The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

Goth Blocked
15:40 Nov 06 2010
Times Read: 600

This. Cracks. Me. UP!!!!

Interview with FangMan
01:55 Nov 04 2010
Times Read: 619

April 25, 2014: I'm going through my journal entries and cleaning out old stuff that's just not relevant, has broken image or video links, and whatnot. I stumbled onto this gem though which was marked private, I suppose because it was originally posted in one of my earliest covens. So here it is now, revealed to the public. I do wonder whatever happened to Grant. Miss that guy. Hope he's well, wherever he is!

---

After my wildly entertaining time interviewing SatansBitch, I needed a bit of time to recover! It wasn’t long though before all the wonderful praise I got for that interview got to my head and compelled me to head out on the road again. FangMan (or as I like to call him G-Man as his actual name is Grant) happily obliged to host my next excursion.



I arrived right at Miami International right at dusk and was treated to the wonderful colors created by the sunset as I waited for Grant to pick me up. Sure enough, a motorcycle came whipping up the arrivals ramp to where I was standing and stopped directly next to me. With the flip of a black helmet visor, I was treated to a big grin from the one and only Grant.



“Glad you travelled light,” he said indicating the messenger bag slung over my shoulder. “Hop on,” he said, patting the small space on the seat. He reached into a saddle bag and grabbed a helmet, tossing it back to me.



With a smile, I threw the helmet on, swung my leg over and settled onto the seat. No sooner had I gotten a good grip around his waist, he straightened the bike and gunned the throttle sending us bolting into the flow of cars, out of the airport and onto the highway. To say Grant has full mastery of his motorcycle is an understatement. I am just happy that my own reflexes and ability to anticipate movement served me quite well!



He lives, as many might expect, ‘in the heart of it all.’ You can practically feel the throb of the South Beach night life as it begins to stir with the last rays of sunlight.



After pulling into the parking garage, we headed up to the sixth floor, down a short hallway and into Grant’s apartment. As soon as he shut the door, I noticed almost immediately the quiet which came in stark contrast to the dull roar coming from the street below. I suspected the heavy drapes on the windows had something to do with the sound proofing.



“Well, let me give you a quick tour and then I figured I’d let you relax a bit before we head out for the night,” he said. “This is obviously the living room,” he said with a sweep of his well muscled arm. (Hey, it was tough not to notice given the form fitting black t-shirt he was wearing!) It was clear that Grant loved his toys - a wide screen TV dominated one wall but fit in perfectly with the contemporary furniture.



He strode down the hallway and I quickly followed. A large Mac sat on a desk and I guessed this must be where Grant took care of his duties as an Assistant Coven Master AND Assistant Mentor Master in addition to being just a regular citizen of the Rave.



“The bedroom, of course, and here,” he said opening a door and flipping on a light “is my closet.” I confess, reader, I gasped. A closet to make Imelda Marcos envious lay before me. The smell of leather wafted out and as soon as I drew closer to the entry, I understood why. Noticing the deep breath I was taking, he laughed and said, “Yeah, I love leather boots, shoes, jackets!”



“Well,” I said blinking, “I think that’s quite clear. I’m jealous!”



He laughed again and pulled the door shut, flipped the light off, and headed back down the hall to the living room. “Well, are you thirsty?” he asked as I took a seat in one of the many chairs.



“Actually, quite,” I replied, feeling quite parched.

He opened the refrigerator and after a pause said, “Well, my apologies. No AB negative. AB positive ok?”*



I coughed, “Um, that’s more than ok!” I could hear a couple of beeps from a microwave keypad and then the humming as it turned on. Before I knew it, he was standing before me, offering me a warm glass. Taking his own glass, he sat in the chair opposite me. I took a moment to savor the beverage. “Well,” I said with a contented sigh, “here we are at long last.”



“Yes indeed – it’s so good to finally meet in person” That grin again, and yes, readers – dazzling white teeth as you might expect.



“Well, shall we start with a few of the basics and then we’ll cover more detailed stuff later?” I suggested. He nodded assent and so I started, much as I did with SatansBitch. “Alrighty then – October 31st? That has to be too much fun to have a birthday on such a ‘high holy day’!”



He laughed and then started to explain, "Well, growing up, my birthday sort of got bypassed by my friends because it was Halloween but I loved it anyway...My father loved the holiday and would dress up in the creepiest outfits he would make from scratch to pass out candy to our neighborhood kids. I never knew what he would become for the night because he wouldn’t get dressed until I left the house to trick-or-treat. There were many Halloweens that I actually could not recognize my own father when he would answer the door...as an old hump-backed witch, or some type of hairy creature in torn up clothing. He was quite the shape-shifter so to speak. Later on, my birthday has become a great excuse to let loose and party hard...I always dress up and have a ball with my friends at clubs and parties!"



His ability to tell a story had me enthralled. I glanced down at my note pad and asked, “So Miami Beach – has this always been home?”



"Yes, I was born in Miami Beach...just north of where we are now actually...um, yeah, like almost 26 years ago. I have moved away many times, but I always seemed to come back here for some reason. I used to hate it actually because of the tourists and the flatness...and the old people.”



‘Oh dear,’ I thought – ‘he’s gonna get it for THAT comment!’



“But after moving to other places with crappy weather, I came to the conclusion that I live in Paradise. Everybody wants to be here! Especially since the 1980's when Miami Beach went from being a graffiti-filled ghost town to becoming a thriving Art Deco party town."



“Well if the Miami board of tourism ever needs a spokesperson!” I responded laughing at his obvious affection for his home town. “Well, why don’t you show me a bit of it?” I suggested as I polished off the last of my drink.



“Terrific idea,” he said. We dropped our glasses in the sink and headed out into the warm night air.



We were an easy walk to the famous Lincoln Road, which is actually a very large pedestrian mall. It’s fairly packed with both tourists and locals who enjoy the outdoor seating and copious people-watching opportunities. Grant decided on NEXXT Café. It was, he explained, “a great place to get a seat and not be bothered for hours. They are pretty famous for their service – or the lack of anyway.” For a couple of guys not particularly interested in eating anything on the menu, this suited us perfectly.



After taking a seat, I started on my next question: “You're still pretty young - my brother's age actually. What are your plans for the future? I don't imagine you want to be bartending 25 years from now unless it’s at some swank hotel.”



Grant sat back and thought for a bit. "Actually, I'm kind of in a state of limbo in my life right now, which you may have guessed. Although I went to college to study art and design, I haven't been able to use my degree for much of anything. There's so much talent in this city...especially for the artistic jobs that I have gone after. And they don't pay very well.”



I thought back to Grant’s closet and various high-end electronic toys, and nodded.



“I actually make a really good living bartending at the club I work at. For a single guy, my age, I'm sitting pretty right now. I still pick up a few modeling gigs each year but those are getting harder to get to. As for my future, I suppose I'll either be working for a design firm or pursuing some other artistic avenue. Hopefully I will not be serving the public in any way. Although I enjoy it now, I can feel my patience for people running out."



And reader, I swear if I didn’t know better, I saw a quick flash of fangs, with that last comment but he quickly recovered.



“Well, speaking of bartending, tell me something interesting or crazy that's happened while working,” I asked.



"Hmmm….Wow. Where do I begin?” He paused to think for a bit and then continued, “There was this time last year when this scruffy looking guy came into the club riding a ten-speed bike at about 3 in the morning. Everybody just got out of his way and let him ride a few laps on the dance floor and then everybody just started clapping like it was an in-house performance or something.”



At this point, I’m cracking up at the image but guessing this is going somewhere even crazier because Grant leans forward as he continues the story, “And then he got off his bike and walked it into the manager’s office. He comes out and walks up to my bar. He nods to me and says he'll be back later to get his bike. My mouth just dropped. It was David Bowie. Turns out my manager did stage lighting for him years ago and he was on South Beach for vacation.”



My jaw dropped. I mean, how many people not only have a chance encounter with David Bowie but an encounter like that?! “You mention that you hang out with some rougher goth types. Any good stories there? Has that always been your crowd?” I fired a stream of questions at him. He just smiled a bit and leaned back in his chair again.



"I'll tell you Justin, there's not much of a Goth crowd here on the beach. This is a place of suntans and Cuban Salsa clubs and luxury hotels. But there are a few corner bars that attract the vampiric...Where tattoos and piercings abound and the emo boys and girls hang out. These people are more my style, and even though I maintain the clean-cut, boy-next-door facade, I run with a great group of crazies that allow me to get as dark as I want to,” he said.



I nodded in complete understanding. I am often assumed to be a typical straight-laced businessman myself.



Glancing around briefly, he continued, “I've gotten into some dicey situations with them, mostly harmless, but I always have fun with them. They are all older than me, and I have sort of fallen into the kid-brother role. They've got my back, and being an orphan, that's important to me."



I smiled and said, “That’s really awesome that you have a group like that which you can rely on and have a good time with as well.” Moving on, I asked, “What prompted you to look for and find something like VR? After all, we all seem to have a story that goes something like ‘late at night....googling vampire....Voila, here I am.’ But it's that part just before you went to google that I'm interested in.”



"I was actually invited by Exmortal to join,” he happily said. “I actually met him in person at my nightclub. He was the one who told me I would find other like-minded people on the VR.”



Chuckling, I said, “Lucky you…I just had to wander in and figure it out myself!”



“Well, unlike most people my age, I don’t have a Facebook even a MySpace account because just getting online and chatting with people about everyday BS does not interest me at all...I do that for a living on the slower nights at work!” he said. “But a website for vampires and people who appreciate vampires?” he asked rhetorically, his smile turning dark. “I've met so many people such as yourself, whom I am starting to consider very important people in my life."



I blushed a bit at the obvious compliment and decided to quickly ask my last couple of questions. “So tell me. What about hitting 80 and starting your own mentorship or, even stranger to think about, reaching sire and starting your own coven?” I asked. I confess reader, I think it would be hilarious fun to start a coven someday with FangMan.



He leaned back and thought for a moment. “I think you and I started here on the Rave at almost the same time...and it has been a fun climb so far. But like most poor schmucks, I spend a lot of my time making a living working hard at what I do with little time left over to do much more.”



I marveled at his modesty considering how much FangMan does do for both the mentorship and the coven in my eyes. I suspect many of you reading this will agree with me.



He continued, “I really enjoy my time in our Coven and in the Remove the Mask Mentorship. I think it's just the right mix of people from all over the world. If I were to start my own coven, I would try to emulate some of the things I have picked up in The Masquerade...especially the comradery and fellowship that we have here.”



“Yep, I have to thank you for being persistent about getting me into the coven. It’s been really great and I’m really glad I’m there now,” I said. Don’t anyone get all misty-eyed out there!



Grant smiled warmly but then his eyes went dark and he said, “But you know my taste for darker things. I would have to incorporate more vampire-based activities…any coven I’d be responsible for would need a more vampiric feel to the place.”



I ran my tongue over my teeth and said to Grant, “So. Why don’t you show me the rest of this town? I am a bit thirsty again….”



He stood up, threw a few bills on the table, and said, “I was thinking exactly the same thing!”

I’ll close here, kind reader, as describing the rest of the night with FangMan might be a bit much for some of our readers with more delicate sensibilities!



*For those unaware, AB- is an extraordinarily rare blood type. All of the other negative blood types (A, B and O) are also rare but AB+ is unique in also being rare for a positive blood type.