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Informant: So when I was in elementary school, probably around fourth or fifth grade um, there was myself and maybe two other students in the same grade and we were reading a lot of vampire novels. Um, like, you know, elementary to middle school aged ones, not like Twilight or whatever. And so we got it in our heads that maybe vampires are real. And it’s kind of like when you are looking for something to be true so you start, like, seeing signs of it everywhere. Like “Oh, there’s mysterious blood on my sheets” cause I had a like, fucking paper cut and it got on my bedsheets.

Me: Ooo mysterious

Informant: But no, it was a vampire, came through the window and tried to attack me, you know.

Me: And you fought back in your sleep and won?

Informant: Yeah essentially, That wasn’t my experience that was somebody else in the club.

Me: What was your experience?

Informant: Um, I think it was, it was probably, now that I think about it, just some creep in the woods behind the school.

Me: Oh, that’s not good.

Informant: No…not good at all. But then I saw it behind the woods, and it’s like when you see the grainy photo of Sasquatch and you’re like “oh my god,” that was me.

Me: That was you?

Informant: Well I wasn’t Sasquatch.

Me: Oh, how old were you at the time?

Informant: How old would I be in fourth grade? 8? 7?

(Pause as we figure out how old a fourth grader is)

Informant: I was not the most observant of 8-year-olds, so clearly this creepy guy in the woods, I was like “oh yeah that’s a vampire.”

Context

The informant grew up in Sudbury, Massachusetts and had this club in the early 2010s. They told me that this club of three was isolated from the rest of their grade (“because everyone else thought we were freaks…and stupid”) and that everyone else believed that another student was a real fairy so they were part of the “fairy club” (the informant adds “but they believed in fairies so who’s the stupid one really”). The informant says that their club did try to hunt vampires in the woods during recess, but that their teachers would catch them and bring them back so they were unsuccessful in their legend hunting attempts. The club did not search for vampires outside of recess because they were not close friends outside of school. The informant no longer believes that they actually saw a vampire but, at the time, they did believe that there were vampires in both their friend’s story and their own experience.

Analysis

Vampire stories were on the rise at the time the informant was hearing and experiencing these stories. Twilight (one of the most popular vampire books ever written) came out in 2008 and a wave followed. These stories would have been easily accessible by children and intriguing as an idea. Vampires are scary in that they attack you and try to drink your blood, but many times, they don’t murder you. Vampires instead turn you into one of them. Along with the fact that vampires are distinctly humanoid, they are a less scary legendary creature or horror subject. This can make them an easier entrance into the horror genre for children. By playing with the concept of them being real, children are able to approach a topic (being attacked by someone or something you don’t know or understand) in a safer way. As the informant attempted to search with a group of friends, they were using the support of others to feel confident enough to explore the topic further by actually looking for a vampire.

By telling these stories to each other, this club was sharing memorates. As they retold their experiences to each other, they built up the legend of the vampire past what the books had told them and brought the creature into their world. They also reenforced the legend by proving to each other that vampires really did exist. The act of hunting and sharing stories also created a social group. The informant said that the reason they didn’t hunt more is because they were not close enough friends, however, this club did bring them together for a significant amount of time each day during recess so that they could share and engage in these stories. This group would not have otherwise interacted if they did not have this shared legend to bring them together.