Are they real
2006-08-09 12:00:19 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Mythology & Folklore
No, no vampires drink blod. In fact, I'm not even sure blod is a real drink. What is blod anyways?
2006-08-09 16:14:08 · answer #1 · answered by ZenTurkey 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
a vampire is defined as a corpse that rises at night to drink the blood of the living. there is no evidence that this has ever happened or is even possible. that being said, there ARE people and animals who drink blood... or used to. as someone mentioned before, in ancient times, people with porphyria are thought to have injested blood to try to stave off the affects of the disease (and since mental illness is also usually a symptom of porphyria, it may very well be possible it was done).
there are also people who like to pretend they are vampires and drink blood (usually getting inserts for their teeth to look like they have fangs and drinking from the shoulders). there are dishes that inlude blood as part of the recipe (i've included the link for black pudding, aka blood sausage).
while that may explain human "vampires" there is another type of blood sucker that is more common... mosquitoes and leeches. these are both blood sucking creatures. vampire bats, while mostly attacking livestock, have been documented biting and drinking the blood of humans. there are a few bloodsucking fishes as well (check out the animal planet show "the most extreme", they had an episode dedicated to bloodsuckers)
so it's a yes and a no... are there creatures that drink/eat blood... but none of them are undead.
2006-08-09 20:53:54 · answer #2 · answered by crush the turtle 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They mythical kind are not real. There are entire clubs of "wanna-bes, though, that really do the biting/sucking thing. Mostly on the west coast.
According to myth, animal blood was acceptable as a substitute for human blood, but with humans available, why bother? The real draw wasn't just the blood, it was the emotional experience in the victim.
2006-08-09 21:55:28 · answer #3 · answered by MamaBear 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Never actually met one. Tales of vampires go back to ancient China of about 700BC. There are a few vampire like tales from Greece and Rome. The modern vampire legend, though, begins with one book, Dracula by Bram Stoker, published in 1898. It used a folk tale from Transylvania concerning Vlad. Vlad was a rather bad boy, in that he ruled by fear and did impale anyone he didn't particularly like. Supposedly, he also bathed in their blood. Vlad's last name was not Dracul, though. Dracul means dragon, and Vlad's father was called a Dracul, so Vlad was Dracula, son of the dragon. There are some stories about people who do drink blood, but they are psychotics rather than supernatural creatures. So far as I know, there is no real evidence that the vampire is more than a device for horror fiction. Anyone else have anything different?
2006-08-09 19:24:37 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hmmm, never met a real vampire before, or at least not that I know of :)
What about people who always try to 'borrow' cash from you? Do they count as vampires? 'Cause I know a couple
There's a medical condition called prophyria, in ancient times some people drank blood to 'cure' it. Prophyria is caused by a deficiency in iron, and since blood has iron, drinking blood would help alleviate symptoms. But no one needs to drink blood anymore to cure it.
EDIT: Hmm, maybe prophyria is a medical condition invented by VAMPIRE DOCTORS so they can mask their true selves in medical terminology. Very sneaky, you vampire doctors...
In the folklore of some cultures, vampires preyed on humans and animals alike. I think 'western' vampires need to drink human blood exclusively, and the human blood needs to be "alive."
If you meet a real vampire, please don't give them my email :(
2006-08-09 19:10:04 · answer #5 · answered by Jimmy 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
there are real vampires but they can only drink about one pint of blood a day because they are still living and the human body can not tolerate too much blood in it's system.some deseases like iro deficiancy animea can cause people to crave blood.i am sure there are vampires who are undead too but i've never met one.hmm..i guess that is a good thing.
2006-08-09 21:06:12 · answer #6 · answered by frosteatsfire 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Vampire bats are real and they suck the blood out of cattle. Human vampires? Nah don't think so.
2006-08-09 19:14:57 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋