Vampire lifestyle

The vampire lifestyle, also known as the vampire subculture or vampire community (sometimes spelled "vampyre"), is an alternative lifestyle and subculture inspired by the mythology and popular culture surrounding vampires. Participants often identify with or as vampires, drawing inspiration from various media, including gothic literature, films, and role-playing games. The subculture encompasses a range of practices, from incorporating vampire aesthetics into daily life to engaging in rituals involving blood consumption or energy work. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]}

The vampire subculture largely stemmed from the goth subculture, ^{[2] [3] [7]} but also incorporates some elements of the sadomasochism subculture. ^[1] The Internet provides a prevalent forum of communication for the subculture, along with other media such as glossy magazines devoted to the topic.^{[ needs update ] [8]}

Participants within the subculture range from those who dress as vampires but understand themselves to be human, to those who assert a need to consume either blood or 'human energy'. ^{[8] [9] [10]}

Though the vampire subculture has considerable overlap with gothic subculture, the vampire community also has overlap with both therian and otherkin communities, and are considered by some to be a part of both, despite the difference in cultural and historical development. ^{[11] [12]}

Characteristics of the scene

Two people dressed as vampires, one with fangs.

Vampire lifestylers might dress up in 'vampire' clothing, indulge in habits like sleeping in a coffin, and/or primarily participate in RPGs such as Vampire: The Masquerade." ^[9]

Types of vampire lifestylers

Vampire lifestylers may self-identify with labels regarding their proclivities and interests. The following is a non-exhaustive list, and are not necessarily mutually exclusive ^{[2] [9]} :

• "Sanguinarians", sometimes hematophages, are those that consume blood. ^[12]
• "Psychic vampires" claim to attain nourishment from the aura or pranic energy of others ^{[8] [9]} in order to balance a spiritual or psychological energy deficiency, such as a damaged aura or chakra. ^[1]
• "Blood donors" or "black swans" ^[13] willingly allow other members of the subculture to drink their blood. ^{[2] [14] [4] [8]}
• "Blood fetishists" use blood as a stimulant or sexual fetish, sometimes drinking it during the course of sadomasochistic sex. ^[9]
• "Role-players" or "lifestylers" acknowledge that they are human beings roleplaying as vampires. ^[2]

Sociology

Renfield syndrome is a clinical condition marked by a fixation on blood or blood-drinking.

Sex researchers have also documented cases of people with sexual (paraphilic) vampirism and autovampirism. ^{[1] [15] [16]}

References

1. Jøn, A. Asbjørn (2002). "The Psychic Vampire and Vampyre Subculture". Australian Folklore: A Yearly Journal of Folklore Studies (17). University of New England. Archived from the original on 2015-12-08.
2. Browning, John Edgar (March 2015). "The real vampires of New Orleans and Buffalo: a research note towards comparative ethnography" (PDF). Palgrave Communications . 1 (15006). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan: 1–8. doi: 10.1057/palcomms.2015.6 . ISSN   2662-9992. LCCN   2016260034 . Retrieved 14 September 2021.
3. Mellins, Maria (2013). "Vampire Community Profile". Vampire Culture. Dress, Body, Culture. London: Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 45–68. ISBN   9780857850744.
4. Benecke, Mark (2015). Benecke & Fischer: Vampyres among us!: Volume III - A scientific study into vampyre identity groups and subcultures. Remda-Teichel: Roter Drache. ISBN   9783939459958.
5. Thomas, Sophie Saint (2015-07-25). "We Spoke to Three Real-Life Vampires About Blood, Lust, and Hunger". VICE. Retrieved 2025-05-07.
6. Kimmel-Freeman, Jesse (2014-01-25). "Coming Out of the Coffin: A Brief Exploration of Modern Urban Vampire Subculture | Halloween Love" . Retrieved 2025-05-07.
7. Skal, David J. (1993). The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror. New York: Penguin. pp. 342–43. ISBN   0-14-024002-0.
8. Keyworth, David (October 2002). "The Socio-Religious Beliefs and Nature of the Contemporary Vampire Subculture". Journal of Contemporary Religion . 17 (3): 355–370. doi:10.1080/1353790022000008280. S2CID   143072713.
9. Williams, DJ (2008). "Contemporary Vampires and (Blood-Red) Leisure: Should We Be Afraid of the Dark?". Leisure. 32 (2): 513–539. doi:10.1080/14927713.2008.9651420. S2CID   143339707.
10. Keyworth, David (2002-10-01). "The Socio-Religious Beliefs and Nature of the Contemporary Vampire Subculture" . Journal of Contemporary Religion. 17 (3): 355–370. doi:10.1080/1353790022000008280. ISSN   1353-7903.
11. Lupa (2007). A Field Guide to Otherkin. Immanion Press. pp. 25–26, 50, 52. ISBN   978-1-905713-07-3.
12. Baldwin, C., & Ripley, L. (2020). Exploring Other-Than-Human Identity: A Narrative Approach to Otherkin, Therianthropes, and Vampires. Qualitative Sociology Review, 16(3), 8–26. https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.16.3.02
13. Wynarczyk, Natasha (2016-10-27), Blood Bond: Real Life Vampires and the ‘Black Swan’ Donors Who Feed Them, Vice News: Broadly, retrieved 2025-07-23
14. Guinn, Jeff (1996). Something in the Blood: The Underground World of Today's Vampires. Arlington: Summit Publishing Group. ISBN   978-1-56530-209-9.
15. McCully, R. S. (1964). Vampirism: Historical perspective and underlying process in relation to a case of auto-vampirism. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 139, 440–451.
16. Prins, H. (1985). Vampirism: A clinical condition. British Journal of Psychiatry, 146, 666–668.

Further reading

• Belanger, Michelle A. (2004). The Psychic Vampire Codex: A Manual of Magick and Energy Work. Red Wheel/Weiser. ISBN   978-1-57863-321-0
• Jøn, A. Asbjørn (2002). "The Psychic Vampire and Vampyre Subculture". Australian Folklore: A Yearly Journal of Folklore Studies (17). University of New England.
• Laycock, Joseph (2009). Vampires Today: The Truth About Modern Vampirism. Praeger. ISBN   978-0-313-36472-3
• Russo, Arlene (2005). Vampire Nation. John Blake. ISBN   978-1-84454-172-0
• Ariana Eunjung Cha (July 9, 2015). "Researchers: Vampires are people, too, and need as much psychotherapy as the rest of us". The Washington Post .
• Peter Day (Hrsg.): Vampires: myths and metaphors of enduring evil- Editions Rodopi, 2006, ISBN   978-90-420-1669-9