Questions by Jessie Harbourne
(Note: The interview was not used in the final text.)
1. Could you please state your name, pronouns, age, occupation, and any relevant academic or professional qualifications
Mark Benecke Mr Dr MSc BSc PhD Forensic Scientist Director of International Forensic Research and Consulting (also Head of the Transylvanian Society of Dracula (a research organization; one large study here → Vampyres among us (scientific study))
Official godfather of all vampire reports and books in the National Library in Vienna (no joke).
2. How long have you been researching or observing the ‘real-world’ vampire community?
researching since 1992
direct personal observing since 1997
3. In what capacity, if any, are you personally involved in the vampire community? How do you self-identify in relation to this subculture?
friendly observer
sometimes embedded observer
researcher
(in case you want to use a joke: 'talamascan')
4. From a scholarly or personal perspective, what aspects of vampirism and the vampire community do you find most compelling?
From today s perspective after more than thirty years: How absolutely genuinely the vamypres do exhibit many traits of movie, fiction or folklore vampires: Overseen, often gloomy and slow, sometimes super witty and like "old souls", mostly shyish and staying in the social shadows — without cosplaying or roleplaying: They really ARE like that.
The sanguinarians are interested in blood consumption as a bonding tool; psychic vampyres experience it mostly in their phantasy where it however does have a clear effect on them.
5. How would you define “vampire kink” for readers who may be unfamiliar with the term?
I have never in my life heard the term in thousands of interactions with vampyres until you asked about it.
It is perhaps a preconceived notion of outsiders who kinda wrap their non-understanding over the scene by using ideas that make sense for them. Sanguinarian vampyres may feel triggered by blood but it is about personal bonding, not about a sexual fetish. During the many internal meetings I took part in, i never saw vampyres dressed in an overly sexualized or classical kink style like fetish clothing.
Or it is just a new term I just learned and that is positive and accepting.
6. In your view, what psychological, social, or cultural factors contribute to the appeal of vampirism as a practice or fantasy?
I have no information about the phantasy part. The practice part is fed (pun intended) by the feeling that standardized human social contacts do not fulfil the vampyre s desire for a very strong and truthful, reliable bond. Blood is always "true", it is there or not — no interpretational margin possible.
Most if not all of the vampyres are neurodivergent as one can clearly see from the Atlanta Vampire Alliance study and our large european study. Neurodivergents often feel like strangers, aliens, not belonging etc., so their journey into the social shadows starts early. All of them are bookworms, nerds etc. and many also strongly dislike bright light which is typical for autistic persons.
I often think: Probably many of the neurodivergent vampyre "kids" just made the technically correct assumption that what they hear and read and see about vampyres just fits to their personal experiences and character traits, so — again, typically neurodivergent — they tell themselves: Well, then I must be a vamypre. They just literalized their experiences and observations.
7. To what extent do you think vampirism and vampire-related kink reflect broader societal dynamics: for example, themes of power exchange, repression, or queer identity?
All of it. The queer aspect got light shed upon mostly by researchers from the cultural and social sciences fields because queerness and oddness is inherent in the vamypre subculture so noone saw or defined it before i guess.
Since most of the vampyres I met never cared about or discussed gender — they just take any person as he, she it or they are —, it became only obvious to me at the Timișoara conference in 2015 when people like me for the first time met young literature sciences and queer studies scientist. Of course the whole topic of shape shifting etc. always attracted queer people but in the 1970s, when especially the lesbian vampyre was a huge thing, noone understood the force of attraction.
Same is true of course for the Rocky Horror Picture Show where especially in Manhattan at Village East Cinemas noone ever asked what gender the current person impersonating Frank N. Furter in front of the screen was.
The power exchange motif became salient to me when I saw how excited sanguinarians may become when it comes to blood but also at the same time crave for stability and trust. It s a bit like in a healthy BDSM relationship where the boundaries are clear and the sub — not the dom — is therefore in power.
Another aspect took a very long time time for me to understand: There are many asexuals in the sanguinarian vamypre community who love to hug, giggle, nerd around, donate blood or drink it but it is clear they are not interested in contacts involving genital organs or nudity. It is very empowering for them to see that this is fully accepted and noone desires to comment or this. So it is a positive kind of control: Noone questions or pushes your boundaries.
8. How significant is the influence of pop culture such as Twilight, The Vampire Diaries, Dracula, and the broader “erotic villain” trope in shaping contemporary vampire kink and identity practices?
Very strong. We measure this directly by the number of persons who aspire to become formal community members in the largest and oldest continuously running, fully active vamypre society. Depending on trends, books, movies, Netflix etc., not only does the number of requests fluctuate but it comes sometimes even down to the type of clothing that is chosen at festivities. (During normal meetings, nobody dresses up.)
One movie series that is often forgotten in this context is True Blood (2008—2014) where mostly street clothing is worn and the sexual aspect was overtly played upon, but also werewolves and fairies were finally understood as part of the wider community.
In hindsight, this was of course a reference to the different types of neurodivergents but it took a few more years until that was fully understood. Werewolves for example cannot easily be integrated into the vamypre community because they are 'out of control' but fairies, 'beings of light' and some others who prefer a more silky path fit relatively well into the real life vampyre subculture.
9. What recurring themes tend to appear within the ‘real world’ vampire communities?
Cookies, cake and sparkly glittery cocktails.
10. What are some common misconceptions or stereotypes about vampire kinks that you believe require clarification?
That it is a classical kink. Unlike BSDM or any fetish I know, vampyres deal with human, sorry, i mean vamypre bonding on a deep level only; sex or clothing style (or feet or you name it) are not a general or necessary part of it.
11. Would you characterise the vampire community as predominantly open and public-facing, or more private? What factors influence this?
Some main players who loved the public and the attention did come out once in a while. I liked (or like) many of them a lot and we always kept a friendly collab vibe between us. Some of them are dead by now, some went back into the social shadows.
In general, sanguinarians have had it with the press because every single time, the reports in the end used stereotypes like bats, cemeteries, blood fetish stuff and Dracula as a context. This is like describing a university journal in the year 2026 as run by pot smoking, flower design wearing liberal hippies who distrust everyone older that thirty, getting up at noon at the earliest and having a good time only if slam drinking of alcohol is involved. Yes, that existed and may exist somewhere. No, it has nothing to do with how a university journal works.
The vampyres call it 'media exploitation' and most of the times, they either send me out to explain it based on scientific studies and observations or they do not reply at all because they never see representation of what goes actually goes on, so it becomes boring, fatuous and intrusive for them.
12. In what diverse ways do individuals engage with vampire identity, lifestyle practices, or kink expressions?
By know, i know vampyres in nearly every line of work and very many clothing styles, including street clothing. They prefer deep, slow thought and hate pretence. That s probably the clearest common denominator.
13. Discussions of kink can sometimes be stigmatised. What do you wish more people understood about fantasy-based kink practices and the lived realities of the modern vampire community?
That it is about bonding, and that that is a very good thing. Some people learn solid and sincere bonding over latex and leather, some via BDSM, and vampyres learn it by slowly pussyfooting into a territory that was formerly uncharted for them.
14. Finally, is there any aspect of vampirism, vampire kink, or community that you feel would be important for readers to consider?
Ahum, this will not make me new vampyre friends but, well, vampyres are the funniest, friendliest, unprejudiced persons I know but they are also overly shy to a point where if you plan a party, many surprises will happen in a corner of a room.