Journals of the Undead

Tag: being human

  • What Do Vampires Look Like?

    I read Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla recently and there was a quote that I particularly liked: “I may mention, in passing, that the deadly pallor attributed to that sort of revenants, is a mere melodramatic fiction. They present, in the grave, and when they show themselves in human society, the appearance of healthy life.”

    Now, I understand why there are certain characteristics and aesthetics associated with vampires. In film and TV, it helps to highlight who’s who. On social media, it helps vampire fans to recognise and find each other.

    Yet it makes a lot of sense that vampires would look pretty much like humans. They’re predators and hunters and need to get close to their victims. In order to do that, they either need to be really fast or gain their trust. Also, having very distinctive looks is not very practical for a quick getaway and living in the shadows.

    One of my favourite TV shows that features these mythical creatures is BBC’s Being Human, in which vampire characters were virtually indistinguishable from humans. By the time they revealed their true nature, it was too late. I also liked that no-one seemed to be stuck in the past fashion wise. Mitchell, one of the protagonists, was over a hundred years old but always wore whatever styles were available in each decade he lived. You couldn’t tell by looking at him that he was born on July 29, 1893 (no, I didn’t plan this post especially to mark the occasion, it was a pure coincidence!).

  • Vampires & Mirrors

    Vampires & Mirrors

    As I mentioned in my previous post, I knew next to nothing about vampires when I got the inspiration for my first story. A friend who reads nothing but sci-fi and fantasy enlightened me and I got a rough idea of what my vampires were going to be like. There were aspects of vampire life that I could figure out later and then there were things I needed to decide about before I put pen to paper. The most pressing question was: should my characters be able to see their reflection?

    I decided they should. What’s the point of being forever young and immortal if you cannot see your own face ever again? Also, I was being practical. Tiredness, the first story, starts in 1820 when there weren’t that many mirrors and shop windows about so successfully avoiding them all would have been possible. However, some of the later stories are set in the 20th and 21st century and reflective surfaces are now pretty much everywhere. A creature without a reflection would struggle to hide their secret.

    I’ve always been interested to know why there was an assumption that vampires can’t see their own reflection. Some years later I was reading stuff online about the topic and saw an engineer’s comment, he explained that mirrors used to be coated with silver, which is a holy metal, whereas these days they’re made using aluminium. And that made perfect sense. Holy metal, unholy creatures: creatures can’t see their reflection.  Aluminium has no such properties therefore vampires should be able to see themselves.

    Have you seen Being Human? I didn’t realise that Mitchell had no reflection until he got into trouble because of it. He also could not be captured on film or photographed – which also caused problems. It worked well for the plot but it wouldn’t work well in everyday life!