Vampyre lifestyle and club scene

The Vampyre club scene revolves around "the Vampyre aesthetic": music with a vampire theme, dressing up like fictional vampires (or the general cultivation of a "Vampyric" appearance), etc. It is an outgrowth of but by no means identical to the Goth/Industrial scene, and is also heavily influenced by role-playing games such as Vampire: the Masquerade.

"Vampyre lifestylers" are people who have adopted the "Vampyre esthetic" not just as something to do at clubs but as part of their total lifestyle, and who form alternative extended families modeled on the "covens," "clans," etc. found in some vampire fiction and role-playing games. Vampyre lifestylers may or may not also be "real vampires" in the sense of people with a felt need to consume blood and/or psychic energy. Conversely, not all "real vampires" are Vampyre lifestylers, and some are downright uncomfortable with Vampyre lifestylers, dismissing them as "posers and wannabees." (I personally would reserve the word "poser" for someone who is actually lying, e.g. about one's age and powers. As for "wannabees," it should be noted that not even "real vampires" are "vampires" in the classic folkloric sense of that term.) Not all "real vampires" have an interest in vampire fiction or imagery. Also, there has been some tension within the vampiric community between "real vampires" (in the sense defined above) and those Vampyre lifestylers who consume blood or energy not out of bodily need but as part of a voluntarily chosen lifestyle.

Also on this page I will list sites dealing with "real vampires" as part of the goth scene. Not all "real vampires" are part of the goth scene, by any means.

Here is the beginning of a list of links (still very much under construction):

1. Sites with articles about the Vampyre lifestyle

• Verthaine's Vampyre Lifestylers site
• Vampire Central
• Treespirit's Vampyrism site
• Vampirism on Nonsequitur Realm.
• Fairfield County Weekly and Westchester County Weekly article "Fang Fetish" by Stefanie Ramp. See especially the info about the Clan of Lilith on pages 2 and 3 of the article.
• Interviews with the Vampires (on "self-made vampires") by Carol Lloyd, in Salon Magazine
• Vampyres at the homepage of Withered Black Rose
• Vampires at Timo's Dark Little Corner

2. Clubs, event listings, music, etc.

• The New York/Northeast U.S.A. Vampyre scene:
  • Sabretooth, Inc. - New York's best-known promoter of "Dark fetish & vampyre events, products and publications." (Aaron Todd Hoyt, a.k.a. Todd Sabretooth, is also events coordinator and head Storyteller for Northeast cities and sites for the VtM LARP group One World by Night.)
  • The Coven Organization - a group of ex-Sabretooth people, "dedicated to the prosperity and preservation of the Vampyre community and culture." (includes "V.I.T.A.E.", a vampyre-specific Search Engine)
  • Listings of events, bookstores, etc. at the New Jersey Association of Real Vampyres website.
  • Vampyre Dreams - NYC cable TV show hosted by Morella and Asif.
  • Land of Rape and Glitter, featuring listings of concerts and clubs.
  • Clan of Lilith
  • Clan Mavenlore
  • Drkangel's Theatre' Des Vampyre aux Goth in Salem, Massachusetts
  • Teeth by Dnash - custom-designed fangs and other Vampyre paraphernalia

• The Vampyre scene elsewhere:
  • The Fang Club in Beverly Hills
  • Gothic Chicago - event listings, etc.
  • Vamp Elite (New Orleans)
  • The Sanctuary Vampire Sex Bar, a Gothic/Industrial club in Toronto
  • Vampyre Exchange and Information Network (VEIN), a network of European vampire fan clubs, mostly the old-fashioned type of literary fan clubs, but also some of the newer, more aesthetically-oriented scene.
  • Listing of clubs, publications, and vampire bands at International Vampire in the Netherlands
  • International list of Vampyre Shops, at the Vampyres Only site.
  • Vamp Music at InterVamp (in the Netherlands)
  • The Vampyre Music List (Ken Cantrell)
  • Supreme Blood Ezine
  • Carpe Noctem magazine
  • Dramir Vrolok's page, including info about the Order of Vampyricum and the band daisy's chain.
  • The Black Rose clothing and jewelry
  • Ipso Facto catalog -- Gothic music, fetish & club clothing, vampiric accessories, candles and incense
  • Vampyre paraphernalia (in UK)
  • The Undead List catalog
  • How to Make Nice-Looking Fangs for Next to Nothing by Jason Puckett.

3. Public message boards

• Nonsequitur Rhetoric message board on Nonsequitur Realm, run by Dark Mistress, who also runs Nocturnal Visions and the private forum Nocturnal Underground, about which see my listing of organizations.
• FANGS Gothic / Vampyric Message Board at the former FANGS.COM web pages
• See also my listing of "real vampire" message boards.

See also Real-life blood-drinkers and energy hungerers.

Typically, the Vampyre club scene spells "Vampyre" with a "y," whereas the blood-drinkers and psychic vampires typically spell "vampire" with an "i." However, these conventions are not uniformly followed; there are plenty of exceptions. It should also be noted that both of these groups are distinct from vampire fiction fandom, which likewise may use either spelling. For example, the alt.vampyres newsgroup pre-dates the Vampyre club scene.

To recommend other relevant links, please write to Amy Krieytaz, akrieytaz@hotmail.com. Thank you.

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