{"id":2299,"date":"2022-02-20T18:41:11","date_gmt":"2022-02-20T18:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wickedness.net\/?page_id=2299"},"modified":"2022-03-20T13:09:29","modified_gmt":"2022-03-20T13:09:29","slug":"new-orleans-vampires","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wickedness.net\/vampires\/new-orleans-vampires\/","title":{"rendered":"New Orleans Vampires"},"content":{"rendered":"

We all have heard numerous fictional stories about vampires. Even if you have never heard about classics such as<\/span> The Vampyre by John Polidori<\/span><\/a> and<\/span> Dracula by Bram Stoker<\/span><\/a>, you would know about the recent popular fantasy works like<\/span> The Vampire Diaries<\/span><\/a> and<\/span> Twilight<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Overall, vampire fantasy has always existed, preying on our fear or strange attraction to the blood-sucking monsters. If you believed that vampires existed only in fictional stories, you were wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n

Vampires Do Exist in Real-World<\/b><\/h2>\n

There are many communities of people around that world that identify themselves as \u201creal vampires\u201d. They don\u2019t have any supernatural powers like Edward Cullen and Count Dracula. However, these people believe they have a medical condition and they need to consume blood to deal with that.<\/span><\/p>\n

A postdoctoral fellow, John Edgar Browning, from the Georgia Institute of technology interacted with the<\/span> New Orleans Vampire Association<\/span><\/a>, a vampire community-based in New Orleans Browning says that the \u201creal vampires\u201d were the only area that he didn\u2019t touch in his vampire studies until 2009.<\/span><\/p>\n

He said that he subconsciously saved this area for last and thought these people have become crazy after reading too much fictional work. However, he was surprised that most of the community members didn\u2019t even know how pop culture actually portrays vampires.<\/span><\/p>\n

John Edgar Browning<\/span><\/a> studied and interacted with the community members of the New Orleans Vampire Association for a short period and said that none of them was crazier than the \u201cAverage Joe\u201d. He also mentioned that the habits and lifestyles of these modern vampires might be weird as well as frightening to some people, but actually, they are incredibly friendly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Browning said that these people start feeling physically drained when they hit puberty and believe that the only cure is to drink human or animal blood. However, some of them can use psychic energy to find their strength via human touch and that\u2019s why many of them like to work in massage centers.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to a house for real vampires,<\/span> Atlanta Vampire Alliance<\/span><\/a>, there are about 5,000 people identifying themselves as real vampires in the United States. Additionally, over 50 of them are currently living in New Orleans.<\/span><\/p>\n

New Orleans Vampire Association<\/b><\/h2>\n

The NOVA or New Orleans Vampire Association is a non-profit organization run by self-identifying vampires. This vampire community was founded back in 2005 and its main purpose is to provide support to real-life vampires and other kin subcultures.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Lifestyle of New Orleans Vampires<\/b><\/h2>\n

In order to describe their unorthodox habits, the New Orleans self-identifying vampires use adopted terms. For example, they use the \u201cTo Feed\u201d when they need to drink blood, and \u201cComing Out of the Coffin\u201d or \u201cAwakened\u201d is used when someone realizes his\/her vampiric identity.<\/span><\/p>\n

Vampires who have come out of their coffins for some time are known as the \u201cElder Vampires\u201d. There are also some people (not necessarily community members and vampires) who give their blood to other vampires for feeding and they are called \u201cDonors\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

The donors give their blood for sexual favors, to earn money, or just to help a friend and other vampires approach them when they need to feed. The vampire-to-donor relationships are mostly personal and interference isn\u2019t appreciated.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another important aspect of their living style is that they don\u2019t share their condition, not even with their doctors. However, some of them have disclosed their condition but couldn\u2019t find any medical explanation.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the vampires of New Orleans, Kinesia, said that they try to live just like normal people and don\u2019t go through their cyclic symptoms. The woman also said that she didn\u2019t become a vampire by choice and it happened because she can\u2019t live without drinking blood.<\/span><\/p>\n

She explains that once she ended up in the emergency room because she didn\u2019t feed on blood for about 4 months and suffered from a low heart rate and massive migraine. As Browning said, these vampires don\u2019t even know how popular culture portrays vampires.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, they\u2019re not obsessed with the idea of vampires as the fantasy stories state and try to live their lives just like a normal person.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stephen Unger and the Real Vampires of New Orleans<\/b><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Stephen Unger, a writer, also shares his experiences with the New Orleans Vampire Association. In his book, \u201c<\/span>In the Footsteps of Dracula<\/span><\/a>\u201d, Unger tells the stories of the New Orleans real vampires.<\/span><\/p>\n

He says that you\u2019ll see the voodoo shops, in the French Quarter, selling the John the Conqueror roots and gris-gris at night.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sitting Up with the Dead<\/b><\/h3>\n

The vampire families there have followed the \u201csitting up with the dead\u201d custom for hundreds of years. It\u2019s a tradition that New Orleans vampires follow when a family member dies. A close family friend or a relative stays with the dead body until it\u2019s buried.<\/span><\/p>\n

The vampire community members say that they do it just to show their respect for the dead. However, it\u2019s an old tradition belonging to vampire folklore that goes back to<\/span> medieval Eastern European<\/span><\/a> history. The person staying with the dead body tries to observe different paranormal activity signs including:<\/span><\/p>\n