This week I broke down and added the "Twilight" movies to my Netflix queue. Yes, I am aware that I am the last person remaining on the planet who hasn't seen any of them. There is a very reasonable explanation for this:
I am an insufferable snob.
I am generally resistant to these kinds of pop culture phenomena, at least while the frenzy is underway. If I wait until the fervor has died down, I feel less the lemming. I enjoyed being the last person to see the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. I was pleased with myself for resisting "Titanic" for so long. I'm proud that I can't identify a single Justin Bieber song. Thrilled I only know that Lady Gaga likes to glue objects to her body and emerge from eggs on national television. It's a point of pride.
Besides, when I think of vampires, I prefer to think of "Dracula," the masterwork by Bram Stoker. The work is so iconic, I need not summarize it for you, dear readers. Everyone knows the elements of the Stoker story, whether from reading the book, the sight of Bela Lugosi, or any of the innumerable movies made on the subject. People who couldn't begin to tell you who is buried in Grant's tomb or which country named Canada borders the United States to the north can tell you the methods for fighting vampires. "Dracula" isn't quite as thought-provoking as Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" pound for pound, but it does leave the reader with quite a bit to ponder.
The vampire myth is ancient. Stoker exposed it to the world, but there is evidence of similar ancient tales from all corners of the globe from China to Egypt, long before the Transylvanian myth became the basis for the Stoker "Dracula." Thematically, the idea that the dead can feed off the living to survive is fairly universal across all cultures.
It's easy to dismiss "Dracula" as a mere horror story. Sure, it's graphic and unbelievable. You'd be tempted to surmise there wasn't a word of truth in it. But, in my opinion you would be mistaken. All great works of fiction contain an element of truth. "Dracula" is no exception. What I am suggesting is that vampires are real. They exist. They walk among us in the camouflage of ordinary people.
Now before you dismiss me as a madman, give me a chance to explain myself. I'm not proclaiming that the undead are waiting until after dark to emerge from their coffins, sneak in your window dressed like pimps by yellow moonlight, bite you on the neck, and siphon all the blood from your body to sustain themselves. I don't believe in fantasy monsters. I'm not afraid of mummies, werewolves or zombies. If you are looking for genuine monsters, the scariest monsters around are all people.
That's correct, dear friends, the real monsters in this world are all living, breathing human beings. Ordinary humans with a beating heart. Animals, after all, seldom consume us out of any sense of deep-seated hatred or jealousy. Lions and tigers and bears eat us because we are tasty.
When you look at the history of the planet, and remove natural disasters, plagues, and other organic dangers, who in their right mind wouldn't come to the rational conclusion that the most horrible atrocities mankind has ever suffered have been at the hands of other people? For example, some estimates for World War II casualties go as high as 70 million people killed. That is monstrous. Estimates of Native Americans killed by direct and insidious action since Europeans invaded and settled North America? Well over 100 million. Again, monstrous. Vlad the Impaler, on whom the Dracula story is rumored to be based upon, is said to have impaled between 40,000 and 100,000 people on sticks, hoisting these "stakes" vertically and implanting an end in the ground, leaving his victims to die slowly while sliding down the spears. Much scarier than horror story monsters. Not to mention monsters like Ted Bundy, Ed Gein, Jeffrey Dahmer, and Jack the Ripper, all confirmed human beings. Even the Holy Bible seems to warn us that humans can be monsters, as in the Book of Matthew, chapter 7, verse 15, where it warns "Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves." The list of examples of human monstrosity is endless.
Somewhere, everyday, you can read a story about the monstrous things people do to each other without the benefit of any supernatural force. So if you are looking for real, everyday demons, chances are they look just like your neighbors, relatives, friends, and acquaintances. And they have a pulse. They cast a reflection in the mirror. There are no limits to human inhumanity.
Which brings us back to this question of vampires. Now that I have explained my belief that live humans are the most sinister and dangerous creatures on Earth, I'll suggest that some humans are vampires. I'll further suggest that you might already know a vampire or two. They come in various manifestations, but the effect is the same: they drain you of your sanity, self-confidence, capacity to experience joy, and serenity to empower themselves.
They aren't drinking your blood, but they sustain themselves on your misery. They symbolically suck the life out of you one undermining conversation at a time. Your failures thrill them. They subvert your self-confidence, drawing strength from the doubts they plant in your fertile subconscious and nourish with all manner of psychological subterfuge. They belittle your hopes, laugh at your dreams, or attack your intelligence. They might try to intimidate, scare, or bully you--whatever they have to do to make you miserable, which, for whatever reason, seems to give them strength. Some people are just dying to see you fail, and they will stop at nothing to erode your self-esteem to the point that you are paralyzed by self-doubt. If they can play any small role in preventing you from achieving your full potential, their hearts soar, and they are empowered by their contrivances. They are emotionally dead, but can temporarily feel alive by doing you harm.
Others will drain the joy out of you by subjecting you to their own constant misery. They will cross the line beyond what is required to be a compassionate, understanding, supportive person and transform your happiness to guilt. I'm not talking about being a supportive friend. We're not talking about a normal, healthy requirement for empathy between lifelong allies, here. We're talking about someone who answers the basic question "How is it going?" with an endless diatribe about every awful experience that has befallen them since emerging from the cursed (pronounced "curse-ed") womb that produced them. Suddenly, you feel guilty for having a decent, reasonably fulfilling, drama-free existence. Generally speaking, this kind of vampire will sink their teeth into you every time you give them a chance and add new and demoralizing stories to their already tragic memoirs. And by some act of alchemy, or transference, they feel better for having bombarded you with their tales of woe. Because they are vampires.
The good news is it isn't a hopeless situation. Like mythical vampires, there are ways to combat the everyday vampire. Like the fantasy vampire, you have to invite the real ones into your life or they are powerless. So, whenever you identify an actual vampire, make sure to limit their access to you. Don't let them penetrate your inner circle. Don't reveal your hopes, dreams, and aspirations to them. Don't tell them what or who you love. Don't expose your soul to them. Seal them out of your life completely and forever. And if you have inadvertently let one in, get rid of it as soon as possible. Just as the mythical vampire could be destroyed by faith, so too can the actual vampire. Just believe in yourself. Refuse to let them pollute or infect your hopes and dreams and ability to pursue and experience happiness with their negativity. Burn them in the bright, pure sunlight of your own joy.
Vampires. Nosferatu. Symbolic bloodsuckers. Everyday, miserable humans.
Some people are just parasitic monsters doing their best destroy you for their own empowerment or amusement. If you don't stop them, they will drain the life out of you, just as Bram Stoker suggested. Your self-confidence, success, and happiness are the stake through their hearts.
Then again, I could be wrong.
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