Vampire mortality

Shadow_Ferret · Oct 18, 2007

OK, I have a question.

In my first novel I killed a minor vampire character. She attacked a powerful demon that literally blasted her to dust and the dust blew out my front door.

Now according to vampire lore, she should be dead dead now right? I mean, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, blown away, no way to reassemble?

Or can I bring her back in sequel? Though minor, she was kinda fun.

I was just curious because the Hammer films kept bringing Dracula back no matter how he was killed off in the previous movie.

But I don't want to alienate any vampire traditionalists, ya know?

davids · Oct 18, 2007

Just collect the dust and mold it into the shape of a human being-well as close as you can get. Use guts and blood to hold it together then incant some Eddy Cantor witch type spell found in an elderly vampire reanimation book and poof you have a restanafranitzed vampire-that translates to reanimated. Well just trying to help no need to be putting down a non vampire eggspert but I think I must have seen that somewhere-no-no-I just made it up!!! I suppose the problem is that you gotta figure out in the sequel how the dust was caught? leaves now to go do literarty type stuff and leave the vamps to the vamps-luv Dave

Shadow_Ferret · Oct 18, 2007

Yeah, collecting the dust. Except nobody wants to collect the dust. We're all quite happy with her demise.

Besides, her dust mixed with the ash of the house that she/her dust was in when it burned down after she had been destroyed.

(what an awful sentence)

She was turned to dust. The house was then burned down. So her dust is probably mingled with house ash and trampled on by the firemen and then the demolition team that came in to take down what remained of the house and then the construction team the built a new house on that spot.

MidnightMuse · Oct 18, 2007

How's about a little cloning ala Jurassic Park, using some hair from a brush in her toidy?

Shadow_Ferret · Oct 18, 2007

But you'd have to collect that at night. Wouldn't it turn to ash in the daylight?

That's an interesting thought. Housedust is our discarded human skin cells. I assume vampires skin must slough off in a similar manner. You'd think...

and now I have two thoughts here...

that A) vampires would eventually shrink away to nothing as the skin cells sloughed off and,

B) Everytime the sun hit this dust in the house it would all catch fire. Wouldn't that be a cool scene?

Haggis · Oct 18, 2007

Shadow_Ferret said:
Yeah, collecting the dust. Except nobody wants to collect the dust. We're all quite happy with her demise.

Besides, her dust mixed with the ash of the house that she/her dust was in when it burned down after she had been destroyed.

(what an awful sentence)

She was turned to dust. The house was then burned down. So her dust is probably mingled with house ash and trampled on by the firemen and then the demolition team that came in to take down what remained of the house and then the construction team the built a new house on that spot.

Except for that one fireman, who was, in reality, a spy for the Vampire Team, who actually collected the dust, ran it through a special Vampire Filter...or something.

I'm sure you can come up with a way to bring her back. The question is, will people accept it? If you write it well, I believe they will. Of course there always those purists who won't accept anything but the truth (so to speak), but you can't please everyone all the time anyhow.

MidnightMuse · Oct 18, 2007

A) Never thought about that - skin cells are reborn in the living, but if a vampire isn't living, they can't regenerate skin, can they? So hair wouldn't grow, either, and they must only get the long fingernails because the skin shrinks back - as it does in the dead, giving the illusion of hair and nails that continue to grow after death (which is an urban myth)

B) That would be cool

Gillhoughly · Oct 18, 2007

W.W.J.D.?

What Would Joss Do?

I vote for bringing in her (insane!) twin sister.

Saundra Julian · Oct 18, 2007

To hell with the vampire traditionalists. If we all stayed true to the original story we'd just be writing Dracula over and over again...

Rolling Thunder · Oct 18, 2007

Has anyone noticed how things have been handled in the TV series
Moonlight'? A stake through the heart only paralyzes a vampire but doesn't kill them. Sunlight doesn't kill them either...they simply dislike it heartily. Garlic is laughed at (something I remember being done years ago. A vampire enjoyed fresh garlic after his blood meal. Added 'twang' to the aftertaste.)

With some of these things going on in this particular series, especially if it takes off and doesn't get canceled, I think you have many new avenues to explore with your own character, Ferret. Readers might like to see what new changes you come up with.

MidnightMuse · Oct 18, 2007

Oh, and in Moonlight, they can drive really fast in a convertable and not have one single hair on their heads move!

Way cool.

Shadow_Ferret · Oct 18, 2007

I was thinking... and stop the wise cracks!

In my story, there are many dimensions and although I describe the vampiress being dessicated and turned to dust, it could have been part of the spell the demon was using and she was merely transported to another dimension (like how transporters on Star Trek work, disassembling molecules here and rearranging them elsewhere) where she sits until someone frees here. Which my MC could do unintentionally.

But I'm still willing to entertain any other suggestions. This is fun.

Rllgthunder said:
Has anyone noticed how things have been handled in the TV series
Moonlight'? A stake through the heart only paralyzes a vampire but doesn't kill them. Sunlight doesn't kill them either...they simply dislike it heartily. Garlic is laughed at (something I remember being done years ago. A vampire enjoyed fresh garlic after his blood meal. Added 'twang' to the aftertaste.)

Hmm. I already have a scene where my MC throws garlic gloves at the vampire until she leaves. When they strike her they leave little scorch marks on her skin.

Rolling Thunder · Oct 18, 2007

Sounds kind of like the King Arthur story, Ferret.

I don't see shy you can't really start a new trend, especially with vampires. The hard-line purists might not like new angles but I bet younger readers would. Younger people have been introduced to a lot of new-age vampires on TV and in movies.

Who says you can't be innovative and bend those rules?

JeanneTGC · Oct 18, 2007

One of the things beng stressed for paranormals is that the agents want to see something new and fresh, which is hard with vampires.

Make your own vampire lore up -- it's your world, you make the rules for what your vamps can and can't do, what does and doesn't affect them. If, for example, you can walk into a burned out house, drop some blood, and *poof* any dusty vamps are back, as long as you build that right, the reader will suspend disbelief.

Rolling Thunder · Oct 18, 2007

If you don't have this series of books I suggest you run down to your local library and borrow the set. Or, buy them, as a great reference source.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enchanted_World_Series

Night Creatures have some interesting tidbits on vampires and other life suckerouters. The research that went into them is first rate.

In the 'Spells and Bindings' book I found the name of one of my antagonists; Aggie, which is short for 'Agrippa', a magical book of dark magic.

Shadow_Ferret · Oct 18, 2007

Rllgthunder said:
Sounds kind of like the King Arthur story, Ferret.

King Arthur was a vampire turned to dust? What?

Rolling Thunder · Oct 18, 2007

No. Arthur was enchanted and paced into suspended animation instead of dying. To rise again when Britain needed him.

It's in Fall of Camelot from the series link I posted.

Haggis · Oct 18, 2007

Rllgthunder said:
No. Arthur was enchanted and paced into suspended animation instead of dying. To rise again when Britain needed him.

It's in Fall of Camelot from the series link I posted.

Arthur was Churchill? :Shrug:

Pike · Oct 18, 2007

Barring any silly remarks and adding to the nonsense allowed by our new mods - but what did we expect? (he says while ducking a horde of rabid, flying Chihuahuas). I have to agree with several others that you should re-create your vamps to suit your needs. This is fiction and you're God so have fun with her return. Come up with a bizarre twist that'll leave your readers thinking, "WTF? That was so cool!" This is the one thing I've had so much trouble with, in my writing. I keep forgetting that I can do what the hell I want to further my story as long as it is entertaining and doesn't shatter the old Willing Suspension. I hope the earlier entries spark some wild idea that sets the next book afire!

Pike

Shadow_Ferret · Oct 18, 2007

Pike said:
I have to agree with several others that you should re-create your vamps to suit your needs. This is fiction and you're God so have fun with her return. Come up with a bizarre twist that'll leave your readers thinking, "WTF? That was so cool!" This is the one thing I've had so much trouble with, in my writing. I keep forgetting that I can do what the hell I want to further my story as long as it is entertaining and doesn't shatter the old Willing Suspension. I hope the earlier entries spark some wild idea that sets the next book afire!

Pike

Well, as I said, she was but a minor character and vampires haven't been fully thought out. She was used to introduce the werewolf character my MC helplessly falls in love with. You see, werewolves don't become savage killing animals when the moon is full. They change at will. The reason they are so associated with the full moon is because they go into HEAT when the moon is full. They give off were-pheromones that drive each other crazy and they run around screwing like rabbits, villagers with torches be damned, and that's where the current myths of savage beasts baying at the full moon really comes from. (and the were-pheromones are the reason the MC falls helplessly in love. He's sensitive to them.)

JeanneTGC · Oct 18, 2007

Shadow_Ferret said:
Well, as I said, she was but a minor character and vampires haven't been fully thought out. She was used to introduce the werewolf character my MC helplessly falls in love with. You see, werewolves don't become savage killing animals when the moon is full. They change at will. The reason they are so associated with the full moon is because they go into HEAT when the moon is full. They give off were-pheromones that drive each other crazy and they run around screwing like rabbits, villagers with torches be damned, and that's where the current myths of savage beasts baying at the full moon really comes from. (and the were-pheromones are the reason the MC falls helplessly in love. He's sensitive to them.)

Do the sex scenes right and I predict a big, BIG hit. Seriously.

Shadow_Ferret · Oct 19, 2007

Too bad then. There are no sex scenes. My MC is shy.

I figured there's no way I can compete with Laurell K. Hamilton. So I'm not even trying.

GhostAuthor · Oct 19, 2007

Is the first novel published? If not, then you can play with changing the first. Make it so perhaps, we the reader believe she's dead (um, I mean disintegrated), and she really isn't. You'll show the reader that in the second book. . .

And if it is, then perhaps there is a special vampire, with special powers, who can resurrect the recently departed.

Saundra Julian · Oct 19, 2007

Heck, make it easy on yourself and have another vampire call forth her ashes and resurrect her. You don't have to explain the mechanics, unless you want to!

Vincent · Oct 19, 2007

Just put her ashes into an urn and have another character carry it around. She can be a wisecracking pottery sidekick.

Vampire mortality

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