WEBVTT 1 00:00:07.480 --> 00:00:15.519 Monster House Presents. It's actually quite unlike anything we've ever 2 00:00:15.560 --> 00:00:16.120 seen before. 3 00:00:18.280 --> 00:00:21.879 A giant, hairy creature Part eight parts. 4 00:00:22.920 --> 00:00:26.000 In Luckness, a twenty four mile long bottomless lake in 5 00:00:26.039 --> 00:00:27.120 the Highlands of Scotland. 6 00:00:27.480 --> 00:00:29.600 It's a creature known as the Luckness Monster. 7 00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:52.960 Monster tal. 8 00:00:54.479 --> 00:00:57.640 Welcome to Monster Talk, the science show about monsters. 9 00:00:57.920 --> 00:00:59.320 I'm Blake Smith. 10 00:00:59.320 --> 00:01:01.520 And I'm Karen Spooky. 11 00:01:01.600 --> 00:01:02.200 Greetings. 12 00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:04.959 It's finally October again and we're kicking off the month 13 00:01:05.079 --> 00:01:08.560 where everyone else finally remembers the gothic vibe that Monster 14 00:01:08.680 --> 00:01:11.680 Talkers hold deer all year. And it's time to start 15 00:01:11.719 --> 00:01:14.959 season four with a friendly little chat with Karen and 16 00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:19.079 her husband Matt Baxter about our theme for October Vampires. 17 00:01:20.040 --> 00:01:22.840 We'll be talking about a Croatian vampire whose name maybe 18 00:01:22.959 --> 00:01:28.359 Arnold Paoli Pioli or maybe it's Pool, who was hinted 19 00:01:28.359 --> 00:01:31.319 at in our previous episode with Professor Nick Groom. I 20 00:01:31.359 --> 00:01:34.239 was amused to notice in preparing for this episode that 21 00:01:34.400 --> 00:01:38.000 Arnold was a hi duke, a word I previously only 22 00:01:38.040 --> 00:01:41.400 recognized from the lyrics of the viral song Dragons Tied 23 00:01:41.519 --> 00:01:45.120 Dente aka the Newma Numa Song. When they have this 24 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:57.920 line helloo heiduk, which means hello, Hello, I am an outlaw, 25 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:00.760 So we'll be getting into his outlaw story and how 26 00:02:00.760 --> 00:02:03.319 it ties in with our modern understanding of vampires. But 27 00:02:03.560 --> 00:02:05.879 this also got me thinking about stuff that I read 28 00:02:06.280 --> 00:02:10.479 as a monster kid growing up, like the idea that hypertrichosis, 29 00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:13.879 or the hair growing medical condition behind famous sideshow figures 30 00:02:13.960 --> 00:02:17.599 like Julia Pastrana or Jojo the Dogface Boy might be 31 00:02:17.599 --> 00:02:18.960 behind werewolf stories. 32 00:02:19.039 --> 00:02:20.319 And then there's that whole. 33 00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:23.719 Idea that vampires might be explained by the disease porphyria. 34 00:02:24.439 --> 00:02:27.599 But where did that idea come from? I mean, I 35 00:02:27.680 --> 00:02:31.280 knew about those two diseases, as well as neurofibromatosis, which 36 00:02:31.319 --> 00:02:33.639 is the condition that John Merrick the Elephant Man may 37 00:02:33.639 --> 00:02:36.479 have had, all from reading books about monsters and weird 38 00:02:36.520 --> 00:02:37.919 medical conditions growing up. 39 00:02:38.120 --> 00:02:40.280 But it appears that the first paper. 40 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:44.280 Connecting these diseases to monster lore was a journal paper 41 00:02:44.360 --> 00:02:47.919 called on Porphyria and the Eteology of Werewolves by Lee 42 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:51.599 Illis in nineteen sixty four, And then in nineteen eighty five, 43 00:02:51.719 --> 00:02:55.879 Canadian scientist David Dolphin suggested that porphyria might be behind 44 00:02:55.960 --> 00:02:57.000 vampire legends. 45 00:02:57.599 --> 00:02:59.000 Porphyria is a. 46 00:02:58.840 --> 00:03:01.960 Horrific disease, and we don't need to invoke this rare 47 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:07.039 genetic condition to explain vampires more accurately. The condition can 48 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:10.039 resemble some of the worst effects of what movie vampires 49 00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:13.240 go through when they're exposed to sunlight. It's a fascinating 50 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:16.240 set of symptoms that do overlap with some vampire lore. 51 00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:19.840 But it's such a rare genetic condition and so appallingly 52 00:03:19.919 --> 00:03:22.879 debilitating that it's a bit absurd to imagine anyone suffering 53 00:03:22.879 --> 00:03:26.240 from this condition lived long enough to become the basis 54 00:03:26.280 --> 00:03:30.319 of a vampire legend. Yet invoking the word porphyria outside 55 00:03:30.360 --> 00:03:33.879 of a medical milieu is kind of a shiboleth that 56 00:03:33.879 --> 00:03:37.960 you're plugged into eighties vampire books. Anyway, We've got several 57 00:03:38.039 --> 00:03:41.039 vampire episodes in a row for you, and now let's 58 00:03:41.039 --> 00:03:46.199 get onto the monstrutle. Okay, first of all, listeny, welcome 59 00:03:46.599 --> 00:03:50.439 back to another Monster Talk tonight. We have Matt Baxter 60 00:03:50.520 --> 00:03:55.199 joining us. Hey Matt, and Hey, we're going to be 61 00:03:55.360 --> 00:03:58.400 continuing because you know, by the time this episode comes out, 62 00:03:58.439 --> 00:04:02.199 we will have officially inch into two things. First of all, 63 00:04:02.360 --> 00:04:05.960 the spooky season of October, and second of all, our 64 00:04:06.080 --> 00:04:11.599 fourth season considering that our first season was more than 65 00:04:11.639 --> 00:04:15.759 two hundred episodes, that's such a weirdo. 66 00:04:16.199 --> 00:04:18.199 Yeah, things up nowadays. 67 00:04:18.439 --> 00:04:21.000 Yeah, so well we're going like fifty two to fifty 68 00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:25.000 three episodes of season, so that's pretty cool and fantastic. 69 00:04:25.079 --> 00:04:27.319 So we'll beat This will be season four, episode one. 70 00:04:28.439 --> 00:04:33.120 And we just got through talking to Professor Nick Groom 71 00:04:33.560 --> 00:04:34.720 about vampires. 72 00:04:35.040 --> 00:04:36.079 But even though we. 73 00:04:36.040 --> 00:04:38.720 Could sound like we just got through, no, no. 74 00:04:38.279 --> 00:04:40.199 I'm just saying, it was like it's fresh. 75 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:43.240 No, it was absolutely delightful, and I felt like we 76 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:46.000 could have talked to him for several more hours and 77 00:04:46.120 --> 00:04:48.839 still just spent the whole time learning new things. 78 00:04:49.399 --> 00:04:52.360 And that's that's funny, because I think all of us 79 00:04:52.399 --> 00:04:57.439 have been lifelong fans of vampires, except for I told 80 00:04:57.439 --> 00:05:00.120 you about my recent discovery that my wife. 81 00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:02.079 As well that I guess, I don't know how else 82 00:05:02.079 --> 00:05:03.959 to put it. She's a vampire racist. 83 00:05:05.519 --> 00:05:10.759 She is more of a fan of were Wolve's correct. 84 00:05:11.040 --> 00:05:13.560 I think she likes were wolves. Yes. In fact, she 85 00:05:13.800 --> 00:05:15.680 likes to say that the first movie we saw. 86 00:05:15.560 --> 00:05:19.519 Together was an American werewolf in London. So she likes 87 00:05:19.560 --> 00:05:22.319 to say is that Well, it's one of those things 88 00:05:22.319 --> 00:05:25.360 that it's an important part of our marriage lore. It's 89 00:05:25.399 --> 00:05:29.240 also broussly inaccurate because it's the second movie we watched together. 90 00:05:29.279 --> 00:05:30.240 But that's another story. 91 00:05:30.519 --> 00:05:34.439 She oh, well, won't get into that. That would truly 92 00:05:34.480 --> 00:05:35.120 be monstrous. 93 00:05:35.120 --> 00:05:38.040 I don't want to open those old wounds again, arose. 94 00:05:38.199 --> 00:05:43.199 Yeah, well, I guess why are we talking about vampires 95 00:05:43.279 --> 00:05:47.639 again since we spoke to Nick Groom. Well, I've got 96 00:05:47.720 --> 00:05:50.759 a vampire related project that's coming up, and this is 97 00:05:51.079 --> 00:05:57.839 Halloween season two. And as you say, most people love vampires. 98 00:05:57.680 --> 00:06:02.199 Most many, many people. That's right, but not my wife. 99 00:06:03.519 --> 00:06:06.120 So I guess I could say whatever because she won't 100 00:06:06.160 --> 00:06:08.360 listen to this because it's got vampires in the title. 101 00:06:08.560 --> 00:06:12.519 So well, then she'll listen to this to see if 102 00:06:12.519 --> 00:06:14.879 you're talking a bit about her. 103 00:06:17.839 --> 00:06:19.480 She doesn't even know I have a podcast. 104 00:06:21.439 --> 00:06:23.720 It's kind of kind of like that with my family too. 105 00:06:24.439 --> 00:06:28.959 Even though Matt sometimes appears on here, that doesn't make 106 00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:29.720 any difference. 107 00:06:30.879 --> 00:06:33.399 I thought this was a joke on Blake that we 108 00:06:33.519 --> 00:06:34.279 really don't have. 109 00:06:34.839 --> 00:06:40.439 Sorry, I've been talking into a bucket for since two 110 00:06:40.439 --> 00:06:41.160 thousand and nine. 111 00:06:41.240 --> 00:06:41.639 What what? 112 00:06:43.720 --> 00:06:46.839 Yeah? We have spoken about vamp? Yeah, vampires, back to 113 00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:50.120 the topic. I think we did a live episode on 114 00:06:50.240 --> 00:06:56.600 vampires once before, speaking about our favorite vampires. Yeah, and so, 115 00:06:56.720 --> 00:07:00.160 I mean it all comes back to Osbourne Osborne on 116 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:05.879 Usborn Guides, because that's where I first heard about vampires. 117 00:07:06.079 --> 00:07:09.399 I mean it was probably an Osmosis thing, hearing about 118 00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:12.519 vampire movies Dracula, And that was one of my first 119 00:07:12.639 --> 00:07:15.839 encounters with the vampires, was in one of these supernatural 120 00:07:15.879 --> 00:07:20.959 guides on vampires where wolves and demons. And it's interesting 121 00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:25.000 because Blake, you and I kind of came together because 122 00:07:25.040 --> 00:07:29.319 of stories like Jeff the Talkie Mongoose and Lord Dufferin's 123 00:07:29.360 --> 00:07:32.560 ghost story. And I think that this was a connection 124 00:07:32.720 --> 00:07:36.319 that Matt and I made that we both came across 125 00:07:36.360 --> 00:07:39.720 this particular tale, the story of a fellow called we 126 00:07:39.759 --> 00:07:42.399 thought it was we both thought it was Arnold Paol 127 00:07:43.040 --> 00:07:46.600 And we've recently been hearing more and more people pronounce 128 00:07:46.639 --> 00:07:48.040 his name is Arnold paul. 129 00:07:48.160 --> 00:07:49.839 Ah interesting, correct, Matt? 130 00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:52.519 Yeah, yeah, So. 131 00:07:52.480 --> 00:07:58.439 Well, all vampires are pale, pale, Yeah, at least in 132 00:07:58.480 --> 00:08:01.040 the South they are this, you know. 133 00:08:02.160 --> 00:08:05.199 But Matt, how did you hear about on a poll? 134 00:08:06.279 --> 00:08:06.519 You know? 135 00:08:06.759 --> 00:08:09.959 I I don't think I had like one particular place. 136 00:08:10.319 --> 00:08:14.079 It was probably in a book that that I might 137 00:08:14.199 --> 00:08:16.879 have checked out from the school library or something, but 138 00:08:17.199 --> 00:08:24.079 it wasn't from the uh the Born books like you guys. 139 00:08:24.079 --> 00:08:27.839 You guys had all the cool stuff. But I remember 140 00:08:27.920 --> 00:08:31.759 reading about it and thinking, this is the coolest thing ever. 141 00:08:31.879 --> 00:08:35.120 It's like this, this was a real vampire. And it's 142 00:08:35.159 --> 00:08:40.639 interesting because I had written a piece of Highlander fan 143 00:08:40.759 --> 00:08:41.919 fiction as we. 144 00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:43.039 All do, as we all do. 145 00:08:43.360 --> 00:08:47.559 Yeah, yeah, it's pretty pretty average, you know, I'm I 146 00:08:47.960 --> 00:08:51.399 know what I'm talking about it, But yeah, I thought, okay, 147 00:08:51.480 --> 00:08:53.960 this is great. You got these these immortals and everything. 148 00:08:54.159 --> 00:08:56.759 So what would happen if if somebody died and came 149 00:08:56.799 --> 00:08:59.480 back to life and thought that they were actually a 150 00:08:59.559 --> 00:09:02.559 vampire and not just like one of these immortals, you know, 151 00:09:02.600 --> 00:09:07.080 because why would they know? And what horrible things would 152 00:09:07.080 --> 00:09:11.120 they you know, get up to not knowing any better? 153 00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:14.159 And so yeah, I wrote this whole whole story. You know, 154 00:09:14.279 --> 00:09:16.639 Duncan McLeod, you know, and he has his little flashbacks. 155 00:09:16.639 --> 00:09:19.240 He flashed back to that time when he and Arnold 156 00:09:19.240 --> 00:09:22.120 were on that Hey rack or they trailer and he 157 00:09:22.200 --> 00:09:26.240 fell off and became an immortal and everyone thought he 158 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:29.679 was a vampire, and it was a really fun little story, 159 00:09:29.919 --> 00:09:33.519 and how he had to Trent now in modern day, 160 00:09:33.519 --> 00:09:35.679 had to go track him down because he's still alive 161 00:09:36.679 --> 00:09:41.120 and helped his other you know, new be adjust to 162 00:09:41.240 --> 00:09:42.159 life as an immortal. 163 00:09:42.559 --> 00:09:49.360 So it was just a vampire, yeah, possibly, you know. 164 00:09:49.440 --> 00:09:52.559 You know, I haven't seen any Elvis is still Alive 165 00:09:52.799 --> 00:09:55.320 stories in a long time. But those, man, those were 166 00:09:55.399 --> 00:09:57.639 all up in the eighties. I mean they were all 167 00:09:57.639 --> 00:09:58.679 over the Yeah. 168 00:09:59.080 --> 00:10:02.039 Oh I remember that a kid because what his middle 169 00:10:02.120 --> 00:10:05.440 name was misspelled on his tomb and all kinds of 170 00:10:05.480 --> 00:10:06.399 folklore about that. 171 00:10:07.639 --> 00:10:11.360 Yeah. Well, I still always will love the Tommy Lee 172 00:10:11.480 --> 00:10:15.399 Jones comment in Men in Black that he didn't die, 173 00:10:15.519 --> 00:10:16.279 he just went home. 174 00:10:16.519 --> 00:10:16.679 Yeah. 175 00:10:19.480 --> 00:10:23.039 Well, so with the story of Arnold Paul Blake, are 176 00:10:23.080 --> 00:10:24.080 you familiar with it? 177 00:10:24.519 --> 00:10:25.919 No, please tell me about it? 178 00:10:26.559 --> 00:10:28.799 Okay, Well, I was going to read from the book 179 00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:29.799 if that's okay. 180 00:10:29.679 --> 00:10:32.480 That's sure, I mean from the Osbourne book pages long. 181 00:10:32.759 --> 00:10:35.720 Yes, yeah, I've got it here, accompanied by all of. 182 00:10:35.639 --> 00:10:37.600 The fan I know. The illustrations are. 183 00:10:37.600 --> 00:10:42.399 Also, it's so funny because I think it's I've definitively 184 00:10:42.440 --> 00:10:45.200 come down that my introduction to Jeff had to be 185 00:10:45.240 --> 00:10:46.279 from the Osbourne books. 186 00:10:46.360 --> 00:10:46.519 Right. 187 00:10:46.679 --> 00:10:51.679 So, uh, it's just funny because there's these small, little 188 00:10:51.759 --> 00:10:55.360 children's books, yet they managed to cramp so much. 189 00:10:57.399 --> 00:11:03.360 Legendary coarse material there. I mean, and sure you can 190 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:05.080 learn more, but I mean. 191 00:11:05.039 --> 00:11:08.000 Golly, they get the basics really good. 192 00:11:08.279 --> 00:11:09.279 They do a great job. 193 00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:11.919 Or as my wife will say, they get the basics 194 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:15.919 very well. 195 00:11:16.639 --> 00:11:20.279 So yeah, reading from this story, so that the story 196 00:11:20.279 --> 00:11:24.240 of Arnold Paul. In seventeen twenty nine, a young soldier 197 00:11:24.279 --> 00:11:27.440 from Serbia named Arnold Paul was sent to a remote 198 00:11:27.480 --> 00:11:31.399 and haunted part of Greece. One night, he was viciously 199 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:35.240 attacked by a vampire. He knew that unless he acted quickly, 200 00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:38.960 he would die and become a vampire himself. The only 201 00:11:39.039 --> 00:11:42.480 solution was for Arnold to find his attacker's grave, eat 202 00:11:42.559 --> 00:11:45.080 some earth from it, and smear his body with the 203 00:11:45.159 --> 00:11:49.159 vampire's blood. Although he carried out this remedy, Arnold was 204 00:11:49.200 --> 00:11:51.639 so afraid that he left the army and returned to 205 00:11:51.679 --> 00:11:55.559 his home. Arnold settled on his small farm in the 206 00:11:55.639 --> 00:11:58.600 village of and I think it's Medvega. It's got a 207 00:11:58.799 --> 00:12:01.559 little kind of diacritic on the d and have asked 208 00:12:01.559 --> 00:12:05.600 a Serbian friend to if that's pronunciation. He said, yeah, 209 00:12:05.679 --> 00:12:06.639 so we'll go with that. 210 00:12:08.120 --> 00:12:10.840 If any of our Serbian listeners want to correct us, 211 00:12:10.840 --> 00:12:12.799 you know how to contact us, Yeah. 212 00:12:12.600 --> 00:12:16.120 Please please do and they will ah so, and he 213 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:19.639 seemed to be quite unharmed when he returned. However, during 214 00:12:19.720 --> 00:12:22.720 the harvest, he fell from a hay cart and died 215 00:12:22.759 --> 00:12:27.039 soon thereafter. He was buried in the local churchyard, but 216 00:12:27.120 --> 00:12:30.519 he did not rest there in peace. Within a month, 217 00:12:30.679 --> 00:12:33.879 Arnold was seen wandering the village at night. People who 218 00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:37.200 saw his spirit became very ill, and four died within 219 00:12:37.240 --> 00:12:40.960 a few days. Panic spread and it was decided Arnold's 220 00:12:41.000 --> 00:12:43.559 body must be dug up and checked for any signs 221 00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:47.919 of vampirism. This gruesome task was carried out one gray 222 00:12:47.960 --> 00:12:52.000 winter morning, about ten weeks after Arnold's funeral. The grave 223 00:12:52.039 --> 00:12:54.759 digger dug up the coffin, watched by officials from the 224 00:12:54.799 --> 00:12:58.159 capital city and army doctors, as well as local dignitaries. 225 00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:02.919 When the coffin was opened, what it revealed made everyone 226 00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:06.080 certain that they were dealing with a vampire. Arnold had 227 00:13:06.120 --> 00:13:08.639 moved to one side of the coffin, his hair and 228 00:13:08.759 --> 00:13:11.759 nails had grown, and his mouth was red with fresh blood. 229 00:13:12.120 --> 00:13:15.320 He looked like a living man. Arnold's corpse had to 230 00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:17.399 be dealt with in one of the traditional ways for 231 00:13:17.519 --> 00:13:21.639 ending vampirism before his soul could rest quietly. The villagers 232 00:13:21.639 --> 00:13:25.080 scattered garlic over Arnold's body and said prayers for his spirit. 233 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:29.559 A steak of white whitehorn wood was driven into his 234 00:13:29.639 --> 00:13:34.000 heart with one blow, warm crimson blood gushed from the wound, 235 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:36.639 as if Arnold was still alive, although he had been 236 00:13:36.679 --> 00:13:40.559 buried over two months. The corpse writhed in agony and 237 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:45.159 let out a dreadful yell. The four victims of Arnold's 238 00:13:45.240 --> 00:13:47.639 nighttime attacks were dug up in case they had become 239 00:13:47.759 --> 00:13:51.519 vampires too. The reports of this epidemic of the undead 240 00:13:51.679 --> 00:13:57.159 in Medvega do not mention the condition of these corpses. However, 241 00:13:57.240 --> 00:13:59.639 it seems that they were vampires, as they were dealt 242 00:13:59.639 --> 00:14:02.399 with in the same way as Arnold had been stabbed 243 00:14:02.440 --> 00:14:06.480 by white thorn stakes and beheaded with a spade. Finally, 244 00:14:06.519 --> 00:14:09.399 all the vampires were thrown into a roaring bonfire and 245 00:14:09.480 --> 00:14:13.679 burned in the fierce flames. Fire was supposed to be 246 00:14:13.720 --> 00:14:17.840 the ultimate weapon for destroying vampires. A pile of smoldering 247 00:14:17.840 --> 00:14:22.639 ashes is impossible to revive. Once deprived of an earthly home, 248 00:14:22.679 --> 00:14:25.519 the vampire's soul was forced to go to the spirit world. 249 00:14:26.080 --> 00:14:29.320 Although all the vampires had been staked, burned, and reburied, 250 00:14:29.559 --> 00:14:33.320 within six years, a new epidemic broke out in the village. 251 00:14:33.399 --> 00:14:36.600 Once again, people were taken ill and became pale and weak, 252 00:14:36.679 --> 00:14:39.559 as if from a loss of blood. They died suddenly, 253 00:14:39.799 --> 00:14:43.679 just like Arnold's victims. The villagers now knew how to 254 00:14:43.720 --> 00:14:46.840 deal with the danger, and another party of investigators arrived 255 00:14:46.840 --> 00:14:51.120 from Belgrade. They examined every suspicious grave and found many 256 00:14:51.240 --> 00:14:55.120 corpses in a vampiric state. These included children and even 257 00:14:55.159 --> 00:14:58.519 small babies as well as adults. All were full of 258 00:14:58.559 --> 00:15:01.840 fresh blood so they would delt within the usual way. 259 00:15:01.960 --> 00:15:04.399 The ashes were then thrown into a river to carry 260 00:15:04.440 --> 00:15:08.320 them away. People suspected the new epidemic being caused by 261 00:15:08.360 --> 00:15:12.879 eating meat from animals once attacked by Arnold Paul. So 262 00:15:13.879 --> 00:15:16.440 that's the story, and I think it really encompasses a 263 00:15:16.519 --> 00:15:22.200 lot of that kind of Bulkan law you know prior 264 00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:28.799 to Dracula, following tales of Vlad the Impaler, But it 265 00:15:28.840 --> 00:15:31.159 really does cover a lot of the kind of peasant 266 00:15:31.879 --> 00:15:36.159 law as opposed to the vampires of fiction. 267 00:15:37.799 --> 00:15:40.679 I think it's also interesting that it also implies that 268 00:15:40.720 --> 00:15:48.200 there were vampire hunters. They called them investigators there, but yes. 269 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:52.639 That's true, and I do wonder about that because I'm 270 00:15:52.639 --> 00:15:57.799 hearing a lot about even museums finding vampire hunter kits, 271 00:15:57.879 --> 00:16:01.120 and certainly a lot of YouTube videos, and I'm just 272 00:16:01.120 --> 00:16:03.240 a little bit suspicious about them. Do you know anything 273 00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:04.519 about vampire hunters? 274 00:16:04.559 --> 00:16:10.799 Blake, and yeah, so spoilers. It appears that most of 275 00:16:10.840 --> 00:16:13.120 the kids, well as far as I know, all the 276 00:16:13.200 --> 00:16:17.000 kids that have been identified, appear to be late Victorian 277 00:16:17.080 --> 00:16:19.840 recreations of what they think they should have looked like, 278 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:24.840 which is disappointing because they look frigging cool. I know, 279 00:16:24.919 --> 00:16:27.480 Joe Nichol has a really nice one, and I've seen 280 00:16:27.519 --> 00:16:30.879 a lot of them in museums and it's just kind 281 00:16:30.919 --> 00:16:34.600 of sad because they look like authentically like they would 282 00:16:34.600 --> 00:16:37.320 be something. Well, they look like movie props. They look 283 00:16:37.360 --> 00:16:39.440 exactly like you would expect a vampire hunter to have. 284 00:16:40.159 --> 00:16:43.799 But they're mostly in response to sort of the rise 285 00:16:43.840 --> 00:16:47.600 of vampires in fiction, and as we kind of discussed 286 00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:52.919 in our previous episode, in the late eighteen hundreds, right yeah, it's. 287 00:16:52.720 --> 00:16:56.120 Not like we'd have too much leftover from the medieval 288 00:16:56.240 --> 00:16:56.960 era anyway. 289 00:16:56.960 --> 00:16:57.840 But well, true enough. 290 00:16:58.440 --> 00:17:01.360 But you know, it's interesting because I think in an 291 00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:06.880 interview with Professor Groom, he talked about the Habsburg dynasty 292 00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:10.359 and that they had been responsible for doing investigations into 293 00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:13.240 Eastern European vampires, and this is one of the two 294 00:17:13.359 --> 00:17:17.359 cases that that was kind of famous. I guess the 295 00:17:17.359 --> 00:17:22.480 other was Peter Blagojevich. I'm sure I'm slaughtering that name 296 00:17:22.519 --> 00:17:23.359 in the same way that he. 297 00:17:23.400 --> 00:17:24.400 Slaughtered as victims. 298 00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:33.920 Yes, yeah, yeah, but it's the whole idea of predates 299 00:17:33.960 --> 00:17:35.240 on he does. 300 00:17:35.319 --> 00:17:35.640 He does. 301 00:17:35.960 --> 00:17:42.720 But my understanding is that that they're both Habsburg related cases, that, 302 00:17:43.160 --> 00:17:49.759 in other words, that that there were official royal investigations, 303 00:17:50.319 --> 00:17:54.960 which kind of ties up all these sort of I 304 00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:58.359 guess a lot of people who read modern understanding of 305 00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:05.279 these vampire cases read them as sort of primitive understanding 306 00:18:05.680 --> 00:18:08.039 of forensics, like the first time people really start to 307 00:18:08.039 --> 00:18:11.359 pay attention to what happens post mortem to people. 308 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:13.759 So there's there's a really interesting sort. 309 00:18:13.599 --> 00:18:17.880 Of science tie in there, because we know way more 310 00:18:17.920 --> 00:18:21.039 now about what happens when people die and how that. 311 00:18:24.359 --> 00:18:26.640 Yeah, but at the same time we've got things like 312 00:18:26.880 --> 00:18:29.599 supercarbra sightings and cattle mutilations. 313 00:18:29.680 --> 00:18:37.400 And I'm not saying we're smarter, but yeah, that's definitely true. 314 00:18:37.720 --> 00:18:40.599 Just to get back to the vampire sure, sure, yeah quickly, 315 00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:43.920 Matt made a good observation. Are you watching a video 316 00:18:43.960 --> 00:18:47.640 on one of them, and you're looking at the little 317 00:18:47.720 --> 00:18:52.079 containers that they had of aztec and little cute bottles 318 00:18:52.079 --> 00:18:53.440 full of poisons and things. 319 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:56.720 The person that was kind of showing this kit, which 320 00:18:56.799 --> 00:19:00.319 did look pretty authentic and everything in terms of aged 321 00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:05.359 they said that this was the kind of thing that 322 00:19:05.559 --> 00:19:10.720 was marketed to travelers that were going to strange lands, 323 00:19:12.119 --> 00:19:16.759 and that seems really act like a great demographic to 324 00:19:16.839 --> 00:19:20.960 buy a vampire hunter kit. That seems like the perfect 325 00:19:21.039 --> 00:19:23.799 person because they don't know what they're coming into in 326 00:19:23.799 --> 00:19:27.400 this this new country. And if you've got somebody there going, 327 00:19:27.599 --> 00:19:30.200 oh no, no, trust this, you know you'll you're gonna 328 00:19:30.200 --> 00:19:33.920 need this. This seems like a great market right there. 329 00:19:34.799 --> 00:19:40.240 Still not authentic, but you know, an authentic fraud from 330 00:19:40.319 --> 00:19:41.279 from the get from. 331 00:19:41.240 --> 00:19:41.680 The get go. 332 00:19:42.920 --> 00:19:45.559 Now the thing is is I noticed that, you know 333 00:19:46.039 --> 00:19:50.240 the crosses that were also steaks of wooden stakes at 334 00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:53.160 the end were kind of held in the box with 335 00:19:53.200 --> 00:19:55.599 these clips that you had to kind of undo and 336 00:19:55.880 --> 00:19:57.880 really clumsy to get them out. And I'm thinking, Okay, 337 00:19:57.920 --> 00:20:01.960 if a vampires like you know, come and at that's 338 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:04.720 probably not the best way to have those in there. 339 00:20:04.960 --> 00:20:07.640 And then like they had these candle holders and stuff, 340 00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:09.599 you know that you had to you know, there was 341 00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:12.799 some assembly required, and I think that's another great thing 342 00:20:12.839 --> 00:20:15.960 to have, is the vampires upon you. And then they 343 00:20:16.039 --> 00:20:20.200 showed this little packet of matches that you could strike 344 00:20:20.240 --> 00:20:24.240 a match and because fire is not the vampire's friend, 345 00:20:24.480 --> 00:20:26.799 was how it was stated, and I thought, oh lord, 346 00:20:26.880 --> 00:20:29.119 the only thing the vampire could do in its defense 347 00:20:29.240 --> 00:20:29.799 is to go. 348 00:20:32.640 --> 00:20:33.680 Maybe they can't. 349 00:20:34.440 --> 00:20:38.400 Well, but so yeah, just a lot of it just 350 00:20:38.680 --> 00:20:40.240 seemed absurd from the get go. 351 00:20:40.400 --> 00:20:42.119 But they are the coolest looking kids. 352 00:20:42.480 --> 00:20:44.039 I would love to have one of those kids, but 353 00:20:44.119 --> 00:20:46.720 I know that they are all fraud. 354 00:20:46.599 --> 00:20:49.559 Well, I think the lesson there is that LARPing did 355 00:20:49.599 --> 00:20:53.400 not begin in the twentieth century. I mean people were 356 00:20:55.359 --> 00:20:56.839 role playing way back in the day. 357 00:20:56.960 --> 00:21:00.480 Yeah, yeah, yeah, they were out metal LARPing. 358 00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:05.799 So yeah, I don't know where we want to go 359 00:21:05.839 --> 00:21:08.079 to from here, because I just put in some notes 360 00:21:08.400 --> 00:21:12.640 for kind of general discussion, but we kind of started 361 00:21:12.680 --> 00:21:16.480 with the story and well I didn't take it anywhere 362 00:21:16.480 --> 00:21:17.920 we want to ticket Well, one of the. 363 00:21:17.839 --> 00:21:20.039 Ways I want to I was going to say, I 364 00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:20.480 wanted to. 365 00:21:20.440 --> 00:21:22.960 Talk about the latning. 366 00:21:23.799 --> 00:21:27.000 Yeah, well there is that whole flattening thing exactly talking 367 00:21:27.039 --> 00:21:30.200 about how you know, I think it's a very European 368 00:21:30.240 --> 00:21:33.039 thing to make everything that drinks blood a vampire, you know. 369 00:21:33.640 --> 00:21:36.119 And there's another thing. 370 00:21:37.079 --> 00:21:39.480 In fact, we'll probably dig into that more because I'm 371 00:21:39.599 --> 00:21:42.000 very interested in talking about some of the other so 372 00:21:42.079 --> 00:21:42.960 called vampires. 373 00:21:43.480 --> 00:21:44.200 Maybe we should do. 374 00:21:45.079 --> 00:21:49.559 Let's try to make an episode this month on Asian 375 00:21:49.720 --> 00:21:53.319 vampire pyrrhic creatures. I'm not willing to call them vampires, 376 00:21:53.359 --> 00:21:56.599 but they certainly they sort of fall in that category. 377 00:21:56.599 --> 00:21:57.400 And that concludes this. 378 00:21:58.440 --> 00:22:02.400 The Filipino monsters the head comes off and searches for blood, 379 00:22:02.480 --> 00:22:05.319 and the I think it's been Malaysian, Hey why not 380 00:22:05.480 --> 00:22:09.640 both at the penn and Gal is the Malaysian version 381 00:22:09.640 --> 00:22:13.400 of this monster, and the Myna non Gal is the 382 00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:17.880 Filipino version of this monster. And we'll probably be talking 383 00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:21.759 more about them in future episodes. And then the Chinese 384 00:22:21.799 --> 00:22:24.519 hopping vampires, all kinds of varieties. 385 00:22:25.960 --> 00:22:28.400 Well, I wonder if we can find an expert in 386 00:22:28.440 --> 00:22:30.599 that time to talk about that, because that does make 387 00:22:30.640 --> 00:22:35.799 me think of earlier stories and talking with Professor Groom, 388 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:40.480 we were talking predominantly about vampires kind of eighteenth century 389 00:22:40.599 --> 00:22:43.359 and beyond, and yet there are a lot of claims 390 00:22:43.359 --> 00:22:47.160 that vampires are universals and that they have existed across 391 00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:52.000 time and space. And from all the reading and research 392 00:22:52.039 --> 00:22:53.519 that Matt and I have been doing, we hear about 393 00:22:53.519 --> 00:22:57.200 ancient vampires and always have that link, as you say, 394 00:22:57.240 --> 00:23:01.039 Blake with to blood, that connection to to blood somehow, 395 00:23:01.680 --> 00:23:06.680 either drinking blood or being bloodthirsty, something like that. But 396 00:23:06.759 --> 00:23:10.440 a lot of the ancient vampires don't necessarily seem to 397 00:23:10.799 --> 00:23:15.319 be the kind of it's a word I'm looking for, 398 00:23:15.400 --> 00:23:20.839 but just the canonical, canonical vampires, classic classic vampires. 399 00:23:21.079 --> 00:23:25.559 I've seen people describe Lamia and strigas like these are 400 00:23:25.759 --> 00:23:29.000 bloodsucking creatures, but they're not vampires. 401 00:23:29.039 --> 00:23:30.799