"Coming Out Of The Coffin: Vampires Among Us;
Many Self-Described Vampires Keep Lifestyle Secret, Fear Ostracism From
Co-Workers, Family" ABC 20/20 Special - Inside The World Of Real Life Vampires By Denise Martinez-Ramundo & Joan Martelli of ABC News 20/20 - November 27, 2009 http://abcnews.go.com/2020/real-life-vampires-lifestyle-secret/story?id=9173328
"Night Neighbors" - FOX News Channel Hannity's America w/Michelle Belanger & Anshar Seraphim - December 7, 2008 Members Of America's Vampire Subculture Could Be Living Right Under Your Nose http://www.foxnews.com/hannitysamerica
Psychic Vampirism - Halloween 2008 Special Edition - Bizarre Magazine
Are Vampires Real? - December 2009 - Paranormal Magazine (UK)
"Would The Real Vampires Please Stand Up?" Paranormal Insider - Blog Contributed By Michelle Belanger - September 2007
Is
vampirism a condition that exists outside of folklore and film? Are
there real living people who psychically feed on human life force — or
even on blood? What is the source of these supernatural hungers? The
Atlanta Vampire Alliance has the answers. Formed in 2005, the AVA is a
research group devoted to the modern condition of vampirism — but
Dracula would never recognize these vampires as kin. The vampires of
the AVA are living human beings, often psychic, who have a need for the
life force of others, and they have come together as a group to study
and better understand that need.
This is no fly-by-night venture. The AVA's Vampire and Energy Work Research Survey (Suscitatio Enterprises, LLC - http://www.suscitatio.com),
circulated to thousands of self-identified vampires and energy workers
around the world, has hundreds of questions, focusing on everything
from an individual's religious beliefs to the minute details of their
medical history. The AVA's goal is to gather hard statistics about real
vampires — statistics which they hope will ultimately be taken
seriously in an academic context. Part of this goal has already been
achieved. Featured in the recent book, Vampires in Their Own Words, the
AVA has also worked with several individuals attached to colleges as
part of academic research. Most recently, they have started working
with author and fellow Paranormal Insider blogger Rosemary Ellen Guiley
to help add their knowledge to the future re-release of her landmark
work, Vampires Among Us. The ongoing research of the AVA may very well
change the way vampirism is defined.
TAPS - October 2007 Halloween Special Edition: Interview With Merticus - [Click Image For Complete Transcript]
"Revelations" by Kiera of House AVA; Pages 30-35 "Accepting Our Differences, Revealing Our Natures" by Eclecta; Pages 109-112 "Finding A Path In The South" by Eclecta of House AVA; Pages 192-199 "Atlanta Vampire Alliance: Initiating Serious Studies"; Pages 200-201
For this anthology, vampire Michelle Belanger convinced nearly two
dozen real-life vampires to break the code of silence that has kept
their fascinating subculture shrouded in secrecy. Sometimes
provocative, sometimes surprisingly down-to-earth, these candid
firsthand accounts come from both psi vampires who feed on energy and
sanguine vampires who drink actual blood. Their true stories shed light
on a variety of topics, including awakening to vampirism, the
compulsion to feed and feeding practices, donor ethics and etiquette,
and vampire traditions and codes of behavior.
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"Vampires Today: The Truth about Modern Vampirism" http://www.amazon.com/Vampires-Today-Truth-Modern-Vampirism/dp/0313364729 http://www.abc-clio.com/products/overview.aspx?productid=111080 Joseph Laycock - An independent scholar & recipient of a grant from the Pluralism Project Praeger Publishers - May 30, 2009 ISBN: 0-313-36472-9 Vampires are not just the stuff of folklore and fiction. This book
explores the modern world of vampirism in all its variety. Based upon
extensive interviews with members of the Atlanta Vampire Alliance and
others within vampire communities throughout the United States,
Vampires Today looks at the many expressions of vampirism: "lifestyle
vampires," those who adopt a culture and a gothic ascetic associated
with the vampires of art and legend; "real vampires," those who believe
they must actually consume blood and/or psychic energy for their well
being; or others who self-identify in some way as vampires. Is
vampirism a religion? Is it a fantasy? Is it a medical condition? Is it
a little bit of each? Throughout the world, untold numbers of people
are self-identifying as "vampires" and following the ways of
"vampirism." Over the years, but particularly in the past decade or so,
vampirism has come under increased study, yet most scholarship has
portrayed the vampire community at best as a cultural phenomenon and at
worst as a religious cult. In this book, author Laycock explores the
modern world of vampirism in all its variety. Having interviewed many
vampires across the country, both "lifestylers" and "real," even those
"reluctants" who try not to be vampires, he argues that today's
vampires are best understood as an identity group and that vampirism
has caused a profound change in how individuals choose to define
themselves. As vampires come "out of the closet," either as followers
of a "religion" or "lifestyle" or as people biologically distinct from
other humans, their confrontation with mainstream society will raise
questions about the definition of "normal" and what it means to be
human. In this book the reader will meet "lifestyle" vampires, who
adopt a culture and a gothic ascetic associated with the vampires of
art and legend; and "real" vampires, who believe that they must
actually consume blood and/or psychic energy for their well being. The
reader will hear from members of the Atlanta Vampire Alliance and will
learn about the Order of the Vampyre, the Ordo Strigoi Vii, and the
Temple of the Vampire. Even before Dracula and Bella Lugosi, people
have been fascinated with vampires, and this interest has continued,
through Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Anne Rice's Interview with the
Vampire and other novels, to HBO's new series True Blood and the recent
big-screen hit Twilight. Readers will find the details of real vampire
life--including vampire role-playing games, grimoires, "vampyre" balls,
vampire houses like House Sahjaza and House Kheperu, the vampire
"caste" system, and other details--utterly fascinating.
The mere mention of vampires used to be enough to make people think of a nocturnal predator. But over the centuries the vampire has changed from monstrous villain to sexual object, for both men and women alike. Allure of the Vampire examines our intimate attraction to these beings in a detailed manner. Now, join occult author Corvis Nocturnum as he reveals the fascinating evolution of this icon as it has lured and enticed us in folklore, film and books from the days of ancient civilization to the living breathing inhabitants of our modern subculture, the vampire community.
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"Real Vampires, Night Stalkers and Creatures from the Darkside" http://www.amazon.com/Vampires-Night-Stalkers-Creatures-Darkside/dp/1578592550 Brad Steiger Visible Ink Press - September 1, 2009 ISBN: 1578592550 A chilling chronicle of the often ignored history of vampirism as it has surfaced repeatedly in news articles, historical accounts, and first person interviews, this shocking account of occultist rituals and the inhuman forces that influence them shines a light on the horrifying truth. Revealing that real vampires are not immortal, do not have fangs or sleep in coffins, and have no fear of sunlight or crucifixes, the examination dispels many myths but also confirms the truth behind several traits of real vampires, such as the insatiable thirst for blood and the dream of an eternal soul. Complete with 30 spine-tingling tales of the hideous wraiths and creatures that lurk in shadow, this fascinating collection includes the stories of the Mexican prostitute who mesmerized an entire village, convincing them she was an Incan goddess who required human sacrifice for her magic; the three teenagers who left a trail across the South as they conducted blood-drinking rituals with animals; and the mysterious Lady in Black who draws psychic energy from men who dare approach her as she wanders through city streets and parks.
"Gathering Data with the Vampire: Analyzing Causes and Effects of an Introspective Survey by the Vampire Community" Annual Conference of American Academy of Religion, November 17, 2007 Joseph Laycock, Boston University (MTS Harvard Divinity School) http://www.aarweb.org
Abstract: The Vampire community is an acephalous movement of individuals who
define themselves as vampires because of their need to consume the
blood and/or the psychic energy of other people in order to maintain
their physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. Most practitioners
consider vampirism as a spiritual identity and the Vampire community
has previously been studied as a new religious movement. While small
“houses” of vampires exist throughout the country, the community is
predominated by solitary practitioners communicating online. In March
of 2006, the Atlanta Vampire Alliance (AVA) launched a survey project
of the worldwide Vampire community. With a budget of $6000, the survey
features over 1000 questions and has been translated into five
languages. Drawing on ethnographic research with the AVA, this paper
views the survey project as creating an inter-subjective consensus and
analyzes the themes of validity and traditionalizing power inherent in
such an endeavor.
San Diego, CA - AAR 2007 Conference
San Francisco, CA - ASR 2009 Conference
"Ontological Rebellion: The Otherkin Community and the Struggle for Reality" Association for the Sociology of Religion (ASR) Annual Meeting, August 8, 2009 Joseph Laycock, Boston University (MTS Harvard Divinity School) http://www.sociologyofreligion.com
Abstract: I [Joseph Laycock] argue that the otherkin community is best understood a Durkheimian moral community capable of collectively generating its own social facts––that is, social realities that exist independently of the individual. Although the otherkin community is not a particularly strong moral community and lacks the unity and intensity of a religious sect, this reading is essential for understanding the community’s function. By forming such a community, otherkin are able to gain meaning and legitimacy for their subjective identity and mount a form of resistance to conventional epistemology.
Academic & Scholarly Citations:
Vampires Today: The Truth About Modern Vampirism Joseph Laycock, MTS Harvard Divinity School & Doctoral Candidate - Boston University Praeger
Publishers (2009); Pages 7-8, 13-14, 18, 26, 33, 34, 37-38, 60-61,
67-68, 82, 84, 106-07, 110, 118, 121-122, 125, 133-34, 138-42, 145,
158, & 161-63
Contemporary Vampires and (Blood-Red) Leisure: Should We Be Afraid of the Dark? DJ Williams, LCSW, PhD - Idaho State University Leisure/Loisir - Volume 32 (2) (2008); Pages 513-539
“Predatory Spirituality:” Vampire Religion In America David and Kiara Falk of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School Sacred Tribes Journal - Volume 3 Number 2 (2008); Pages 102-131
Other Citations Or Notable Mention:
"Real Vampires & The Vampire Subculture" Special Report by Suzanne Stratford of FOX 8 News (Cleveland, OH) - November 6, 2009 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knKCKvJ-icE
Allure Of The Vampire: Our Sexual Attraction To The Undead Corvis Nocturnum Dark Moon Press - July 2009; Pages 5-12, 120, 121, 163, 176-178, 201-202, 259, & 260
Real Vampires, Night Stalkers And Creatures From The Darkside Brad Steiger Visible Ink Press - September 1, 2009; Pages 120-124, 127, 128-130, & 280
The Weiser Field Guide To Vampires: Legends, Practices, And Encounters Old And New J. M. Dixon Weiser Books - October 1, 2009; Pages 37 & 140
A Field Guide To Otherkin Lupa Megalithica Books - April 2007; Page 147
Inner Alchemy: Energy Work & The Magick Of The Body Taylor Elwood Megalithica Books - January 2007; Page 166
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