The new wave of people driven to believe they are vampires and then choosing to attack other people violently in order to drink their blood seems to be on the rise these days, and many experts are at a loss to explain this bizarre behavior pattern.
Typically victims report their attackers as having unusually aggressive traits, and fighting them with the seeming intention of drinking their blood. And now there is yet another case, this one coming from New Zealand in which the attackers targeted an individual with the intention of drinking blood from his neck. The gruesome story is only the latest in an unexplainably growing trend.
The Vampire trio are accused of tearing open an unconscious man’s veins with their teeth and drinking his blood. The grim attack is perplexing to many who say there is no explanation for the level of unexplainable violence with no seeming benefit. Why victimize an unconscious man by drinking his blood? Though they were caught up in a group frenzy at the time, one of the vampires whose name will be shielded to protect his identity says he hadn’t hit the man, but did bite him because he had “hit on” his “missus.” His explanation was simple: his friends were already biting the man, so he went along with the group.
It’s almost a resoundingly more disturbing explanation than had they been simply under the control of a mysterious shadowy “king vampire.” Of course this thrall-like behavior is classic in the vampire mythos as well. The vampire in mythology is a creature that victimizes others, and has no will of his own – only a desire for blood. It’s exactly the behavior that seems to have played out in this particular incident. Of course as this is an ongoing investigation, it’s difficult to get an accurate picture of what really happened until all details are released. When asked if he really thought he was a vampire, the man declared he of course did not as he was standing in the sunlight during the interview.
After the attacks, the aggressors often disappear forever or eventually tracked down. If the aggressors are found they often seem to be slightly antisocial but otherwise normal individuals who either are working under the impression that they are creatures of supernatural origin or are simply as dazed and confused by their own actions and bloodlust as those who they victimized.
Many critics of the vampire movement have said such actions can be simply chalked up as delusion. But can they? It seems that in the vastness of mankind’s history there have always been those who scoffed at society and embraced a darker path, and often were consumed by it as it took control of their lives. Could this merely be the latest manifestation of that same motivating factor? Could today’s vampire attacks be the contemporary answer to social problems that always have and likely always will follow individuals within society?
Will we see more vampire attacks such as these in the future? As a final note, a great number of people who wear dark clothing and call themselves vampires are actually quite sociable, albeit a bit eccentric. The actions of these attackers is not representative of the whole of their culture.