To vampire, or not to vampire

[Amanda Lewanski]

No: HPFGUIDX 3516

Denise Rogers wrote:

> In the anime the Vampire Hunter D, D is the offspring of a vampire and a peasant woman (supposed Dracula's son).  That makes him a dhamphir (sometimes spelled differently!), or a daywalker.  There is also the concept out of Blade, the movie, where a child is considered dhamphir when the mother is attacked when she is pregnant with them.

Yeah, but hasn't JKR tended to go with "standard" European versions? I mean, Dracula wasn't a standard folkloric vampire either, but he's closer, and in most of the pre-Rice vampires they're dead.

And if you like vampires, I'd suggest you read "Vampires, Burial, and Death" by Paul Barber, which is an multi-cultured analysis of death, what happens to bodies after death, and how observation of these processes has led to the various vampire legends and traditions. Kind of graphic if you weren't raised in the country, but I thought it
was wonderful. It contrasts the "Hollywood vampire" with the "folklore vampire" quite well.

--Amanda