^{Personal experiences}

We talked for a couple of hours. He asked me if I had ever drank blood before, then he asked me if I wanted to taste his.

He pulled off his shirt and showed me his arm. His veins were very well pronounced. He asked me which one I wanted. I pointed at a spot on his biceps. Gary made a small incision with a razor blade on the spot I had pointed to. It wasn't deep enough to cut a vein, yet his blood started running out rather quickly, dripping onto his hardwood floor. He put his cut in front of my mouth.

I looked up at him, then at the cut. I licked it, cautiously at first. It tasted so warm and wonderful in my mouth. And the feel of his wet, bloody skin on my tongue really turned me on. He put his arm around my neck. I kissed and licked his cut with earnest. It was as if something deep inside me had awakened. I found myself desperately wanting his blood. It scared and excited me at the same time...

"Real vampires do exist. Not the supernatural kind, who are afraid of garlic and wooden stakes..., of course, but people who think that drinking the blood of other people is just dandy."

Carol Page, author of the book Bloodlust: Conversations With Real Vampires

In researching blood fetishism, I found that the labels "vampire" and "blood fetishist" were often used interchangeably. So what exactly is the difference? It depends completely upon who you ask. Some people consider themselves "vampires," while others prefer the term "blood fetishist." To some, being labeled a vampire makes them "more exotic by virtue of the blood-drinking habits. For others, the term blood fetishism is more scientific and satisfactory."

The terms are further broken down by Page into the categories "blood drinkers" and "bloodletters" - "roughly analogous to, say someone who eats his dinner versus someone who just plays with his food." But whatever term one cares to use, it remains that there are at least 30,000 blood fetishists/vampires in the United States alone.

A common misconception about blood fetishists/vampires is the notion that they take blood by force. In most cases, this is untrue. As one self-proclaimed vampire explains, "I deplore psychotic people who attack other people for blood because it makes it hard for the rest of us. I would never force myself on someone."

Blood fetishists/vampires consider the act of extracting and sharing blood as an intimate one, and only engage in the activity with persons with whom they are very close. In addition to the special bond between blood fetishists and their "donors," blood monogamy also reduces threat of contracting AIDS and other communicable diseases (although many people attest that drinking blood poses little threat since stomach acids can kill the HIV virus).



 Biology: Porphyria

Porphyria (A.K.A. "The Vampire Disease") is a term given to a group of genetic blood diseases which affect the porphyrin rings in hemoglobin (the agent responsible for carrying oxygen in the blood). It is believed to have originated among the European nobility who commonly practiced inbreeding. One of the rarer forms of the disease, congenital erythropoietic porphyria, has symptoms which can be viewed as vampiric: severe light sensitivity, reddish-brown urine and teeth, mutilation of the nose, ears, eyelids, and fingers, and an excess of body hair.

In 1985, David Dolphin presented a paper to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, naming Porphyria as a possible cause of the vampire legends. "According to Dolphin, symptoms of Porphyria...could be alleviated by injecting a substance called heme, which is found largely in bone marrow, red blood cells, and the liver."

In his hypothesis, Dolphin announced, "Since in the Middle Ages an injection of the red pigmnt of blood would not be possible, what else might take its place? If a large amount of blood were to be drunk then the heme in it, if it passes through the stomach wall to the bloodstream, would serve the same purpose. It is our contention that blood drinking vampires were in fact victims of Porphyria trying to alleviate symptoms of their dreadful disease."

Dolphin's thesis has since been refuted by many experts, but not before being picked up by the media, causing a widespread panic and ruining the lives of the approximately 50,000 people who have Porphyria.


Psychology: Psychosis, Psychoanalysis, and Sado-masochism

Definitions of clinical vampirism (a psychological disorder) involve aspects of necrophilia, sadism, cannibalism, and a fascination with blood. "Its relationships with established diagnostic categories, particularly schizophrenia and psychopathy, are... examined and illustrated by the presentation of a 'modern' vampire. As myth and reality are disentangled, clinical vampirism reveals the complex mother-child dyad's blood ties running amok". 

No doubt, many "experts" point to familial relationships gone bad when analyzing the possible causes of the blood fetishist/vampire phenomenon. "Psychoanalytic hypothesis reinforces the notion of incest, claiming that the bite on the neck represents the sexual intercourse and that the long teeth of Dracula symbolize that body part of the father that is the object of projected hate. Bizarre as these interpretations may seem, they are seriously entertained by Freudian-based analysts."

Further psychoanalytic analyses suggest that vampirism could be caused by the apparent search for something that the vampire or blood fetishist subconsciously feels is missing. Their quest is thus to acquire this "phallus" (the object of desire). In this case, the phallus would be the intimacy or love they missed as a child, and the replacement becomes the blood of those from whom they drink. Perhaps they are "sucking" on blood because they were unable to suckle sufficiently at the breast as a baby. Can it be that those persons who engage in vampiric activities of taking blood from others are reenacting their own period of infancy, when they were weaned from their mother? Are these persons symbolically asking to become children again, forever resting on their mothers' bosoms, eternally safe and satisfied?

"This alternative Freudian interpretation might also seem questionable, but in looking at the information provided by persons who engage in voluntary blood-drinking activities, it may not seem such an unacceptable explanation after all, for many real-life 'vampires' are seeking to replace feelings of warmth, closeness, and intimacy.... There is a definite link between the need for blood and the need for a close, warm human connection."

There's another possibility suggested by psychologists, and that is sadomasochism. Sadism is defined as "Over a period of at least 6 months, recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors involving acts (real, not simulated) in which the psychological or physical suffering (including humiliation) of the victim is sexually exciting to the person. The fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors cause clinically significant distress or impairment in so other important areas of functioning." Specifically related to blood lust is what is known as oral sadism, which is basically biting another and sucking their blood for sexual satisfaction.

No doubt, there are a number of blood fetishists who are into sadomasochism and participate in bloodsports and the drinking of "coctails" sic. (i.e., bodily fluids served a glass) as part of this ritual. And, yes, there is a degree of pain in the extraction of blood. However, blood fetishists are not necessarily sadomasochists. Many cite a heightened sense of intimacy as the attraction of blood drinking. While intimacy is, by far, not completely absent in a sadomasochistic relationship, many fetishists who are not into "traditional" domination and submission believe the intimacy is of a different nature. Blood fetishism involves the sharing of one's life fluid, a very intimate, very vital aspect of their being. Herein lies their bond.