Witch Hunt
by the Night Breed
It was cold and raining outside. It must have been about midnight. I just got back from collecting letters from my mailbox. I turned the lights down and closed the window, then I sat down and lit the four black candles on my desk. This was to get me in the mood for writing. The candles burst into blue flames for a few minutes and then burned their normal color. Strange because in folklore the blue flame was one sign of witchcraft. Just then Eyajo, from the Astro Vamps, called saying that the band would be playing live shows in Hollywood about the second week in February. Now I'm not accusing Eyajo or Daniel of being a witch, but I'm just saying that it was weird. The next evening I had a chance to find out more about what the Astro Vamps were doing from Daniel and Eyajo. "We're in the midst of signing a deal, but it's taboo to say with whom at this stage. We won't be doing any pay to play shows; we just won't be doing those anymore." Daniel emphasized this. I asked Eyajo if they would be playing many gigs and he said "Yes, we'll be playing a lot of the local clubs. We're going to do as many non pay for play shows as we can until this record company sends us out on a tour." They also mentioned that Candy, their drummer, was on his way back from England and that their new bass player, Orphan, was working out just great, and how lucky it was for them to find the right bass player the first time, without having to go through a dozen or more auditions, like before. Then I asked the Astros a question relating to folklore. I asked them if they believed in vampires and they simply answered yes and no"; a typical answer for someone eluding the question. They went on to explain that some people believe in vampires and some don't, and no matter what we believe in or don't believe in, people will believe in whatever they want to believe in*and indeed they do. There was a time when vampires were thought to be very real. There were even groups of men who would search out their graves or hiding places to destroy them. They would open their graves and search for corpses that weren't decayed or had blood on their teeth and fingernails. After a vampire corpse was discovered a wooden stake was driven through the chest. Sometimes the corpse of a vampire was buried face down instead of being buried traditionally on their backs. This was because if the vampire awakened and started to dig his way out of the grave, he would dig down into the earth instead of up and out of the grave. But of course most of the victims of vampire killers are already dead. The vampire hunts and the witch hunts were going on at the same time*at least the famous versions of them anyway. Some people believed a witch would turn into a vampire if he or she was not already a vampire But in today's subculture these dark beings become heroes, not villains, coming to life in books and movies, and then finally manifesting themselves as rock stars. Crazy as it must seem, the vampire has become an idolized figure in our culture; the sex symbol of Eternity; the person in all of us who doesn't want to die and wants to have power over everyone we meet. Even I, at times, wish I were this Immortal creature; wise and intelligent, strong and invincible. Because of these powers you can understand why people try to imitate the vampire. People often try to pattern their lives after their heroes, but you must be cautious because some people forget that they aren't supposed to become their heroes, but instead, learn and grow from them. The vampire of today is more of a state of mind or a title one gives oneself. This creature of folklore lets us escape into the dark and sexual music underground, but at the same time, speaks for our deepest and darkest desires. The lesson to be learned here is that we can keep our dark sides in harmony and never let them flow into our good sides. This lets us develop ourselves without being completely chaotic. Now, on that note, I strongly recommend you go see the Astro Vamps in their upcoming shows and pick up their album "Savage Garden" because no matter what walk of life you come from, we all have one thing in common; the need to know*and you need to know the Astro Vamps.
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