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Ok folks... here it is - the oldest known version of the alt.vampyres FAQ. Travis doesn't know of any earlier and that this one is possibly the third revision made after he'd written and begun maintaining the FAQ. It's very late and this is just a very quick copy and paste page. I'll clean it up, put in the links that still work, index it and so forth in the next couple of weeks... hopefully...
As you read this, please do remember that it was written in July of 1995 so it would probably be safe to assume that addresses, links and fees (where appropriate) will be circa that year and not current.
Kitsune, keeper of the alt.vampyres Traditional FAQ, Version 7.02
alt.vampyres FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
This is a list of frequently asked questions on alt.vampyres and their answers.
The FAQ is maintained by myself, Travis Casey. Comments should be sent to me at casey@cs.fsu.edu
Please put "vampire FAQ" or something similiar in your subject line, to help me sort through my mail. Don't just put "FAQ," since I also maintain the rec.games.design FAQ.
This document is posted on a monthly basis.
Contents:
(questions with an * are new or changed from the last posting.)
Part 1 -- Questions about this group
1.
What's this group about?
2. Why do you spell
"vampyre" with a "y?"
3. Do you REALLY think
vampires exist?
4. So-and-so can't be a vampire!
He's posting during the day!
Part 2 -- Questions about vampires
1. What
powers do vampires have?
2. What kinds of vampires
are there?
3. How does one become a vampire?
4. I'm trying to find a vampire.
5. What is porphyria, and why is it called "the
vampire disease?"
6. What is a "psychic vampire?"
7. Will a "real" vampire please come and turn me
into a vampire?
Part 3 -- Where to find more info
1. Books
about vampires.
2. Vampire movies.
3. Vampire Organizations.
4. What's happening with Forever Knight?
5. Have you ever heard of White Wolf's Vampire
game?
Part 4 -- Other stuff
1. Do you know Tom
Cruise is going to play Lestat in the movie of Interview with the Vampire?
Yuck!!
Part 1 -- Questions about this group
1. What's this group about?
This group is for discussion about vampires and stories related to vampires.
2. Why do you spell "vampyre" with a "y?"
"Vampyre" is an older spelling of vampire, which was used in the 1700's and 1800's. Its use in the group's title is to provide a more "gothic" feel and to help keep newbies from finding this group. :-)
3. Do you REALLY think vampires exist?
No. Many, if not most, of the people here do not believe in vampires; we just like to talk about them.
The people on this group who write as if they were vampires are not
intending to mislead anyone; they are doing it purely for
entertainment,
creating a sort of interactive story in this group.
Unfortunately, like most of the groups that discuss fiction or myth from a non-academic standpoint, we occassionally get some idiot who feels that anyone who would discuss something that (in his/her/its opinion) does not exist must be stupid or have some psychological problem.
Do not reply to these people. There are two reasons for this:
1. There are people out there who, when they find someone
who has accidentally left their account logged in, will use it to
post this kind of stuff to a group. In this case,
your reply will probably never be heard by the person who actually posted
the stuff.
2. Those who do this
from their own accounts are generally looking for attention in their own
twisted way. Replying to them
will only encourage
them to keep on.
We know that what we are discussing is worth our time. If someone can't accept that, that's his/her/its problem.
4. So-and-so can't be a vampire! He's posting during the day!
The idea that vampires have to sleep all day is not universal; Dracula was active during the day in Bram Stoker's novel, and many vampires in myth and legend were active during the day.
Secondly, how do you know he/she is posting during the day? Don't you think time stamps can be altered? That's just what they want you to think... :-)
Part 2 -- Questions about vampires
1. What powers do vampires have?
There are many, many different versions of the vampire myth, both in legend and in fiction, so just about any ability you could name has probably been ascribed to vampires at some point.
If you want to know about the powers of specific vampire types, take a look at the next question, and at the non-fiction books listed under question 7.
With that said, here are some of the powers traditionally ascribed to European vampires:
The ability to change their shape. Common forms
assumed are wolf, bat, rat, cat, owl, fox, weasel, raven, spider,
scorpion, and fly.
Strength far greater than that of humans.
The
ability to summon and control animals, particularly
rats and wolves.
Weather control.
Seeing in the dark.
Ability to control the minds of their victims in
some way.
Among the traditional limitations and vulnerabilities of vampires are:
Weakened or harmed by sunlight.
Unable to cross running water, except at the ebb
and flow of the tide.
Can't enter the home of
someone without an invitation.
Cannot pass a
thicket of wild rose or a line of salt.
Has to
stop and count every grain in a pile of grain he/she encounters (type of grain
varies).
Repelled by garlic and/or wolvesbane.
Repelled/harmed by religious symbols.
Does not cast a reflection. In some areas,
vampires are believed not to show in photographs, and in some, they are
believed not to cast shadows.
Methods of destroying a vampire include:
Immobilized/destroyed by driving a stake
through the heart. Some legends say the stake must be of a particular type of
wood (generally ash, hawthorne, maple, blackthorn,
buckthorn, or aspen), and some say that the stake must be driven
through in one blow.
Cutting off the head. Some legends say this must be done with a gravedigger's
shovel.
Burning; this is the one universal method
of destroying vampires.
Cutting out the heart and
burning it.
2. What kinds of vampires are there?
This is a "sampler" of vampire legends from around the world. For more variations on the vampire myth, take a look at some of the books listed under the non-fiction category of question 3, part 1.
Asanbosam:
African. Asanbosam are normal
vampires except that they have hooks instead of feet. They tend to bite their
victims on
the thumb.
Baital:
Indian. These vampires natural form is that of a
half-man, half-bat creature roughly four feet tall. They are otherwise
unremarkable.
Bajang:
Malaysian. The bajang normally take the form of
polecats. They could be enslaved by sorcerors and forced to kill the
sorceror's enemies, and some families were
believed to be hereditarily stalked by the bajang.
Baobhan Sith:
Scottish. The baobhan sith (pronounced buh-van
she) are evil fairys who appear as beautiful young women and will
dance with men they find until the men are
exhausted, and then feed on them. The baobhan sith can be harmed and
destroyed by cold iron.
Callicantzaros:
Ancient Greece. According to Greek legend, a child
born on Christmas will become a callicantzaros. These vampires
often appear in half-human, half-animal shapes.
Ch'ing Shih:
Chinese. Ch'ing shih appear livid
and may kill with poisonous breath in addition to draining blood. If a Ch'ing
Shih
encounters a pile of rice, it must count the
grains before it can pass the pile. They can be harmed and destroyed by
normal weapons and by sunlight. Their immaterial
form is a glowing sphere of light, much like a will-o'-the-wisp.
Civateteo:
Mexican. These vampire-witches held sabbaths at
crossroads and were believed to attack young children and to mate
with human men, producing children who were also
vampires. They were believed to be linked to the god Tezcatlipoca.
Dearg-due:
Irish. The dearg-due is a standard
European vampire, except that it cannot shapeshift and may be defeated by
building a
cairn of stones over its grave.
Empusa:
Ancient Greece and Rome. Empusas
appear as either beautiful women or ancient hags. They are strongly related to
the
incubi and succubi (q.v).
Ekimmu:
Assyrian. These are vampires of the spirit
variety. They are naturally invisible and are capable of possessing humans.
They can be destroyed by using wooden weapons or
by exorcism.
Hanh Saburo:
Indian. These
creatures live in forests and can control dogs. They will attempt to lure or
drive travellers into the forest to
attack them.
Incubus:
European. Incubi (plural of incubus)
are sexual vampires. They are spirit vampires of a demonic nature. They may
enter
homes uninvited and can take on the
appearance of other persons. They will often visit the same victim repeatedly.
A
victim of an incubus will experience the visits
as dreams. The female version of an incubus is a succubus.
Jaracara:
Brazilian. Normally appearing as snakes, jaracara
are said to drink the milk of sleeping women as well as their blood.
Krvopijac:
Bulgarian. Krvopijacs (also known
as obours) look like normal vampires except that they have only one nostril.
They
can be immobilized by placing wild roses
around their graves. One way to destroy a krvopijac is for a magician to order
its spirit into a bottle, which must then be
thrown into a fire.
Lamia:
Ancient Greece and
Rome. Lamias are exclusively female vampires. They often appear in half-human,
half-animal forms
and eat the flesh of their
victims in addition to drinking their blood. Lamias can be attacked and killed
with normal
weapons.
Loogaro:
West Indies. Appearing as old women, these
vampires go abroad at night as blobs of light, much like the
will-o'-the-wisp.
Mulo:
Serbian. Mulos normally appear as people wearing
white clothes. They are active both day and night, and can assume
the shapes of horses or sheep. They eat their
victims in addition to drinking their blood. Mulos are also known as
Vlokoslak.
Nachzerer:
German. These are ghosts of the recently dead
which return to kill their families.
Nosferatu:
Central and Eastern European. The "traditional"
vampire described in Dracula. Most vampires appearing in movies and
books are of this sort.
Rakshasa:
Indian. The Rakshasas are powerful vampires of the
spirit variety. They usually appear as humans with animal features
(claws, fangs, slitted eyes, etc.) or as animals
with human features (flattened noses, hands, etc.). They often appear as
tigers. In any form, rakshasas are powerful
magicians. They eat the flesh of their victims in addition to drinking blood.
Rakshasas may be destroyed by burning, sunlight,
or exorcism.
Strige:
Eastern European. These
are "birds of ill omen" who will attack people at night, with a whole flock of
strigoi sometimes
attacking a single victim. The
strigoi use their long, sharp beaks to peck holes in their victims and drink
their blood.
Vampyr:
Serbian. The vampyr is
naturally invisible, but can be seen by animals or by a dhampir. A dhampir is
the (living) offspring
of a vampyr, and is capable
of seeing vampyrs and of harming them physically. Dhampirs would often hire out
to destroy
vampyrs. Vampyrs cannot shapeshift.
Vrykolakas:
Medieval Greece. Described as
being "swollen" and "distended," vrykolakas can walk in daylight without being
harmed.
The vrykolakas may only call to be let
into a specific house once a night. In addition to sucking blood, vrykolakas
also
cause nightmares. They may be destroyed by
exorcism or burning. In Crete, they are called kathakano.
Wampir:
Polish and Russian. Wampiri appear exactly as
normal humans and have a "sting" under their tongue rather than fangs.
They are active from noon until midnight. A wampir
may only be destroyed by burning. When the wampir is burned, its
body will burst, giving rise to hundreds of small,
disgusting animals (maggots, rats, etc.). If any of these escape, then the
wampir's "spirit" will escape as well, and will
later return to seek revenge. These creatures are also called vieszcy and
upierczi.
Of course, this list is not exhaustive. Some other regional variants on
the vampire are: dracul (Austrian), kwakiytl (American
Indian), lobishomen
(Brazilian), murony (Wallachian), ogolgen (Bohemian), otgiruru (African), oupir
(Hungarian), owenga
(African), strigoi (Romanian), talamaur (Melanasian),
vapir (Bulgarian), and varcolac (Romanian).
3. How does one become a vampire?
Again, there are many different versions. Some of these are listed below:
If it is suspected that someone is likely to become a vampire, it is
possible to prevent the occurrence by using one or more of the methods for
destroying vampires listed above or by burying the suspect body face downwards.
In eastern Europe, it was common to periodically check suspect bodies to see if
they showed any signs of vampirism. Similarly, in China potential vampires were
not buried until after they had decayed considerably.
4. I'm trying to find a vampire.
Tracking a vampire is like tracking any other animal; you must start by going to the native terrain of your target. In the case of a vampire, these are places where sources of food, namely humans, congregate and can be relatively easily induced to slip off alone together for a bit.
Thus, you should go to bars, dance clubs, and other such places, preferably in large cities (greater variety of prey). Once there, watch the patrons. Look out for other people who are watching the patrons. If the place(s) you choose are preferred haunts of one or more vampires, then you should eventually notice a pattern; someone who routinely slips off with a person, but rarely with the same person twice. Once you've got a few possible suspects, you can begin applying standard tests for vampirism; look at their skin, try to discreetly follow them a bit, see if they show up in mirrors. Of course, some of these tests may just be myths, so they don't have to meet all of them.
Once you're fairly sure someone is a vampire, you can begin the approach. Try to get to know them in a social context. This is the hardest, and potentially the most dangerous, part. Reasonably, most vampires will not want to be discovered for what they are, and if they think someone suspects, they will either move on or eliminate that person.
Should you succeed in this step, then you can begin to raise the subject of vampires. Be subtle. Don't come right out and ask, "Are you a vampire?" Instead, bring up the subject of vampires in a conversation, and see what he/she says about it, if anything.
Good luck.
5. What is porphyria, and why is it called "the vampire disease?"
Porphyria is actually a group of diseases, all of which have to do with the metabolism of porphyrin, an essential ingredient in metabolising iron. It is a genetic disorder, and is in no way contagious.
In 1964, in an article in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine, L. Illis proposed that porphyria might be an explanation for werewolf legends. More than 20 years later, in 1985, David Dolphin presented a paper at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science proposing that porphyria might be an explanation for vampire legends.
What about porphyria made them make these statements? One of the varieties of porphyria, congenital erythropoietic porphyria, has among its possible symptoms severe light sensitivity, reddish-brown urine and teeth, mutilation of the nose, ears, eyelids, and fingers, an excess of body hair, and anemia. In addition, some kinds of porphyria are associated with epilepsy.
However, there is no evidence that porphyrics have any sort of craving to drink blood, and, although it has been conjectured that eating garlic might be harmful to them, it is not.
In short, the hullaballo over porphyria and vampirism that went on for a short time was simply a typical media overreaction to anything that might heighten circulation/ratings. :-)
6. What is a "psychic vampire?"
A psychic vampire is a living person who "drains" others emotionally. Depending on the version, this may be an empathic drain (i.e., literally feeding on the emotions of others) or it may be a metaphorical drain (someone who "takes" emotionally without giving anything back; a "user").
The victims of a psychic vampire become lethargic and depressed, and, should they be drained too much, may become suicidal.
The vampire itself is generally represented as fairly normal except for its ability; depending on who you ask, psychic vampires may or may not be aware of what they do.
7. Will a 'real' vampire please come and turn me into a vampire?
If vampires do exist, they will not be exactly what you have been led to expect from books, films and role playing games. So if you make such a request you are publically expressing a desire to escape into the fantasy world you have seen in these media. Don't embarrass yourself.
You should also consider that someone who truly believes they are a vampire is more likely to be a criminally insane than undead. Do you really want to invite a dangerous psychopath to come and suck your blood out?
Part 3 -- Where to find more info
1. Books about vampires:
Fiction:
For a list of vampire fiction, see David C. Mudie's (mudie@eecs.berkeley.edu) Suggested Reading for alt.vampyres, posted to alt.vampyres on a monthly basis.
Note that the full text of Dracula is available on the net; those with WWW browsers can find a hypertext version at URL http://www.cs.cmu.edu:8001/Web/People/rgs/drac-table.html; the text is available by FTP from ftp.world.com, in the directory /obi/Bram.Stoker. This version is compressed with the Unix compress program. Lastly, those with gopher can get it from the gopher at world.std.com; look under OBI (The Online Book Initiative).
Non-fiction:
All opinions are mine unless stated otherwise.
Barber, Paul. Vampires, Burial, and Death
THE book to read if you're at all interested in the origins of the vampire
myth. Barber takes several actual accounts of
vampire plagues, analyzes the various popular theories on where the vampire
myth came from in light of them, and comes
up with
his own theory. Along the way, he touches on many other areas of legend and
gives a great deal of detail about
how bodies tend
to decompose.
Masters, Anthony. A Natural History of the Vampire
A very good book, especially in the area of
covering different regional versions of the vampire myth. More accessible
than Summers' books, and dealing more with the
vampire myth than Barber's.
Summers, Montague. The Vampire and The Vampire
in Europe
Two extensive works which have been used
as source material by almost every non-fiction work on vampires since.
Slow going, but occasionally lightened up by
Summers' credulity; the man seems to be willing to believe almost anything.
The following info comes from Alyce Wilson; some of it overlaps with what I've done above. The info has been reformatted to fit better into this FAQ, but the content has not been changed.
Recommended Vampire Reading List (Non-Fiction)
This list may be reposted as long as this header
is retained. Compiled by Alyce Wilson [amw108@psuvm.psu.edu].
Updates/corrections should be e-mailed to above
address. >:-[ (I vant to suck your e-mail account time!)
Aylesworth, Thomas G. Vampires and Other Ghosts. Circa 1975.
A surprisingly complete children's guide to
vampires (with some inaccuracies by way of omission -- lack of space).
Brosnan, John. The Horror People. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1976.
A general overview of the history of horror films
(primarily in America). Concerned with the *people* involved in horror
films -- actors and producers/directors. Features
a large section on the Hammer vampire films starring Christopher Lee.
Bunson, Matthew. The Vampire Encyclopedia. New York: Crown Trade
Paperbacks, 1993.
A compendium of vampire lore and
theory. Lists movies, myths, literary references.
Carter, Margaret L., ed.
'Dracula': The Vampire and the Critics. Ann Arbor, Michigan and London: UMI
Research Press,
1988.
A collection of critical
essays about Stoker's _Dracula_ and its connotations in society as a myth and
as a novel.
Cox, Greg. The Transylvanian Library: A Consumer's Guide to
Vampire Fiction. San Bernadino, CA: Borgo Press, 1993.
A comprehensive guide to English vampire fiction,
from the seminal Polidori's The_Vampyre (1819) through Ellen
Datlow's 1989 collection of vamp stories,
Blood_is_Not_Enough. Rates each work from 1 to 4 bats. Includes a brief
history of the vampire and definitions for various
types of literary vamps.
Dresser, Norine. American Vampires: Fans, Victims,
and Practitioners. New York and London: W.W. Norton and Co.,
Inc., 1989.
Explores the myth of the American vampire; data
collected through questionnaires to students, porphyria patients and
vampire fans. Additional data was taken from the
media. Documents how Americans identify with and imitate vampirism.
Glut,
Donald F. The Dracula Book. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1975.
Expands on Dracula material from his previous
book. Discusses the vampire image in respect to Count Dracula. A
self-proclaimed contribution to the "Draculamania"
of the 1970's -- the "years of the bat."
Jones, Stephen. The Illustrated
Vampire Movie Guide. Vol. I London: Titan Books, 1993.
It does what it says. It says what it does. A
comprehensive guide to all international movies with a vampire theme or
something approximating one. Even includes movies
where vamps make brief appearances (such as The Magic
Christian). Rates each movie from 1 to 5 bats.
Leatherdale, Clive. Dracula: The Novel and the Legend: A Study of Bram
Stoker's Gothic Masterpiece. Wellingborough,
Northamptonshire: Aquarian
Press, 1985.
Traces the vampire legend through
myth and literature. Provides analytical perspectives on Dracula's role in
culture and
sociology.
McNally, Raymond T. A
Clutch of Vampires: These Being Among the Best from History and Literature.
1974.
A collection of factual accounts of
(so-called?) actual historical vampires, as well as some fictional stories.
[McNally also
wrote excellent book on historical
Vlad Tepes, a.k.a. Dracula.]
Ramsland, Katherine. The Vampire Companion:
The Official Guide to Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles. New York:
Ballantine Books, 1993.
A cross-referenced
guide to Rice's vampire books, as well as The Witching Hour, which shares some
characters with
The Vampire Lestat and Tale of the
Body Thief. Recommend reading the chronicles *and* TWH before reading this
guide.
Senf, Carol. The Vampire in Nineteenth
Century Literature. Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1988.
Examines the progression of vampires from myth to
gothic villain, to modern literature.
Summers, Montague. The Vampire: His
Kith and Kin. New York: E.P. Dutton and Company, 1929.
Classic work by the noted vampirologist. Although
a little difficult to read by modern standards, a valuable work
because of its extensive documentation.
Twitchell, James B. The Living Dead: A Study of the Vampire in Romantic
Literature. Durham, N.C.: Duke U.P., 1987.
Looks
at female and male vampires in poetry and prose of the Nineteenth century. Good
for understanding of evolution
of vampire myth in
literature.
2. Vampire movies
A review list of vampire movies is kept by Jason Puckett (lawjdp@gsusgi2.gsu.edu), and is posted to alt.vampyres on a regular basis.
3. Vampire Organizations.
The following list of vampire organizations is taken from the alt.goth FAQ, maintained by Peter Wake (peterw@cs.man.ac.uk). I have no personal knowledge of any of these organizations, so if you get ripped off, don't blame me.
The Vampyre Society:
Annual membership 12
pounds sterling, which gives you four issues of 'The Velvet Vampire', free
small ads and
invitations to various social events
including weekends in Whitby.
Alice Pinder
P.O. Box 68,
Keightley,
West Yorkshire,
BD22 6RU
The Vampire Information Exchange Newsletter
P. O. Box 328
Brooklyn, New York 11229-0328
Nocturnal Extacy Vampire Coven
4527 South Troy
Chicago, IL 60632
Secret Order of the Undead
T. J. Teer
155 East C Street
Suite 323
Upland, CA 91786
Vampire Research Institute
send: S.A.S.E.
P. O. Box 21067
Seattle, WA 98111
"Good Guys Wear Fangs" fanzine
Mary Ann B. McKinnon, Editor
254
Blunk Avenue
Plymouth, Michigan 48170
(Note:
She will answer correspondence, but it may be slow)
Temple Of The Vampire
Box 3582
Lacey, Washington 98503
The information packet fee is $5.00.Membership
dues are $10.00 per month
Temple of Set
POB 470307
San Francisco, California 94147
Order Of The Vampyre
Society for vampires
and people interested in them.
Sanctioning: None
Ambrose
235 A.B.T.B.
Lewes, DE 19958
Dues: Postage cost.
Membership Includes:
Correspondence, newsletters and bulletins, information clearinghouse. Possible
invitation to the
inner society. Interested in
hearing about (fluff alert) vampire stories (fluff alert), fantasies, attacks,
etc.
The Dracula Society
The Honourable Secretary
Waterside Cottage
36 High Street
Upper Upnor, near Rochester
Kent ME2, 4XG
England
The Bram Stoker Society:
John C. Leahy, Secretary
Bram Stoker
Society
4 Nassau Street
Dublin 2
Republic of Ireland
(Supposedly the two above don't get along together).
4. Forever Knight info.
The following is quoted from a post by Steve Fellows.
There have been a number of questions about Forever Knight lately, and
as the Keeper of the FAQ file for the Forever Knight e-mail list, I
think I have the answers for most of the questions.
1. What is Forever Knight? When and where is it running?
A
television series starring Geraint Wyn Davies as Toronto Metropolitan
Police Detective Nicholas Knight, an 800 year old vampire. For the
next
month, the show is/will be airing in the US on CBS, Tuesday
nights
after Late Show with David Letterman. The show is running,
and will
continue to run, in Canada, Australia, Germany, and St.
Petersburg,
Russia. (The versions airing in Germany and Russia are
dubbed into
German.)
2. Is there a fan club?
Forever Knight Fan Club
c/o Lora Haines
P.O. Box 1228
Boston, MA 02130
USA
Cost: US$15 per year
3. Is there anything to these rumors of new episodes??
On March 20, they started filming for 26 new episodes which will
start
airing in the US in September. (In syndication)
One
of the stars (Nigel Bennett) appeared at a convention in Boston
3
weeks ago, and confirmed that all of the stars from the 22 existing
episodes will be returning for the new season, EXCEPT for Gary Farmer,
who played Nick's boss, Captain Stonetree.
4. What was that about an e-mail list?
There is a discussion
list for the show run via LISTSERV@PSUVM.PSU.EDU
To subscribe, send
mail to LISTSERV@PSUVM.PSU.EDU with no Subject: line
and the only
line in the body of the message:
SUBSCRIBE FORKNI-L
For more information about the mailing list, send mail to
JAP8@PSUVM.PSU.EDU or LMS5@PSUVM.PSU.EDU
--
Steve F.
ST1450@SIUCVMB.SIU.EDU
5. Have you ever heard of White Wolf's _Vampire_ game?
Yes, we've all heard of it. Most, if not all, of us have played it.
Material relating to the game should only be posted if it is not rules-oriented; that is, feel free to discuss vampire society, physiology, psychology, etc., but don't ask questions about the rules or discuss them here. If you do want to discuss rules, please do so in alt.games.whitewolf or rec.games.frp.misc.
Also, you may want to join the mailing list for the Vampire game. To do so, send email to: listserv@wizards.com, with the line:
subscribe vampire-l Your Real Name
as the first line of the body (Substituting your own name, of course).
Part 4 -- Other questions
1. Do you know Tom Cruise is going to play Lestat in the movie of Interview with the Vampire? Yuck!!
We know. You don't have to tell us again. You also don't have to tell us how horrible you think this is, or who you'd prefer. We've had this discussion several times already.
For those of you interested in who the rest of the cast is, here's a list, taken from a post by Grizabella (jordan@cs.tulane.edu).
--QUOTED TEXT BEGINS--
Louis: Brad Pitt (Thelma And Louise, Cool World, A River Runs Through
It, True Romance...)
Lestat: Tom Cruise (Top Gun, Born on the Fourth of July, A Few Good
Men, Risky Business, The Color of Money, Cocktail...)
Armand and Santiago: The two actors who are playing these roles are
Stephen Rea (The Crying Game) and Antonio Banderas (Tie
Me
Up, Tie Me Down; Philadelphia; Truth Or Dare; The Mambo
Kings; House of Spirits). I don't know which one is
playing which, though.
Claudia: Kirsten Durst (Has a recurring role on the television
show "Sisters"-- yes, she is a young person,
they aren't aging Claudia *that* much)
Daniel, The Interviewer: Christian Slater. This part originally
was to
be played by River Phoenix, who died in October.
Christian has said that he will be donating all of his
salary
from this movie to some of River's favorite
charities.
Producer: David Geffen
Financing: Warner Bros.
Miranda Richardson (The Crying Game, also) is also supposed to be in the movie, but I don't know whether she's playing Madeleine or Louis' wife. (Yes, I said wife... someone who has read the script said that they have changed Louis' grief in the beginning of the story to grief over his wife (and child, I believe) instead of over his brother. This ties in later to the part where he finds Claudia and Madeleine in the Theatre des Vampires, and is reminded of his wife and child.).
Incidentally, the r.a.m. database says that Tommy-boy got $15M for his role in the movie.
Filming has almost certainly finished by now. They were filming here in New Orleans during October/November, and then went to San Fransisco, and then to England. The movie is set to be released in November of this year.
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Travis S. Casey
FAQ maintainer for rec.games.design and
alt.vampyres
No one agrees with me. Not even me.