Born To Be Vlad

As long as we’re on the subject of vampires, a quiz:

  • By what means do vampires customarily kill?
  • By what means do vampire hunters customarily kill?
  • By what means did Vlad the Impaler customarily kill?
  • Why is Vlad the Impaler so frequently imagined as a vampire rather than, say, a vampire hunter?

8 Responses to Born To Be Vlad

  1. Neil February 15, 2009 at 4:19 am #

    By what means do vampires customarily kill?

    Vampires customarily kill by sucking the blood of their victims.

    By what means do vampire hunters customarily kill?

    Vampire hunters customarily kill vampires by driving stakes through vampires’ hearts.

    By what means did Vlad the Impaler customarily kill?

    Vlad the Impaler customarily killed by impaling his victims on wooden poles.

    Why is Vlad the Impaler so frequently imagined as a vampire rather than, say, a vampire hunter?

    It seems that the name of Vlad the Impaler (his Romanian surname is “Dr?culea”) was the inspiration for the name “Dracula”. Although there seem to be some connections between the stories of Vlad the Impaler and Dracula, I imagine that his image as a vampire has more to do with his acts of political aggression.

  2. Richard Garner February 15, 2009 at 5:34 am #

    I heard that Vlad the Impaler also consumed blood of enemies from a bowl, dipping bread into it, and then eating.

  3. Danny Shahar February 15, 2009 at 12:09 pm #

    Like a stereotypical bully, Vlad was afraid that people would want to drive a stake through him, so he lashed out at other people, becoming the impaler himself. Classic vampire behavior.

  4. Daniel J. D'Amico February 15, 2009 at 10:26 pm #

    Similar to Danny’s response. If we assume that Vlad was a vampire and knew his own weakness but was ignorant that others were not vampires. Then perhaps he felt that his impailing of others was necessary.

  5. Matt February 16, 2009 at 1:52 pm #

    Poetic justice?
    He dies by the same means by which he killed.

    Interestingly in the oldest versions vampires didn’t need to merely be staked but had to be pinned to the ground via a stake. As in affixed to the Earth so they could never rise again.

  6. Tony Hollick February 18, 2009 at 5:33 pm #

    Vlad the Impaler killed people by the thousands, by driving sharpened wooden posts up peoples’ backsides, then planting the posts in the ground, leaving them to die in public view, unable to get off the stakes alive.

    The legend of “vampirism” probably had its origins in Roman Catholicism, where a profound taboo is broken by “drinking blood” and “eating flesh” during “Communion.”

    No skeletal remainsof any humanoid vampire has ever been found (surprise!), and human body mass is too great to fly with bat-like wings.

    Just another superstitious story from the days before electric lighting…

    Tony

  7. Tracy February 18, 2009 at 6:21 pm #

    Top Cow has a new Comic Out called Impaler.

    Tracy

  8. Danny Shahar February 19, 2009 at 9:01 am #

    Top Cow should have a new comic out called Top Cow.

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