the concept of vampires are supposed to
all depends on what you believe they are
if you believe they were a physical
person that comes back from the dead and
a reanimated corpse like the Hollywood
way or if you think they're more of an
astral energy of devouring has grown to
the point and some people desire them
I think everyone somewhere deep down
inside wants to believe when we die it's
not the end the idea that if we die but
we cease to exist it's really hard to
swallow
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the HBO series True Blood sparked the
resurrection of a new generation of
vampires in 2008 those that emerge in
society and coexist among the mortals it
sparked a revival in vampire
entertainment and helped showcase the
blood drinkers to millions of viewers in
real life there are people all over the
world who actually consider themselves
to be living vampires many of whom live
in and visit New Orleans Louisiana which
has long been the iconic locale a
vampire culture everyone on the streets
of New Orleans told me I had to talk to
Anne Rice the author of the wildly
popular novel interview with the vampire
which launched a massive book series and
a film starring Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise
and can't walk half a block without
people stopping her and praising her
work many say she created the modern
vampire therefore helping to inspire the
series True Blood what do you think so
appealing about the vampire Oh is the
ultimate outsider is the ultimate
metaphor for us you know some somebody
that's monstrous and human immortal yet
vulnerable in ways that mortal people
are is a predator just as all of us are
predators he's a great metaphor for
talking about our own alienation and our
own our own fear of Jeff James fear
death of course we all feel and mortal
after all we don't you know walk down
the street thinking I am going to die
and this body is going to decay if we
think about that we'd go crazy and I
think when we write and talk about
vampires for talking about ourselves how
would you describe the Anne Rice vampire
he's a lady or gentleman of the world
usually very well dressed a sensualist
or romantic a bit of a dandy loves
classical music Baroque music world
music loves the capitals of the world
and how does that vampire compared to
those these see in True Blood um I think
that they're more into domesticating the
vamp
guy next door the boy next to you in
class vampires that that have integrated
themselves into society I've always seen
my my vampires as heroes and loners and
people that that are not don't want to
be integrated into human life at all
really how would I recognize one of your
vampires in society you wouldn't they
would be too clever and it would keep to
the shadows and they would not probably
engage with you because they wouldn't
want attention necessarily they'd be
more interested in observing you and
what was around you if they were hunting
and thirsty
they might come up to you and smile and
just I pass close to you and you kill a
little nip on the back of your neck turn
around but it'd be over and of course
I'm being facetious when I say they're
real and they live in the world they
live in my imagination but there are
people around who claim to know vampires
there's you pamper our ologists and so
forth and kind of fun one such group is
the Sabretooth clan so while in New
Orleans I met up with some of their
members to learn what exactly it means
to be a living vampire I became a
vampire about three years ago though I
can't say that I ever was not a vampire
I think I always knew that I was on
hotel reservation upon yet I wrote oh
just Fiona and a preview on Pia Foley I
respect people who want to become the
vampire because they have a goal into
life the process of becoming a living
vampire
we were reading the books is a big step
to learning what it is that you're
capable of I just was able to hone what
it what it is that I was about three
years ago when I met father Sebastian he
just made it for you
so he made the fangs and made the books
that you could actually live like it
they all praised their charismatic
leader father Sebastian in kind of a
creepy coltie way father Sebastian
apparently started the group over 20
years ago and has now grown it to
thousands of members in over 20
countries he's also a dentist at a
normal dental office which helps qualify
him as an expert Fang Smith in True
Blood a vampire who transforms a human
into one of them is called a maker but
to join father Sebastian's clan you
don't need to get bitten you just need
to pay him a hundred bucks for some
things so I booked an appointment less
so to get things more so to figure out
who this guy is she can't she can't talk
right now
but this is the what we call sitting
sitting there sitting there holding her
lips up all the teeth dry I'll take
these off all right
tilt your head down touch it down right
I'm gonna rip your tooth off all right
yeah my name is father Sebastian I'm a
master Fang Smith and I own the company
saber tooth and we make custom-made
fangs I've been doing this for about 20
years and from sabertooth I've spawned
off a couple other businesses including
endless night vampire ball which is a
worldwide movement of vampire events
someone goes to me getting fangs doesn't
make you a vampire I disagree I think
like any tribal right it's very much the
opposite I think it makes you connect
and identify with all of the mythology
and then bring it to a really tangible
format I went through my write in the
mirror and got my fangs done from the
time I get up to the time I go to bed my
no matter who I'm talking to what I'm
doing wrong there's kind of like a
culture to endless night and the between
the saber-tooth Fang clients that I have
and the social network that they come up
with like almost a clan yeah okay I
travel around the world making things
and I put two people through a ceremony
called the white right the right of
transformation and this is the
introduction to being in the and in my
my clan of vampires all right you ready
to look in the mirror yeah okay she's
gonna look in the mirror and we call
this the red of the miracle all right
ready
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okay good and if you understand the
psychology of what it's like to be an
illusionist like Harry Houdini or David
Copperfield and that thrill of doing a
magic trick for somebody yeah all my fan
clients feel that all the time there
were things things are awesome awesome
sex toys okay people love to kiss with
them the empowerment of the vampire is
what people want from it so what happens
is is that sexual impact that
empowerment leads to a sexual liberation
and it's just and thanks are freakin
sexy I didn't feel the thrill and I
wasn't really into his sex talk but I
did want to know if blood-drinking was
really a thing Oh what do you make of
the blood drinkers because they do exist
they're out there I think
blood drinking is in reality if you do
it in your bedroom with your lover and
you're both tested and it's a kinky
fetish that's awesome
okay in regards to you can't get closer
but if you think that you need to live
off blood okay and it's beyond a fetish
or beyond the bonding tool I think it's
in yeah I think you're you're turning it
into for feeding purposes vampires vibe
off life force yeah okay they want to
have the energy blood completely the
energy that you get from blood when it
enters your body is dead there's no
there's no way to feed off that energy
it's a quick high and then you've got
all these risks STDs blood-borne
diseases the criminal element the
cannibalistic element okay so there are
people the blood drinkers
I don't affiliate with I stay away from
yeah with the exception of ones that are
in monogamous couples and they do it as
a bonding thing not a consumption of
life force life force should be just
absorbed by living well yeah and feeding
is living you know when we feed off life
we're feeding off life I mean it's like
we're having a great time and our events
are about amplifying that energy and
sharing it that sounded kind of in
so I asked if I could go to one of his
events and meet some of his followers
who fly from around the world once a
year for his endless night event and of
course to feed off each others energy
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well I'm a living vampire and have been
involved in the scene for about 11 years
now and I'm pretty new to the scene only
since about the end of 2011 but I have
been formally initiated into the
tradition of living vampirism we met
each other about about a year ago yes
okay we met actually on Valentine's Day
in New York City
at a bar sexuality is never present
theme in True Blood but the Kristina's
to me just seemed like two chicks with
the same name who liked to make out
until they started to tell me in a very
serious way about their roles as
vampires everybody is attracted to
vampires we represent everything that
mortals want you know eternal life and
if you've seen True Blood you know
forever everlasting love vampires these
days in the modern cultural beautiful
gorgeous people and so that's very
sensual and erotic and very desirable we
use that that's part of our glamor
that's part of our appeal for the
mortals for people we feed off of there
are more nitesite applications for
vampire sensuality vampire sex magic
things like that I picked up the
literature I read the books and I
thought it was garbage I'm a very smart
person you know it was an honor student
in high school got curry awesome grades
so I think very scientifically and very
logically so I read the book thought it
was garbage even told father smash and I
thought it was garbage and then I went
back through and I started testing all
the principal's in there and I started
to be a little bit more open-minded it
sounds extreme but if you think about it
every interaction you have with another
person is an exchange of energy whether
it's a kiss whether it's a touch of hand
whether it's a hug whether it's just a
glance with another human being so
tonight we're doing a centered ritual
and this is to raise the energy that
to increase the vibrations of the family
so that the current keeps slowing I
couldn't tell if they were serious but
it soon became clear that they were when
father Sebastian started directing the
Voodoo ceremony rehearsal which
resembled more of a steampunk fetish
driven sex play ok go through the
rehearsal now the modifications I want
to watch it okay and then afterwards
we'll see what it is
as I placed this dagger upon your neck
it is better that you should rush upon
it then enter without love and loyalty
how do you enter with love and loyalty
proceed you got to tell the audience why
we're here what the ritual is why we're
doing it you got to tell him you gotta
educate us cuz these people don't know
what's going on they don't know that
they're food for God's ladies and
gentlemen join them in the house
and it's trying to get into this vampire
thing
put in some white contact so it
I already have my thing
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maybe skirmish
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the guest of the endless night vampire
ball flooded the theater in a wide
variety of costumes
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over the gates papa over the gates Papa
Legba over the way this is the time for
the Day of the Dead All Souls Day when
you pray for those on the other side
it's been a mascot a growing spirit
energy that Sebastian has contacted me
about for several years but he thinks is
it was a child a spirit child egregore
if you will that has manifested and
worked alongside with their endless
nights balls and rituals and everything
that goes on with it
food is a danced religion and a musical
religion so that helped dance him into
sort of a lifting deification I like
this world because people are crazy
because people are beautiful costumes
and this mix of beautiful costumes makes
something magical you know what when you
go in hand last night party you see
people who want to be hugged or who want
to play something American people want
to play something French people wants to
play for something but finally this
heart is a representation of of
something different and they just want
to express themselves one of the
sabre-tooth members distinguish what she
considered to be real immortal vampires
from dedicated role players of a
subculture as a real phenomenon
I don't believe vampires are real and I
believe there are people today who
indulge in a vampire lifestyle and I
believe that has a different meaning
so vampires do exist in a sense for
people living a lifestyle where they
call themselves vampires but it's not
your traditional vampire they're not
going to burn in sunlight you're going
to see their reflection in mirror they
can eat and enjoy garlic it's a differ
sort of thing this is a new way sort of
lifestyle has come about when I think of
a vampire and I think of it
traditionally I do think of blood
drinking and I think that's more because
I share an old-world value of a vampire
which is quite different the reason that
so many modern vampires which has bad is
because of health implications obviously
it's not exactly safe to bite someone
but then again the vampires that I have
seen practise blood taking have done it
in a very responsible manner that's a
bit controversial actually in the
vampire world blues oh man I'd like to
interrupt was there discussion about
blood routine okay what it means today
to drink blood is suicide that's what it
means okay
blood drinking is the highest most
highly dangerous activity you can do it
is not that parent
it is fetish which is should be remain
between consensual couples should not be
a prolific thing for feeding on energy
and in fact this opposite of ham prison
true ham prism is the consumption of
human life force that was making the
exact same point I had to interrupt yes
the saber tooth clan is very concerned
with this because the real vampire
community has made so much trouble for
us over the years
oh you made that and we need to we need
to be very cautious of it she asked me a
question about blood drinking and no
point did you tell me I couldn't talk
about that and if you had I wouldn't
have if I was aggressive about it I have
to be because I have to be very
protective and put a record everything I
stated on film pretty much agrees with
what you were saying it's on films
father Sebastian ran a tight ship the
whole night and then came time for the
much-anticipated ceremony they had
rehearsed for over the course of the
full year
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as the endless night vampire ball wound
down I concluded that perhaps more than
anything these howling semi-nude
steampunks showed us the transformative
power entertainment can have over young
fanatics
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I don't consider myself the king of
vampires even though a lot of people
call me the king of the vampires I don't
like that title I have a cowboy hat not
a crown I'm the founding father and I
like the you know it's like George
Washington didn't want to be king I
don't want to be king I want to be the
dad
[Applause]
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[Applause]
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you