From Rapunzel’s Tower to Romania: My Life as a Certified Vampirologist

So, What Is Vampirology?

What is vampirology? Explore the science, folklore, psychology, and history of vampires with a certified vampirologist who lives like a modern-day child of the night.

A Child of the Night: Where It All Began

Before I was a vampirologist, before I was an author, even before I was diagnosed with OCD and porphyria, I was a girl haunted by the night.

Other children feared the dark. I lived for it.

While other kids were dreaming of fairies or princesses, I was sketching fangs, reading Dracula, and wondering what lurked in the shadows. The grotesque never frightened me: it fascinated me. Death wasn’t something I feared, it was a mystery I longed to understand. I wasn’t obsessed with dying. I was obsessed with what came next.

By the time I was old enough to read folklore on my own, I realized something striking: every culture on Earth has its own vampire. A blood drinker, a shadow stalker, a creature that haunts the boundary between life and death. They may not always be called vampires, but the essence is always there.

That obsession never left. It led me to my studies, my certification, and eventually, to becoming a professional vampirologist.

What Is Vampirology, Really?

Vampirology, at its core, is the interdisciplinary study of the vampire archetype, not just as a creature of folklore, but as a cultural, psychological, biological, and mythopoetic phenomenon. It encompasses both the academic and the arcane, the empirical and the esoteric.

This field extends far beyond the cliché of wearing black velvet and quoting Dracula (though I do both, without apology). Vampirology seeks to understand why the vampire, in all its myriad forms, has persisted through millennia as a symbol of death, desire, disease, transgression, and transcendence.

It is a discipline that dances between worlds: the living and the dead, the scientific and the supernatural, the historical and the fictional.

History & Anthropology

Vampirology begins with human history, tracing the vampiric archetype from its earliest incarnations in ancient Mesopotamian demonology (such as Lilitu or Lamashtu) to the shadowy revenants of medieval Europe. The vampire is not confined to Eastern Europe, nor to the Gothic Victorian imagination. Civilizations as distant as the Aztecs, Chinese, Indians, and Aboriginal Australians all hold accounts of creatures who feed on vital essence, whether blood, breath, or spirit.

Anthropologically, the vampire serves as a repository of collective fear: of plague, of death, of the outsider. Its rituals: staking, burning, beheading, reflect our historic desperation to make sense of unexplained death, decomposition, and disease.

Folklore & Mythology

Every culture has its own vampire.

From the Asanbosam of the Ashanti people with its iron teeth, to the Strigoi and Moroi of Romanian myth, to the Pontianak of Malaysian folklore: vampirology analyzes how these creatures function within oral traditions and spiritual belief systems. The vampire is always lurking at the fringes of the known world, reinforcing social taboos and moral boundaries.

It is also a creature that evolves: with each century, it reflects the fears and fantasies of the era. Vampirology tracks this metamorphosis and places it in mythopoeic context.

Psychology & Sociology

The vampire is not just a monster: it is an archetype. A psychological symbol. A cipher.

Freud might have called the vampire an expression of the repressed id, erotic, violent, insatiable. Jung would frame it as the Shadow Self, the parts of our psyche we are too afraid to name but too enticed to ignore.

Sociologically, vampirism has become a subculture and identity. Lifestyle vampires, psychic feeders, and sanguinarians exist across the globe, with organized communities and deeply personal beliefs. As a vampirologist, I approach these groups with empathy and curiosity: not judgment.

We ask: Why do people see themselves in the vampire? And what does that say about the world they inhabit?

Cryptozoology & Paranormal Studies

There is also the cryptozoological angle — where vampirology intersects with the study of hidden species and anomalous biology.

Here, we examine whether “vampiric traits” could emerge in real organisms: creatures with extreme light sensitivity, predatory behaviour, hyper-developed jaw strength, or iron-dependent biology. Is it so far-fetched to believe that evolution might produce a predator that mimics the vampire of legend?

Paranormal vampirology investigates reports of hauntings, energetic feedings, and alleged encounters with vampiric entities, not to prove or disprove them, but to understand their symbolic and experiential significance.

Literature & Pop Culture

Vampirology is also a literary study. From Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla to Bram Stoker’s Dracula, from Anne Rice’s Lestat to Charlaine Harris’ Bill Compton, every vampire in literature reflects the anxieties and aesthetics of their time.

We study the semiotics of fangs: how the vampire has evolved from grotesque Nosferatu to brooding anti-hero. We interrogate gender, sexuality, race, colonialism, addiction, queerness, all through the lens of vampiric representation.

The vampire has starred in opera, comics, cinema, anime, and ballet. It is a pop culture juggernaut and a gothic literary fixture. Understanding it requires both academic discipline and fan devotion.

Medical Phenomena & Anomalies

Lastly, vampirology touches the realm of medical anomalies that may have inspired, or still resemble, vampire-like symptoms:

• Porphyria – a rare disorder that causes sensitivity to sunlight, receding gums (fang-like appearance), and a need for blood products
  
• Photosensitivity disorders – leading to extreme aversion to daylight
  
• Iron metabolism conditions – possibly contributing to blood cravings
  
• Odaxelagnia – the paraphilia of biting
  
• Renfield’s Syndrome – though disputed, some have pathologized blood consumption under this umbrella
  

Even genetic mutations or metabolic disorders that alter behaviour, appearance, or sleep-wake cycles can offer clues to the vampire archetype’s biological plausibility.

To study vampires is to study humanity’s deepest fears and darkest fascinations. It’s to hold a mirror up to civilization, and to ourselves, and ask what truly lurks in the shadows we cast.

This is what vampirology is.
Not fantasy.
Not frivolity.

But a serious, sacred pursuit of understanding the immortal metaphor that has haunted us since the first whisper of night.

The Academic Side: From Ancient Lore to Modern Science

My certification came in 2019, but my education spans a lifetime.

I’ve studied the vampire’s presence from Mesopotamian demons to Filipino aswangs, from the Slavic upir to the Greek vrykolakas. Every continent has a version of the vampire. Every ancient tribe has a shadow that fed on the living. 

And the term “vampire” itself may come from a French phrase meaning “forceful bite.” 

Strange, isn’t it, that the word came so late, but the being existed since the dawn of human fear?

As a vampirologist, I also study the biological theories behind vampiric traits:

• Photosensitivity (vampire eye syndrome)
  
• Porphyria (a blood disorder possibly tied to the origin of vampire legends)
  
• Iron metabolism issues (pointing to cravings for blood or raw meat)
  
• Odaxelagnia (a paraphilia involving biting)
  
• Nocturnal instincts, territoriality, and predatory behaviors seen in humans
  

If vampires did exist, they might not sparkle. They might resemble something more primal. More animalistic. Think 30 Days of Night, not Twilight. Something built to hunt.

Psychology of the Vampire: From Archetypes to Identity

Vampirology also examines the psychological impact of vampire mythos on human behavior. Why are we so drawn to these creatures? Why do some of us relate to them more than we relate to humanity?

The vampire is:

• The outsider
  
• The forbidden
  
• The immortal mourner
  
• The predator and protector
  
• The mirror of taboo desire
  

We study how these archetypes appear in media (Dracula, Carmilla, Interview with the Vampire, Dead As A Doornail) and how they influence people who identify as real vampires—whether sanguine, psychic, or lifestyle-based. I do not judge them. That’s not my job. My job is to understand.

Personally? I relate. I have mild porphyria, photosensitivity, and extreme territoriality. I live by night. I sleep during the day. I’ve always said I feel more vampire than human—and I mean that in every way that counts.

Vampires in Pop Culture and Entertainment

My work isn’t locked away in dusty tomes. I’ve been hired as a consultant for creative projects, and interviewed on podcasts to explore vampires in horror, literature, and media. Vampirology touches every corner of our cultural consciousness.

I explore:

• Classic horror films like Nosferatu
  
• Modern series like The Originals, True Blood, and Hemlock Grove
  
• Romantic vs. feral vampire portrayals
  
• Vlad the Impaler and Elizabeth Báthory as historical inspirations
  
• The evolution of the vampire’s image from grotesque to gothic romantic
  

Vampires are storytellers in fangs. They evolve with our fears. When we feared disease, they were plague-bearers. When we feared sexuality, they were seducers. When we feared aging, they became eternally young.

From Tower to Transylvania: Why Romania?

Now I’m leaving my “tower”—a metaphor for both mental illness and isolation. Like a gothic Rapunzel, I’ve cut my own hair and stepped out into the unknown.

I’m moving to Romania, the so-called “Land of Dracula.” Not because I believe it’s haunted by blood-drinking nobles, but because its folklore is among the richest on Earth. It’s the birthplace of legends that defined my life.

But more than that—it’s my next chapter. A place where I can live as I am. A place steeped in the very mystery I’ve studied since childhood.

I won’t pretend Romania is just vampires. It’s ancient mountains, medieval villages, fierce pride, and stunning beauty. But for someone like me, it’s more than geography. It’s home to something deeper. A myth I was born to chase.

Vampires in Real Life: Myth or Mutation?

Are vampires real?

Here’s the truth: not the way fiction says. But also—not entirely false.

Science shows us that traits commonly associated with vampirism exist in nature. Humans with inhuman strength. Predatory behaviors. Enhanced night vision. Extreme iron cravings. Enzyme disorders. Intense light sensitivity.

Is it so impossible to believe there’s a mutation, a remnant, a rogue gene that walks among us?

Not every vampire is romantic. Some may be monsters. Some may be kind. But all are worth studying. All are worth listening to.

Why Vampirology Matters Today

Vampirology isn’t just about monsters. It’s about humanity’s relationship with its own shadow. With death. With desire. With what we fear in others, and in ourselves.

It teaches us empathy. Curiosity. Open-mindedness. And maybe, just maybe, it reminds us that this world is not as grey, sterile, or explainable as we pretend it is.

I believe we are still surrounded by mysteries. That creatures we cannot categorize may still walk beside us. That folklore is not just history, it’s code for something hidden.

And maybe that’s what vampirology truly is:
A map of the shadows.
A love letter to the forbidden.
A reminder that not all monsters are myths.

---

🖤 Want to learn more? Subscribe to my Substack, Patreon, or Medium for deep dives, case studies, and exclusive vampire-themed content every week.

Because monsters deserve a new beginning, too.

OCD Vampire