A
SCIENTIFIC TREATISE ON VAMPIRISM
VICTOR
BROWN
Author
of: Vampire Resurrection
24
July 2015
Part
I
That’s
Hollywood
For those of you who cut your teeth on Bram Stoker’s
Dracula, Bella Lugosi, and all who have graced the silver screen, we need to do
some surgery on you. You have been victimized. Let us begin by surgically
removing some of your false beliefs about vampires.
They are not vulnerable to sunlight—that’s Hollywood. Nor do they sleep in a coffin during the day.
They can’t be repulsed by a cross or crucifix, a rosary, a bible, holy water,
garlic, wild rose, hawthorn, nor any of the other iconic inventions of, as they
used to say, “stage, screen, and radio.” And yes, they do have reflections, and
they do cast their own shadow, although some much older vampires have been
known to dissipate their shadows and/or reflections based on highly-developed
esoteric powers. A vampire’s power is an individual attainment that most often
correlates to the length of time he or she has been a vampire. A seven-hundred-year-old
will likely exhibit far more power than one who has a mere hundred years under
his or her cloak.
Part II
The Evolution
and Characteristics of Vampirism
How
does one become a vampire? And what are the characteristics of vampirism? As
was widely believed in the Middle Ages, were vampires revenants, an entity returned from the dead? No! An individual
carrying the gene for vampirism evolves from
a normal, mortal human into an active vampire. The trigger mechanisms that
activate the latent vampirism gene vary but include: psychological shock, close
and continuing relationship with an active vampire, a significant injury or
illness, and contact with medicine or a chemical agent (DDT for instance) or
pollutant. Once the individual’s latent
gene has been triggered, he/she begin the process of evolution—and each evolves
at his or her own rate—from latent to full vampire status. This confers
immortality when the evolution is completed.
A
vampire can be killed under certain conditions, however. And in a few
documented cases vampires have been known to commit suicide with the help of at
least one other vampire who has been trained in the Vampire Death Rites.
Part
III
Stages of Vampire “Life”
and The Morality Factor
and The Morality Factor
There
are two stages of vampire life. During much if not most of a vampire’s
existence, it acts like any normal mortal would. But when a vampire transitions
into the “hunting phase,” it becomes a predator of man and beast. Scientists
have discovered that the pineal gland, a small hormone-secreting endocrine
gland located at the center of the brain, secretes a substance called absynthia.
When secreted, a vampire will transition from the benign state into an active
hunter.
Contrary
to the popular press and the entertainment industry, most vampires have a
residual sense of morality. They did not, after all, volunteer to become a
vampire. Most, therefore, will kill animals (both domestic and wild) for their
blood fix, rather than humans. But if a human is in the wrong place at the
wrong time, or challenges a vampire who is on the hunt, his shriveled body,
devoid of blood, will be the shocking result. Human blood is at the apex of a
vampire’s diet. It is the high octane fuel that reinvigorates a vampire. Some
vampires, after years without human blood, have been known to finally succumb
to the ultimately insatiable desire for it, although they may suffer
substantial guilt after a human kill.
Part IV
Genesis
of Vampirism
Vampirism
has existed for millennia, as depicted in the histories of most cultures the
world over. One history, attributed to the Scriptures of Delphi (some refer to
it as the “Vampire Bible,”) purports to reveal that the initial progenitor of
vampirism is an entity named the Serpent
of Charna. Modern science, however, veers sharply away from that genesis
story. Vampirism, like many other conditions and diseases, owes its existence
to a mutant gene in the polluted blood lines of the strands and tentacles of
descendents dating from at least as far back as the Australopithecus, an
extinct genus of hominid—perhaps even further. Future archeological and
paleontological study may push the origin of vampirism even farther back into mankind’s
ancestry.
Scientists working to unravel the DNA of vampirism have
discovered that every third generation of the latent carriers of the mutant
gene are doomed to experience a triggering event that literally thrusts them
into the world of active vampirism. Until quite recently, they were helpless to
do anything about it except hide their condition and move from place to place
because they stopped aging at the time of the triggering of their latent gene.
Part V
Vampire Immortality?
It is not technically true to say that vampires are
immortal, or that they are immune to death. Many have been killed. But in the
absence of a ritual killing, assisted suicide, or a cataclysmic event (think
Hiroshima and Nagasaki), they can, in effect, live forever. By ritual killing
we refer to an aspen stake—some insist it must be made of ash—driven through the heart, followed by decapitation,
the two parts then interred separately, the wider the separation the better. In
some cultures cremation of the two parts is employed.
Upon death, vampires experience a very arduous journey
across the “Valley of Tears” before they can emerge into the World Unseen (Life
after Death), according early records that cite the ancient texts. This would
suggest that vampires have souls, and indeed they do, but they are the
shriveled remains of the original, rendered almost inert by the length of time
the individual has endured active vampirism. The trek across the Valley of
Tears provides the deceased former vampire the opportunity to regenerate its
soul, at least sufficient to gain entrance to the Afterlife we all seek.
Part VI
The Promise of Redemption: Vampire Resurrection
But for those vampires who wish to become mortal, there is new
promise. Genetic scientists at Harvard University have isolated the mutant
vampire gene and pioneered the technique for removing it and replacing it with
a neutral or null gene. This permits the patient to reclaim his/her mortal
status. That process has been named “Vampire
Resurrection.”
Part VII
A Vampire’s Special Powers
Do vampires have special powers? Absolutely. They are sexual
athletes with capabilities that eclipse even the wildest stories told in
pornographic books/DVDs and around campfires. But they are, almost without
exception, unable to experience love, though they hunger for it and strive for
it unrelentingly. While it is easy to fear and revile the species, they deserve
a measure of pity as well. Pause to think on life without love and without
death. It would be a rather bleak and barren plain, stretching out through
eternity.
One of
the quintessential ingredients of life is the awareness of one’s pending
demise. That is an element denied to the vampire. Some are so riven with
self-hate they elect ceremonial death administered by another vampire who has
learned the ancient art of what some might call mercy killing. While that is
rare, it is nonetheless well documented.
Vampires can call on super-human strength when needed. They
often leech energy from those with whom they have a close communion. As
previously pointed out, when a vampire is in its latent state, which is most of
the time, it can be indistinguishable from normal mortals. Vampires can almost
always recognize one another, however, most often by the faint aroma of absinthe.
When angry, frustrated, or sexually aroused, the aroma becomes quite strong,
sometimes (though rarely) to the point that normal mortals can sense it.
When the cumulative lack of, or thinning of blood occurs in
a vampire, it will be propelled into the active vampire condition during which it
must drink the blood of an animal or of a human. Some older vampires are more
able to control these episodes, and many only forage for animals, domestic or
wild. Still, after an extended period of abstinence, younger vampires
especially are unable to resist the desire for human blood. Some few of the
older ones, who revel in their vampirism, elect to go into the hunting state,
deliberately targeting humans. These are the most fearful of the species.
Part VIII
Other Vampire Characteristics
One can
address a host of other peculiar characteristics that are shared by vampires:
Red
wine is the vampire’s beverage of choice (unless they are on the hunt); they
rarely drink other forms of alcohol. For short periods, red wine can alleviate
the need for blood.
Shortly
after birth, their belly buttons completely heal over, leaving no trace. Some
few vampires (mostly female) have been known to have belly buttons created
through plastic surgery.
A
female vampire only ovulates three times per year, although this can vary
somewhat. This makes it much harder for a vampire to become pregnant, and
constitutes a natural barrier to the creation of ever-increasing numbers of such
creatures. When two vampires mate they produce a diffuse green glow (detectable
only in a darkened room). If they produce an offspring it is absolutely
destined to become a vampire. Some of the worst of the species have resulted
from this kind of inbreeding.
A
vampire’s eyes will darken when he/she experiences anger, frustration, or
become sexually aroused. They possess keen sight; in fact, all of their senses
are exceptional, especially when they are on the hunt. Some can employ their
will to overpower a victim, or even another vampire.
There
is general agreement among them that the blood of a virgin has a terrible
taste.
Vampires
have not been found to exist in clusters or form clans, although they are
loosely connected through a kind of clearing house for news. It is a leather
goods boutique in Paris, which has existed since the early 18th
century under the direction of Countess Amberglass.
Part IX
A final Word
While
this treatise is hardly definitive, and much remains to be learned, we are
elated at the work of Harvard’s Genetics Lab and look forward to future
revelations about vampirism. Additional findings will be welcomed.
Footnote. The above material
was compiled during the writing of the novel, Vampire Resurrection, authored by Vic Brown, and accessed by Amazon
on
17 March 2015. His Web page may be found at: www.vicbrownauthor.com
Questions or comments may be addressed to the author at:
17 March 2015. His Web page may be found at: www.vicbrownauthor.com
Questions or comments may be addressed to the author at:
