Talk: The History of the Female Vampire
Tonight.. wow, I cannot believe I didn't think of this! I'd seen this talk on The History of the Female Vampire advertised so often.. but I guess I was more relaxed in the end, and finally realised it was happening on the very day I was looking for something to do. Eventbrite again, and happening in The Blues Kitchen Brixton again, which is an excellent venue! So, I advertised it on London Museums A-Z (LoMAZ), making it the last in a run of five Meetups, and booked to have dinner there beforehand, of course - and, of course, they always have £6 cocktails (and mocktails) on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.. I do love their spicy margaritas. One of the group arranged to have dinner with me, and the others said they'd arrive before talk time, so I booked a table for three, just so we'd all have somewhere to sit.
I was about five minutes late, as it happened.. and then had to wait for a table. She invited me to take a seat at the bar in the meantime - I decided to order a margarita, to save time. By the time it arrived and I'd paid, the table was ready and I posted in the WhatsApp group where I was. And nobody got lost, which was great! We had a lovely dinner - a slight misunderstanding ensued on our second round, when my companion ordered another ginger margarita, but the server thought she wanted the same as I had, a spicy one, and we were served two of them.. so I ended up drinking both. Which is how I know that three is my limit - they repeated on me for the rest of the night. The others arrived in due course, and we chatted away.
Unfortunately, they reverted to extremely slow service when we needed to pay and get upstairs - we did make it in time for the talk (just) but not to get seats, and stood right to the end. A lot of people, mind, had been there for the previous talk this evening by the same speaker, on dark academia.
She started intriguingly, with a slide implying that the young woman of today wants to be a vampire, more than anything else. She was to use Twilight as an example, with Bella starting as an awkward teen, and developing into a much more self-assured young lady as a vampire.. now, I wouldn't touch Twilight with a bargepole, but I suppose she must have a point:
She then went back in history to find depictions of female vampires - such as this painting. As she said, although we can't really see what she's doing to the man in her embrace, it does have a predatory feel to it, with her naked skin and long, flowing red hair implying sexuality:
And gosh, we never knew that Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem called The Vampire!
..in which the female vampire's chief characteristic seems to be a careless disregard for the man's affections. We saw the famous Theda Bara in a reimagining of the vampire painting, for a film that took its title from that poem! And so, we were introduced to the idea of a female vampire (or "vamp") being considered a dangerous and scandalous being, who was sexually forward, and separated sex from its more functional purpose of procreation:
New book coming out, apparently, with, as she pointed out, a great title! The subject is, of course, female monsters throughout history:
The first of them was Lilith.. Adam's first wife, formed, like him, from clay, and so more equal to him than his second wife, Eve, who was formed from his rib - she had to go. Also note how Lilith embraces the snake that was Eve's enemy:
Ah, Countess Báthory, whom I met at the weekend! Mind you, as the speaker pointed out, it's not entirely sure she did all the nefarious things she's supposed to have, which might have been invented to curb the power of an inconveniently powerful woman!
Then we came onto more contemporary female vampires, many acting in a way that suggested lesbian attraction - another practice that would have been seen as "deviant", in a society in which these roles were being defined by men with narrow definitions of how a woman should act:
The first real female vampire came in the short story, Wake Not the Dead, in the form of a woman who dies, and whose husband remarries and has children, but cannot forget her. So he asks a sorcerer's help, who warns him of dire consequences, but re-animates her. Sure enough, she comes back as a vampire and entrances him - his new wife leaves him and the vampire kills the children, and ultimately him. (Typical female vampire - they really don't like children.)
Same behaviour from Lucy in Dracula, who is perfectly sweet and proper until she becomes a vampire, whereupon she becomes lascivious, and starts to drain the blood of children:
The Blood of the Vampire, published the same year, features a "psychic" female vampire who kills people unintentionally - crucially, this was written by a woman:
As time moved on, attitudes changed, female vampires became less predatory, and same-sex relationships more acceptable:
She showed us examples of modern rewrites of classic fiction - the middle books in this list re-imagine Lucy, those on the outside rewrite Carmilla:
She particularly recommended Lucy Undying.
Tomorrow, I was supposed to be back, for the first time in over a year, with the World Music Meetup! It's their 15th anniversary, and the concert is with Erroll Linton with Brixton Blues, happening in St. Mary's Church Rotherhithe. Bookable with TunedIn London, as usual. I finally got sense though and cancelled, considering how early I have to be up next day..
On Friday.. the start of nine full days of LoMAZ-related stuff.. heading off on our final adventure with Lomaz's Dracula peeps! This is the big one - we're off to Transylvania! Specifically, Cluj-Napoca - there was talk of heading to Bucharest, which is easier for flights - but following my trip there last year, I know that's too far for the daytrip they want to do to Bran Castle. Oh, you can do daytrips from Bucharest to Bran - but it's mostly driving, and you'd miss out on Sighisoara. And you really don't want to miss out on that, believe me. So I put my foot down about Cluj.. and when we started getting great reports about it, others got behind it, and now that's where we're staying! The great thing is, there are direct flights from Stansted to Cluj, with Ryanair..
Now, the outbound flight is at (ahem) 5.55am.. Lordy, I literally have to take the very first Stansted Express of the day. And JW is the only other one to sign up for this torture.. although he says he'll sleep in the airport, as is his wont. Will probably Uber from the airport, I'll have a big bag. I'm staying in Ultra Central Apartments (who just recently took payment), booked through Booking.com - checked, and can't check in until 3pm! Ouch.. four hours after we arrive.. I asked, and was told, even if my room isn't ready, I can grab the key and leave my case in, just being sure to leave the key back for the cleaners as I go. Most of the others are on a flight a couple of hours after ours, and I guess we'll meet later..
I tell you what else though.. U2 is currently selling tickets for the European leg of their next tour, modestly titled The Greatest Show on Earth. I was trying for a ticket for their Lisbon concert today.. needed a mobile number to set up an account with Blueticket, who are handling that concert, and would they take a UK mobile! I emailed customer service - no reply yet. I ended up having to bother my friend in Dublin, who kindly let me use her number, and passed me on the confirmation code I needed. Unfortunately, this site - as I know from experience - places you in a random position in the queue.. and I can't help thinking that foreigners go to the back. Which is only right and proper - but vexing:
With the sale starting at 10am, this was my position after nearly an hour. In the end, it took nearly three hours for me to access the site, by which time the tickets were sold out, apart from exorbitant prices for corporate boxes and VIP packages, which I didn't want. So.. if I want that concert, I have to try the public sale. On Friday. Starts shortly after I arrive in Cluj. And gee, just tonight they announced a third London concert.. only going on sale on Friday! At the same time as Lisbon. And although I have tickets for the other London concerts.. of course I want this one too! So that's all going to be a bit distracting..
On Saturday, we're doing a walking tour of the town - Get Your Guide offered the cheaper ones initially, but when I checked lately, George Tourism worked out cheaper, and cheaper again for a private tour! So I canvassed people for who'd be interested, then posted a poll about which time they wanted, and we're now taking the midday tour. People have been very good about paying me back. There's also a wine tasting I'm interested in, but it needs a minimum of two people, and nobody from the group seems keen to join me that day..
Sunday is our Dracula tour, to Sighisoara and Bran Castle. This, mercifully, is already booked, and we're just joining an existing tour, with George Tourism again, so no chasing people for decisions. Ickily early start, but at least close to where I'm staying. This is the bit I've done before, so I'm busily answering any questions the others have.. as long as I don't give too much away..! ;-)
Most people are heading back on Monday - there'll still be one person left besides me, so we'll have to decide what we want to do!
Now, with flights back to Stansted only on Fridays and Sundays.. and our main tour on Sunday.. I decided to stay till Friday 13th (!). The next couple of days, I booked Get Your Guide tours.. on Tuesday, a Communist Era Walking Tour of Cluj..
And next Wednesday, a trip out of town.. has to be done.. I booked the Maramures Adventure: Tradition, Folk Art & Scenic Beauty.
I'm flying back on Friday 13th - how appropriate..
And on the 14th.. back with LoMAZ to see the Hunterian Museum. And we're dressing Steampunk for the occasion, meeting at the Princess Louise beforehand and gathering at Be At One afterwards. And do you think I have the time to be thinking about an outfit?! I had one day to make the basic choices, bought some stuff, dug out some more stuff, and have yet to find the time to put it together..!
Finally (assuming I'm still alive), back at Conway Hall with CT on the 15th. An instrumental classical concert. I am not going back to that Pizza Express though, after the last time!
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