The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

I just popped into my email for Acrimony and had a very interesting email come my way. A screenwriter currently working on a movie script wrote to me last week. He came across my article from Acrimony about vampires. At any rate, here's his email and my response. Out of etiquette, for now, I'll not reveal his name or the movie name. But I just had to share this with everyone.



> Dear Daniel,

>

> I am a screenwriter in Los Angeles - currently working on a vampire script I

> was hired to write. I came across your article, "Vampires, A New Look At An

> Old Subject" and found it quite intriguing. I found your analysis of the

> plague/disease connection for vampires particularly fascinating.

>

> The director of my script is a former surgeon who got interested in the

> subject when researching the origins of the Vampire legend. I was wondering

> what your thoughts were on the theory that victims of the genetic disorder

> "porphyria" were the genesis of the Vampire legend.

>

> Victims of porphyria are photosensitive, anemic and lack iron in their blood.

>

> A simple search on google for "porphyria +vampire" offers thousands of hits.

>

> Thank you.





Thank you for your kind words about my article. Please forgive me for replying to your email so late. The legends of vampires or creatures similar to them are quite numerous. Moreover, they are not all consistent. Surely, though, many have their superstitious roots in real medical cases that could not be explained in their day.



I am familiar with the potential of victims of porphyria being presumed to be vampires. But I have also read some articles that claim that porphyria could not present the same "vampiric" symptoms. Again, it can be argued either way because we are all guessing when we try to explain these historical situations.



Moreover, some perceptions of vampires today come from early post-mortem discoveries of people. These had nothing to do with diseases of that era, but actually from assumptions about rigor mortis and internal gases from decomposition. Presumptions were made that these corpses were not actually dead, and superstitions for dealing with them evolved to explain this. It wasn't until The Plague that the dead and the sick actually could make others sick, and this also contributed to the myth.



My research uncovered some amazing connections to rabies victims, but even there, these are advanced cases. Just as I would not want to say all rabies victims exhibit these symptoms, neither can one say for sure all porphyritics suffered the same.



So could porphyria be the definitive genesis of the myth? I think it has a strong case for one genesis of the myth. Pick a myth and apply the symptoms to it. You can trace it back far enough to call it the culprit, I'm sure.



The way I see it, if you can link anemia with haemophagia (consumption of blood), along with photosensitivity, you'll have a winner. Porphyria would seem to fit, if the anemia lead a victim to crave blood. The fact that the blood drinking would not solve the anemia nor sate the craving only makes it stand out as a factor that may enrage the victim. Just remember, porphyria is genetic, and not communicable through a bite, like rabies.



The wonderful thing about fantasy though, especially speculative fiction, is with enough research into these traits, we can extend them to "what if" situations. Your script will embody that spirit no doubt.



I would love to learn more about the movie, if you are able to discuss it at all. Feel free to contact me again if you have other questions, or would like some points of research.



Here's one article discussing the pros and cons of the link of vampirism to porphyria. Note specifically the cons.

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a990507.html



Here is an article with comparison of a few potential diseases related to vampirism.

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/vampires/74094



Nice meeting you,

Daniel