In vampire folklore, the ashes of the burned corpse or burned organs of a vampire, mixed in a drink and taken as a kind of medicine, were thought to have the power to heal those who were victims of vampires. In Slavic lore, however, it wasn’t a vampire’s ashes, but the ashes of a burned caul (a membrane that covers a newborn’s head at birth) that was powerful. Consuming the ash of the caul was said to heal the victims of a vampire attack.

In some parts of the world, it wasn’t the ash, but the smoke from the vampire’s burning organs that were desired. This smoke was believed to ward evil and villagers would pass through this smoke in order to cover themselves in protection.

A Romanian account from the 19th century tells the story of a crippled man from Cujmir who died, but apparently, didn’t stay dead. Soon after this man’s death his relatives began to fall ill. For some the illness was so great that they died, while others simply felt their legs weakening. The weak legs suggested to the relatives of the crippled man that he was to blame for their ailments, so they dug up his body. What they discovered was a body gorged with blood and curled up in the corner of the grave. They sliced open the corpse, removed the heart and burned the organs to ashes. The ashes were then mixed with water and given to the relatives suffering from illness and weakness. All of them recovered.

So even after death, the vampire continued to have power, and this time, it was the power to heal. Or so they believed.

- Moonlight

Related posts:

1. Vampire Diaries’ Kat Graham Says Upcoming Confrontations Will Result in Death
2. Let’s Scare Jessica to Death
3. Death by Sunshine

Check out the trailer for yourself:

See it? Just for a moment you see Sookie over Alcide puckering up for a kiss. Yes! But that’s not all the fangtastic trailer revealed. My mind instantly went towards the sexy, but we got a big look at what’s going down in Season 5. Such as…

• Drama going down with Russell Edgington and the big bad Authority and it looks like Bill and Eric have been assigned with the task of taking him down.
• Bill volunteering  Sookie to help with their Russell quest, and giving her no choice to say no. That’s totally not going to go well.
• A flashback of Eric looking all dapper and gentlemanly.
• Steve Newlin goes from vampire hater to vampire. And from the "human are cattle" comment, he’s not going to be a good one. Also, him and Jessica won’t be playing nice with one another.
• The death of Debbie Pelt may come back to bite Sookie in the ass.
• Lafayette calls Sookie an "angel of death."

Lots of excitement going down this upcoming season! Sexy times and scary times.

I am really looking forward to the fifth season of True Blood and I seriously hope it doesn’t disappoint. True Blood has been pretty hit and miss with me – one season is fantastic and then the next is so bad I never want to watch again. Here’s hoping Season 5 doesn’t make me feel that way.

What are your thoughts on the Season 5 trailer? Are you also looking forward to some Sookie on Alcide action? Or are you more focused on all of the other goodies the trailer revealed?

- Moonlight

Related posts:

1. First ‘True Blood’ Season 5 Trailer Released!
2. Joe Manganiello Promises Sookie & Alcide Romance
3. True Blood Sunday Presents: Alcide!

Nina on Elena as a vampire:
"We’re definitely going to see her whole transition into becoming a vampire. We’re not going to skip over it, as we have with others. Becoming a vampire, everything you feel is heightened. . . We know what Elena’s like: She has high morals, she looks out for other people. So what’s Elena going to be like with those things accentuated?"

On Elena’s relationship with her teen witch best friend, now that she’s a vampire:
"Their relationship is probably going to be so strained because of that. Her best friend, the one person she’s been fighting to protect, is now what she’s been fighting against all this time. It’s going to be interesting."

On fan reaction to Elena choosing Stefan over Damon:
"It does kind of feel like you’re disappointing half the people. But you’re always going to disappoint half the people with this kind of storyline. I think we gave them both what they wanted at some point or another during the season, so it’s not like we shunned them or disregarded their wants."

On missing playing a human in addition to her second character, Katherine, who’s a vampire too:
"I liked having one human and one vampire, because then I get the best of worlds and I get to do a variety of things. But, then again, it is going to be different for me and it’s going to be challenge. It’s going to be more fun to sort of explore that world."

Read the interview itself over HERE.

What are your thoughts on Elena being a vampire?

- Moonlight

Related posts:

1. Nina Dobrev on Season 2 of ‘Vampire Diaries’
2. ‘Vampire Diaries’ Ian Somerhalder and Nina Dobrev Talk Finale
3. ‘Vampire Diaries’ Nina Dobrev Dishes on Love, Life and Twilight

• Veronica Carlson in Dracula Has Risen From The Grave.  The Monseignor's niece who becomes the focus of Christopher Lee's revenge for exorcising his castle.  Unlike too many of Dracula's victims in Hammer films, she survived being bitten and so continued as a character.  Her iconic good looks coupled with such lovely details as the way one hand tossed aside a doll as the Count's fangs sank into her neck, plus the central way she figured into the plot, puts her on this list.
• Nan Grey in Dracula's Daughter, the official sequel to the Bela Lugosi classic.  Arguably the most daring such scene of its day, with its heavy hints of lesbianism.  But Lili, the character, was no random waif.  She seemed a real person, and her three tiny scenes conveyed more character than did Helen Chandler's entire performance in the first movie.
• Madaleine Smith in The Vampire Lovers.  As written, Emma in this first of the so-called Karnstein Trilogy, seems a typical Hammer heroine with little or no personality.  But Smith made her more, largely because she had a genuine smile and managed to convey the warm feelings Emma had for the vampire slowly killing her.
• Lupita Tovar in Spanish Dracula.  Barely of age when filming this version, Tovar varied between the innocent ingenue and the predatory vamp with great skill.  Even her laugh, under the Count's growing influence, came across as vague bestial while her horror at the changes in herself were heart-breaking.
• Susan St. James in Love At First Bite.   Vampire comedies rarely work but this one did, and how!  Much of it was because her character of Cindy Sondheim, the flighty supermodel, came across as someone insecure and then quite truly in love with George Hamilton's Dracula.  Her comic timing, grounded in character, made for a crowning touch.
• Nancy Barrett in House of Dark Shadows.  Long before Tim Burton had graduated high school, or Chloe Grace Moretz born, Nancy Barrett played Carolyn Stoddard on the big screen (as she had on the small).  Entranced by "cousin Barnabas" once bitten she proved jealous and possessive in the extreme.  She wanted her undead lover all for herself, and it cost her all the blood she had left when she made an issue of it.
• Nicholas Cage in Vampire's Kiss.  Men rarely get to play this kind of part.  But Cage's performance demonstrated the hypocrasy involved, because his character was an arch-chauvinist transformed into vampire Jennifer Beals' sex slave by a bite.  In truth, she treated him precisely the way he longed to treat women, a marvelous twist.
• Sadie Frost in Bram Stoker's Dracula.  No other Lucy Westenra ever made quite the impression as this lady, with flaming locks and exuberance.  She played so well the flirtatious aristocrat compared to her oh-so-middle class best friend, but transformed into something very different until the sway of Vlad the Impaler!  More, she also conveyed how frightening/exciting her transformation seemed to her personally.
• Brad Pitt in Interview With the Vampire.  Although he spent much of this film (the vast majority of the time) as one of the undead, his Louis seemed very real.  The sad, rich young man bereft of family, looking for death, and in a weird way welcoming it as it appeared.  More, even as a vampire in a real sense he remained that sad young man though out--still a victim even after centuries.
• Kirsten Cerre in Vampire Journals.  One of those wonderful small vampire films without a major studio backing them, this one (filmed in Budapest) featured Cerre as a wonderful pianist targeted by a vampire longing to preserve her talent for himself, forever.  For much of the film, she is first stalked then imprisoned and slowly made to agree.  She will become a vampire, in order at least to live.  Too few stories actually dwell on this aspect of vampire stories, and even fewer films.  In this one, it formed the frame around which the entire story played out!

Okay, your turn.  Which vampire victims were your favorites?

Related posts:

1. Are Sanguinarians Really Victims of Renfield’s Syndrome?
2. LGBT Vampire Film Suprises at Film Festival
3. Film Flashback: Mark of the Vampire

Lampir is actually the Bosnian word for vampire, a word that usually popped up during severe epidemics. Due to the lack of medical knowledge ages ago, vampires were often the blame for disease and death. That was the case with the lampir. Disease was what usually triggered the appearance of a lampir in towns, if disease swept through the community it was more often than not attributed to lampirs if no other cause could be found.

The first person stricken by the disease and killed by it was labeled as a vampire, and those who were died after were all considered to be victims of the original vampire, and said to be incredibly dangerous for they could further spread death to the town.

In 1879 when the Austrians took control of Bosnia, officials made note of many cases of people exhuming corpses and burning them as lampirs (a practice common throughout parts of Europe), since fire was the one and only way to destroy this vampire. The Austrians, not agreeing with such practices, later banned them.

This fear didn’t just exist in Bosnia hundreds of years ago, it was also prominent in more recent years. In an article written in 1923 by M. Edith Durham, an English anthropologist studying in Bosnia, reported her experience:

“A recent case was when there was an outbreak of typhus [in 1906] … A young man was first to die. His wife sickened and swore that her husband returned in the night and sucked her blood and said, 'He is a lampir.' The neighbours, filled with fear, begged the authorities to permit them to dig up and burn his body. Permission was refused, and panic ensued. The lampir was seen and heard by many people and there were 15 deaths."

Stories such as this always fascinate me. The things people believe due to fear and ignorance amaze me. But who knows, maybe there really were vampires and not just disease.

- Moonlight

No related posts.

The finale to The Vampire Diaries third season was definitely a hell of a ride. All kinds of drama went down and it was damn good. I loved it! There were a few moments in the finale that stuck out in my mind more than others, so instead of recapping every second of the episode, I’m just sharing my thoughts on the biggest and best.

Elena is a Vampire
At the end of the episode Elena becomes a vampire! That’s sure to please a lot of book fans since she becomes a vampire very quickly into the book series. According to executive producer Julie Plec, turning Elena has been in the works for two years. They wanted to choose the right moment for her to begin this journey. It’ll definitely make Season 4 more interesting. Maybe everyone won’t be trying to protect her as much since she now has super powers. I personally love that Elena is a vampire. It will start a new journey for her, something other than the same Elena drama we have seen the past few season. I want something new for her, and this is new.

Elena’s Choice
The big love triangle has ended… for now. Elena chose Stefan! I figured that she would have, she has so much love and history with him. Her goodbye speech with Damon was interesting, especially when she said that if she had met Damon first it may have been him she picked. A flashback later revealed that it was Damon she met first, but that he compelled her to forget. I wonder if that will come up again when Elena gets her lost memories back during vampire transition. According to Julie Plec in an interview about the finale, “Damon now has a small collection of things that he’s compelled her to forget. If there’s one thing that everyone knows about our vampire rules it’s that when you die and are in transition, your memories start to come back. So, there’s some new information that will be introduced to Elena in the first episode of next season." Plec added that, "I think it’s just all part of the ongoing friendship and romantic entanglement that Elena has with Damon. She’s never gonna be able to shake it completely, and new information is only gonna get under her skin and embed itself into her even more. And so, it will cause complications with Stefan, of course. But she’s committed to Stefan. She loves Stefan. We’ll get to actually see them be together for a little while."

Plec revealed a lot there! Elena will remember a lot of little things, the love triangle isn’t totally dead, and her and Stefan will be happy for a while.

The Klaus/Tyler Drama
Ok, the stuff that went down with Tyler and Caroline was totally boring to me and honestly, I don’t even care to mention it. What I do feel like talking about is what the hell is going on with Klaus being in Tyler’s body? I know Bonnie performed some dark magic and pulled the same body switching spell that Esther did. Did she do it just to protect her friend's vampire line?  And what about Tyler, why did she pick him? I'm so confused. I really don't like where it's going to go.

Bonnie’s Darkness
Bonnie is using more and more dark magic and it’s affecting her. Again, Julie Plec confirmed that we will be seeing the consequences of that darkness next season. My theory is that Bonnie will just get darker and darker and that she is going to have Willow moment like in Buffy. For those of you who haven’t watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer (tsk tsk), Willow, a sweet and good witch, totally loses it and succumbs to very dark magic which turns her evil. I am thinking the same may happen to Bonnie.

Those are the big moments that stood out in my head and have me excited for Season 4 of The Vampire Diaries. What about you? What did you think of the finale?

For those of you who want more dish on the finale, check out this interview with Julie Plec. She discusses the finale in great detail and even reveals some goodies on the next season.

- Moonlight

Related posts:

1. Vampire Diaries Season Finale! (Season 1, Episode 22)
2. Epic Kiss Scenes and Goodbyes Coming to The Vampire Diaries
3. ‘Vampire Diaries’ Ian Somerhalder and Nina Dobrev Talk Finale

Did you spot it? It’s Tara! Tara is part of the Season 5 cast, she has her own character poster and everything. For those that may have forgotten – in the bloody fourth season finale of True Blood, Tara was shot in the head by Debbie Pelt. The show then ended with Sookie screaming for help and we were left not knowing whether or not Tara survived the horrific wound. That was the big cliffhanger of the season, and now, we know that she survives. If that’s not enough proof for you, I’ve got more! Rutina Wesley, the lovely actress who plays Tara, has already been added to the Season 5 episode casting list. According to IMDB, she will be in quite a few Season 5 episodes. So it has been confirmed, Tara will return, how long she will stay is something we’ll just have to wait and see.

The return of Tara is great news for some and horrible news for others. Some True Blood fans absolutely despise Tara and her constant personal drama, but others love her and her kickass attitude.

Where do you stand? Are you excited about the return of Tara or not? Were you hoping she would die? How do you think True Blood is going to pull off her surviving a gunshot to the head?

- Moonlight

Related posts:

1. True Blood Season 4 Sneak Peek and Posters!
2. New ‘Breaking Dawn’ Trailer and Posters Revealed!
3. True Blood Sneak Peek Revealed at Comic-Con

As much as I want to get excited about a brand new vampire film, I can’t in this case. There is little to no information on this supposed movie and that tells me that this is most likely the work of an unknown author hoping that their book will be made in a film. Until there are details on production, director, studio and cast… etc. I am simply going to assume that this is one movie not happening. If their website, Facebook or Twitter had any solid information on the film, then I would totally be on board. But there is nothing. Ah well.

I am being a negative Nancy though, so who knows, it’s possible they may eventually make a movie. In that case, here’s the book description:

"LUNA'S DREAM is the first installment in the thrilling teen romance and action packed saga between 15-year old vampire and social outsider, Luna Tremaine and 16-year old closet introvert turned star quarterback, Paul James. Dangerous desires put their young love and the loyalty of family and close friends to the ultimate test with Luna's and Paul James' forbidden mingling of vampires and humans; breaking an eons old vampire code. The danger explodes when a trio of deadly and "vicious" teen vampire cheerleaders from powerful vampire families, the "Killer Bees", set their bloodlust onto the prize of Luna's, Paul James. Luna and best friend Lily Burgoyne take that danger to unbelievable heights in the thrilling climax of SOULSTICE: LUNA'S DREAM."

It may make a good movie… if it ever gets off the ground.

What do you think of the premise of Soulstice: Luna's Dream? Will you give the book a read? Are you hoping it does come to film?

- Moonlight

Related posts:

1. Apocalyptic Teen Vampire Series Coming to Film!
2. My Sucky Teen Romance
3. Teen Books Coming May 2011

The sexy stars Ian Somerhalder and Nina Dobrev spoke to fans at the Bloody Night Convention in Barcelona, Spain, on May 5 and gave a little bit of dish on what fans can (or cannot) expect in the finale.

When a fan asked what the expectations are for the characters during the next episodes and into season 4, Ian simply said that "It's best not to have any expectations so you don't get disappointed."

Nina then further explained that when you expect certain events to happen and they don't, people tend to feel let down, so she added "Expect nothing!" Of course, this answer didn’t really thrill the fans.

When asked about the relationship between Damon and Elena, Nina teased that Damon makes Elena laugh and added that a romance "may happen." Meanwhile, Ian further taunted with "You never know…"

Ok, that’s not the most informative interview. They are very hush hush on the whole subject. All we know is that Damon isn’t out yet of the love triangle yet.

Something with a little more spark in it is the episode description for the finale! It definitely has me excited. Check it out:

"Determined to protect his sister, Jeremy makes a decision that will change everything. In the harsh reality of the present situation, Elena longs for simpler times when her parents, Grayson and Miranda, and Aunt Jenna were still alive and her biggest concern was her relationship with Matt. Stefan and Damon leave Mystic Falls together on a mission, but soon split up when Elena needs one of them. Caroline and Tyler are forced to make a life-changing decision. Finally, Bonnie makes a secret deal that has heartbreaking consequences."

It sounds like we are in for a very unhappy ending to Season 3. From the looks of that synopsis nothing good will be coming their way.

Here is the promo video:

Oh noes! It looks like Elena and Matt go off the very bridge that killed her parents. Things are not looking hot for Elena.

What do you think will go down in the finale? Are you excited?

- Moonlight

Related posts:

1. Interview With Ian Somerhalder of The Vampire Diaries
2. Nina Dobrev on Being a Vampire in The Vampire Diaries
3. Nina Dobrev on Season 2 of ‘Vampire Diaries’

Essentially this latest telling centers on Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp) who came with his parents to Maine and founded a town, eventually building a palatial home called Collinwood.  Historically a lot of these details are bunk, but they fit consistently into their own little world.  Much like the original.  The handsome Barnabas has an eye for the ladies, but the serving girl Angelique (Eva Green) who'd been with the family even in England, has an eye for him.  She is a witch.  More, she is crazy.  Glenn Close's character in Fatal Attraction isn't this wacko.  Among other things, she kills the girl Barnabas loves,  Josette (Bella Heathcote) and transforms Barnabas himself into a vampire.  Townspeople chain him up in a coffin, then bury him alive.  Or undead.

Cut to 1972.  To the tune of "Knights in White Satin" (this flick has a very nice film score, including a cool selection of period songs) we see a young lady on a train, clutching in her hand a want-ad for a governess.  Soon we learn her name is Maggie Evans, but then and there decides an alias--Victoria Winters.  She looks exactly like Josette.  In voiceover we learn she is going somewhere on behalf of a "very old friend."  Finding out who that friend is becomes one a many really interesting twists in the tale, especially to those who know the convoluted storyline of the t.v. show.  It also highlights an issue.

Is Dark Shadows a comedy?

Not as easy a question to answer as it might seem.  Burton's films often deal with excessively tragic subject matter.  A desperately lonely artificial boy who will never ever fit in.  A happy young couple killed and haunting their home.  The efforts of a constable to solve a series of grisly murders that touch upon his own horrific memories of childhood.  He offsets same with lots of dashes of his own zany humor.  This is precisely what he does in this.  When workman on a construction site accidentally release Barnabas from his prison, they pay the price with their lives.  Almost immediately we see a recurring theme in the film played for both humor and pathos--this 18th century gentleman trying to adjust to the 1970s.  He stops short at a paved road, never having seen asphalt before.  Electric signs baffle him.  As do modern fashions.  His speech remains laced with anachronisms.  It makes for a lot of laughs.  But unlike so many "comedies" this is not just one joke after another a la Vampires Suck or the Scary Movies.  More like Young Frankenstein, it plays up the humor in the midst of human drama.  Barnabas has but one real anchor in this strange new world.  His family.  Matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer), her hippie daughter Carolyn (Chloe Grace Moretz), her brother Roger (Jonny Lee Miller) and his son David (Gulliver McGrath) who remains so traumatized from his mother Laura's death the family has a live-in psychiatrist, Dr. Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter).  That this family barely functions and is under attack from his old enemy Angelique gives Barnabas something to do.  Much as when the late Jonathan Frid played the role, this Barnabas becomes the Collins' fierce, stubborn, idiosyncratic guardian demon.  He enters into an alliance with Elizabeth, barely tolerates the oafish Roger, almost immediately bonds with David and begins a slow process of winning over the unhappy, disdainful Carolyn.

More, he falls in love.  One can see why he falls for Vicky, the new governess, for she consistently demonstrates a quiet strength and courage complementary to his own flamboyant virtues.  This matches up with the original series.  In fact, there's a lot in terms of family dynamics and overall feel that does.  A witch and a vampire are joined by ghosts and at least one other supernatural being.  The sense of secrets undisclosed, histories not told but ever-present pervade the film.  Almost too much.  After all, Dark Shadows had over 1200 episodes!  Try condensing even a fraction of that into less than two hours!  Small wonder some minor characters hardly exist, like Mrs. Johnson (Ray Shirley).

So is it a comedy?  Yes and no.  Yes, in the sense it plays up a lot of what could be funny.  One character, Willie (Jackie Earle Haley), gets played almost entirely for laughs.  But it remains a drama, at times a tragedy.  Not at all a farce or slapstick, but very funny in many moments.  Which works interestingly to make the melodramatic style more serious.  There's a scene where Barnabas wallows in his despair and sinks his head onto the keyboard of an organ.  Well, tis a 1970s organ and chirpy upbeat tempos emerge from the thing.  He is too depressed to care.  Elizabeth notices and quietly turns the organ 'off.'  That could have been played for a lot more humor, with double-takes and ever-wilder sound effects.  Yet it isn't.  And the audience titters slightly, but doesn't guffaw.  A delicate balance.

Some won't see it that way.  Humor remains very personal.  I think more furor might pop up over the amount of sex in the film.  I myself felt a little startled.  Everyone who's seen the trailers knows Barnabas and Angelique have at it with an abandon worthy of Spike and Buffy, all the more fierce because neither is really human.   We also really get a sense of a wild alchemical attraction between the two (sprinkled with odd bits of tenderness, which I liked very much).  But suffice to say Angelique is not the only woman to not only feel attracted to Barnabas, but act on in a very physical manner.  Very.  It doesn't take a lot of screen time, but my eyebrows shot up to the hairline for a few seconds.

Along the way, let me say the vampire "look" works more and more as one sees it.  Early on, in a really excellent moment, we share Barnabas' viewpoint as he sees his fingers turn into claws!  Then he screams, from a mouth that now contains fangs.  The pallor, the dark circles around his eyes -- it seemed to me as if someone decided to take Graf Orlock from Nosferatu and make him handsome, without taking away the monstrous otherness of him.

It all builds to the kind of gigantic climax one gets in feature film rather than a t.v. series.  Angelique unveils the full range of her powers against the Collins family, in a full-blown battle using the kind of special effects undreamt-of back in the day.  Plenty of tributes to the original series abound, but also some to Burton's earlier films (like one involving a staircase and some sculpture).  What it really focuses upon, though, remains the drama.  Even at the end, Barnabas with all his hatred of Angelique, cannot help but feel a shred of tenderness towards this girl he knew all his life.   More, the climax really isn't that fight.  We don't reach the story's end until the real story comes to its climax--not the fight against Angelique, but against the terrible curse of Barnabas' loneliness.  Not just his.  All the pyrotechnics is really about the family coming together, healing as even the children enter into a fight against this insane, powerful creature out to destroy them all out of twisted love.  Pull aside all the humor, the style, the weird drama, the lush details, Dark Shadows comes across as a story of Obsession Versus Love.

You can see in general release on Friday, May 11 2012.  Or midnight, May 10 in some markets.  Please let us know what you think!

Related posts:

1. Dark Shadows: The Trailer!
2. Dark Shadows Update
3. Dark Shadows Filming Update