Showing posts with label Vampires. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vampires. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Eternal Lovers - poem of vampire lovers by Neil Benson

Eternal Lovers -

From the moment I awake,
my thoughts are of you.
You took my life,
and made me immortal.

Our lives are entwined,
never to part.
Together in bed,
always so close.

You turn to face me,
and my love pours forth.
When you touch my face,
our loving begins.

Your tender kiss,
a nectar of sweet love.
The caress of my body,
sets me aflame.

Our passion grows greater,
at the press of our breasts.
You touch me deeply,
and I'm open to you.

Your fangs flick lightly,
on my sensitive core.
Only a moment more,
and sweet ecstasy is mine.

Now my turn to pleasure you,
and our love is complete.
 



In Dark Journeys, short stories and dark poems describe perilous paths taken by mortals, vampires, and other creatures of the night. The stories and poems tell of the painful, and sometimes fatal, relationships between mortals and vampires.If this sounds interesting, and I hope it does, please follow the link and buy the anthology for only $.99.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AERRMIM

Monday, January 21, 2013

The Dark Network - for people who live an alternative lifestyle and interested in vampires and the paranormal

I found the a VAMPIRE RAVE website in my endless search for interesting vampire pictures. This is a site for people into the vampire lifestyle. Press on the logo to get there.


"Vampire Rave is the social networking website for vampires and goths. We are a home for real vampires across the globe. If you're looking for a darker gothic or vampire social network, you've found it."



From the above website I followed a link to The Dark Network website. I copied the introduction of the founder/owner for the website below. Press the logo to get there.



"My name is Cancer. I founded the Dark Network and all affiliated websites. I have been an active member of the gothic community since 1994. I have worked since that time to bring dark resources online. My first venture was an Undernet IRC chat room called #vampires back in 1994. In 1999 I launched Vampire Radio. In 2003 I began production on the webzine Acrimony. In 2004 I started Vampire Rave.

The Dark Network grew out of a number of needs that I identified as surrounding the gothic/punk/rivethead/alternative communities. It is an ever-expanding project that will continue throughout my life."
Cancer 's statement speaks for itself. If you are part of the lifestyles described above, and this is a site you should visit. If you cringe at the sight of someone with purple and black hair, it is  imperative for you to visit the site.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Friday, January 11, 2013

A Recent Review of Dark Journeys


Below is a review of  Dark Journeys taken off Amazon.com.

"Dark Journeys by Neil Benson is an anthology of dark poetry and short stories. The poems are romantic and chilling. The poems read slower than the short stories as you absorb the subtle nuances and emotions.

The short stories should be read when you're prepared to stay awake listening for the creak of a door and lithe, resolute feet that don't belong...feet hundreds of years old. Will the vampire choose you? Look over your shoulder...tonight.

Here are a few great turns of phrase from the anthology:

"A tall, horrid creature arises, and greets the night with a howl."

"At more than three hundred pounds, he knew he shouldn't eat sugary treats, but his resistance to the temptation was lower than his intelligence."

"His eyes darted about like two small marbles bouncing on an interstate highway."

"They looked like cylindrical silver jewels rather than instruments of death."

If you want to know where these tantalizing tidbits originate, you'll just have to buy Dark Journeys by Neil Benson. Fantasy isn't just for children.

I gave it four stars--I would have liked the stories to drag out the suspense with more details. Vampire lovers will find Dark Journeys to be a fun and spine tingling read.
"



Enhanced by Zemanta

Friday, March 2, 2012

Adventures of the Sussex Vampire by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle -free vampire short story


Adventures of the Sussex Vampire by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
rings Sherlock Holmes, the world's most famous detective, face-to-face with a vampire. Or is it a vampire? What more could you want. Read it and find out what happens when Sherlock Holmes confronts a case dealing with the vampire.

http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0BzZFYqsJhXG0YjRlZjEzOWItNzc1Yi00OTNjLWI2MWUtMzRjMmU5ZTY3NmFm&hl=en
Bookmark and Share

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

The vampire Nessa Harcanu sends greeting to all of her fans.


I am Nessa Harcanu, a four hundred year-old vampire. Men and women have been telling me that I am beautiful for more years than any of you have been alive. I was thrilled to have over 400 visitors at my open house two days ago. My biographer, Neil Benson, read chapters from my biography. The reception began at 9 PM, and lasted until sunrise.
 The first three chapters of my biography were given to everyone who attended my open house reception. This gave my visitors  a small taste about my fascinating existence. To learn the whole story, you must of course purchase the book. Fine wine and giant prawns were served for mortals and vintage blood was available for the undead.
If you weren't able to attend, you can read the first three chapters by following the link below.
I was quite annoyed when my biographer told me he would publish my biography as a novel. However, he convinced me that no one would believe some of the events that are contained in the book.
You can purchase a copy of my biography at the following establishments. My biographer, Neil Benson, reminded me to tell you that Amazon sells only one kind of digital version, while Smashwords offers the buyer different digital alternatives. My biographer wants to sell as many copies as possible. I am indifferent to how you buy the book. I am a millionaire many times over. To learn how I gained my riches you need to read my biography.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Unholy Embrace vampire novel by Neil Benson - a fight to death with werewolves

Nessa and Frank have an encounter with werewolves of the worst kind.
Nessa ran at a werewolf that charged her. They collided and fell to the ground.

The creature staggered from the impact, and she grabbed it by the throat with both hands. It thrust its jaw out, trying to bite her face with its large canines.

She pushed its head back until the creature couldn't reach her with its mouth.

The werewolf grabbed at her arms to no avail as she tightened her grip until she broke its neck. Nessa pushed the werewolf to the ground, stood over it, and snarled. The moonlight revealed blood dripping from her fangs.

I scanned the area to check for more werewolves. Seeing none, I took a deep breath and realized my shirt was wet. When I put my hand to my chest, I felt the warm, clotting fluid mingled with tufts of hair. I was glad my stomach was empty when I gagged. I started to speak to Nessa when I saw her turn and walk toward the other side of the building. I went around the car, following a step behind but parallel to her.

A cloud covering the moon prevented me from seeing what caught her attention. When the cloud passed, the moonlight revealed a huge, heavily muscled werewolf, seven feet tall. The creature growled, revealing three inch-long, curved canines that came to sharp points. The enraged werewolf was the alpha male ...


Monday, April 12, 2010

Unholy Embrace vampire novel by Neil Benson - The serious business of killing vampires.


“During the latter part of the middle Ages, mortals became more sophisticated in their ability to hunt down and kill vampires. This effort became more significant with the development of the gun and then the rifle."
                                                                           In The Vampires among Us by Thaddeus Romans fictious vampire expert

The idea of farmers chasing vampires with pitchforks and axes is laughable. Soldiers armed with swords, spears. and arrows also posed no threat to the vampire. The vampire is too quick for even several armed men to pierce with a weapon. It medieval times, mortal man killed vampires by finding their resting place and putting a stake through their heart.

With the development of the gun, then the rifle, mortal man had weapons Vampires had to avoid in order to survive. Ordinary bullets cannot kill, or even seriously hurt a vampire, but it takes hours to recover from a bullet wound to the body.. A lead bullet into the heart of a vampire will not kill it, but will leave it in a weakened condition until it is removed. In Neil Benson's vampire novel, Unholy Embrace, the female vampire describes being shot, which was more of a shock than a painful injury.A hardened silver bullet can kill a vampire by hitting its heart or head. If it enters the body without killing the vampire, the vampire is in a state of torment and barely functional. Several silver bullets to the body can kill a vampire. It should be noted, that vampires are difficult targets because of the speed at which they can move.

http://neilbenson-horrorandfantasyauthor.blogspot.com/p/unholy-embrace-by-neil-benson-first.html

Friday, March 19, 2010

Unholy Embrace vampire novel by Neil Benson - revenge among vampires

“Revenge among vampires frequently stretches across the centuries. Retribution is invariably exacted with the highest degree of cruelty.”
                                              In The Vampires Among Us by Thaddeus Romans fictitious vampire expert.

At the end of the 17th century, another vampire attacks Nessa, the female protagonist of my vampire novel, Unholy Embrace. Nessa easily defeats the female vampire who tries to kill her. However, Nessa, contemptuous of her attacker, fails to destroy her enemy. This mistake will haunt Nessa for over three hundred years. The other vampire knows she cannot kill Nessa, so she attacks people close to her hated enemy. When Nessa comes to America, she is sure her old nemesis could not possibly have followed her across the ocean. She underestimates the tenacity of her stalker who attempts to kill Frank, her lover. Nessa knows she must kill the creature and does so in a manner befitting the end of a three hundred-year-old battle.

http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1639917-Unholy-Embrace----First-Three-Chapters

Sunday, March 14, 2010

We Are the Vampires by Neil Benson

Vampires are us, not other. When we look into the mirror, they are the twisted reflections of that which is evil within us. This is not to say that all, or even most, people are essentially evil. Rather, the vampire is a metaphor for some of our evil wishes. As much as the myth of the vampire is about sex, it is also about greed. The vampire hungers for the blood of the living and takes it by force, not caring whether the victim lives or dies. Of course, there is the exception. That is when the vampire for personal reasons decides to turn the victim into one of the "undead." Evil breeding evil.


Various legends and myths make Lilith, Adam's first wife, the mother of all vampires or all succubi. According to the myth, Lilith refused to subjugate herself to Adam and demanded to be his equal. She might have been the first feminist. For her defiance, she paid an awful price. The Angels killed her children, and she in turn swore vengeance on the descendent of Adam. There are 4000-year-old stone carvings of Lilith. The presence of the carving does not necessarily make her real. However, for people to have taken the trouble to make carvings of her meant she was of more than minor significance. There are legends of vampires in many other cultures separated from the civilizations that arose in Mesopotamia and its neighboring areas.


I believe one way to look at the vampire is to see the creature as humanity disowning its own evil intent. We invent the creature and give it lust and other qualities we deny exist in ourselves. After millenniums passed, the vampire arrived in literature. First in John Polypore's The Vampyre, then in Carmilla" by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, and finally in Dracula by Bram Stoker. It is worth noting that Lord Ruthven in Vampire and Carmilla both appear as "normal" human beings. However, Dracula is described as thin, with a long white mustache, pointed ears and sharp teeth. He is dressed all in black and has hair on his palms. Jonathan Harker notes his "extraordinary" pallor.


I believe Dracula was depicted to make him an evil looking creature, not one of us. A hundred years pass, and vampires are once again indistinguishable from us. In many novels, they are creatures of great beauty and allure. In recent novels, they have been tamed, and were it not for their thirst for blood and immortality, they could probably join the Chamber of Commerce. But in 2007, continuing into 2008 and 2009, a worldwide financial catastrophe brings forth a different vampire. These vampires do not take in blood, nor are they immortal and have inhuman strength. Rather, these vampires sucked the financial blood of the nation that a second Great Depression was only narrowly averted. These vampires are bankers, brokers, heads of investment firms, mortgage agents, and a host of others who fed on society's greed for bigger, better houses.


Vampires will always be among us. For they are "us" in our worst aspects. Whether in the form of the myth or the reality of people so greedy they would destroy an economy, they are us.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Psychic Vampires: Psychic Nonsense by Neil Benson



The concept of psychic vampires is not new, but has become a popular item of discussion on Internet vampire sites, as well as among certain segments of the adult population. After reading descriptions of psychic vampires and what constitutes psychic vampirism on over a dozen web sites, I continue to conclude there is no such thing as psychic vampirism, at least in the manner in which it is discussed and described at large.


First, and foremost, no one presents any substantive evidence that psychic vampirism exists. Discussions of people with fatigue, or even chronic fatigue syndrome, and other ailments can easily be explained by psychological and physical processes bearing no relationship to psychic vampirism. Another hole in the psychic vampirism myth is the fact that the description of psychic vampires and psychic vampirism has at best marginal continuity. In a number of instances, the focus of explaining persons who allegedly practice psychic vampirism is on certain personality types who, to borrow an often used phrase, "Suck the energy" out of other people.


I am fully aware that there are people who can "suck the energy" out of other people. I have personally experienced them, and for a number of years, worked for such a person. However these people’s actions can be more easily explained by psychological disturbances well described in the DSM IVR.


http://www.psychiatryonline.com/referral.aspx?gclid=CO-gstrv15kCFQKenAodJ101XA


Such people usually have significant personality disorders such as narcissism, paranoia, and are frequently psychopaths, or psychopathic to some degree. They are very needy people who seem to suck the oxygen out of the air in a room and make almost everyone who comes into contact with them feel worse for the experience. When they are in positions of power, they are most lethal, and the best way to escape the harm they can cause is to change jobs. However, if one has the necessary grit and assertiveness, such persons can be put in their place and rendered relatively harmless to the person doing so.


The other, more exotic, form of psychic vampirism is related to the taking of energy from another person. The terms prana and chakras are used as if they are proven scientific facts with a host of substantial research and literature to back this up. Such does not exist. While work has been done with Kirlian photography it is far from a precise science, and no one has used it to demonstrate how psychic vampirism works. While I personally believe that psychic energy exists, my readings of Eastern literature convince me there are very few people capable of actually taking the product, electrical energy, or life force from another person. Persons capable of doing this would probably be found in monasteries in Japan and China, various places in India, and high in the Tibetan Himalayas, and not in the mosh pits of night clubs catering to wanna be vampires. While a number of people from Western society have learned what the East has to offer, the people capable of teaching advanced use of drama and energy would have little inclination to harm another person, or teach another person how to do so.


This is far from a full treatise on this subject. But there are many gullible young adults who are all too eager to believe that such exotic things exist. The belief that "real vampires" of any sort to exist among us has existed for a long time. The current popularity of such beliefs will be discussed in a future post. I have been writing vampire and horror short stories for over six years, and have completed a vampire novel. In order to do so I have done much reading about vampires including the interesting books by Katherine Ramsland, Ph.D. None of what I read made me more inclined to believe that "there are real vampires." But it is fun to write about, and sometimes even more fun to talk about.

Monday, March 8, 2010

More Myths about Vampires by Thaddeus Romans fictional vampire authority.




I am currently reading a well-written novel about vampires. I won't mention the name, because I never do reviews of novels. However, I was struck by one thing that bothers me about most depictions of vampires in novels written at the current time. The vampires are always depicted as being handsome, graceful, alluring, almost as pretty as Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in the movie Interview with the Vampire.
The truth is that vampires are no more pretty or ugly than mortals. After all, all vampires were once mortal human beings. In the earliest vampire movie, Nosferatu, the vampire is pictured as a hideous creature. Bela Lugosi wasn't particularly good-looking in Dracula. He was suave in a sort of antiquated European model. In the vampire novel, Unholy Embrace, Nessa, the vampiress, is beautiful because that's the way she looked on the day she was turned. In that novel, vampires are large, small, ugly, and in general all the varieties in which humanity exists. The recent creation of the vampire as a beautiful being stems from the psychological need to romanticize this creature. There is nothing romantic about being caught one night by a vampire and having the blood sucked out of you.

 http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1639917-Unholy-Embrace----First-Three-Chapters

 

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Unholy Embrace of vampire novels - The vampire's need for secrecy



“There is a natural curiosity among mortal male and female lovers of vampires about the history of their particular lover. Most vampires are reluctant to reveal the stories of their undead lives because secrecy is an integral part of their survival instinct. Vampires are reluctant to reveal the details of when they were turned.”
In The Vampires among Us by Thaddeus Romans

 In my vampire novel, Unholy Embrace, the mortal male protagonist wants to know the female vampire' history for the past 400 years. She is reluctant to tell him for several reasons. First, telling her story would make her relive the worst moment of her life, the night when another vampire killed and turned into one of the undead. There is also the issue of revealing secrets she has kept to herself over the centuries. Secrecy has been a survival strategy for her, and even though she loves him, telling him the details of her vampiric life goes against her experience. Lastly, there are personal details and experiences she is not ready to share. There were other lovers before him, which he need not know about. Moreover, during her long existence, the brief periods of violence interrupting decades of boredom, events which she has found difficult to accept.
http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1639917-Unholy-Embrace----First-Three-Chapters


Thursday, January 28, 2010

Do Vampires Really Exist?


The question of whether there are vampires in America depends on the definition one uses. If a vampire is defined as an undead creature, as portrayed by Bram Stoker, then there are no vampires in this country. However, if a vampire is defined as a person who merely drinks blood, then there are vampires in this country. In her book, Piercing the Darkness: Undercover with Vampires in America Today, Dr. Katherine Ramsland conducted extensive field based research with the vampire under culture throughout this country, and even abroad. She described in vivid detail the extent of blood drinking among those who consider themselves to be vampires. This extensive subculture exist throughout the country and as one might expect, is concentrated in the major cities or the areas near to them.

Blood drinking among this subculture ranged from sucking the blood out of minor cuts to drinking blood from larger cuts or incisions in the body. The people she interviewed had various reasons for drinking blood, but most of them centered on power and sexuality. Among this subculture, there are givers and takers of blood who gain various pleasures, as well as pain, from this process. A significant portion of this population is gay, particularly among the men. Dr. Ramsland described a layered subculture ranging from those who take blood casually and infrequently, to people who are members of secret covens or groups in which drinking blood is a major activity and take great care to preserve their anonymity.

A significant part of this vampiric process is related to people who take blood versus people who give blood, although the mutual exchange of blood is common. Dr. Ramsland described interviews with predatory blood takers who act as vampires not just in taking of blood, but also in their dominance of the "victim." The predators often play out the role of the traditional fictional vampire as they use the victims to meet their needs. A disturbing part of her book was her interviews with people, mainly but not exclusively male, who claimed to have inflicted serious harm or been involved in the death of other people. While it would be wrong to classify most of those who drink blood as having significant psychological pathology, several of the people that Dr. Ramsland interviewed were very disturbed, some to the point of psychosis. For those who are interested in this phenomena I recommend that they read Dr. Ramsland's book which is available through Amazon.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Real Vampires: The need for bad science.

Undead Vampires, ranging from Dracula, created by Bram Stoker, to the more urbane Lestat, created by Anne Rice, all share two basic characteristics. They are dead, and they need to ingest blood from mortals to continue to exist. They also share common traits with mortals. They stand, talk, move, run, and carry out all sorts of physical activities.

How do vampires carry out their active physical existences? Humans, mortals, have complex biological systems that provide energy to the muscles, tendons, bones, etc. that enable us to carry out physical activities. Vampires are dead: their hearts don't beat; their lungs don't breathe; and their former biological energy producing systems are no longer functioning. Where do their muscles get the energy? Dr. Katherine Ramsland wrote an entire book, The Science of Vampires, speculating about how vampires function and think. Dr. Ramsland could only speculate, because neither she nor anyone else has examined a "real undead vampire."

In the movies and in novels, vampires share blood with humans to turn them into vampires. How is this possible? Without hearts that beat, what keeps vampire blood flowing? Vampires are always depicted as being cold to the touch, quite logical since they are dead. Vampires are also depicted as being impervious to the cold. However, if they are cold-blooded creatures, and they are outside, or even inside, in freezing temperatures there blood would begin to thicken. That issue has never been addressed to the best of my knowledge. It's not a matter of unanswerable questions as much as it is a illogical possibilities.

We've also seen, or read about, vampires turning into some kind of dust or smoke. The transformation of matter from one form, a solid, into another form, gaseous, requires heat or some kind of chemical process. Modern science has no means by which it can almost instantaneously turn a solid object into a gaseous one with the exception of a nuclear explosion. There's a lot of bad science going on when it comes to the undead vampire. The stories of these creatures arise from folklore and are given life not by some magical process, but by the creative imagination of writers. The reader also has to participate, because more than a little suspension of disbelief is required to go along with the idea. However, judging by the current popularity of vampire books, movies, and now television shows, science and logic of the furthest things from the minds of readers and viewers.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Vampires from Bela Lugosi to Kate Beckinsale

I can't think of a better way to start off my blog on vampires and horror stories and the themes behind them, then with a picture of Kate Beckinsale. There may have been more beautiful woman who portrayed vampires in the movies, but none of them had her class. Without her, Underworld would have been just a lot of shooting and dead bodies. She gave the movie its verve and introduced us to an alpha female vampire whose credentials went beyond an exposed bosom. When she jumped out of the tower in her black vinyl suit, landing catlike on the ground, we were introduced to the image of the modern female vampire. When she picked up Scott Speedman like he was a small child and pinned them against the wall she certainly got my attention.


Of course, homage must be paid to the original "talking" Dracula. (The German movie Nosferatu preceded it.) Bella Lugosi's campy performance grows more intriguing as time goes by. I can remember the first time I saw the movie over 50 years ago. The movie, which took liberties with Bram Stoker's novel, introduced us to a creature of mythology from all over the world. Some of the campy lines from the movie have become legendary. The raw sexuality of the movie and the power of the vampire gave moviegoers an image of something most of them had never heard about. Enough of the movies for the time being. Next time I'll address the fundamental issues of the vampire and how it relates to the not so unconscious desires and fears of socie