How To Scare a Vampire . . .?

Cause them some sort of unimaginable pain?
Although i'm not sure how you would do that to a dead person.
Setting them on fire might work i guess! Or, depending on the time your novel is set, blast them with a UV light.
That would depend on whether your vampires are injured/killed by sunlight though...

'Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.'

Well, what vulnerabilities do they have to begin with? Why haven't they taken over the world, for example? If they are a superior race, what makes them stay secret?

If you are in a modern set, you can have some high tech device that makes them uncomfortable, like a high decibel sound that only they can hear, or some very strong smell that makes them run for the hills.

If they don't have that many physical vulnerabilities, maybe you can stop thinking in physical terms -unless your vampires can feel pain- and start thinking about their minds. What do they care for?

Once you figure out what keeps them interested in life, you might get something to take away from them. The prospect of losing it may keep them away.

If they are subjected to the rules of magic -like not being able to enter a house if they are not invited- then maybe you can call in a mage and put a protective charm.

Hope any of this helps!

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"Writing is the act of convincing your characters to do what you want them to do."

Well, if they can't die, any possibility of being trapped somewhere and left for years and years and years would be pretty scary. Do they retain human phobias and such? Can they regenerate limbs? If not, things that do permanent damage would not be great, as, well, living forever in a mutilated body is no one's idea of a picnic.

Do they *know* they can't die? Could you scare them into thinking maybe they could?

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Plucking out their fangs? ;)

Ok how about Blinding?
How about fire, it hurts and maims.
Assuming the are undead I assuem they can be burnt or cremated.
And even if they can reconstitute themselves from ashes, what happens if the ashes are scattered or stored lin multiple containers, or the ashes are mixed in a vat of concerete and then pured into a buildling's foundation?

On a similar note Being buried would probably be a big fear.

You also said decapitation wodl not kill them, but It should definately scare them.

Picture a row of pikes, each with the still screaming head of a defanged blinded vampire on it.
I think tha would be a effective deturrent for any wanna be Draculas using Dracula's own tactics!

This is almost certainly not much help, but the thread name reminded me of that joke where two nuns are driving along a country lane in a car, when a vampire suddenly jumps in front of them; the first nun goes, "Quick, show him your cross!!", and the second one winds down her window and yells, "OI! GET OFF THE ROAD YOU @#+%$*&!!!!!"

Anyway, is there any way these vampires can be incapacitated? Just because they can't be killed doesn't mean they're going to always be fearless. (Presumably it's for the same reasons we're not totally fearless; recklessness in a particular situation can spell disaster for us; that's why we develop phobias as a defense mechanism against danger.) If there is something that's known to incapacitate them, then the threat of that might make them hesistant; if there really *is* nothing known to man that can stop them, and THEY are fully aware of that, your mortals are probably screwed. But in this scenario, perhaps they ultimately find something that can stop them, which could prove the vampires' downfall.

And just another thought that crossed my find as I was about to click the Submit buttton: What if you make it impossible for them to feed? A cement mixer just drove by and I had a GREAT flash of a mental image of a vampire's throat being sprayed full of concrete.

Read aloud from a Stephen king novel.

I haven't really thought that part out much. I didn't have any sort of plot or outline when I started and I had no idea what I was writing until, suddenly Dracula showed up in my story and took over it.

I'm thinking there are not very many of them, because it's pretty hard to turn someone into a vampire. I think they just keep taking your blood, but you don't turn into a vampire unless they actually kill you, and killing folks who defeat the purpose. For one thing creating new vampires would create competition, and I'm guessing these guys are loners and don't want competition, so they are not out there trying to make new vampires. Secondly, they need blood to survive, so killing people would be a disadvantage because it lessens the blood supply. Or something along those lines at least. Therefor there are not many vampires out there and not many people are actually getting killed by them either.

I think instead of turning people into vampires, he would use mind control to make them sort of zombie-like, and get his minions that way. Than he wouldn't have to worry about competition for local blood. I mean, it would take a whole town to feed a vampire if he didn't want to kill every one right?

Yeah, kind of got a modern set going. I haven't done any naming dates or anything and it seems to be pretty much "current time" so far. The MC's are three 10 - 13 year old boys who find Dracula living next door, so I'm trying to figure out, what can these kids do to get rid of the vampires in their town.

I' thinking of going with classic garlic to help them out here. Not sure yet, but I'm guessing the vampires are pretty sensitive to strong smells and such and so are sort of allergic to garlic. (and possibly rancid yak butter - thanks to the DARES thread LOL!)

I think their senses are super sensitive, so sounds, smells, etc would be big irritants. I like the high decibel idea. Hadn't thought of that. I wonder how I could work that in?

The whole being invited thing, was on my mind but I'm not sure yet how to work it. It was one of the first things I thought of though. I plan on using it as the reason why so few people are getting attacked by the vampires - he can't just sneak into their houses at night - they have to invite him in.

LOL! Love that - Rows of staked vampires - Dracula's tactic being turned back on him.

I think there might be a way to bury them in their coffins so that they can't get out. That sort of thing might work. Iron nails and buried upside down, something like that could work.

Turn to ash and than coming back - but not able to if ashes are locked in separate places - ugh - icky - but effective! That could be something I could use.

I think Dracula knows he can't die, but not sure about the others - they might not know.

Yeah - I think phobia would work too. Phobias are pretty irrational in humans, so why not have the same phobias they had when they were alive? Plus a lot of vampire myths have them pretty OCD so phobias could work good.

Yeah, I'm planning to use the whole sunlight thing. Only it doesn't kill them, it's more like wicked painful super powerful sunburn allergy to UV light sort of thing.

Wow. You guys have giving me all sorts of ideas I can work with here. Thanks! (and keep adding more too - I've got a whole 28 days more of writing to do - I'll need all the ideas I can get! LOL!)

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Wow, no one's said GARLIC yet?

-- And A Further Collection Of Short Stories For Young Adults --
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"Writing is easy. You only need to stare at a piece of blank paper until a drop of blood forms on your forehead." - Douglas Adams

Yeah, garlic. I've read that Egyptians believed in a vampiric ghost which would suck the breath out of children and wreathes of garlic would be used to repel them, so smell. But I've also read how garlic is supposedly the opposite taste of blood, so possibly taste.

Religious artifacts...crucifixes, holy water
mirrors...I've read that since they don't cast a reflection, mirrors remind them of their lack of humanity.
sunlight...busting a hole in the roof? Setting up a series of mirrors to reflect to where he rests?

If you can find a way to otherwise incapacitate them, that would do well to scare them. If it's modern setting, perhaps some drug or other that can put them into a coma? Something to do with the chemicals in their blood? So obviously they can't die, but they won't be able to live, either, trapped forever in this half-life state. Obviously, the problem there would be where to keep them =D

If they have any of the traditional vampire aversions, maybe incorporate them. I particular like the idea someone else has suggested about the high-pitched sound to drive them away. Perhaps if they're not all that great in the daylight, maybe some kind of UV lights that could be sold and installed through the government to deter them? This would assume that the vampire threat is a nationwide thing, and not just one vampire invading a quiet town, etc.

Just some ideas off the top of my head there. Hope they help add to the thought pot!

Or that would work ^_^

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In some book series vampire are depicted as having very strong senses, which if so can be both a strength and a weakness. Sensory overload or sensory deprivation. might scare them. Also, being unable to get their blood diet and starving to "death", or at least wasting away from lack of blood might do the trick.

It seems the vampire is there because someone wants him there. If the affected person can say they don't want him, maybe he'll leave her alone.

FIre has traditionally been a good way. That and, if the technology is available, artificial ultraviolet light.

Scientia Potestas Est

Wow, I can't believe it took so long for garlic, and then I didn't see anyone mention this, either. Crucifix and holy water. If your vampires have near physical invulnerability, that doesn't necessarily mean their souls are safe. They could be repulsed by shows of holy power.

Other than that I don't know what to say. Fear comes from having some kind of weakness that can be exploited. I would say psychological torments would be most effective, but those are personal and not something easily done on the fly. Fear of imprisonment might be good, but it would have to play into some specific type of mythos to be effective (can't cross running water, etc.) to have some kind of primal fear reaction.

Hope you figure it out.

I’ve decided I want to base my vampires heavily on Dracula (the book & the Bela Lugosi movie – not the later newer versions which are changed quite a bit). With that in mind, I am now re-reading Dracula, which I haven’t read in about 20 years, and finding a lot of stuff I forgot.

For one thing, staking Dracula DOESN’T kill him in the book, it only stops him from rising back up. But if you remove the stake, he gets right back up like nothing happened. Well, I forgot all about that part! I got so used to seeing Buffy-style-stake-the-vampire-and-they-go-poof that I completely forgot that the wooden stake DOESN’T traditionally kill vampires! YAY! So my book isn’t going off track by saying the stake doesn’t work when it comes to killing vampires. Maybe, deep down inside I remembered that part and that’s why I had it so the stake couldn’t kill them??? The book itself hints that Dracula can never be defeated, but can only be stopped and held dormant, by a stake through the heart and being locked in the coffin by use of iron nails, and suggests that even though they stopped in in the end – they don’t know for how long and he could come back if someone undid their work.

According to Dracula (the book) garlic, holy water, and religious icons (not just crosses, but ANY religious icon which the wearer/owner holds as sacred) are REALLY big when it comes to defense against vampires.

I also forgot that Dracula spends a good part of the book, running around as a wolf, not a bat.

Sunlight is not used against Dracula, because he walks around town in broad daylight. Granted there is always a storm on those days, thus the sun is filtered by the clouds, but still. (a storm which he caused to happen, through use of black magic.)

Also in the book, people do not become vampires by being bitten by Dracula. It takes weeks of being bitten over and over again for them to die from blood loss, and only 4 females ever became vampires, because Dracula wanted them as wives and forced them to drink his blood, which thus caused them to become vampires. So, my using the whole vampires being extremely rare and not wanting competition, fits with that too.

Also, while Dracula himself seems to be undefeatable, his brides, are not, and can be killed by a stake through the heart followed by decapitation. Something to do with the fact that they became vampires by drinking his blood, which I guess was only a black magic spell and not real vampirism, and thus the spell can be broken with the use of a stake and decapitation. Apparently there is a difference between a REAL vampire, like Dracula, (who I guess is some sort of demon and never was Human) and Humans who are turned into vampires, like his brides, and while you can’t kill the real ones, you can kill the human-turned-vampire ones. Huh. I forgot all that stuff too. I’m glad I’m re-reading the book, because some how years of watching Buffy and Angel and Charmed, resulted in me thinking of vampires very differently than the way they were by traditional classic standards.

Anyways, seeing how garlic is such a really, really, REALLY big thing in the book, and having it around really pisses Dracula off, I think I’m going to put most of the emphasis in my story, on using garlic to drive the vampire out of town.

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I was going to say make them read Twilight, but so many people would flame me.
So, how about something from their past life, maybe there was something (or someone) that they cherished too much to forget about - even in death (un-death...?). Your character could threaten them with it.

I thought the way Victor's daughter went in the first Underworld movie was pretty damn brutal.

Someone i know is an RN and she says for burn victims, you can't get enough morphine in them because of the pain. I think being burnt by sunlight would be something they would be terrified of.

Why not have the characters portray some kind of creature that even Dracula fears? Like a wolfman (vampires might not be able to die again in your novel but I'm sure being torn to shreds would put the fear in even the undead- think how long it would take to put yourself back together!)

Or have the characters seek out some kind of witch/psychic to put a fake curse on the vampire, one that would freak him out (like that no matter how much blood he drank it would no longer nourish him and he would become weaker and weaker). So much of what we fear is in our minds.

Or have a female character ask the vampire for a real commitment- that should make him flee in fear!

A few years ago I read The Keep by F Paul Wilson SPOILER ALERT! In this book the main vampire explains why vampires hated crosses and it wasn't that they were a representation of something holy. In the past vampires were horribly persecuted by the Spanish Inquisition and were hung on crosses and tortured. All old vampires rememered this of course and were horrified by the sight of them. Not an answer but something to ponder.

I'm an out-of-work stay-at-home-dad too-old-be-a-slacker-but-yet-I-still-somehow-am guy - let's do this!

commitment.... lol.. cute

I dont know if anyone said this yet ... maybe he loves someone, or there's someone he holds dear? Threaten to kill them?

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This is the main premise of my story this year. :)

anyway what I did was make bigger and nastier monsters. I am borrowing a lot from HP Lovecraft for ideas.

The idea was that my main MC is a vampire, and when he goes on this expedition (first part of my book) finds these horrors. The trick is that maybe gore would scare a human, but not a vampire. So what would.
In this case the realization that these other creatures do not give a damn about his world. My vampire takes a very ecological look at his role in the world. He is a predator for humans, a way to keep the population in check. These creatures would not give a damn about it. I guess you could say they are eco-terrorist on a grand scale. they would come and rework the world so they could live there, and kill everything else off.

The idea of not only his food supply (humans) wiped out, but all the places he holds dear (Where he has lived and so on) frightens him.

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If I was a vampire, I'd be scared if someone promised me they would lock me up and read me Twilight every day.

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I got to thinking you could prove/demonstrate that you were a more awful monster than the vampires ever would.

Capture a couple of vampires.

Hack the limbs off of one and blind and defang him, possibly also cut out his tongue (silver knife of course), keeping him in a box. Need to demonstratre you're serious? Open the lid of the box. He's kept in with silver chains wrapped in silk.

Around the town, you can keep cages with similarly hacked and blinded vampires, with silver spikes or rods driven through or silver chains strung through their bodies.

The residents of this town don't fear vampires. The vampires fear *them*. As their coming of age ritual at age twelve, they go to capture a vampire for the young 'un to prepare for display.

They hire themselves out as vampire hunters.