(01-14-2014, 03:45 PM)Catherine Wrote: I have no idea where the vampire idea came from. Any ideas?
Actually, there's a possibility that part of it stemmed from some form of Porphyria. It's a disease that causes photosensitivity that's so bad the affected people can barely go out into the sunlight without getting blisters. It also causes some mental disturbance and a "necrosis" of the gums which causes them to shrink back from the teeth, probably causing a fang-like appearance.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porphyria
I also heard about something similar that required the person to get blood transfusions, but I don't remember where I heard about it or what it was called...
As for the vampire and bat association, vampire bats tend to drink the blood of cows while the prey is sleeping -- much like vampires do (at least in Bram Stoker's legacy of vampires). He maybe knew of the disease and the bats, and thought he could combine the physical symptoms of Porphyria with the behavior of the bats to make a very terrifying monster.
Also, some movies I'd recommend:
1. The Matrix
2. MirrorMask (very weird, but very cool, especially if you're a fan of Neil Gaiman)
3. Immortals
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