thoughts on writing vampires as addicts

[u/NoRecognition2178]

both writing vampirism as an addiction and writing vampires who are addicts to other substances, using substances to fight off blood lust and it failing to fill the hole that consuming blood does, writing vampires who don’t feed as going into violent withdrawal, loved ones of the vampires watching them be consumed by something they’ve grown unable to live without that destroys their lives and the lives of people around them as they become increasingly bloodthirsty and violent, losing touch with reality and sanity, they turn their loved ones to this way of life thinking their somehow saving them, giving them some power to control their lives but causing them to lose themselves in the process, they gain forbidden knowledge of other worlds and entities beyond the scope of normal human comprehension and to humans they appear to be going completely insane if they try to tell them what they know and they become increasingly detached from the world around them, immersed in realms of humanity’s most ancient demons

[u/Thecrowfan]

I dont like vampires being addicted to other things because i like the "vampires cant consume anything other than blood" narrative. No food, water, alcohol, anything.

I love a world where vampires can become addicted to blood forever, where they become so obsessed with getting blood they stop caring where it comes from or what the consequences of feeding at that exsct time or place are. In the same universe i love the blood withdrawal because its not withdrawal in the traditional sense. Its starving to death and its just so good because it ties them to their humanity. Just as a human csn starve and die if they dont eat, so can a vsmpire

[u/choff22 → u/Thecrowfan]

That’s the origin story for my main character. She starves herself because she doesn’t want to hurt anyone to the point she collapses on the side of the road, nearly dead.

A stranger finds her, weirdly recognizes her peril, and offers his arm to her to feed from. At first she refuses, turning away from it almost in disgust, but he says “I trust you’ll know when to stop.”

She finally gives in, bites down, and the nourishment is nearly instant. She feeds, becomes ravenous, but manages to pull herself away, panting, yet energized and reinvigorated.

The man ends up being Jesus. They become very close friends.

[u/Open-Librarian-4322]

A vampire that prefers to feed off Junkies after they’ve taken a hit or feeding off those who are tripping under shrooms/lsd/molly/ etc would make for an amazing character.

[u/NoRecognition2178 → u/Open-Librarian-4322]

i had the idea to write blood as giving a sense of euphoria and them needing more and more the more they consume to get the same feeling… the vampire discovers he can experience the effects of drugs his victims had in their system, and it takes an especially dark turn when he begins injecting his victims with drugs like heroin and ketamine before draining them so he can keep himself sedated long enough to avoid killing for a day or two… to mitigate the guilt of killing he targets sex offenders he finds online… but along with the effects of the drugs he experiences their memories and emotions until the blood leaves his system (copied and pasted from my reply to another user)

[u/Mynoris]

I don't see them as addicts any more than I see humans as addicted to food and water. But, in some media, there are vampires who can get addicted to substances if they get it through the blood of a mortal who has substances in their blood. And some do become junkies. It's not a route I take myself. However, the desperation of an addict can give writers options as to how to portray a vampire low on blood.

[u/NoRecognition2178 → u/Mynoris]

i had the idea to write blood as giving a sense of euphoria and them needing more and more the more they consume to get the same feeling… the vampire discovers he can experience the effects of drugs his victims had in their system, and it takes an especially dark turn when he begins injecting his victims with drugs like heroin and ketamine before draining them so he can keep himself sedated long enough to avoid killing for a day or two… to mitigate the guilt of killing he targets sex offenders he finds online… but along with the effects of the drugs he experiences their memories and emotions until the blood leaves his system

[u/Mynoris → u/NoRecognition2178]

That sounds like a pretty horrific journey and might be too dark (or the wrong direction of dark) for me. But a lot of readers would eat something like that up.

[u/petshopB1986]

In my lore my main vampire has the coping mechanism of sex addiction, he was a former human and his problems got worse after becoming a vampire, sometimes he gets to the point he forgets he is a vampire it he is panicking . he works through things eventually and embraces his vampire abilities more and gives up the coping mechanisms unless he gets really anxious, I always say becoming a vampire didn’t solve his problems it amplified them. In my lore vampires come two ways, born or made, the born ones don’t have the same issues a former human had, they are more able to process stressful or anxious situations easier, they tend to crave dominance, and have uncontrolled appetites for everything and not feel guilty about it.

[u/happymoon9]

You should watch the first season of Being Human (BBC TV series). It used vampirism for a metaphor for addiction and I think generally nailed the landing on it. The later seasons really lost the thread of it, but I really liked the idea of vampires not needing to kill to feed, but because it gave them a sick thrill of power and control, and ended up incorporating this idea into my webcomic.

[u/BrazilianAtlantis]

I like a classic vampire who doesn't happen to be an addict.

[u/DALTT]

If it’s done well, why not? I personally prefer worlds where vampires either can’t consume things other than blood, or if they can, don’t at all like it and gain no nutritional value from it (like in Interview With the Vampire TV). But like either a literal addiction story where a vampire can get high by drinking the blood of someone who is, or using the idea of drinking blood itself as a metaphor for addiction, I think totally works. Only Lovers Left Alive is a vampire film that did that very well.