The Misconceptions and Myths about Vampires
For my online artifact I researched a lot of websites with the main focus on vampires. With this type of subculture being something that I am not familiar with, I happened to find it interesting because of the all the information that we have read there are a lot of misconceptions about what is a vampire. In movies as well as in books there are always different takes on what a vampire may look like, their mannerisms, and ways to kill a vampire. I am going dissect the myths of vampires with the aid of a website http://vampirewebsite.net/. I am also going to take pieces from the novel we are currently reading Let The Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist to dispute the findings on the website.
The website I found has opened up a portal of information that I found exciting at times because the creator has made suggestions on how you would know if you are vampire; as well as blowing the lid off of everything I understood about vampires. The websites creator says that creation of vampires can be found in their DNA. There is a virus called endogenous retroviruses, this virus is a sub-category of onconviruses that include the lentiviruses. “Endogenous retroviruses are negative single-stranded RNA viruses in which tRNA serves as a primer for the mRNA synthesis. The mRNA is then reverse transcribed into DNA, which is then integrated into the chromosome at a multiplicity of sites, particularly those that are transcriptionally active.”(qtd in vampirewebsite.net) In this quote the creator has beliefs that most vampires are “made” from their own DNA having a sort of glitch. I have a hard time understand this only because it’s a complicated subject to wrap my head around. There are always people who want to be vampires so they dress in a manner that may suggest but they aren’t real vampires. I think that if they were confronted by one just like the rest of us they would afraid. I am not saying that this information is unfounded or anything but this to me proves that vampires are living creatures just like the rest of.
In all of the novels we have read this semester the killer or beast has been a member of the undead. “Someone was standing there, someone who had not been there a moment before. A blurry contour against the clean steel. He lowered the knife and looked directly at the jungle gym. Yes. But it wasn’t the Vallingby killer. It was a child.” (Lindqvist 36) This quote from Let the Right One In, seems to portray the speed of vampires and that Eli is out at night only would be something that I am use to seeing or reading in terms of this subject. The creator of this websites makes suggestions that being a vampire deals with science and a person’s DNA, then Eli should be able to be out regardless of the time.
This website disputes everything that I have ever known of what a vampire is and that they are actually not just killers. The creator of the website makes the argument that a real vampire doesn’t just kill for pleasure or fun, and it’s not as heinous as seen in movies or even read in books. Real vampires are able to mingle within society and not have to kill people at the drop of a hat. The creator, who is a real vampire, who if I were to guess his gender and ethnicity would more than likely be a Caucasian man. I only guess this because after researching this website and reading through all the information that gender and race stuck out to me. The point of view of the creators work is from personal experience and knowledge although he does have a section about vampire slayers which is from a third party point of view.
I don’t think this website would enhance or enrich my experience while reading any of the novels because of the conflict of information from this site. Vampires have always been portrayed as mystical creatures that have a lot of charm and charisma but will kill a person without a touch of remorse. This site defines vampires as regular people with heightened sense and physical strength and speed. That they are not ruthless killers that they suck blood from donors or animals, and the blood that they suck isn’t keeping them alive yet the nutrients that are found in blood is what they need to keep them going. From what I have read on this site real vampires don’t need to suck blood daily either.
The part I do agree with is that he seems to know that there are a lot of people who want to be vampires and will think after reading this site that they really are one. Under the section of myths he clarifies every myth about real vampires and gives other possibilities for certain signs of vampirism that one may be experiencing and they may not truly be a real vampire. The creator gives a lot of useful information to get to the real understanding of these phenomena and the disclaimer states that the reader of this site should be open minded even if one doesn’t believe in this supernatural creature.
In most books and movies there is always a vampire slayer, well according to this website slayers and vampires are just grave enemies as I have always thought. Slayer will kill a vampire if they see them commit a senseless killing or the vampire kills another slayer. Otherwise there is no hostility between the two.
I found this website very entertaining and not in way to make fun of but to gain information or to get a better understanding of something new. I suggest to the readers to poke around this site and stay open minded. The creator of this website has strong personal ties to this subject matter and just wants to be understood. The way in which this site is set up is very useful because you can take a look at whatever interests you; it also helps the person who thinks they are a real vampire identify themselves. In conclusion, I think I picked the best website to view because this seems so pure and honest and I like that. It opened my eyes to some of the myths that we have read this semester and it gave me some insight into someone who is completely different then myself and I truly enjoyed.
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