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VAMPIROLOGY is up! Discussion thread! (Patreon)

Published:
2022-10-27 04:36:37
Imported:
2026-06

Content

Dr. Jeff Holdeman is the vampire expert you wanna talk to. And boy howdy am I glad we did. In Part 1, we go way way way back to unearth the origin of folkloric vampires and their transition to pop culture, and then next week we'll get into modern franchises and your wonderful questions. 

So tune in now for Romanian folklore, medical explanations, horny ghouls, greedy corpses, penny dreadful novels, Vlad, silent movies & how vampires are weaponized.

Did you listen? What did you think? Or what's your favorite vampire media? (Mine is the comedy series "What We Do in the Shadows" which is just bonkers and hilarious.)

Avoiding sunlight with SPF 100,

Your Pod of Ward

Files

Vampirology (VAMPIRES) Part 1 with Dr. Jeff Holdeman - alie ward

Fangs! Capes! Undead bloodlust! Are vampires soul-draining ghouls or a hot prom date? No better person to ask than Indiana University professor of Slavic and Eastern European Culture, Dr. Jeff Holdeman, who teaches the course "The Vampire in European and American Culture." In Part 1, it's a deep div

Comments

Hannah Pimley

OH NOOOO I went to IU and didn’t know about this class until this episode 😭

Spencer Holtaway

Coming in 3 years late because “Lord Byron being a sort of proto fuckboy” reminded me that Betwixt the Sheets podcast recently (late 2025) did a series on history’s worst fuckboys. Definitely worth a listen if not just for hearing British professors with posh accents saying “fuckboy”.

Ro6ot

Hi Alie! Just chiming in, as my favorite vampire IP is also “what we do in the shadows” : in case you’re not aware of the OTHER t.v. show spin-off from the original movie: “Wellington Paranormal” is truly a delight, and well worth tracking down! (I don’t know if its streaming anyplace? I got a copy of it from a kiwi friend)

Kinkaid Designs

Oooo sounds cool 😎. It's on my Playlist.

Grandma Theresa

Loved it all. My vampire memories were of Vincent Price and the late night TV host of bad movies Elvira who seemed to be a 1960s Vampira only cheesy But who can resist the modern sexy vampires like Interview with a Vampire with Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. Of course I am also team Edward. When he broke the bed on their honeymoon…. Too much fun.

Alie Ward

Aaah, I've never heard of it! Also as I type this, Jarrett put on Dracula Untold on Netflix and we're enjoying the Vlad history -- even if it doesn't hold much water. (Or blood...)

Greg Walloch

This one was so especially fun and great!!

SueG

This was an EXCELLENT interview! Thank you Alie When I was in Jr High in the 60’s I would hurry home from school to watch the soap opera Dark Shadows. I was hooked and amazed. Good times scary times.

Marianne Thomas

Perfectly timed! We're entering the last couple weeks of Dracula Daily - some kind soul has put the book Dracula in chronological order (it isn't, originally- it's news articles & journal entries), & every date with an entry, I get an email of the text from that day! The fun thing about it is the community (esp on good old Tumblr) of readers talking about it & making fan art. Going to listen to this episode on my way home from work tonight 😱

Susan G

Cannot wait to listen! Obviously the best vampire media is Buffy. The show of my heart.

Samantha Seaton

This was amazing! Can’t wait for part 2

Chandler Witherington

I also loooove what we do in the shadows!! You both must also check out "Ghosts" on HBOMax. It is the original British version. There is an American version but I like the British one better. I think Wellington Paranormal is also on HBOMax!

MissChris

I would love to know what What We Do In The Shadows being the vampires we need right now says about our times. Love that show!

Megan Duffy

I loved this episode so much ❤️

Ro6ot

Speaking of ‘not much blood,’ belatedly: Para Wellies (as i like to call it) is mostly not vampires! Hardly needs saying but nonetheless I feel I should’ve.

Mx. Artemisia

I just finished reading Dracula and Carmilla in school so this is great timing :) :)

Mx. Artemisia

I'm going to that class today and I'm telling everyone about the podcast as soon as I get there

Kyla

Loving this! A two-parter on vampires makes up for not having a full month of Spooktober episodes. Any thought to having a broader Cryptozoology episode in the future? Bigfoot, Loch Ness monster, and the social conditions that create these myths....

Chelsea-Victoria Turner

I've started to listen. I LOVE the idea of how lore influences culture and visa versa. Especially in the "old days". Ug i could just go down a big ol sociophylisophical rabbit hole. Who knew vampires had to much depth. At first I ignorantly thought to myself.. a course on vampires? What sort of waste of student loans is this? But in reality it is a cultural humanities class....just with a bite.

Nathan-Andrew

I’ve been asking for a cryptozoology episode, as well. Hopefully it’s on the list? Blake Smith and Darren Naish would each be fun ologists for the topic.

Nathan-Andrew

I love this episode! If only I could take that seminar… Sigh. I hope that in part 2 we’ll have a discussion of Asian vampires? The Chinese hopping vampires, and the Southeast Asian penanggalan are so wild.

Gaelicpearl

I cannot wait for the second part to be up! Not a ton of new info for me (yes I'm a vampire literature/history nerd) but so so enjoyable to hear someone passionate and knowledgeable talk about something I love.

Laura Jordens-Harris

Horror pop culture references often reflect the worries of society at the time. What worries were being reflected in the depictions of bram stoker’s Dracula?

Cara B

Love this episode. I can't wait for the second part!

Katie Munoz

For a vampire and werewolf literary series, I love Gail Carriger. Hilarious! And so apt.

Kate Lambert

I did German at high school. End of every term we would eat German food and watch Nosferatu, taking turns to translate the original German text. ‘nossie’ was a good friend to us.

Darius

The guest was very passionate about the subject and had obviously given that lecture many times.

Alie Ward

While Jarrett was working on it, he kept pausing and saying "I LOVE THIS GUY"

Alie Ward

Okay now I have to look that up

Alie Ward

That's a great point!! My guess would be the advent of the Energy Vampire...

Alie Ward

I've had it on the list for years but am waiting until I can visit Portland, ME and talk to Loren of the Cryptozoology museum!

Alie Ward

You and Jeff would be so fun to listen to, chatting!

Diana Davis

For my college literature class I took "Sci-fi, Fantasy, and Horror" - Once it was pointed out that Stoker's Dracula was all about sex it was very, very obvious.

Avren Keating

If society creates the vampire we need... Why did we create Edward Cullen? 💀

Alie Ward

Hahaha! Maybe it was to counter fuckbois? Or the self tanning that ran rampant in 2005-07?

Yo...landa (Yo-land-ah not Yo-lond-uh)

Oh, no I meant the Patron feed w/o ads...there's usually a link in the About area, but I'm not seeing it. Will check out the live video too though :)

Wendy Lockhart

Such a great episode! I learned so much history I wasn’t aware of. Also, my friend’s dad was a friend of Bela Lugosi and he’s writing a book about their cinematic experiences.

Becky Peterman

Well, Stephanie Meyer is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which is very serious about maintaining purity of body in various ways, including sexual restraint before marriage. I think Edward Cullen was her attempt to create for LDS teenagers: 1) a narrative in which giving in to your sexual desires for even someone who is fully devoted to and seems to desire only you is extremely dangerous and could literally lead to your death or transformation into a bloodsucking monster, 2) a hero that is super sexy but explicitly restrains himself from engaging in sexual behaviors prior to marriage, and 3) a teen romance with reasons to end in marriage and childbearing without feeling too much like a Regency-era throwback. Oh also the vampires are immortal, and Eternal Marriage and spending the afterlife with your extended family (aka vampire clan) are totally a thing in LDS doctrine. Also also, Meyer had a dream one time about a sparkly boy in a field. *shrug*

Alie Ward

That's amazing! From what I read, Bela was buried in his Dracula cape, but the family had a replica made, which they tried to sell at auction but alas there were no takers because it wasn't the original. I think it's very sweet that he was laid to rest in his beloved costume.

Ted Vician

Besides being a great Dracula, Christopher Lee was a certified badass. In WWII, he was in the RAF, mostly in North Africa, and worked with the Special Operations Executive, where he reportedly did some pretty scary things to support the Italian Resistance and invasion of Europe. He also helped hunt down and interrogate Nazi war criminals after the war.

Ted Vician

Because Cedric Diggory’s hair was too amazing to die.

Ted Vician

Probably should have asked this before the show, but would like to know where the “vampires vs. werewolves/lycans” trope comes from. It’s the main conflict in the Underworld series of movies. It goes back at least to the early 90’s when the World of Darkness role-playing games like Vampire: The Masquerade and Werewolf: The Apocalypse first came out.

Mariah Walzer

Absolutely loved the "We create the vampires we need!" This whole episode made my little folklore-loving heart happy. But especially had to drop in to recommend my favorite piece of vampire literature since Dr. Holdeman talked about the source material: Carmilla the web series. It's on YouTube, they've even compiled it into full season videos so you don't have to hear the theme music every 5 minutes any more, and it has a lesbian vampire-human, enemies-to-lovers, roommates couple fighting evil and a mad scientist-type non-binary bonus RA just to start you out. It's cheesy and the later seasons might hurt your heart at times, but it's so so good.

Martina - Border Collie Geek

New Patreon although I have a listener for years! I’m vampire fan and I loved this episode so much! Thank you :)

choirqueer

ngl, I also did that a lot!

Meredith Wachter

I wish I had seen this ahead of time. I'm curious what he thinks about Steven King-esq emotional vampires. Like extreme psychic vampires, feeding on intense emotion. Pennywise and dandelo type characters. Anyway, loved the episodes!

Alaina Cruson

Not vampires but in my family we call "der ders" "doot-da-doots" for the exact same reason :)

Erin Sorensen

Loved this! No one mentioned the film NEAR DARK. Seriously the best vampire film out there!

Genesis Torres

I’m not a big vampire fan but loved the episodes made me want to watch and read the films and books!

Jillian

Loved these episodes!

Louis G Baker

I loved these episodes so much! And after the NaNoWriMo plug, I started writing a vampire novel! I'm at 13k words (so I'm right on track) and I'm having a blast! Thank you!

Larissa Parsons Vafiades

Thank you! The entire episode answered my question with Dr. Holdeman's "each age creates the vampire it needs" idea!

Amber Dickerson

I love that this was a 2-parter and could have listened to many more!!! I took the class at UVA in the late 90s that he mentioned in the first episode and it was fantastic, but hard to get into because of its popularity. It encouraged me to take a Slavic folklore class the following semester. They were definitely among my favorite classes. Thanks you Alie for exploring this ology!!

Ted Vician

Besides sex, there’s probably some concerns about European revolutions in there. 1897 (publication date) is right after the Franco-Prussian War, which lead to the establishment of the modern German state, and also unification of Italy. European aristocracy was moving to GB to avoid possibly pretty grim fates. People in GB were probably concerned about what those aristocrats were going to do, like drag them into wars.

Joy Aguelo

Love love the "each age creates the vampire it needs!" - Long time listener and a new patreon here. Alie! Your podcast has saved me and helped me survive long haul flights, hours of boring train rides, and countless lonely nights lol. I got excited when I saw the vampire episode but was disappointed that Twilight series got a lot of airtime while Anne Rice and her vampires weren't even mentioned. No one asked about it and it wasn't even mentioned in the vampire genre timeline discussion. Am I the only Anne Rice fan here? :(

Teesha Coot

Hello 👋, Spotify listener here. Just joined Patreon 😎 just having a sticky beak at all the posts! Very exciting. Will have to think of questions for up coming episodes. Very exciting.