Veins of Curiosity: How a Conversation Sparked a Lifelong Fascination
People often ask me how I got interested in vampires. It started with a conversation, one of many I’ve had with my daughter over the years. We talk about everything: mythology, cultural customs, literary themes, and folklore from around the world. One afternoon, we found ourselves wondering aloud: Where did vampire stories come from? What made blood-drinking creatures so persistent across cultures? I didn’t dive into research right away. The idea lingered in the background for about a year, until a professor encouraged me to apply for a research grant from the university. That grant led to a peer-reviewed article exploring how vampires evolved from monstrous figures into tragic, romantic ones. That’s when the obsession truly took hold. The more I studied, the more I realized that vampires weren’t just horror staples, they were cultural reflections of fear, power, morality, and desire. Roots Deeper Than the Grave: Vampires Before Dracula Bram Stoker didn’t invent t...