Time to give this blog some semblance of activity by sharing some items I've stumbled across on the wonderful world of Google!
The first one's Kyle Van Helsing's Amazon list, "Vampirology: The Study of Vampires and the Undead". He's got some interesting selections on it, but much of it's disposable. You should also check out his 80 (!) Listmania! Lists, which covers other horror/paranormal stuff. This guy is hardcore.
A few blog entries you might wanna peruse over at Buzzy Multimedia, namely, Stefica Budimir-Bekan's "Hollywood's Crush on Vampires", and Theresa Bane's "My Favorite Vampire" and "Bite, Hype, and Bandwagons – The Truth About Vampires".
Bane's certainly getting around on the vampirologist hobby horse and...good on her! It's nice to see a vampire scholar proud to trumpet the field!
Her vampire encyclopedia still won't be out for a coupla months, but she's certainly been getting good media coverage, in the meantime.
Speaking of reference works, here's a couple for the sanguinarian (i.e. "real" vampire) crowd.
First off, there's Sanguinarius' The Dictionary of Sanguinese: Terminology and Lingo in the Vampire Community (2nd. ed. 2009). He (?) followed that up in 2010 with the second edition of The Dictionary of Vampspeak: Terminology and Lingo in the Vampire Community. Presuming, of course, that they're not the same book. I'm gonna say...they are.
I've seen several references to Pam Keesey's status as a vampirologist, usually accompanied by the "lesbian" tag. She also looks a lot younger than I thought she was. Anyhoo, to my knowledge, her biggest contribution to the field is Vamps: An Illustrated History of the Femme Fatale (1997).
I gotta admit, I haven't read the thing, but it don't sound all that substantial to the genre! Who knows, maybe she's got other tricks up her sleeve. She does seem to have an interesting blog, though! I'm gonna add her to my list!
Oh, I didn't realise the Across the Forest blokes had mentioned my review of their doco, until just now! And here's the review itself.
Katherine Ramsland, an Anne Rice apologist (heh heh) has some interesting things to say about the Twilight phenomena in Katie O'Brien and Cassie Wierenga's "Coming Out of the Coffin".
The first one's Kyle Van Helsing's Amazon list, "Vampirology: The Study of Vampires and the Undead". He's got some interesting selections on it, but much of it's disposable. You should also check out his 80 (!) Listmania! Lists, which covers other horror/paranormal stuff. This guy is hardcore.
****************************
A few blog entries you might wanna peruse over at Buzzy Multimedia, namely, Stefica Budimir-Bekan's "Hollywood's Crush on Vampires", and Theresa Bane's "My Favorite Vampire" and "Bite, Hype, and Bandwagons – The Truth About Vampires".
Bane's certainly getting around on the vampirologist hobby horse and...good on her! It's nice to see a vampire scholar proud to trumpet the field!
Her vampire encyclopedia still won't be out for a coupla months, but she's certainly been getting good media coverage, in the meantime.
****************************
Speaking of reference works, here's a couple for the sanguinarian (i.e. "real" vampire) crowd.
First off, there's Sanguinarius' The Dictionary of Sanguinese: Terminology and Lingo in the Vampire Community (2nd. ed. 2009). He (?) followed that up in 2010 with the second edition of The Dictionary of Vampspeak: Terminology and Lingo in the Vampire Community. Presuming, of course, that they're not the same book. I'm gonna say...they are.
****************************
I've seen several references to Pam Keesey's status as a vampirologist, usually accompanied by the "lesbian" tag. She also looks a lot younger than I thought she was. Anyhoo, to my knowledge, her biggest contribution to the field is Vamps: An Illustrated History of the Femme Fatale (1997).
I gotta admit, I haven't read the thing, but it don't sound all that substantial to the genre! Who knows, maybe she's got other tricks up her sleeve. She does seem to have an interesting blog, though! I'm gonna add her to my list!
****************************
Oh, I didn't realise the Across the Forest blokes had mentioned my review of their doco, until just now! And here's the review itself.
****************************
Katherine Ramsland, an Anne Rice apologist (heh heh) has some interesting things to say about the Twilight phenomena in Katie O'Brien and Cassie Wierenga's "Coming Out of the Coffin".
*makes a mental note to look into the items in this list*
ReplyDeleteAs an offhand, Sanguinarius is a female.
As for them being the same book, I'm almost positive they would be. Probably one of Sangi's ways of trying to make money. Sadly the book doesn't even cover all the terminology the Online Vampire Community uses; she didn't know what "Ramkht" was when a friend of mine who's involved with the sanguinarium was chatting with her.
Cheers for the correction on Sanguinarius' gender. Shoulda taken more time to read her profile.
ReplyDeleteSorry about that, Sangi!
The interesting thing I find with the vampire subculture, Zeta, is the moves to centralise it into an organised body. That's where groups like the OVC come in.
I obviously haven't read her book/s, so I can't say if the book is written for that specific community.
I'd love to hear more of your thoughts on her dictionary, however.
To be honest I don't have much to say about Sangi's dictionary beyond my knowledge that it is, in no way, a complete dictionary of all the terms even commonly available within the Online Vampire Community (OVC) or the Real Life Vampire Community (RLVC, but usually given some other acronym by others).
ReplyDeleteAs a person I like Sangi, she's nice, but I've never felt the need to buy her material. There are several decent lists of terms used in the VC (OVC AND RLVC both) maintained by various organizations (Houses usually) that include most of the things you need to look up in basic communication.
Most of the efforts to organize into a cohesive body have been in vein, I must admit. Most everyone who's tried to spearhead such a movement has wound up sooner or later quite disillusioned with the task and the people they were working with to try and make it happen.
I think that the desire to organize is still pretty strong, however. As a group that identifies with the archetype based on shared experience of symptoms and relief there's a natural desire to be recognized and accepted by a greater variety of people.
Outside of the subculture most people think "Real Vampires" are quite delusional and crazy, and the media thus far has played on that (the 20/20 interview is a great example). The honest desire of most vampires, however, is to be accepted on their own terms and otherwise left alone. Hence I believe the push towards organization is generated to improve the social acceptance of those within the VC.
The question is, are Sanguinarius' dictionaries specifically meant to concern the (seemingly centralised) ONV and RLVC?
ReplyDeleteI've also read that terminologies in these communities tend to ebb and flow a lot. That nothing stays static.
Or, maybe Sangi's just trying to get a cut of the VC pie by offering these dictionaries. At worst, she could be making stuff up. Or, her definitions are something she uses on a personal basis, which might be why they don't have a greater usage. Hmm, maybe I should interview her, eh? Would it be ok to send her contact details along?
It doesn't surprise me that attempts to unite the community into a single banner have been met with failures. Speaking from a sociological aspect.
Thing is, vampirism doesn't really have a set dogma. Its primary concept is ingesting the lifeforce or blood from other folks. The religious aspects behind it are many and varied, because vampirism primarily operates on an individual level, rather than being being in the midst of a single dogmatic body. Like a Church. But, as I've pointed out previously (Temple of the Vampire, House Kheperu), this has been attempted in its own right.
So, fundamentally, it's pretty hard to form a solid community on these grounds, because what doctrinal justification is there for any of these groups being "right" if the fundamental tenet merely concerns the consuming blood or psychic energy?
I'd agree that a lot of people outside the community would view "real vampires" (a term I am uncomfortable with, for my own reasons) with contempt. But this isn't surprising, either. Afterall, they (as many other subgroups from punks, goths, etc) represent the "Other". Same principle applies to the ostracisation and mistreatment of minorities, really. You can view this precept on a micro or macrocosmic level. It's an often unfortunate human trait to dismiss what it doesn't understand. And I'll be willing to bet that it happens within the VC, too.
And, as usual, people take a few examples like Rod Ferrell as use 'em to form their own prejudices about the rest.
News coverage of vampire stuff does tend to be fairly lop-sided. Even the "true" documentaries tend to distort their facts. Even on vampire folklore, little alone the VC.