Vampires in Our Midst

In folklore, vampires were creatures to be feared and avoided at all costs. They hid in the dark places of the world, where “good” men and women would not venture, at the peril of their souls. Vampires did not hide among us; they hid in the places we dare not tread.

That allowed us to have some separation from our fear. Combined with the belief that such a creature need be invited in order to enter, we could simply stay home and be protected.

Certainly we could tell such a creature apart from those who could be trusted?

But what if he was one of us?

The vampire as gentleman and aristocrat first appeared in John Polidori’s “The Vampyre” (1819). Dr. Polidori developed the idea during a summer spent with Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley, and Lord Byron – a summer explored by Idle Muse in its 2008 production of Bloody Poetry by Howard Brenton.

While Mary Shelley went on to write Frankenstein based in part on the conversations of that summer, the lesser known “Vampyre” does one important thing. It introduces vampires as gentlemen, creatures that can enter society unbeknownst to those around them.

In Anne Rice’s vampire novels, all manner of these creatures hide in plain sight. In Paris, they even have a theater, where they feed in front of an audience – and no one is the wiser.

In Dracula, one can see this when Dracula attempts to enter London under the guise of the left-for-dead Jonathan Harker.

Vampires have entered our midst. We cannot see them for what they are and we are at their mercy.

Now what do we do to protect ourselves?