Friday, June 21, 2013

Zombies! Cotard Syndrome vs. the Quislings

Happy Friday everyone!  Are you ready for the weekend?  I am, and to kick it off, its date night at the cinema tonight!  We're going to be seeing This is the End, which I'm really looking forward to, but today is also the opening day of the new Brad Pitt move, World War Z!  Riding the coattails of the zombie craze, there's a lot of hype about this particular movie, based off the Max Brooks book of the same name.  I recently read this book for myself and wanted to do a particularly interesting historical and scientific zombie-tie in with the movie's release!

Recently, a totally awesome Fortean website, Who Forted?, did a feature article on a quite disturbing medical condition known as Cotard's Syndrome.  Prior to that, I believe it was Cracked.com who also did a feature on this disorder.  But what IS Cotard's Syndrome?  Well...this IS a post about zombies!

Cotard Syndrome is also known as "walking corpse syndrome."  Named after Parisian neurologist Jules Cotard, this mental disorder was first described about 1880.  There are varying degrees of this disorder, and the disorder, much like Renfield's Syndrom that we talked about earlier this month, goes through three distinct stages, each a little more intense than the last.

While there is quite a lot of literature on this subject, in short, people who suffer from Cotard's Syndrome believe they don't exist, or that they are dead corpses.  The delusions can get so bad that these people neglect to eat, practice good hygiene, or take the most basic precautions with their health and well-being, simply because they believe they are already dead and it doesn't matter.  The syndrome is also marked with SEVERE depression in addition to these delusions and hallucinations.  There is hope, though...proper medication and therapy can give these walking dead a new chance at a normal life.  Historically, however, many sufferers of Cotard Syndrome did pass away from neglect and starvation.

This disorder is pretty disturbing and luckily only affects a small percentage of the population, but that doesn't make it any less fascinating!  My interest was obviously piqued so I read up on the disorder, and therefore was very pleasantly surprised to see quite a comparison discussed in World War Z!

World War Z describes the great zombie war, in which the world is literally at war with millions of zombies intent on destroying mankind.  There are many points during the war where morale among the living took a serious toll.  These extreme circumstances gave birth to an extreme mental disorder where the adage of "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!" evolved into a literal Cotard Syndrome meets Stockholm Syndrome.  Basically, living persons believed they were zombies and embodied that role, going so far as to shuffling around moaning and eating human flesh.  The only way to tell the difference between one of these "quislings" as they were named, was the fact that the truly still living would blink, while the clinically dead did not.  Oh, and the fact that because of working bodily functions and sweat glands, the quislings actually smelled WORSE than the decaying bodies of the dead.

The Original Quisling

There's a brief mention of why these people were called quislings, but it didn't really sink in until I did some additional "googling" for the term.  The term Quisling was actually coined by a British newspaper in 1940, during the midst of World War 2.  Vidkun Quisling of Norway actually ASSISTED the Nazis in conquering his own country, on the condition that he would be reinstated as a ruler under this new regime.  Quisling quickly became a word that meant ANY person who collaborated with the Axis powers in Allied controlled areas...which naturally evolved into a term meaning a general traitor.  With that background, its easy to see how these fake zombies got their name!



Friday, June 7, 2013

FREE Vampire eBooks!

Welcome to a BONUS Vampire Week blog!  I'll be posting today's regularly scheduled blog this evening as a Friday Night Funny, but until then, I wanted to drop in and share a few FREE vampire-related ebooks being offered on Kindle through Amazon.

There isn't a huge selection of FREE material when it comes to really informative non-fiction pieces.  There is, however a TON of paranormal romances starring vampires.  I've listed a few choices that fall somewhere in between that are available right now at no charge for Kindle.  Please, if you have any further FREE recommendations, share them in the comment section.  Happy Reading!

The Vampire Cookbook
Looking for some elegantly spooky recipes for a vampire-themed or Halloween party?  This book offers a complete dinner's worth of ideas, from cocktails to dessert and everything in between.  No blood needed, of course.

Varney the Vampire, or The Feast of Blood
This is a classic from 1847, meaning it predates even Bram Stoker's Dracula!  A must read for anyone interested in vampire folklore from a literary point of view

Dracula
This one needs no description, but you might also be interested in Dracula's Guest, a collection of short stories by Bram Stoker that supposedly give a little more insight into the character of Dracula.  I personally haven't read it yet *hangs head in shame*

101 Tips for Traveling with a Vampire
A cute, satirical comedy on how to make the most out of traveling with a...well, vampire.

Totally awesome image from Nirav Photography

Thursday, June 6, 2013

ABC's of Vampiric Beasts

Day Four of Vampire Week is here, meaning we're over halfway done!  Today's post is a compendium, not of actual vampires, but of a wide variety of monsters, ghosts, and who knows what else, from all corners of the Earth.  These creatures aren't exactly what comes to mind when we think of a traditional, classic vampire, but they are associated with the larger vampire mythos, and share similar traits to the vampire made famous by Bram Stoker.

A big thank you goes to Rosemary Ellen Guiley.  The creatures below came from The Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves and Other Monsters and most of the information is from that book as well, with some additional resources thrown in for good measure.  Please enjoy this lexicon of legend, and feel free to add any additional vampiric creatures of your own to the comment section!

Ataru The ataru is an Ashantiland vampire that drinks its victim's blood through the thumbs!  There are actually several vampiric creatures that favor the thumb for some reason...

Baital  A baital is a vampiric spirit from India, and is the more modern term preferred over the older term "vetala."  The baital takes on the form of a 4-5 foot tall half man/half bat (sound familiar?) and is known to both inhabit a corpse, and causing it to reanimate.

Civateteo  This is a Mexican vampiric witch, created when a noblewoman dies in childbirth.  Her evil spirit then rises to hold Sabbats at crossroads, and to take revenge upon living children by causing infantile paralysis and death.  The blaming of sickness and disease upon vampires is a theme that keeps showing up, and is reminiscent of the Mercy Brown story, where a misunderstood case of TB was blamed on a vampire.

Dodo  The Dodo is the spirit of a West African man who dwells in haunted forests, waiting to attack (and eat) its living victims.  It is a shape-shifter with an enhanced sense of smell who prefers to manifest as a snake or a Sasquatch-like creature.  Oh, and it can't cross running water.

Eretik  This Russian vampire is a little more on track with the Dracula imagery, but instead of merely drinking its victims' blood, the Eretik cannibalizes its victim.  When a suspected Eretik is disinterred, a tell-tale sign of its vampire-ness is the fact that it will be found lying on its stomach.  The only way to kill it is to stake it through its back with a stake made of aspen...or simply burn the body. 


I couldn't find any creatures for F-G, so enjoy this photo, from The Paranormal Network

Hantpare  I have a lot of friends who like to run or who are otherwise associated with local charity races.  For their sake, I hope they stay away from this Asian vampire who prefers to suck the blood from a person's running sores, as opposed to the neck!  Ugh.  Don't forget your moleskin.

Incus What's even weirder than sucking blood through a blister?  Sucking it through an antenna, of course!  The Vietnames incus does just that--uses the antenna that grows OUT OF ITS NOSE to suck its victim's blood.  And you thought mosquitoes were yucky...

Jaracaca  Like the dodo, the jaraca, from Brazil, manifests as a snake, but its not blood or even flesh that it craves.  The jaraca attacks nursing mothers, sucking their milk from their breasts.  Adding insult to injury, the beast simultaneously lodges its tail into the mouth of the hungry infant.

Kathakano  The kathakano is a vampire native to the island of Crete.  At first glance, the kathakano acts like an annoying drunk, hanging outside of pubs and bars, smiling.  If you encounter one of these alone, the smile is said to get bigger and bigger, exposing rows and rows of teeth.  It then spits blood into your eyes, blinding you. According to Rosemary, to kill it, not only do you have to decapitate it, but also boil the head in vinegar.  The link I've provided states that there is a LOT more to it than just that!

Lhiannan-shee  The lhiannan-shee is more fairy than vampire.  Manifesting as a beautiful woman from the Isle of Man, she attaches herself to a man and drains him of his life force, leaving him ruined.

Mullo  Mullos are actually really interesting gypsy vampires who rise from the dead for any number of reasons, including revenge and...well...sex.  These creatures can have sex with anyone they choose, and can also impregnate living women (the offspring being a dhampir). Unfortunately, they are insatiable and tend to leave their living partners physically weakened over time.  There are a ton of ways to "kill" mullos, but my favorite method is to steal their sock and fill it with dirt or rocks from their grave site, then throw it in a river.  The vampire will be compelled to search for the sock and drown.  Another interesting tidbit is that mullos have a lifespan outside of human interaction.  They can be members of the undead for as few as 40 days to as much as 3-5 years before dying of natural causes.

Nachzehrer  To the people who inhabited the historic region of Silesia (around Poland), one of the biggest vampiric threats came from the Nachzehrer...but the victim might never actually SEE his/her attacker.  Instead of physical attacks on the living, the Nachzehrer engaged in 'sympathetic' attacks.  While still in its coffin, the beast would eat its own clothing and flesh, which would cause close relatives to die of sickness.  It could leave its coffin, but apparently only to visit belfries to ring the bell...causing anyone to hear it to die, and to tie cows' tails together.  Inexplicably, the beast slept with one eye open and holding its own thumb.

Owenga  A Guinean spirit attracted to spilled blood.  To prevent these evil spirits from roaming, any spilled blood must be cleaned up immediately, and any clothing or objects stained with blood must be immediately destroyed by burning it or throwing it in the sea.  Being a woman, I would have been especially worried about living in this area in less modern times, lol.

Palis  This is a Persian foot-licking vampire demon.  Seriously.  From Persian-Islamic lore, the palis attacks at night and kills by licking the soles of its victims' feet, in the process, draining them all of their blood. The palis, which is not very smart, can be thwarted through the use of salt, but also can be easily tricked. There's a popular legend about two men traveling through the desert who managed to trick the beast. When they went to sleep, they lied down with their feet touching the other's...sole to sole. The beast came upon them in the night, but it could find no soles to lick. In frustration it cried out something along the lines of traveling 1033 valleys and never having met a man with two heads. 

Quaxates  This is another vampire from Mexico, who makes women cry before he bites them.  I would assume this would be true of just about ANY vampire, but is a defining characteristics of this specific entity.

Ramanga  The Ramanga were from Madagascar and were actually beneficial.  Their main purpose was to lap up the spilled blood and eat the discarded fingernail clippings of the royal family, so that evil sorcerers couldn't get ahold of them and use them against them.  Apparently, they needed these creatures in Guinea to keep away the Owenga.

Snow Woman  The Snow Woman (Yuki-onna) from Japan isn't really a vampire; she's a demon with vampiric qualities.  Those qualities are that she marries a human man, and then saps him of all strength, killing him, much like the lhiannan-shee.  She gets her name from another favorite past time:  She appears to exhausted travelers during snowstorms and kills them when they fall into her welcoming embrace.

Snow Woman from Scoop.it

Tin-tin  Bluntly put, the tin-tin is a rapist from Ecuador.  He whistles to lure young girls, then takes them to his cave where he rapes them, leaving them alive but pregnant.

Uahti  The Uahti are also rapists.  Hailing from the Amazon region, these grotesque beings are described as being short, with large bellies, toeless feet, and giant penises who abduct and rape both men AND women draining their life force.  Their presence is announced with a flurry of vampire bats.

Vjesci  The Vjesci is related to the Nachzehrer, and also comes from the same region where the Kashub people resided.  A vjesci, however, could be identified at birth.  Any baby born with a caul over its face was thought to be a vjesci and so to prevent the child from turning upon death, the caul was burned and the ashes fed to the child at the age of seven (kinda like how Mercy Brown's heart ashes were fed to her brother). Also similar to the Nachzehrer, a vjesci could be identified upon death if the left eye was left open.  That's where the similarities end, however.  The vjesci actually physically attacks its victims, sucking blood from a wound directly over its victim's heart.

Sorry; couldn't find anything for W.  Have any suggestions?

Xiang shi  The concept of this entity takes a little time to wrap one's head around it...but its a Chinese demon entity and not explicitly a vampire.  In Chinese lore, every person has two souls:  the po and the hun, which is the higher soul.  Either one of these souls can stay with the body after death, but if the po stays, the body is at risk of being possessed by evil spirits or demons...including the Xiang Shi.  The demonic being isn't the corpse itself, but lives within the host corpse, keeping it alive by sucking the blood or eating the flesh of living hosts or even other corpses.  It is distinguished by its red eyes.

Yuruga  Every online search for this particular entity basically cites and contains ONLY the information from Rosemary's book, lol.  So, anyway, the Yuruga is an example of a vampire legend from Prussia.  The Yuruga allegedly smells so repulsive that its stench can be smelled from a mile away--a trait useful for vampire hunters and would-be victims, but awfully unfortunate for, and counter-intuitive of the vampire's sensitivity to smell that was discussed yesterday.

This is interesting...another Theresa apparently had a similar idea!
The Real Lost Boys

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Top 3 Apotropaic Means of Keeping Vampires at Bay!

Welcome to Day Three of Vampire Week!  So far we've looked at a disorder that makes a person think he's a vampire and a disease that makes OTHERS think one is a vampire!  Today's post will go in a little bit of a different direction and start with a vocabulary lesson.

'Apotropaic' is a word generally used to mean something that wards off demons and other evil spirits, but is often used to describe the various methods of stopping a vampire.  Technically, it is defined as "preventing or intended to prevent evil," and comes from the Greek word apotropaios, meaning turning away from evil.

So...what ARE some ways of stopping a vampire?  Here are just a few of the many apotropaic objects and practices that are said to not explicitly kill a vampire, but could keep it from killing you!  I want this to be an interactive post, so please list any further examples in the comments!

Vampires Hate Garlic
But WHY do they hate garlic?  Well, mostly because Bram Stoker said so!  Seriously, most of the myths and legends we hold so dear about vampires comes directly from Bram Stoker's Dracula.  However, there is some historical precedence on why vampires have such an aversion to the stinky bulb. For one, vampires are believed to have very heightened senses, including the sense of smell and therefore cannot stand the pungent aroma.  Garlic also has a long history of having healing properties, beginning in Ancient Egypt and spreading into Europe and the Slavic countries.  Garlic was seen as a means of keeping the plague away, and thus to the thought process of these people, also kept evil spirits away since sickness and plague was merely a product of these evil spirits.  Today, we know that garlic contains antimicrobial and anti-fungal properties, as well as a chemical called allicin, which all fight off bacterial infections.

More info from:
Vampires.com
Why Mosquitos Won't Bite Someone with "garlic blood"

Vampires Cannot Enter a Home Without Being Invited
I found a very compelling article on where this myth comes from, and apparently it has a lot to do with free will.  God gave man free will, and consequently, he can use that free will to invite a vampire into his own home.  A vampire, being the antithesis of God's creatures, does not have this free-will, and must seek permission from the home's owner before being granted access across the threshold.  Also, a legitimate guest can also give permission since you are essentially and symbolically granting a guest a small piece of "ownership" of the property.  My personal all-time favorite example of this seen in pop culture comes from the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie, when David Arquette's character is floating several stories up, trying to get Pike to let him in the window...and again where the vampires storm the senior dance.  When asked who invited them in, the girl in charge yells, "We did!  They're seniors!"

More info from:
Simply Supernatural




 Vampires Have OCD
Several months ago, during a bout of insomnia, I caught a late night showing on SyFy of Dracula II: Ascension.  I had seen bits and pieces of this movie before, but this was the first time I watched it beginning to end.  It wasn't the best vampire movie I've ever seen, but it was actually the inspiration for this post!  As I was looking up some info behind something I noticed in the film, I first learned the word, apotropaic.  Anyway, I was looking up information on why vampires are so darn OCD!  In the film, in an effort to "stop" the vampire when it broke loose, the characters employed some old tricks.  Apparently, vampires feel compelled to untie any knot they come across and also count any quantity of item, such as beans, seeds, rice or sand.  Obviously, this didn't work because even if the vampire was a little (or a LOT) OCD, he can still accomplish such tasks with lightning speed, making exploiting his anxiety disorder not really useful as a deterrent.  However, in much vampire literature, the exploitation of this arithromania and other OCD compulsions is cited as a method of escape, and it is even said that some suspected vampires had their coffins filled with seeds or grains of sand to prevent them from rising nightly as they spent the entire night counting instead of sucking blood.  Unfortunately, I've yet to determine WHY vampires are prone to this particular mental disorder.  However...if you follow my blog, you MIGHT have a little insight as to my own thought processes and maybe can guess EXACTLY what pop culture connection I made from this little fun fact:

It is unclear as to whether or not Jim Henson studios was aware of  a vampire's OCD, or if The Count's arithromania  was simply a play on words, lol.



Tuesday, June 4, 2013

The Mysterious Mercy Brown

The name Mercy Brown is synonymous in United States folklore with the idea of the American vampire.  But how did a teenager from Exeter, Rhode Island become such a symbol of fear?

It all began when members of the George Brown family fell ill with a terrible, and at the time, misunderstood disease: tuberculosis.  Known as consumption, tuberculosis could either kill a victim quickly, sometimes within days of falling ill...but it could also take months or even years to slowly cause a victim to waste away.  In 1883, Mary Brown fell ill, and died in December of that year.  Her oldest daughter, Mary Olive, also fell ill and died the following June.  Both were buried in the Chestnut Hill Cemetery, located behind the town's Baptist Church.

For several years, all seemed well, and George raised his remaining two children, Mercy Lena and Edwin.  However, another wave of tuberculosis would hit the family.  Mercy and Edwin became ill around the same time, and the disease hit Mercy extremely hard and she was dead rather quickly, dying January 17, 1892.  Being January in New England, the ground was too frozen to bury her immediately, and she was held in a holding crypt until the ground could thaw.

Edwin, while deathly ill, clung to life.  In an effort to save HIS life, he, accompanied by his wife, Hortense, was sent to a tuberculosis treatment center in Colorado.  Unfortunately, the dry, cool air of Colorado wasn't enough to "cure" Edwin, and he was sent home to Rhode Island to die.  However, it wasn't until right after Mercy died that Edwin's condition started to deteriorate more rapidly than ever.

In his feverish state, Edwin began saying that Mercy (who was already deceased at this time) was visiting him  at night, crushing his chest.  An incident that we might simply contribute to the symptoms of TB or even sleep paralysis with accompanying hypnagogia was the cause of a great panic, as even the townspeople started saying that Mercy could be seen wandering the cemetery and surrounding fields at night!

Photo from Find-a-Grave contributor, Haley Cook

George was desperate.  He had lost his wife and two daughters already, and now his only son was dying.  After some soul searching, the townspeople convinced George that there had to have been a vampire at work, making Edwin so sick...

On March 17, 1892, George and several other local men exhumed the bodies of George's family.  Their target was Mercy, but they went ahead and exhumed Mary and Mary Olive as well, just to be safe.  As expected, both their bodies were significantly decomposed.  After all, they had been buried almost 10 years before.  However, Mercy was described as being in too perfect of condition, with very little, if any, decay.  Her cheeks were pink, and it appeared as if her hair and nails had grown.  Her body was also not in the same position as it was when she was interred.  Most damning was the fact that when her heart was cut out, it was found to be filled with blood.

Mercy's heart just wasn't ripped out.  It was ripped out, and then burned on a nearby rock.  Once adequately burned, the ashes were mixed with water and Edwin was forced to drink the concoction in a last ditch effort to save his life.  It didn't work and Edwin was dead within two months.

Today, we know much more about what happens to a body after it dies, especially if that body is NOT embalmed, and in temperatures below freezing.  We also know much more about what causes "consumption," and the symptoms that are so reminiscent of a vampire attack--the paleness, the wasting away, the loss of appetite, and of course, the coughing up of blood, or finding blood upon the pillow or bedclothes after awakening in the morning.  However, because of Mercy's fate, and the fate of several others who were wrongly and unjustly accused during this dark period in US history, to this day, Rhode Island is known as the American Transylvania!

Find-a-Grave
Smithsonian Article on the Great New England Vampire Panic

Vampire Week Countdown
Day One-Renfield's Syndrome

Monday, June 3, 2013

6 Facts YOU Need to Know About Renfield's Syndrome

Welcome to Day One of Vampire Week here at Theresa's Haunted History!  When it comes to vampires, most of us are pretty well versed in your classic Hollywood-esque portrayal of a Transylvanian count or the ever-popular "sparkling vampire heartthrob."  And even though we KNOW vampires aren't real...the question still troubles a part of innermost conscious:  are we SURE there's no such thing as true vampires?

Well, that depends on your personal definition of "true vampire!"

Later in the week, we'll get into psychic or energy vampires, another form of "true vampire," as well as some cultural creepies that definitely have vampiric traits, but first, I wanted to share with you some facts about a disorder called Renfield's Syndrome, also known as clinical vampirism.

Dwight Frye as Renfield in Dracula

1. Renfield's Syndrome is an actual psychiatric disorder in which the patient feels a compulsion to consume blood.  This clinical vampirism, while recognized as its own disorder to most of the psychiatric world, is not found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV.  Rather, patients exhibiting this type of behavior are classified as schizophrenic or paraphiliac--a broad classification of disorders in which the patient becomes sexually aroused by atypical objects or situations.

2. Renfield's Syndrome was identified in 1992 by clinical psychologist Richard Noll, but there are references to a disorder believed to be the same as Renfield's in Psychopathia Sexualis, an 1886 text by German psychiatrist Richard van Krafft-Ebing.  Richard Noll went on to author many books on psychiatry and different sub-topics within the field, including Vampires, Werewolves and Demons, which chronicles years' worth of psychiatric cases with elements of the paranormal and supernatural.

3. The disorder was named after the Renfield character in Bram Stoker's Dracula.  This character was a mental patient who consumed flies and other small, living things, in order to somehow absorb their power.  Similarly, many suffering from Renfield's Syndrome believe that consuming blood will give them the power of the "donor."

4. This is a VERY rare disorder, and of those affected, the overwhelming majority are male.

5. Renfield's Syndrome typically manifests after the patient has a childhood experience in which the taste or sight of blood is associated with excitement or pleasure.  As the patient reaches puberty, these attractions to blood because sexualized.

6.  Renfield's Syndrome patients typically follow three stages of the disorder:

                     *The first stage consists of the the patient cutting himself and drinking his own blood.  This
                       stage is called autovampirism or autohemophagia.

                     *The second stage is the zoophagia stage, in which animal blood is obtained and consumed.
                       This blood can be obtained through killing small animals or stealing/obtaining it from a butcher

                     *The third and final stage is moving on to the blood of other humans, either from willing
                       donors, robbing blood banks, or unfortunately, murder.  This third and final stage is when
                       many patients end up committing violent crimes, including murder, in order to satiate their
                       compulsions.    

Listverse has compiled a list of the top 10 vampire serial killers throughout the world.  Make sure you check out the link...and sleep well tonight!

*Info for this article came largely from WiseGeek*

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Book Review-A Haunted History of Columbus

Photo from Amazon.com
Title: A Haunted History of Columbus, Ohio
Author: Nellie Kampmann
Published: 2011 by The History Press
Amazon Info

I try not to share too many book reviews this close together, but I wanted to review this while it was still fairly fresh in my mind...and of course, before the start of Vampire Week!  If you follow my blog, you might remember that I took a trip to Columbus, Ohio last week and visited one of the most awesome bookstores that has ever existed--the Book Loft.  Whenever I travel, I like to pick up a collection of regional ghost stories from that area.

A Haunted History of Columbus, Ohio is a rather slender collection as opposed to several other haunted history collections published by this particular publishing house, but it was packed full of Columbus' most spooky tales.  In an ironic twist of fate, we ended up getting lost on our way FROM the bookstore to a local restaurant, and drove right past the very first location discussed in the book...a school built atop the former site of the Franklin County Poorhouse.

Over the course of 16 chapters, various locations throughout Columbus are discussed, and there's a pleasant mix of historical research and eye-witness testimony.  There's also a healthy mix of more popular, well-known stories, and those that you probably aren't going to find anywhere else.

This was a very well written and researched book, albeit by the end, I was sick of the word "interloper," lol...my only complaint would be that I would like there to have been MORE stories added!  Surely, such a large and historic city has more than 16 ghost stories, and I was slightly disappointed to not see the antique mall I discussed in my last Columbus post among the gems.  I highly recommend this book to anyone visiting or living in the Columbus area, or anyone who just wants a quick read of some really spooky and sometimes touching ghost stories!

*Here's my post about my Columbus trip*

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Vampire Week is Coming!

Starting on Monday, June 3, I'll be bringing you seven straight days of my favorite denizens of the dark...the vampires!  Get ready for historical vampire accounts, vampire lore and legends, and even...celebrity vampires?  It's gonna be a fun week and I hope you enjoy it!  I'm getting psyched up by watching a low budget British vampire film called Vampire Diary.  Join me next week and remember...


Vampire Week
June 3-9