The '''vampire lifestyle''', also known as the '''vampire subculture''' or '''vampire community''' (sometimes spelled "''vampyre''"), is an alternative lifestyle and subculture inspired by the mythology and popular culture surrounding vampires. Participants often identify with or as vampires, drawing inspiration from various media, including gothic literature, films, and role-playing games. The subculture encompasses a range of practices, from incorporating vampire aesthetics into daily life to engaging in rituals involving blood consumption or energy work.<ref name="ResearchGate">{{Cite journal |last=Jøn |first=A. Asbjørn |date=2002 |title=The Psychic Vampire and Vampyre Subculture |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283273380 |url-status=live |journal=Australian Folklore: A Yearly Journal of Folklore Studies |publisher=University of New England |issue=17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208171839/http://www.researchgate.net/publication/283273380_The_Psychic_Vampire_and_Vampyre_Subculture |archive-date=2015-12-08}}</ref><ref name="Browning 2015">{{cite journal |last=Browning |first=John Edgar |date=March 2015 |title=The real vampires of New Orleans and Buffalo: a research note towards comparative ethnography |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/palcomms20156.pdf |journal=Palgrave Communications |location=Basingstoke |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |volume=1 |issue=15006 |pages=1–8 |doi=10.1057/palcomms.2015.6 |issn=2662-9992 |lccn=2016260034 |access-date=14 September 2021 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Mellins 2013">{{cite book |last=Mellins |first=Maria |title=Vampire Culture |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |year=2013 |isbn=9780857850744 |series=Dress, Body, Culture |location=London |pages=45–68 |chapter=Vampire Community Profile |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c3uHu4_zOD8C&pg=PA45}}</ref><ref name="Benecke">{{cite book |last=Benecke |first=Mark |title=Benecke & Fischer: Vampyres among us!: Volume III - A scientific study into vampyre identity groups and subcultures |publisher=Roter Drache |year=2015 |isbn=9783939459958 |location=Remda-Teichel}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Thomas |first=Sophie Saint |date=2015-07-25 |title=We Spoke to Three Real-Life Vampires About Blood, Lust, and Hunger |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/we-spoke-to-three-real-life-vampires-about-blood-lust-and-hunger-235/ |access-date=2025-05-07 |website=VICE |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kimmel-Freeman |first=Jesse |date=2014-01-25 |title=Coming Out of the Coffin: A Brief Exploration of Modern Urban Vampire Subculture {{!}} Halloween Love |url=https://halloweenlove.com/coming-out-of-the-coffin-a-brief-exploration-of-modern-urban-vampire-subculture/ |access-date=2025-05-07 |language=en-US}}</ref>
The vampire subculture largely stemmed from the goth subculture,<ref name="Browning 2015"/><ref name="Mellins 2013"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Skal |first=David J. |title=The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror |year=1993|pages = 342–43 |publisher=Penguin |location=New York |isbn=0-14-024002-0}}</ref> but also incorporates some elements of the sadomasochism and relevant aesthetic known as Vampirecore, which romanticizes vampires in total.<ref name=ResearchGate/> Many forums and websites for the communication and relevant discussions for the members of the subculture exist, along with other media such as glossy magazines devoted to the topic.<ref name="Keyworth">{{cite journal|last=Keyworth|first=David|title=The Socio-Religious Beliefs and Nature of the Contemporary Vampire Subculture|journal=Journal of Contemporary Religion|issue=3|volume=17|pages=355–370|date=October 2002|doi=10.1080/1353790022000008280|s2cid=143072713}}</ref>
Participants within the subculture range from those who dress and act as vampires but understand themselves to be human, to those who assert a need to consume either blood or human 'energy' and 'emotions', or both.<ref name="Keyworth"/><ref name="Williams">{{cite journal|last=Williams|first=DJ|title=Contemporary Vampires and (Blood-Red) Leisure: Should We Be Afraid of the Dark?|journal=Leisure|year=2008|volume=32|issue=2|pages=513–539|doi=10.1080/14927713.2008.9651420|s2cid=143339707}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Keyworth |first=David |date=2002-10-01 |title=The Socio-Religious Beliefs and Nature of the Contemporary Vampire Subculture |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/1353790022000008280 |journal=Journal of Contemporary Religion |volume=17 |issue=3 |pages=355–370 |doi=10.1080/1353790022000008280 |issn=1353-7903|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Though the vampire subculture has considerable overlap with gothic subculture, the vampire community also has overlap with both therian and otherkin communities, and are considered by some to be a part of both, despite the difference in cultural and historical development.<ref name="fieldguide">{{cite book |author=Lupa | title=A Field Guide to Otherkin | publisher=Immanion Press | pages=25–26, 50, 52 | year=2007 | isbn=978-1-905713-07-3 }}</ref><ref name="Baldwin">Baldwin, C., & Ripley, L. (2020). Exploring Other-Than-Human Identity: A Narrative Approach to Otherkin, Therianthropes, and Vampires. Qualitative Sociology Review, 16(3), 8–26. https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.16.3.02</ref>
== Characteristics == alt=Two people dressed as vampires, one with fangs.|thumb|Two people dressed as vampires, one with fangs. Vampire lifestylers might dress up in 'vampire' clothing, indulge in habits like sleeping in a coffin, maintaining nighttime lifestyle or participating in RPGs such as ''Vampire: The Masquerade.''"<ref name="Williams" />
=== Types of vampyres === Members of Vampire subculture may self-identify with labels regarding their proclivities and interests. The following is a non-exhaustive list, and are not necessarily mutually exclusive:<ref name="Browning 2015" /><ref name="Williams" />
* "'''{{vanchor|Sanguinarians}}'''", sometimes hematophages, are those who believe that they perceive a physical/mental need to consume blood (often human).<ref name="Baldwin" /> * '''Medical Sanguinarians''' or "med sangs" are a subgroup inside Sanguinarians, who believe that they need to consume blood for optimal physical health, without embracing the vampire aesthetic and sometimes being apart from the Vampyre community, with some individuals seeking for a cure from this condition.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-07-08 |title=FAQ |url=https://theredcellar.com/faq/ |access-date=2026-04-17 |website=THE RED CELLAR |language=en}}</ref> * "'''Psychic vampires'''" claim to attain nourishment from the aura or pranic energy of others<ref name="Keyworth" /><ref name="Williams" /> in order to balance a spiritual or psychological energy deficiency, such as a damaged aura or chakra.<ref name="ResearchGate" /> * "'''Blood donors'''" or "black swans"<ref name="Black Swan">{{Citation |title=Blood Bond: Real Life Vampires and the ‘Black Swan’ Donors Who Feed Them |last=Wynarczyk |first=Natasha |date=2016-10-27 |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/blood-bond-real-life-vampires-and-the-black-swan-donors-who-feed-them/ |publisher=Vice News: Broadly |access-date=2025-07-23}}</ref> willingly allow other members of the subculture to drink their blood.<ref name="Browning 2015" /><ref name="Guinn">{{cite book|last=Guinn|first=Jeff|title=Something in the Blood: The Underground World of Today's Vampires|year=1996|publisher=Summit Publishing Group|location=Arlington|isbn=978-1-56530-209-9}}</ref><ref name="Benecke" /><ref name="Keyworth" /> * '''Hybrids''', those who feed on both 'energy' like Psychic vampires and blood like Sanguinarians.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Browning |first=John Edgar |date=2015-10-31 |title=The Rules of Being a Real-Life Vampire |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/10/life-among-the-vampires/413446/ |access-date=2026-04-17 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}</ref> * "'''Blood fetishists'''" or "eros" use blood as a stimulant or sexual fetish, sometimes drinking it during the course of sadomasochistic sex.<ref name="Williams" /> * "'''Lifestylers'''" or "role-players" partake in vampiric personification, which can involve an aesthetic, a lifestyle, and even a philosophical approach (similar to Sangunarians and Psychic vampires), but acknowledge themselves as humans and don't have a need for blood.<ref name="Browning 2015" /> Medical Sanguinarians, unlike the classical ones, typically view their condition as a physiological or medical issue, while classical do not. Most vampyres claim that they not always were such, but had "awoken" at a certain period of life, becoming a Vampire. The "awakening" can be triggered by a certain accident, experience or revelation, and a human cannot be "turned" into a vampire by other one, unlike presented in mythology.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Black Veil Vampire FAQ |url=http://www.blackveilvampires.com/faq |access-date=2026-05-13 |website=BlackVeilVampires.com |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Practices == The members of Vampire community have different practices of vampirism, depending on their type. ''Sanguinarians'' typically consume human blood, provided by a voluntary donor'','' with special "donor ethics" existing to ensure proper relations between the donor and the vampire and prevent abuse''.''<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Beginner Vampyre Educational Course |url=https://www.projectvampyre.org/vampirecommunityeducationalclasses |access-date=2026-05-13 |website=Project V |language=en}}</ref> ''Sanguinarians'' also often use animal blood in culinary purposes, with traditional dishes from around the world like black pudding, sangrecita, dinuguan being popular, together with experimental dishes like blood ice cream.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-12-10 |title=Blood As Food : Recipes |url=https://theredcellar.com/category/blood-as-food-recipes/ |access-date=2026-05-13 |website=THE RED CELLAR |language=en}}</ref>
Psychic vampires often feed on donor's "baggage" - 'leftover emotions or energy'. They typically have three different practices, called ''Grounding'' (feeding on the "energy of Earth"), ''Centering'' ('gathering' energy to concentrate on yourself) and ''Shielding'' (protecting yourself from negative energies).<ref name=":0" />
== Sociology == Renfield syndrome is a clinical condition marked by a fixation on blood or blood-drinking. Sex researchers have also documented cases of people with sexual (paraphilic) vampirism and autovampirism.<ref name="ResearchGate" /><ref>McCully, R. S. (1964). Vampirism: Historical perspective and underlying process in relation to a case of auto-vampirism. ''Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 139,'' 440–451.</ref><ref>Prins, H. (1985). Vampirism: A clinical condition. ''British Journal of Psychiatry, 146,'' 666–668.</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== *Belanger, Michelle A. (2004). ''The Psychic Vampire Codex: A Manual of Magick and Energy Work.'' Red Wheel/Weiser. {{ISBN|978-1-57863-321-0}} * {{Cite journal|url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283273380|title = The Psychic Vampire and Vampyre Subculture|last = Jøn|first = A. Asbjørn|date = 2002|journal = Australian Folklore: A Yearly Journal of Folklore Studies|issue = 17|publisher = University of New England}} *Laycock, Joseph (2009). ''Vampires Today: The Truth About Modern Vampirism''. Praeger. {{ISBN|978-0-313-36472-3}} *Russo, Arlene (2005). ''Vampire Nation''. John Blake. {{ISBN|978-1-84454-172-0}} *{{cite news|author=Ariana Eunjung Cha |title=Researchers: Vampires are people, too, and need as much psychotherapy as the rest of us |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2015/07/09/researchers-vampires-are-people-too-and-deserve-acceptance-by-medical-professionals/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=July 9, 2015}} * Peter Day (Hrsg.): ''Vampires: myths and metaphors of enduring evil''- Editions Rodopi, 2006, {{ISBN|978-90-420-1669-9}}
{{Horror fiction}} {{Goth subculture}}
Category:Vampirism Category:Goth subculture Category:Lifestyles