Turning Ugly Creatures of the Night into Dark Heroes

ORMOND BEACH, Fla., May 30 /PRNewswire/ -- We're about as far from October as we can be, but author Valerie Hoffman believes the vampire knows no season.

In her newly released novel, "Vampire Royalty: The Rebellion" (American Legacy; $9.95), the psychotherapist-turned-writer taps into a new genre of blood-sucking villains, one that swaps creepiness for dark heroics.

In fact, Hoffman says, the vampire is enjoying somewhat of a rebirth -- in both the mainstream media and in character.

"For centuries vampires have been the scapegoats of many cultures," she said. "They were something to blame for illnesses, including rabies, anemia and even the plague.

"People have a need to explain things. There's too much free floating anxiety to not have an explanation for the things that scare us," she said.

And because they were believed to wreak ugliness on the world, they were often depicted as ugly creatures of the night.

Throughout history, vampires have popped up in just about every culture, from ancient Egypt's Sekhmet to India's Kali to Malaysia's Penanggalang.

They're present in folklore about Ireland, Mexico and Greece. They're even in Catholicism, she said. During its heyday, she said, the Catholic church used fear of vampires to keep an iron grip on common folks. It instituted the idea that people who did wrong would lose their place in heaven and be condemned to walk the earth soul-less -- aka limbo. "The Catholic church took advantage of vampire lore to keep its largely illiterate congregations in check," said Hoffman.

Even before that though, there was Lilith, often cited as the mother of all vampires. Lilith was Adam's supposed first wife, but she refused to obey him and was banished. It was believed that she was cursed to kill children, and throughout history she was often blamed as a cause for SIDS.

After the death of Jesus Christ, Judas Escariot was often considered a vampire, she said. It's believed that Judas' payoff of 30 pieces of silver for turning in his mentor is why vampires fear silver.

In the 1600s, Countess Elizabeth Bathory of Hungary became known as the Blood Countess. A century after Vlad the Impaler made an example of impaling Turks on the front lawn of his Romanian castle, Bathory supposedly killed 600 to 700 girls and women. Apparently, she thought she could maintain her youth by bathing in the blood of virgins.

By the 20th century, the vampire had changed or transitioned from creepy, leech type beings to actor Bela Lugosi's suave and sophisticated incarnation of it.

Author Ann Rice pushed the vampire even further up the sophistication ladder with Louie -- the first vampire with a mood disorder, Hoffman said.

"Rice made vampires much more complex figures and in the process, humanized them."

Hoffman continues in that vein, with her first book in a series about good versus evil among a family suffering from porphyria, a rare blood disorder marked by pale skin, receding gums and a sensitivity to light.

"It's kind of the revolution of the vampire," Hoffman said. "The vampires are fighting back. They're coming into their own."

Hoffman, who lives in Florida, became interested in vampires when she was a child.

  "I used to watch all the monsters on TV," she said.
  At 19, she suffered retinal detachment and lost her sight.

Hoffman has two private psychotherapy practices. She's also on the board of directors for the visually impaired.

For more information, or to order a book, visit http://www.vampireroyalty.com/. Hoffman's book is also available through Amazon.com.

  Contact:
  Valerie Hoffman
  drval@bellsouth.net

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