The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

We've all seen the movies, and read countless articles (some even historical articles) about people who become vampires. Some turn into raving feinds with no emotion whatsoever in those cherished things of their formal human life.

Then we have the person who is turned, and becomes over emotional and clings to his former life.

Still yet we have those who are turned and are doomed to have no recollection of all of who they once were, and seem only driven by blood lust.

Then still we have those that find a balance in there, and live throught the ages in peace, if albeit, bloody happiness.

I would like to know what you beleive is more "realistic" for lack of a better word.

(this is not a debate about wether or not they are real. so please, no one liners).

I personaly do not believe that if someone were "turned".. that they simply forget their now former lives or emotions, who are hell bent on destruction or blood. It wouldnt make sense, as the soul itself is still housed in the "new" shell.

I can see some support for weighing in on the side of those who state the newly turned would be a ravening beast for a period of time.

It's got to be a tremendous shock to the body systems (adjusting to a new way of functioning) and to the brain!

I can understand the devolution of one down to the reptile brain, or hind instinctual part of the brain, until physiological, mental and emotional adjustments have been made.

I have never been one to believe in the whole "Turned" Vampire idea. To me the Vampire is a born creature. An evolutionary step in nature. The natural predator of Man.

Yet, if "turning" was capable. The Physical strain of the Molecular atlerations needed to become a Vampire would cause more mental collapses than one could even begin to calculate. Surviving the mear pain of the experiance would be more than overwhelming for most people in general.
How could one keep such sanity when being turned into a predatory animal?
The whole drive of your existance would have been changed. Priorities aswell. How many people have mental breakdowns caused by the mear stress of living day to day as it is. "Turn" one of them and who knows what threads snap in thier brain.

being turned a vampire does not forget who they once were but the theory of a vampire going on a blood rampage could be true if no one is around to help a newly turned vamp then the hunger takes them over and that is all the want and or care about.

I would almost agree.. yet I forced to contemplate the number of people who go through horrific experiences throughout their lives.. and keep their sanity intact. Thousands of these scenerio's exist.

I would entertain that the human mind is far stronger then we give it credit for.

I could agree that with the temporary change of someone until they found their footing yes. As it is depicted it could be a huge change in ones beliefs, body chemistry, and such. But longterm changes? Or simply forgetting who ones past is.. I just cant swallow that one. From a scientific view, memories are housed in our brains and chemistry. If one is "turned" they dont get knew brains or heads.

Do they? Consider how peoples brain chemistry seems to change from simple flu symptoms. How each person reacts differently to the being sick. Some become down right mean and aggressive.
Could not the same happen durning a "turning".
I am not saying the mind is weak. I am saying that there are numerous cases of people doing exactly what what you describe from creulty of human nature alone.

For those who have read Stephenie Meyers Twilight series, that is what I believe. You can choose to become the evil, bloodthirsty vampire or can choose a more peaceful life. I also believe that the way you lived your life before you were turned makes a difference. For example, a serial killer is turned, it would be more difficult for that person to lead a peaceful life as a vampire than someone who was, for example, a stay at home mother.

From a scientific standpoint, I do not support the idea that someone can simply turn into an evil being with all of the attributes of a vampyric creature.

Are there diseases/disorders that can manifest themselves by causing a person to act violently? Absolutely. many of these stem from brain damage or issues involving the amygdala or midbrain region. Uncommon, but can happen. Heck, prion diseases don't necessarily cause violence, but near full brain degeneration. Let's not forget the simple rabis virus...that causes nasty issues of the central nervous system.

I believe that if the vampire does indeed exist, then it is due to an evolutionary artifact...a separate species though linked to Homo sapiens sapien. They are only as violent as humans...in other words, they are no more or less violent than humans. And possibly, the only conversion or transformation could come about as a breeding of the two species or unlocking of dormant genetic sequences.

But, to answer the original question of sorts...no I don't think that people can be converted and upon conversion become "evil."

I think if you were so called turned into a vampire it would be a slow process. Like your body dying and your system configuring to that a vampires. So no I do not thing you would loose yourself and who you are at all... I think once you have changed you remember most everything about your prior self. However I do think after time goes on you may not remember as clearly your old self. Im sure at first it might hit you like a ton of brinks your new lifem but i dont think that feeling would last long.

In my opinion, each person is different. Reacting to different stimuli & events differently than others. Perhaps all of these scenarios are true. Perhaps it shows a willingness to change, grow & evolve.

I believe that it is would be better to forget you former life.. I would hate to know that all who I loved had or will pass on and I would be left alone

If one could be turned... I do not think it would be such a shocker. I think the change would be much more gradual most internal physical changes are. This would likely give one time to ackknowledge the change. Acceptance or not is an entirely different matter.

The thought of the changing and the damage it does or would do to the brain is almost inconceivable. Continuing a normal life after the change would be something to lust after but I think that the change would be too great in any case. The death of a person’s humanity would take month’s maybe years. Depending on the location of the change the person could die failing to reach their immortal form.

I reckon the first one you said is more true.
According to all history that does not involve a storybook or a film, vampires are made AFTER THEY DIE. Different cultures believe in different ways that a person become a vampire, and had things that they would do to prevent the person becoming one. Some would cut off their heads and stuff their mouths with garlic. The chinese I think believe that if a cat jumps over the body then the person will rise from the grave.

Saying that a person would go through pain when becoming a vampire most likley is not the case becase they are a dead thing and can probably feel very little at all. They become a supernatural 'undead' corpse that rises from the grave and takes the blood of the living to keep itself 'alive' and prolong its exsistance. They might have memories of their lives gone by but I doubt a walking corpse would feel much emotion.

I'm sorry if I happen to believe in the vampires that are not in movies and made all sexy and very human. Don't hate me for it, it's just what I think.

I find it difficult to use the word realistic here.

I can only think of the characters in books and film in the light of this question.

So, think it would depend on whether or not the one being bitten is agreeable or not.

If they were then I guess they would be 'coached' as it were.

If not, I daresay fear and despondancy would take hold.

I believe at first they would remember and fight to remember the real and over time this would be forgotten and the turn would be complette

Very well put Cherry.

I wonder though. If the person is dead and returns as a Vampire, would the mind be the same as before they died? This might explain the Ravenous Beast-like Vampires. Maybe when the body is reanimated, not all of the brain is turned back on. Almost like with the current trend of Zombie movies. Perhaps there are times when being "turned", not all of the persons brain are reanimated. Maybe only the primary functions needed for survival come back.

Just a thought.

In reality I would have to agree with Cherry's stance.

However looking at it from a fictional stance my thoughts would be this: The monster would grow over time.

At first they would retain their being, however along with whatever moral code they had they would have to come to grips with killing each night. So the sensitive/emotional part would be right after the turn.

As time goes on I can see them starting to view us just as animals- pets if you would. Basically we are their food. It is this point where they can go one of several ways. Let's break it into Animal rights activists and those that do horrible things to animals: only we're talking humans.

Centuries later, is when you would see the final outcome- something beyond human with compassion; or a complete monster.

I think most would start out happy and glad and then when everyone around them keeps dying and they have to go into hiding they would become bitter and mean and I do think the concept of the longer they are here the crazier they go because your mind is like a computer and can only handle so much information. You can not remember as much the older you get because things have to make room for other things.

Well.. the point of the thread was not if vampires become so after a human dies.. or if anyone believes in fictional vampires. Thats a different thread I think. (note.. it is noted in SOME historical accounts of people being "turned" while alive. However Im not debating the truth of it).

My debate is the way turned beings are potrayed. It is to extreme one way or the other.

I would tend to agree with the shock of it at first, and taking into account a persons previous life, religous beliefs and/or faiths, and their own mental stability. These factors are in my opinion what would decide if they become raving feinds or sentient beings.

Also, I do not believe that a vampire is "dead".. but undead.. caught between death and life. Hence the soul does not leave the body. And I think this would also play a factor in how one would react. And wether or not one cares where the soul goes once it dies in time.

Yeah I reckon the soul would still be in the body but the brain would probably be working differently. Probably alot more primitavely, and perhaps when a person is 'turned', if it is possible, then they die in the process.

I think we'll never really know the true answers but it's been interesting to read other's theories.

What a good one ...

I agree that vampires would have to come about after the person dies - there are too many large changes to happen to a living body (no heart beat comes to mind)

I might be wrong but I am sure that quite quickly after death the brain starts to get damaged. The vampire being takes over but without a heartbeat, there is nothing to pump oxygen (blood) to that human brain.

The human brain contains the parts needed to keep memory, which leaves the vampire as the drooling blood-hungry grey thing lurching around after Buffy

All very good points, really.

I know this is just what we think of the whole theory of how the "turns" come about, but I have a fictional point to it. Salem's Lot, by Stephen King, portrays several aspects of what everyone has stated. (I'm a huge novel freak, so go figure I mention this, lol). Some of the characters did become ravenous blood thirsty beasts, others not so much. Some accepted the chage while others attempted to fight it off.

As for the "undead" part, the people were alive in the book when they were turned, and the change was mostly gradual. After a few weeks of being ill, they just "died" as it appeared to everyone. Yes the brain does need oxygen to function, if you didn't know that then you must not have passed any science classes, lol. In which the heart keeps blood flowing and transporting oxygen enriched blood to the brain...but haven't any of you heard that the heart can still beat but at very slow intervals? It's almost like our breathing patterens while sleeping; we only breathe a couple times a minute. That is a possibility with the heart...it just beats enough to keep functions working orderly.

Also, in the novel, it proves that not everyone lost total memory. Although I don't believe they were able to be out in daylight. But they still knew how they were supposed to go about things well enough to change store signs to "closed", "out to lunch", etc.

There was also a character that was "marked", which was Father Callahan now that I think of it (which he's also in the Dark Tower series by S. King). He wasn't "turned" into a vampire, but he was able to see who were normal and which weren't, which he saw aura's around them and could decipher what "level" of vampire they were (not so sure of this). But they could also tell who he was..and were out to get him before he could try killing more of them.

I pretty much believe all of this could be true..other than the daylight thing which I'm not sure what to think of, and being able to tell what "level", or type of vampire is around, but I can see how a person can be marked like that.

you know i would have to agree but first for those of us who are vampires before you new what you were how hard was it to control your thirst. If you don't learn to control it thats all you want its like a drug addiction with no way out its all you want and don't care how you get it.

Atemka.. since the brain also controls body and motor skills.. I cannot subscribe to your theory.. because without the oxygen to the brain, not only would they be raving mad.. but they would be just limps as it comes, unable to move their limbs. Parapalegic vampires.

I'm assuming we're speaking of folkloric vampires who rise from the grave.

Right, well, I don't think they'd wake burning with blood lust, with no recollection of their former life, and no remnants of their personality left.
I think they would return to their original nature, so some may find contentedness and others may be guilt driven...Thus making a monster of themselves, driving themselves crazy.

I do not believe that a vampire who was turned would forget all of the things that they did and felt and knew ect, i mean they would probably still have a working brain so all of their memories would be stored their...

Some vampires lose their human connection in a flash, and relish their newfound powers. Others maintain their connection and are quite sentimental about it. These are the vampires who love humans. They all become killers in the end.

First of all, I don't believe anyone can be "turned" I believe you are born a certain way and the only thing that changes is your mental development, nothing physical

Lastly, if someone was "turned" I don't think they would forget completely about their past, because that would be complete brain erasement

Well again we're talking about something mystical or magical if we're talking about the literal 'undead'. I'm not going to go into modern living vampires on this thread because their human and subject to the same moods of any other human. However, in the case of an undead vampire, magic means that they too could 'die' and keep all their emotion and personality of life (the soul trapped in the corpse).

I think that any sentient thing suddenly aware of it's infinite 'loneness' or immortality, stands a very real chance of losing it's mind to the overwhelming nature of itself but only in the first few years of such an existence as it realized that it's former life must be severed. But it seems that as time moves on, most would not only accept their new state but like any being, seek to live and prolong that state.

Any depression or moody aspect about their immortality that lasted beyond a couple years would probably be due to a soul's or person's normal depressive nature and not to the issue of vampirism or immortality.

However, the last possibility is that if centuries were to prove uneventful...boredom could literally sap your will to live.

i really don't believe that someone who turns could just forget everything they once knew. As anne rice explained in her book the ones that just walk and kill with really no brain activity was a vampire without a soul. Im not really sure how it couldn't have a soul and if you lose the soul when you die then that would explain how a vampire could have no knowledge of its former life.

the movies have really messed things up about the vampires.. so many different ones will get a person guessing on what to believe..

if there is no blood flow to the heart or brain how can this form of a vampire move around..

another way to look at it.. the infection that is in the blood that will make a person turn and thats what makes it all still work because the way movies kill vampires is to stabe threw the heart

just an idea ..

i dont think that if you are turned you forget either... but i know that some experiences can make you change... evolve... and react in a different way

I believe at first they would be confused, attempting to return to their on world. As the realization struck they would be fearful, then resentful, and then once acceptance had occurred they would become true vampires.

The point of the thread wasnt meant to be about wether or not a person believes in turning. It was about how vampires are potrayed once they are turned. (in movies, literature and HISTORICAL ACCOUNTS)

Obviously vampirism is based on the supernatural. So the oxygen to the brain rule simply doesnt apply - or as I said earlier, they would all be parapalegics.

They obviously retain much of the past lives because once they are turned.. they are still able to:

find their way back to their graves
seek out their loved ones first and kill them (or try to turn them)
Read signs.. maps, etc.

So my irratation comes from the potrayal of a loving father who gets turned, and inside of 5 minutes becomes a bloodthirsty fiend killing everything it comes in contact with. But then has the knowledge to plan out some devious plan of world domination and the such while he comtemplates the beauty of a rose.

The above is just an example of one end of the spectrum. I can say the top of my irratation really came from seeing the recent movie 30 Days of Night.

There is a vampire in old folklore, that is supposed to be exclusively female. she detaches her head from her body (with her intestines trailing behind her) and goes about killing infants. (Anyone remember or know what this vampire is called?) This is about the only case of vampire "legend" where I can subscribe to the raving fiend theory. Perhaps a curse of madness while the fiend goes on her killing spree.

I think that it would at the very least screw around with a person's mind at the begining.

All Genre - I haven't seen 30 Days of Night yet but I'm sure I understand the frustration. The idea has long been used in fiction but is even more fantastical in the movies. There's reasons for this from a writing perspective. Suspense and a sense of shock or horror are more attainable if you were attacked by your now mostrous blood thirsty parents.

If you want a possible explanation of how for better suspension of disbelief (and to enjoy movies like this more), think of blood like crack. The reaction upon feeding in film is always like that of a drug user getting high. These characters aren't simply sipping a cup of the red, they're gorging themselves on a human spraying artery.

Also look to a change in perspectives as some vampire fiction presents vampires as seeing the world differently. Seeing the heat of it's prey or seeing the veins stand out like appetizers. Be hard to recognize your friends through all that.

So perhaps if blood were the ultimate vampire high, then it's massively addictive nature combined with a change in visual perspectives could render vampires as maddened blood thirsty animals who would hardly recognize you much less slow down their attack of you.

I believe that even after you have changed that you still carry a part of your former self and this if you allow it helps how you control yourself as to being a blood thirsty monster or just feeding when needed. I think that your personality does not alter to the point of a monstourous one yet I could be wrong.

FF.. I could almost stuff that down my throat. Until they start showing higher brain function. Dont get me wrong, 30 days really was an awesome flick. But unlike other fictional writers... the vampiric characters were seriously lacking in individual personality traits. (except the leader who gets 1 line of humor)

Another of example of how the fictional vampire goes to either extreme.

Perhaps hollywood or a literary author, should take the time to do some research and compose a movie based off a "real" vampire of legend. Anyone got Clive Barkers email?

hehe addicts don't necessarily lose their higher brain functions, they just have a harder time choosing an intelligent or socially acceptable path.

I could see an heroin addict making some poor and even predatory choices in order to find his or her next fix. Predatory to the point of fekin' evil at times.

I don’t believe in turning one into a vampire. However I know that the soul with in the body does drive them crazy until blood is consumed.

i say GET UP tonight walk outside find a real vampira and ASK THEM! ynless u dont believe then u'll never see!