Interesting Article! The Disease I Was Thinking Of Is Porphyria. But It's Also Very Intriguing To See

Interesting article! The disease I was thinking of is porphyria. But it's also very intriguing to see garlic linked to rabies.

I wonder, though, if the burning properties of raw garlic that they talk about in the article might be part of the puzzle. The article dissuades the reader from eating raw garlic because it can cause second degree burns (which, as an aside, yikes, and I had no idea). Traditionally fire was used to purify. That's why heretics and eventually witches were executed by burning. The Church believed it was necessary to burn the heretic/witch to cleanse the world of their corruption and evil. So... maybe stuffing garlic in the decapitated head of a vampire is less about garlic as a cure for vampirism as a disease and more a method of burning purification.

Though why not take the next logical step and burn the body?

I know it's kinda late in the game for this question, but why garlic?

I'm aware of the idea that vampire stories were inspired by a real disease... I cannot for the life of me recall its name. And people suffering from it are sensitive to light and strong flavors and smells.

But is there anything more to it? The disease idea works to explain why garlic repels vampires, but why stuff it in the mouth of a decapitated vampire head?

And I saw that some have argued that Stoker was inspired by the Potato Famine, which he lived through, I gather. People would weaken and die, and some were buried alive. How does garlic fit with that?

Did Stoker find out about garlic from a specific source, and if so, what does the source say about it?

Reblog to give the person you reblogged it from the energy to do one (1) chore or maybe many

"a prig of the first water" I'm 💀

Well. That certainly went better than I expected.

Mr. Bilder's description of Dracula:

There wasn't much people about that day, and close at hand was only one man,

Or thing in semblance of a man?

a tall, thin chap,

Yep that's him alright.

with a 'ook nose

*hits Stoker on the head with a pole* racist

and a pointed beard,

Dracula has a beard now. That's new

with a few white hairs runnin' through it

Meaning it is mostly dark. Last time we saw him he was Silver Fox, but now his youth is even further restored. (Maybe it's him. Maybe it's Maybelline Lucy blood)

He had a 'ard, cold look

That's the vampirism

and red eyes,

SIR. How many people with red eyes do you see on a daily basis? Why are you treating this like normal? Even Jonathan "what a pleasant tour of the red flag factory" Harker was like "heh, in the dark his eyes almost looked red, haha, imagine that". Tom, my dude, wat.

and I took a sort of mislike to him,

Good for you

for it seemed as if it was 'im as they was hirritated at.

This is sweet. He trusts his animals. What a good guy.

He 'ad white kid gloves on 'is 'ands, and he pointed out the animiles to me

I wonder what makes them kid gloves? Maybe he really is going for that Looney Tunes look.

Excuse me the what now dropped in white patches