human.

I sure do have a problem with that. In fact, I was watching True Blood tonight on HBO and that was sorta brought up in there. Now I don't recall really getting a good answer on that, but you are right, it doesn't make sense. Then again, neither does the concept of vampires.

Without a beating heart the blood would coagulate! meaning clump up and harden like cottage cheese. So they would be decaying statues. And besides...even with a beating heart, they have blood in there veins so why do they need to drink it? Just drink yourself! lol

I think that in most books and movies ive seen the vampires have the option they are in control of wether or not there heart beats. to fit into mainstream society they force there heart to beat so to speak but when they are at rest ie. during the day then they rest their heart. But then if this is actually the case it brings to point another question. some books say that during the transformation into the vampire that the organs are reshaped and or reformed if so to what and how then do they work?

in the twilight series, insted on blood they have a venom that pumps through there body, there hearts don't beat as far as i rember but the venom works its way around the body

I also have a problem with this. But in fairness they do say that is why the vampires drink blood because they cannot create their own fresh blood. This also confuses me when a vampire falls in love....if they dont have a heart how do they feel love??

Most vampire lore and stories do not get into the specifics when it comes to vampire physiology. You have to remember that Vampire physiology is nothing like Humans and they use their blood for different reasons.

Just as humans consume food for energy, the vampire consumes blood. As was said by tigerzplay, vampires have the ability to make their hearts beat and to make use of other body organs and functions by constantly using the blood (or vitae) they consume.

* * * * * * *

Vampires use blood (also called Vitae) for a variety of purposes; blood replaces most bodily fluids, so vampires will sweat blood and cry blood under certain circumstances. Blood is also used to get up and move; every night, vampires expend a certain amount of blood to rise. In addition, vampires can use blood to enhance their physical attributes and use supernatural powers called Disciplines. Blood is used to Embrace, as noted above, and also to create Ghouls. Finally, vampires can use blood to heal damage.

Vampire Physiology And Weaknesses

* * * * * * *

Since their blood has the power to revive and change the phisiology of another, whether embracing or creating ghouls, then it is possible that blood is handled in such a way by the vampire's body that would cause it (any stored blood) not to coagulate, most likely by certain enzymes or changes that occur to the pathology of the blood once it is is ingested.

I've never actually thought of it that way, but you've brought up an interesting point Noirtist!

The only thing I could think of when authors use the "their heart doesn't beat" description, is that it is a metaphor; just another way to say that vampires do not feel things most living human beings would.

Offhand I cannot think of anything different about vampire physiology...I have an idea using that subject though in a novel I am working on. I'm not willing to share it here, but if you want to discuss it privately feel free to message me! It deals with DNA and chromosomes and all of that fun stuff. :)

Could it be just a term used because of the evil they wrote about. We generally use the term black heart for eomeone who has done evil. So the writers could really put across how evil a vampire was they used the term no heart.

We use the term heart for love and caring. A vampire shows neither and as such no beating heart would fill this to enable us to have a better understanding of the vampire.

I would like to think that possibly the Vampires heart beats so slowly and infrequently it is hard to detect. It would have to beat in order to push his blood through his body.

If that were the case, then why doesn't the vampire undergo the same biological processes that all living beings do? Why don't his muscles require the same amount of blood to function (and why are they so much stronger)?

yet we never see the muscle needing the blood, we think as scientist if the heart is beating with blood(who evers) than the blood will penatrate all things in the body, muscle tissue, skin. so a revealation needs to be looked at for the new breed of vampires to come out.

that is an excellent point anasai. but if its fiction, does it really matter? however if it does, then a stake thru the heart wouldn't matter...they should already be dead

Technically vampires aren't dead (since they exist only in fiction). They're undead like them there zombies.

Almost cannibalistic bastids, them.

I have a big problem with it being in the medical field what you pointed out is true.Also then another problem i have is the turning of ones being.
We carry 5.3 quarts of blood and in the storys and from H.L.V. I have had run ins with. They suposed able drain all of the blood from the body and then cut themselfs and the person drinks from them.
NOT Likely Because of the loss of a pint you start to get sick after that 2 pints you start getting dizy ETC.
so then if the body is there for draind of all blood how then is the person able to drink????
Fact:The adult human body contains approximately 5 liters (5.3 quarts) of blood; it makes up 7 to 8 percent of a person's body weight. Approximately 2.75 to 3 liters of blood is plasma and the rest is the cellular portion.

Perhaps it was started because the heart was at one time,and in some instances still is,( chakra) considerded the seat of the soul.
"This chakra governs the genetic code, heredity, and the manufacture of the seed and the egg. It is through the soul chakra that you transfer the Christic light, the seed of Alpha, the egg of Omega, to bring forth the divine progeny. "

Shrugs~

The heart is also the key to attainment.So with that in mnd,I think it all has more to do with what the heart represents as opposed to the actual biomechanics of it.

Oh hey,I did find this and there is more on it out there..

Physiology
Respiration in the vampire does not involve the lungs at all. Pending full dissection and analysis, it is impossible to conjecture in detail on the chemical processes involved. Oxygen-based respiration would present a serious risk of spontaneous combustion, and this may explain the vampire's need for fresh blood; the oxygen held in oxyhaemoglobin can be stored by the vampire, enabling controlled and safe combination with magnesium to produce copious energy. The freedom from requiring 10+ respirations per minute would significantly facilitate inactivity and hibernation. Spared the need for maintaining mammalian temperatures, energy requirements can be reduced to near zero for extended periods.6

Nutrition, for all living organisms, is about meeting the needs of growth and repair, plus energy for activities of life. For the vampire, a magnesium-based physiology allows the body to function like a fuel cell; power is available for concerted activity, while prolonged rest following binge consumption allows for regeneration and repair processes. Unlike in human anatomy, the vampire kidney appears adapted to preserving magnesium with great efficiency; extraction from the liquid diet might be sufficient for the vampire lifestyle.

Reproduction does not exist within vampire communities; human anatomy maintained at low temperatures, without carbon/oxygen metabolism could not function; procreation could not occur. While this means the inconvenience of 'recruiting' new blood, it also means that the energy of child rearing is not expended

Growth and Aging: Vampires are normally recruited as adults; no significant growth appears to be required, and longevity is a well documented feature; with periods of inactivity and virtual hibernation, individual vampires are known to have lived for centuries.

Repair processes appear to very efficient, with activity hardly affected by multiple gunshot or stab wounds, and complete recovery from severe injuries within a few days.

Vulnerabilities
While the use of magnesium has granted vampires great advantages, it also brings vulnerabilities.

In certain circumstances, magnesium can be an explosive element; this means that no vampire will risk direct sunlight for fear of spontaneous combustion.

Wooden stakes have long been a weapon of choice for the vampire hunter, but it is no accident that hand-wielded, fresh cut unvarnished pine is much more likely to prove fatal than hardwood or crossbow-fired polished wooden darts. This is because it is not the wood itself that causes the reaction, but the enzymes that are found in the resin of many varieties of wood. Indeed, a fragrant pine forest can lead to an asthma-like condition that may be fatal to the vampire, and Australia, home of the Eucalypt, is a no-go area to vampires.7

Efficient vasoconstriction, coupled with powerful regenerative powers have given the vampire the reputation of being unstoppable by blade or bullet - most experienced hunters will not relax until the vampire has been burned or beheaded; injuries that would lead to almost instant death in a human being are a minor inconvenience to a healthy vampire.

http://www.vampyreverse.com/facts/pathology.shtml