10 Most Common Vampire Traits

CHRISTOPHER LEE AS COUNT DRACULA

Updated on June.16.2015

Vampires are forever.

Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence (generally in the form of blood) of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person. -— Wikipedia

The horror world's favorite undead species seem to have it all. Favored above zombies and werewolves, these bloodsuckers almost take it all in their stride. I didn't want to wander too far out from the facts so, I made myself sit and watch/re-watch several fine vampire movies and series. And of course, I sourced for online info to boot.

Some traits, fans believe, make vampires what they are. These traits are regarded as prerequisites  for identifying bloodsuckers. And although, there have been drastic modifications in the field these characteristics remain seemingly untouched and well-preserved.

1. Thirst For Blood

What else is new? Thirst for blood is the definitive vampire characteristic. The idea is really pronounced in the movie Daybreaker. I'm yet to see a movie which refutes this fact. After all, it's the reason vampires are called bloodsuckers which is a synonym of the word vampire. But I might be wrong, you know. I'm judging from the point of view of someone who's watched only over 30 vampire movies/series. They feed both on human and animal blood.

2. Immortality

These guys are not called undead for nothing, are they? They've been dead and back, not back as humans but in a twisted form and this realm permits the abomination they became. In movies like Underworld vampires develop a technique which allows them to travel through time something called HIBERNATION. They stay frozen in a grave for a couple 100 years until the Elders activate or awaken them.

3. Hypersensitive to Sunlight

Generally, vampires avoid contact with direct sunlight. Those who risk it bust into flames or turn to ash. In Salem's Lot however, sunlight only hurts the night crawlers, it isn't fatal. The character Selene  in Underworld is no longer irritated by sunlight when she gains special powers after drinking blood of the vampire forefather, Alexander Corvinus. Dracula is only weakened by sunlight.

4. Extraordinary Healing Ability

Vampires heal fast. In Blade Wesley Snipes acting as the eponymous character slices off a vampires arm and in the next scene, regeneration of the lost arm occurs. In other movies, the regeneration occurs faster, almost instantly to a  point the vampire appears immune to weapons. These night crawlers also seem to heal faster in moonlight or to regenerate quicker after drinking blood.

5. Reproduction by Biting

Vampires bite to gain access to the human veins because they feed on blood. When a vampire bites, the venom is transmitted into the victim's blood stream and s/he turns. Even though, there are instances of vampire bites killing the victim outright, the fastest method of reproducing vampires is via biting. And most films and books seem to follow this idea.

6. Superhuman Ability

All works of film and literature seem to agree that vampires acquire enhanced strength when they turn. From Blade to Underworld to the more recent film Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, people do extraordinary stuff when they become vampires. And sometimes, they learn combat skills pretty fast.

7. Speed

Since Bram Stoker said, The dead ride fast, it seems every vampire book and movie has been trying too hard to live up to the very last letter of those words. Watch The Saga of Darren Shan and get a taste of what I'm getting at. But then, any vampire flick features fast bloodsuckers. Why not, no rational human is gonna wait around for one slow vermin to have a go at them. The adrenaline in a vamp's blood is always rushing to overflowing like a shot of morphine straight to the head.

8. Stakes

Every vampire is susceptible to stakes. The stake might be of oak or some other exotic tree, it might be ash stake or it might be a metal of any kind, silver, steel, whatever. Thing is once the stake goes through the heart of a bloodsucker, it dies. Another thing is if the stake is pulled out before the monster either busts into flames or turns to ashes, the wound heals and the vamp lives to fight another day.

9. Fangs

All the vampires I have read about or watched on TV have fangs. In certain situations, the canine teeth are retractable. They need these to pierce the flesh so they can suck out the juice.

10. Fire

All the guys with twisted lust for blood have an intense aversion for fire. Generally, flame destroys vampires of all power levels and many of their opponents wield it as a weapon when combating them. Even in the age of mass cleansing in European folklore, fire was considered a potent weapon of annihilation for vampires.

The traits listed here are true at least, eight out of ten times for all vampires in film and literature.

Keep your pen bleeding.

Akpan

10 Writers Whose Fiction Reflect Their Life Stories II

It’s amazing what we can learn when we study the lives of those who have excelled and made their mark in their chosen field. There are lots of facts about the life stories of the authors presented here I wasn’t even aware of before I did research for this article. But these experiences came to be the striking peculiarities that preserves their work in the hearts of readers of every generation.

See for yourselves.

5. Stephenie Meyer (1973- )

Four years after her birth, Meyer’s family relocated to Phoenix, Arizona and she thinks herself a native since she moved there at such a young age.

Meyer felt out of place among the otherwise wealthy population of Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, where she received her secondary education. She also married her childhood sweetheart. (Well, not really. They barely if ever, exchanged words as kids though, they attended the same church and social activities.)

Most of the students at school rode Porsches but Meyer never had a ride until she was in her twenties. Bella Swan of the Twilight series readily comes to mind when we think of a fictional character who’s had a similar experience. Almost everything about Meyer’s childhood fits perfectly into Bella’s profile.

6. Ian Fleming (1908-1964)

Ian Fleming worked in the British naval intelligence during World War II and was involved in the planning of high profile intelligence operations.

Fleming proved himself resourceful during the war. He plotted and carried out dangerous missions often involving rescue operations.

Fleming’s traits including golf handicap, his taste for scrambled eggs, his love of gambling, and brand of toiletries became Bond’s as soon as the character was created.

Fleming admitted that Bond “was a compound of all the secret agents and commando types I met during the war.” – Wikipedia.

7. Maya Angelou (1928- )

Some will argue that her life story which Angelou has published in six volumes should be termed autobiographical fiction and not autobiography. Whichever side of the wall you pick, we can still appreciate the fact she has taken pains to gather her life story into books which are no doubt, works of great literary worth.

Before becoming a writer, Maya Angelou had tried her hands on several other items including dancing in nightclubs. She eventually, produced a Calypso album, which she titled Miss Calypso.

Maya sometimes slept in the same bed as her mother and her mother's lover, Mr. Freeman, who eventually, raped her. They found him kicked to death three days later after the court failed to sentence him. For five years, Maya was a mute because she believed her telling on Mr. Freeman had killed him. Her muteness was cured when recited one of her poems to a family friend and since then, she’d discovered the power of poetry.

8. Bram Stoker (1847-1912)

Stoker was bed-ridden until he was seven. His mother was a writer and told him tales of the macabre while he lay sick and worn in bed and this probably influenced his choice of genre in later years.

He was dedicated to Henry Irving who he worked for as personal assistant while also managing the Lyceum Theater.

Henry Irving was a real-life inspiration for the character of Dracula, tailor-made to his dramatic presence, gentlemanly mannerisms and affinity for playing villain roles. – Wikipedia

Stoker may also have used the battle for his wife, former Florence Balcombe, whom he fought over with Oscar Wilde, in a scene where some men battle for the hand of the female character, Lucy Westenra who receives three marriage proposals in one day. And also, his son Irving Noel Thornley Stoker, who is named after three different personalities, in the naming of the son of the character Jonathan Harker, whose son is named after the men (about four in all) who helped him to destroy Dracula and rescue his wife from the villain’s spell.

9. Tananarive Due (1966- )

Tananarive Due is one of a handful of black science fiction and fantasy writers. Due at one time worked as a journalist and columnist for the Miami Herald. She had at some point in time been in a relationship with a guy who she said, “turned out to be different.” She believed this man was out to deceive her.

A few years after the relationship between Due and this strange fellow ended, she reworked her personal experience and created a character she called her ‘perfect guy’ by re-inventing her former boyfriend.

The novel conceived by this idea is called My Soul to Keep. And the plot revolves around the life of a young newspaper reporter who is still in her twenties. The woman later discovers her husband is a 500-year old immortal from a culture of immortals.

10. J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973)

Tolkien grew up around the Sarehole Mill and Moseley Bog in England and loved exploring these places. As a child, Tolkien was bitten by a large baboon spider in the garden, an event which later had echoes in his stories. His adventurous mind led him to his Aunt Jane’s farm of Bag End. The name occurs in his fiction. Frodo Baggins, Samwise "Sam" Gamgee, Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck and Peregrin “Pippin”–the characters from his books may have been the fictionalized Tolkien and three of his childhood friends, Rob Gilson, Geoffrey Smith and Christopher Wiseman, with whom he formed a semi-secret society which they called the “T.C.B.S.” (Tea Club and Barrovian Society).

In a 1968 letter, Tolkien details his trip to Switzerland on a summer holiday. A trip, which called to mind Bilbo's journey across the Misty Mountains in his The Lord of The Rings book. A scene from the book, which includes “the glissade down the slithering stones into the pine woods”, is directly based on his adventures as their party of 12 hiked from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen. – Wikipedia.

After his mother’s demise at age 34, Tolkien lived in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham in the shadow of the Victorian tower of Edgbaston Waterworks which is believed to have influenced the images of the Dark Towers within his works.

These are writers who have endeared themselves to our hearts by creating masterpieces from their personal experiences in life. Writers who we, no doubt perceive as geniuses. No wonder they say it’s the ordinary things of life that are the real miracles.

Keep your pen bleeding!

Akpan

Honing Your Craft with Personal Experience

Write what you know.
Who made this statement? Who do you suppose, is the original source of that phrase? Mark Twain? Howard Nemerov? Gore Vidal? Ernest Hemingway? (These names are some of the numerous suggestions I stumbled upon while surfing the web for answers.)

            So, who exactly said, ‘Write what you know?’

Do you suppose I’m the right guy to discuss the subject since I have no idea how the legendary writing advice (and possibly, the most misunderstood) came into existence?

What might be the case if we were to discuss the pros and cons of etymology and word origin pales in comparison with what I am about in this post. I’d love to point the strobe light on two unique examples of authors who put this quote to use, effectively with the sustained resonance initiating a ripple effect, which kindled a popular resurgence of their respective genres.

J.R.R. Tolkien is the mastermind behind The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Did you know that many of the scenes in his fiction are slightly altered re-creations of his real life travels and travails?

            What follows is a slightly modified version of a Wikipedia article:

J.R.R. Tolkien Photo Courtesy: newstalk.ie

Tolkien enjoyed exploring Sarehole Mill and Moseley Bog in England (where he grew up after his dad passed away of a bout of rheumatic fever in South Africa–Tolkien was born here on 3 January 1892 in Bloemfontein in the Orange Free State now Free State Province in South Africa). His explorations inspired scenes in his books. His adventurous mind led him to his Aunt Jane’s farm of Bag End. The name which occurs in his fiction.

            After his mother’s demise at age 34, Tolkien lived in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham in the shadow of the Victorian tower of Edgbaston Waterworks which is believed to have influenced the images of the Dark Towers within his works.

Maybe, I’m tackling the ‘Write what you know’ subject in its narrowest sense. Maybe, it’s exactly what I want to do in this article. The entire concept blurs into personal experiences and feelings and the imaginative ability of the writer to take a footprint he found in the dirt in some out of the way place and recreate it as a secret code that could spark world war III in his fiction!

Tananarive Due Photo Courtesy: chroniclesofharriet.com

Tananarive Due, one of a handful of black science fiction and fantasy writers, in an interview on NPR, tells how she came about the idea for her book My Soul to Keep (which won a Best Novel nomination in the Bram Stoker Award).

            Due at one time worked as a journalist and columnist for the Miami Herald. She had at some point in time been in a relationship with a guy who turned out to be different. And who she believed was trying to fool her. What Due did with her personal experience was create her ‘perfect guy’ by re-inventing her former boyfriend in her fiction.

My Soul to Keep’s plot revolves around the life of a young newspaper reporter who is still in her twenties and who discovers her husband is a 500-year old immortal from a culture of immortals.

The places we are most at home become our comfort zones. The niche we are most familiar with and accept as the definition of who we really are.

These places invite us to explode into a million creative seeds if we will tap into its electricity.

Writing what you know can be a thrill. With a little bit of imagination, it can make all the difference between a lifeless piece of literature and a definitive work of art.

Keep your pen bleeding.

Akpan

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Explosive First Lines of 30 Great Books

The Poet is a novel written by Michael Connelly. He had Stephen King do the introduction to the book for him. In said introduction, there’s a place where Stephen King wrote:

            “I’m a sucker for good first lines, collect them in a little notebook the way some people collect stamps or coins…”

And that got me thinking waoh!… I can do that, too. On a serious level, I’ve bought more than one novel simply on the basis of a good first line. They seem to act as starters, like King stated above, pulling the reader into the story while they are barely aware that they’ve been sucked through reality’s fabric into the world of make-believe!

I collected the following first lines from books off my study bookshelf. I did not arrange these in any particular format. I only picked the closest book and pumped the content into my Word Document.

Have fun!

“The terror, which would not end for another twenty-eight years–if it ever did end–began, so far as I know or can tell, with a boat made from a sheet of newspaper…”

Stephen King,

It

“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the spaces between the notes and curl my back to loneliness…”

Maya Angelou,

Singin’ and Swingin’ and Getting’ Merry Like Christmas

“You would think that such a day would tremble to begin…”

Thomas Harris,

Hannibal

“He seemed incapable of creating such chaos, but much of what he saw below could be blamed on him…”

John Grisham

The Pelican Brief

“When I finally slither out mewling, I’ve already given Mama hard labor, because she’s been cussing and screaming seventeen hours. Then there’s a calm until she sees me. Then she starts howling worse…”

Christopher Wilson

Cotton

“I hadn’t planned on going anywhere…”

Terry McMillan

How Stella Got Her Groove Back

“A few minutes past one o’clock in the morning, a hard rain fell without warning…”

Dean Koontz

The Taking

“Not twenty minutes has passed since you left me here in the café, since I said No to your request, that I would never write out for you the story of my mortal life, how I became a vampire…”

Anne Rice

Pandora

“In the darkness, he touched her arm and said, ‘Stay here…’”

Michael Crichton

State of Fear

“They moved swiftly, silently, with purpose, under a crystalline, star-filled night in western Siberia…”

Tom Clancy,

Red Storm Rising

“The music was as much a gift as sunshine, as rain, as any blessing ever prayed for…”

Bebe Moore Campbell,

Your Blues Ain’t Like Mine

“The first day of school was even worse than he’d thought it would be. Part of it was the weather. It was one of those perfect days when any normal ten-year-old boy would rather be outside…            But Josh MacCallum wasn’t a normal ten-year-old, and it didn’t seem as though anyone was ever going to let him forget it…”

John Saul,

Shadows

“I knew it would begin with the end, and the end would look like death to these eyes. I had been warned…”

Stephenie Meyer,

The Host

“It was hope undid them. Hope, and the certainty that Providence had made them suffer enough for their dreams…”

Clive Barker,

Everville

“Thankfully, Longview's streets weren't stacked with cars and bodies.  Kendra drove past the industrial districts, those smoke stacks that no longer belched white, the waterway now clogged with logs that, in saner days, would have gone to the Weyerhauser mill to build houses and make cardboard boxes.  Nothing moved…”

Steven Barnes & Tananarive Due,

Devil’s Wake

“There are people who like change. There are even a few who thrive on it. That’s not me…”

J. A. Jance,

Breach of Duty

“I’m dead.            You want to talk about my family and here I been dead to them for fifty years…”

James McBride,

The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother

“Death is my beat. I make my living from it…”

Michael Connelly,

The Poet

“Early in the spring of 1750, in the village of Juffure, four days up river from the coast of The Gambia, West Africa, a manchild was born to Omoro and Binta Kinte…”

Alex Haley,

Roots

“Girl, take a look at the brother who just walked in…”

Brenda Jackson,

Whispered Promises

“My redemption began in hell…”

James Herbert,

Others

“Stupid me–I fell right into the old pattern and spent a week pretending I was a moving target. All along, a part of me knew that I was hitching toward southern Illinois because my mother was passing. When your mother’s checking out, you get yourself back home…”

Peter Straub,

Mr. X

“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again. It seemed to me I stood by the iron gate leading to the drive, and for a while I could not enter, for the way was barred to me…”

Daphne du Maurier,

Rebecca

“No one can deny that Chief the Honorable M. A. Nanga, MP., was the most approachable politician in the country… I have to admit this from the outset or else the story I’m going to tell will make no sense…”

Chinua Achebe,

A Man of the People

“When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow…”

Harper Lee,

To Kill A Mocking Bird

“Brrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinng!            An alarm clock clanged in the dark and silent room…”

Richard Wright,

Native Son

“When my mother was pregnant with me, she told me later, a party of hooded Ku Klux Klan riders galloped up to our home in Omaha, Nebraska, one night. Surrounding the house, brandishing their shotguns and rifles, they shouted for my father to come out…”

As told to Alex Haley,

The Autobiography of Malcolm X

“I was sitting at my desk doing my nails when the door opened and the spy sneaked in…”

Elizabeth Peters,

Street of the Five Moons

“That smashed elbow was still in a crooked cast after a month of repeated surgery…”

Herman Wouk,

The Hope

“Robert Langdon awoke slowly…”

Dan Brown,

The Da Vinci Code

Bonus

“On a very hot day in August of 1994, my wife told me she was going down to Derry Rite Aid… The next time I saw her, she was on TV. That’s how you identify the dead here in Derry…”

Stephen King,

Bag of Bones

I sincerely hope you were inspired to make a grab for one of these stunning reads!

Read with passion!

Akpan

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