How to become a Vampire
With the recent vampire obsession, I suppose it’s expected that I receive this question sooner or later from friends and others who are wondering how they can become vampires. Most of them ask me in jest, others are confused by the different and conflicting methods on how to turn offered in folklore and film, and still some others actually want to become real life vampires. The most interesting conversations have been spurred by this initial question.
In European folklore, when demons possess a person’s body then that individual becomes a vampire. It seems that the transformation process has become more elaborate than those days. I’d like to clarify and go over different myths by which vampires come to “life”:
1. Via a vampire’s kiss (otherwise knows as the bite)… this is the method that the Twilight family adopts. Some other popular vampire fiction also cites this method for turning (like Blade, Dracula, From Dusk ‘Till Dawn). The basic idea is that any individual who is bitten by a vampire will ultimately become a vampire – they don’t even necessarily have to be drained of all their blood. The rationale is once you’re bitten, you’re infected with the vampire virus and eventually it will take over your body and turn you. And then the thirst begins. I’ve always found this theory for turning into a vampire too outlandish since all vampires have to feed and if just one bite will do the trick, then the world would experience a rapid exponential growth of the vampire population. Since this never happens, this biting business can’t be right. Plus vampires would have to be really picky with choosing their meals… which just doesn’t seem practical.
2. Via a blood transfusion… which basically means an exchange of blood between the vampire “sire” and the human “childe”. This is how vampires are made in Buffy, True Blood, the Anne Rice ‘verse, etc. This is what I live by as the “official” method of becoming a vampire. Vampires can then feed on a regular basis and not worry about producing all kinds of strange and non-worthy offspring. The vampire chooses which human they would like to sire. (Understandably it’s a big decision considering this person might be with you for all eternity.) After draining the human of almost all their blood, the vampire can make a cut on their own body (usually the neck, chest or wrist) so that the near-death human can drink some of the vampire blood. In doing so, said individual will wake up next as an immortal vampire childe. This method of siring also provides a hierarchy to the vampire community since all members would have a sire and mentor. Bonds between a sire and childe are also the strongest since they share a blood line; you can share thoughts and emotions with each other beyond words.
3. Via awakening… for those who believe they are real life vampires. This process requires that the human wake up and realize that they are of another kind. You can awaken during any stage of your life. The two primary types of real vampires are sanguinarian (blood-drinking) or psychic (energy-drinking) vampires. This explanation is most intriguing. The awakening process will naturally come for those destined to be vampires. It’s impossible to resist the change even if you don’t want to become one. Read more about real vampires here.
P.S. For a morbid take on how to become a vampire, follow this link. But let’s be clear that these methods don’t work. So please don’t try them.
