Dear Kim:
In an article entitled "Michelle Belanger's Life as a Psychic Vampire" the author implies the vampire of myth and legend is an archetypal personification of humanity's fear of the hungry dead. My friend, Jackson Grimes, who claims vampires really do exist, would dispute this statement for sure as he says he has met real vampires.
Allegedly, Mr. Grimes was staying at the home of his friend, Anton La Vey, for an extended period- yes, I mean the occult author, when he was introduced to an old man who was the head of a vampire sect. Even though he looked like a man of about 60, he swore he had come to the New World in the days of the wooden sailing ships. It seems in spite of the taboos against race-mixing, he got friendly with an Indian maiden who made him what he was today.
According to his account, the human host is inhabited by a demon that buddies up in the body with the original spirit. By some undescribed means the demonic companion is capable of slowing down the rate at which the host's body ages, so it ages one year in nine. This, I assume, is why it needs to feed on the blood of living victims.
Heather Goldsmith
