A few weeks ago, I was going to write a post based on this story. Man oh man, I had a lot to say about how vampire-obsessed teens have started a new trend: biting each other and then licking or sucking the blood.
No, seriously, I’m not kidding.
But somehow something more interesting came up so I decided to shelve the topic. Well guess what. It’s back in the news.
Proving that real vampires aren't attractive and that Edward Cullen’s character is just a guy who spends way too much time in the makeup aisle at TargetPhoto credit: Arizona Police Department
A young couple, Aaron Homer and Amanda Williamson, were arrested for attacking a homeless man and drinking his blood. The homeless man, Robert Maley, had been staying with the couple in exchange for being their blood bank, until they stabbed him for refusing to let them continue to suck his blood.
Whoa. Providing shelter for a homeless man so you can drink his blood? That is truly disturbing.
Now the media have been going on about how shows like Twilight and True Blood have glamourised (pardon the pun – if you’ve read the books, you’ll get it haha) vampires, making the ‘lifestyle’ seem sexy and intriguing.
I’m not sure that’s completely true. While no doubt the Twilight phenomenon has played a part in the appeal of this blood-sucking trend (especially with the young folk), but I think pop culture's fascination with vampires isn’t something new. I mean, who hasn’t watched Bram Stoker's Dracula [1897] and felt a tingle of intrigue.
In an article in Australasian Policing last year, Queensland scholar David Keyworth listed contemporary examples of ''vampire'' crimes - a Welsh teenager who murdered an elderly woman whose heart was removed, a 1989 Brisbane riverbank throat-cutting involving the drinking of blood, and a Kentucky teenage vampire clan who cut each other to drink blood. There was even an unofficial psychiatric disorder called Renfield's Syndrome involving drinking blood for sexual pleasure.
Now not only is it disgusting, but health officials are warning that this vampire-inspired biting fad could be dangerous. Licking or sucking another person’s blood exposes both parties to the dangers of blood-borne diseases such as hepatitis and HIV, as well as the risk of getting a nasty infection. Typically, 10 to 15 percent of human bites wounds become infected.
I mean, seriously, don’t these people know that’s one of the ways you can get HIV? Why would you do that to yourself?
Apparently, here’s why:
“Having that thick, warm copper-tasting blood in my mouth is the best thing I can think of!” according to a post by GothicGirl10 on a vampire-related teen website.
Good grief. Someone get this girl some help.
Now I myself have never drunk blood. I may have consumed it in medium-well steak, or by licking a cut to stop it from bleeding. But I’m pretty sure Edward and Bella would agree that that doesn’t make me a vampire. And that’s just fine by me. I'm sure immortality isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.
P.S – Teenagers out there: Please don't bite each other and suck each others' blood.
P.P.S - Edward, real men don’t sparkle.
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