Vampires and OCD? *minor SPOILERS*

Part of the really really old vampire myths. Another examples is that they used to tie ropes into a LOT of knots and put them in coffins of suspected vampires because it would keep the vampire occupied in his coffin for a really long time since they couldn't keep from trying to untie them all.

Yes, I have actually read about those supposed compulsions in a couple of books about vampires (but it was years ago, so I'm sorry but I don't remember the titles). I've also heard that they can't cross running water, and that if you are bitten by a vampire you are supposed to eat some dirt from the grave of the vampire that bit you, and you won't turn.

The thing is, vampire legends exist in almost every country in the world, and the details of those legends vary from country to country and culture to culture. And so many stories have been created about vampires over the centuries that it's kind of hard to separate the original myths from the newer ones. Most people go by what Bram Stoker wrote in his book, but even he was just adding his own touches to a centuries-old story (except that his character of Dracula was based in part on a real Transylvanian prince).

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About the thing of undoing the knot. I thought this was only for werewolves...?

Romanian Government to ban vampire slaying.

As the Romanian government hurries to improve law-enforcement sophistication in its campaign for European Union membership, villagers in the Transylvania region are resisting police crackdowns on their traditional practice of vampire killings, according to a March Knight Ridder News Service report. Vampires (unlike Hollywood conventions using crosses and garlic) are just people who go bad upon death and cause continuing grief to family members unless they are re-killed. The body is dug up; the heart is removed with a curved sickle and burned (but it will likely squeak like a mouse and try to escape unless held down); and the ashes are mixed with water and drunk. Villagers are outraged that some may face criminal charges for disturbing the dead, which carries a three-year prison sentence. [Monterey Herald-Knight Ridder, 3-24-04].



I'm Ford W. Maverick and I'll see you in hell.

I remeber an episode of the X-files where they encounterd vampires and Mulder mentioned these things to distract a vampire.

I'm depressed you didn't know this. In most old vampire legends yes, they are obsessive compulsive. They count seeds and untie knots in a rope. In Eastern Europe knotted ropes and piles of poppyseeds were used in the hope to distract a vampire to keep a vampire from feeding on you during the night.

Is this why on Sesame Street the Count...uhmmm, counted?

"Uh vun, uh tuu, uh three!"

Terrible things Lawrence. You've done terrible things.