Friday, October 10, 2014
How to Ward Off Vampires
Just when you thought you knew all the ways to slay or waylay a vampire-- from the November 1974 issue of Dracula Lives! #9 -- and hey, wanna see a sexy, full-length Frank Robbins vampire classic from this issue? Try clicking HERE! to be transported via leathery wings to my other blog...
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From the November 1974 issue of Dracula Lives! #9
I love these. They are, ah, somewhat fast and loose with traditions--but then again, traditions are a moving target, after all. I always loved the thing with grains of sand (related, I think, to the thing about making knots the vampire will have to untie before it can attack), because the trope so amiably attaches the stigma of paranormal suspicion to symptoms of widely recognized developmental and psychological disorders. Autism? Obsessive compulsion? You know, alongside anemia, allergies, dementia, and lividity, and rigor, and the weird ways of decomposition: With close enough reading it's possible to appreciate this stew of human complaints and burial practices that coalesced into the mythology we've syncretized today.
Lots of cultures tied the feet of their corpses together throughout the ages, so it makes sense the practice would also find its way into this recipe. Probably it's where Chinese hopping vampires come from, too.
those grain counting rubes are totally fooling themselves
I just read a story last night--after reading this--that mentioned the practice of filling a corpse's mouth with stones and garlic to prevent its return from the grave. I assume that's equal parts immobilizing the mouth with inedible, teeth-destroying matter and weighting the head down enough to effectively pinion it to the bottom of the coffin. Clever villagers.
and this just in:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/bulgaria/11153923/Vampire-grave-found-in-Bulgaria.html
Fantastic catch! These people were not kidding around, were they? They transfixed the guy like a specimen and then removed one of his legs to boot. Some vampires just can't catch a break.
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