Why are vampires traditionally repelled by the Holy Cross?

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I think it’s a good thing when writing a fantasy that has been done many times before to try and understand all the reasons certain traits are connected to them. First of all, some fan fiction folks really get upset if you deviate from “the rules”. Plus, knowing why certain actions are supposed to work allows you to incorporate your vision of why the rules have changed or aren’t present in your characters. It can give you opportunities to take your story in another direction.

Question for everyone! Best vampire movie in your humble opinion!
 
I am biased to Dracula adaptations but I would say

Nosferatu (both versions, they capture perfectly the gothic-existencial horror) or

Bram Stoker’s Dracula by Francis Ford Coppola (a really good adaptation of the book, including, in my opinion, the creepy aesthetics)
 
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But that’s the thing with sacramentals, they are not amulets, but work according to the Faith of the person, who deposits his/her prayer to God in them.

Sacraments, on the other hand, are visible signs of God’s Grace, and so they work every time as they have a higher importance than sacramentals.
 
Both this and the Fright Night reference earlier made me think of conversation Fr. Chad Ripperger had on sacramentals. That unlike the sacraments, the blessed objects have to have faith of the user in order to work against the demonic, especially stronger ones. I listened to this about a year ago, so hopefully I’m not misquoting, but I remember hearing it and thinking of the direct link between spiritual warfare and the vampire mythos.
 
AlbMagno said:
But that’s the thing with sacramentals , they are not amulets, but work according to the Faith of the person, who deposits his/her prayer to God in them.

Sacraments , on the other hand, are visible signs of God’s Grace, and so they work every time as they have a higher importance than sacramentals.
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You beat me to it as I was typing it! Yes this.
 
Does this mean a Transubstantiated Eucharist would work regardless of the belief of the vampire whereas a cross only if the vampire also believes?

I have to say, this is a question I’d never thought I would ask in my life! 😂😂😂
 
Lol. I was thinking something very similar as I was typing it.
A) the Eucharist would work regardless of anything
B) the cross would work only if the one trying to use it has faith in it. The vampire would be repelled regardless of what he believes.

Which leads to C

C) do vampires believe anything? Do they have complex thoughts like that, or do they have full knowledge of what they are.
 
Thrstypirate said:
So… done to death?
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Not necessarily…especially if taken in new directions. Some stories never wear out as long as they don’t get too repetitive or predictable. I’m usually bored to tears with love stories…then I read Outlander by Diana Gabaldon and fell in love with a good love story all over again. Zombies have been done to death yet a good new one pops up now and again…same with vampires! Good writers write good stories!

Ps. Yes, I got the pun!
 
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The reason why vampires recoiled from the cross, holy water etc in folkloric tradition was because in many places, the re-animation of a dead person and his inability to “rest” in death was thought to be caused from a demon entering and occupying the dead person’s body. People would do things like stuff up the mouth of the corpse, or treat any wounds on the corpse with boiling water, to prevent demons from getting in through these openings.

If a demon did somehow get in, then use of a crucifix would be on about the same level as using it to exorcise a possessed living person. The demons fear the crucifix.
 
FatherMerrin said:
The premise of the Holy Cross acting as a ward against vampires is a common trope in horror films and literature (Bram Stoker’s DRACULA being the most famous example), but there never seems to be a consistent explanation about why. I’ve heard a number of possible reasons, which vary from fearing/hating the Cross because it represents eternal life without becoming undead, to a symbol of Good’s absolute triumph over Evil. But do Catholics have a more specific cause in mind?

I’m presenting this question as a writer who’s putting together his own horror novel featuring vampires, and would like to hear an articulate answer from actual Christians who would be in the know.
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There’s a book written by King James who wrote on Demonology based on what what he experienced with the demonic. In it he talked about Vampires and werewolves being manifestations of the demonic.


My old Protestant Pastor in his younger years also experienced such manifestation when an old lady walked in to a house of young Christian men who had gathered one evening. They had or where going street witnessing. She came into the house and sat on their couch when suddenly a very bright light came out of her eyes and blinded them. They started praying to regain their sight when suddenly the old lady turned into a vampire. They kept praying to cast the demon out when suddenly she transformed into a werewolf. Finally after spiritual warfare praying they cast it out. The lady had fallen to the ground and asked why she was there. She told them she was a a satanic coven and was told she was being sent to kill them, being she was the most powerful necromancer in the area. She got up and left the house.

Not believing what the young Christians had just witnessed, they each wrote down what they each saw. All their stories matched.

This is a true story recounted to me personally last year. My old Pastor has no reason to lie.
 
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Vampirism was considered a demonic mockery of the Eucharist (i.e. drinking the blood of mortals to sustain immortality instead of the Blood of Christ). As such, vampires were regarded as repelled by the holy.
 
If you’ve ever watched The Fearless Vampire Killers, Or Pardon Me, Your Teeth are in My Neck (yes, it’s a long title) by Roman Polanski, there is a famous scene in which Polanski, playing one of the vampire hunters, raises a cross to ward off a vampire. However, the vampire is Jewish and he waves his hand as if brushing off the efforts of the vampire hunter to ward off the vampire, and while laughing mockingly, says: “Oy vey, have you got the wrong vampire”
And in Interview With the Vampire, Vampire Louis, as he is being interviewed, when asked how he felt about crucifixes, says: " I am quite fond of looking at crucifixes." All depends on the vampire, I assume. 😆
 
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Though not vampires, according to the demonologist couple Ed and Loraine Warren, the most profane of demons actually have no fear of sacred objects, including crucifixes, and even rosaries. One incident that they have documented is one in which a demon took a rosary and wrapped it around a bedpost in contempt.
 
One fun way of depicting it in fiction would be that Vampires can’t help but believe. If you think about it, vampires and ghouls are deliberate perversions of the Eucharist, surviving off of the body and blood of sinners rather than that of the Lamb of God. Locked in death rather than freed from it. Etc. When presented with the image of the source of the real Body and Blood, Christ crucified, their very bodies confirm that He is real.

You could put together an entire mythos around this if you wanted to. In folklore vampires don’t have reflections because mirrors were made with silver. Here they don’t have reflections because they already are reflections.
 
Rasoleil said:
One incident that they have documented is one in which a demon took a rosary and wrapped it around a bedpost in contempt.
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I wonder what would have happened if the rosary was unwrapped from the bed and the rosary prayed daily.

Will the demon be afraid of a faithful person praying the Rosary daily?
 
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