The Lives Of Real Vampires In Our Modern World
Maven LoreMaven Lore identifies as a vampire and is king of the New Orleans’ vampire court.
While it’s not all that shocking that the past is full of stories of vampires, it may surprise some that at least 5,000 people identify as vampires in the United States (at least as of 2015).
These people are not undead or particularly violent, but they do have vampiristic tendencies. According to TODAY, some have blood fetishes and participate in “various blood-related activities.” Others merely act like vampires, avoiding sun exposure and drinking donated human blood.
That said, not all self-proclaimed vampires drink blood. Those who do are known within the vampire community as blood vampires or “sanguinarians.” But there are also “psychic” and “energy” vampires who feed not on blood but on the life energy of others (known as prana or qi).
YouTubeA real vampire identified as “Henry” in an interview with National Geographic.
“We’re people you pass on the street and likely socialize with on a daily basis,” Merticus, the founding member of Atlanta’s Vampire Alliance, told The Guardian. “We often keep this aspect of our life secret for fear we’ll be misunderstood and to safeguard against reprisals from what society deems taboo.”
Merticus, an antique dealer by day, added that he prefers to keep his vampire identity private. “I’m more concerned about family life, the economy, finding a steady donor, and hoping the media doesn’t attribute the latest murder to non-existent ‘vampire cults’ than I am worried about seeking social justice and acceptance for my identity,” he explained.
As such, there’s actually an incredible range of real vampires throughout history — and even up to today. Though vampires like Dracula are, of course, fictional, there are Serbian peasants, bloodthirsty rulers, violent serial killers, and others who might fit our definition of a “real vampire.”
And since there are thousands of self-identifying vampires in the United States today, you might even know one — without knowing it.