So, after recently reading Carmilla (loved it) and Twilight (*yawn*), I decided that I like my vampires to be both seductive and evil. I have an idea for a vampire who fits the stereotypical stalker profile. He follows the girl around everywhere, sends her creepy notes, sees EVERYTHING she's doing, etc. He can do this because vampires become invisible in daylight. So, he can follow her unseen to, say, a theatre, and then suddenly pop up beside her at the popcorn stand.
However, I need to figure out how/why vampires are invisible in sunlight. Something to do with the lack of soul? Or do I even need a reason why? Would people just accept it if I said "Vamps disappear during daylight, end of story"? After all, most mythologies have vamps being uber flamable, and there's no real mythological reason for that.
The other question is, what happens to his clothes? I obviously can't have a set of clothes walking around "by itself," but I can't have him turn up naked when he steps into a shadow either. Is there a magical explanation that would make the clothes disappear with him? Maybe, they're the clothes he "died" in, so they're tainted too? Or his aura surrounds them, and it's the sunlight/aura combination that doesn't mix?
I don't want a terribly complicated explanation -- the creepy part is supposed to be in its simplicity, the fact that vampires could surround you, with no effort, even during daylight.
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avr. 25, 2008 - 18 09
It seems that everyone changes the vampire myth in some way if they use it, it's rather the trendy thing to do ;). SO I don't think you'll have any problem with making the invisible. And very often people seem to ignore the clothes issue, so simply saying that they turn invisible too because they've been rubbing on him for a bit will probably suffice. The biggest thing, in my opinion, that you should watch out for is over-explaining things. If you make it seem like an issue, readers will think it is. If you don't and just casually explain it away, they likely won't notice at all.
----------NaNoWriMo '07: Thicker than Blood
Blood is thicker than water. Love is thicker than blood.
7,740 / 50,000
avr. 25, 2008 - 19 22
I agree. However, if you want to explain it away, you could use something like they were dipped in or stained by his first victim's blood and carry his/her undead traits.
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avr. 25, 2008 - 20 36
Sorry to say this but the idea that vamps are affected by sunlight has little precedence in mythology. The first instance of any vampire going up in flames because of exposure to sunlight was in the 1922 silent film Nosferatu.
In Bram Stoker's original novel (which was influenced by books on Eastern European folklore), Dracula did walk in broad daylight but it was implied that he was powerless.
Minor nitpick, but if by "mythology" you meant "modern lore" then please ignore this.
As for suggestions to your story: I like the idea of sunlight interfering with the vamp's aura. In theory since the vamp's clothing is obviously touching his skin/aura then it is plausible that the invisibility could be spread to them.
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----------Script Frenzy '08
Working Title: Nate and Dick
Script Type: Stage Play
Genre: Dark Musical Comedy
Page Count: 35
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Script Frenzy '08
Working Title: Nate and Dick
Script Type: Stage Play
Genre: Dark Musical Comedy
Page Count: 35
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avr. 26, 2008 - 09 58
Society of S by Susan Hubbard.
Not one of my favorite vampire novels, but it was different. Her vampires go out in the sun without any problems, but they have clothes made that disappear like they do in pictures and what not. I can't remember what it is right off hand, I read it a while ago and there have been several other vampire novels in between...anyway...so you could do something like that if you wanted.
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avr. 27, 2008 - 12 59
I think everyone can do pretty much what they please when it comes to creating new vampire "mythos" - mine aren't invisible in the sunlight, but they are rather severely burned by direct sunlight if it touches their bare skin (they can go out if covered by heavy material, such as leather). They don't have a mirrored reflection, and their clothes don't show, either, but something they're just carrying will reflect.
It's magic. Make up your own rules, and then stick to them.
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avr. 30, 2008 - 18 12
@ JB Drake: I did mean "modern lore" which is why my comment is contradictory. Bugger my poor semantics.
OK, so make the "explanation" simple and I should be OK. That was my gut reaction too, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't just being lazy.
And thanks for the book recommendation. I'll have to look it up.