"Vampire" arrest sparks discussion on pop culture
By Deborah Quinn Hensel | Reuters – Thu, Aug 18, 2011
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HOUSTON (Reuters) - The arrest of an American man who broke into a woman's house and tried to suck her blood over the weekend has sparked discussion about the impact of vampire books and movies on youth culture.
Whether pop culture played a role in the attack remains to be seen, as 19-year-old Lyle Monroe Bensley awaits a psychiatric evaluation in jail on burglary charges in Galveston, Texas.
Found growling and hissing in a parking lot and wearing only boxer shorts, the pierced and tattooed Bensley claimed he was a 500-year-old vampire who needed to "feed," Galveston Police Capt. Jeff Heyse said.
Vampires have been a focal point of literature since Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, "Dracula". But fascination, particularly among young people, has peaked in recent years with the popularity of the "Twilight" books about teenage vampires and the television series, "True Blood."
"I think the vampire is a metaphor for the outsider and the predator in all of us," said author Anne Rice, whose Vampire Chronicles series has captured the imaginations of horror fans since the 1970s.
"We're all conscious at times of being alone, of being alienated, of being a secret self that fears exposure to the judgments of others. So we feel like vampires," she told Reuters.
Bensley is now being held in the Galveston County Jail on a $40,000 bond for home burglary with intent to commit a felony.
The woman, who lived near Bensley and did not know him, escaped the attack unharmed, Heyse said.
Kevin Petroff, chief of the Galveston County District Attorney's office, told Reuters no defense attorney has been appointed to date, and if Bensley had hired a lawyer privately, no notice had been filed.
YOUTHFUL FOR ETERNITY
Dr. Thomas Garza, who teaches a course in vampire lore at the University of Texas, said young people might aspire to be like vampires because they cheat death and are able to stay beautiful, powerful, and youthful for eternity.
The modern vampire in popular culture is more attractive, suave, and fashionably dressed than the Old World Slavic vampires, adding to the resurgence of their appeal, he added.
"I would say that it is the Twilight saga in particular that has brought out the younger teen fans. In that connection, Edward is a very 'safe' vampire, a kind of 'starter vamp' for beginners, if you will," Garza said.
"He's pretty, yes, so the seduction's there, but he's more than reluctant to act on his and Bella's sexual desires. He can go out in daylight - and even 'sparkles' in the sun, giving him a completely non-threatening character. He drives a Volvo, for goodness sake."
While Bensley's Texas antics have captured international attention, the delusion of actually being a vampire has been a contributing factor in other criminal cases as well.
In 1996, a 16-year-old Kentucky youth obsessed with the role-playing game, "Vampire, the Masquerade," enlisted three other teenagers to go with him to Florida to help kill the parents of his former girlfriend.
Two years later, a San Francisco man claiming to be a 2,000-year-old vampire was arrested for slashing the necks of four homeless people, one fatally. A serial killer arrested in England in 1949 allegedly drank a cup of blood from each of his six victims.
Rice has interacted with thousands of fans of her Vampire Chronicles novels, but said such intense personal identification with vampires was "quite beyond me."
"My readers are romantics. They're into the poetry and the romance of vampires; they don't think they themselves are vampires," Rice said. "I have never personally met anyone in all these years who claimed to be a vampire."
(Edited by Karen Brooks and Cynthia Johnston)
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52 comments
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Comments 1 - 20 of 52First PrevNextLast

70Please sign in to rate this comment up.Please sign in to rate this comment down.22Nit 9 hours ago Report Abuse
This guy should have come to Singapore and see how the government here sucks the blood of the people and get paid in a 5 figure salary! Well, the only difference is that vampires wear an all black outfit, while our minister wear an all white outfit. But both suck blood.

6Please sign in to rate this comment up.Please sign in to rate this comment down.2Singamale 8 hours ago Report Abuse
This guy needs to be rehabilitated.
Put him in a dark cell with some bats;
leave a few bottles of animal blood
for his meals, so that he can satisfy
his craving for blood.
Release him only when he is really
sick of the sight of blood.

8Please sign in to rate this comment up.Please sign in to rate this comment down.3Faisal Khan Fengshan 10 hours ago Report Abuse
well,in my opinion there is no such things as vampires....

23Please sign in to rate this comment up.Please sign in to rate this comment down.11Jeanie 9 hours ago Report Abuse
That's funny ! The woman victim should ask for his contact no.and then tell him she'll contact him to come during her red flag day...and he can suck from her sanitary pads !

6Please sign in to rate this comment up.Please sign in to rate this comment down.3ANONEH 8 hours ago Report Abuse
The BEST way to deal with Vampires is to pluck out all their teeth.

The police should arrest these people, then forcibly extract their teeth before putting them in prison for a while.

.

2Please sign in to rate this comment up.Please sign in to rate this comment down.1Anti Xenophobia 9 hours ago Report Abuse
Real vampires don't get caught, and they don't wish to get caught anyway, and they can escape a jail cell in a breeze. so the bottom line is, this is a madman rather than a 500 year old vampire.

10Please sign in to rate this comment up.Please sign in to rate this comment down.7Derek Duke 7 hours ago Report Abuse
This ANGMOH vampire canot fight with our MIW vampires ...they take sucking to a whole new level

4Please sign in to rate this comment up.Please sign in to rate this comment down.3Hasling 8 hours ago Report Abuse
Blood or Money suckers. Both want something from You.

2Please sign in to rate this comment up.Please sign in to rate this comment down.3Don't Fool Me... 8 hours ago Report Abuse
This fella is really dumb @ss trying to be unique and different!!!
He is rying to fart but @#$% comes out instead! Lol

1Please sign in to rate this comment up.Please sign in to rate this comment down.2Redeemed 10 hours ago Report Abuse
This nut case lucky he didnt get shot or bashed up..i

1Please sign in to rate this comment up.Please sign in to rate this comment down.2Gracie 11 hours ago Report Abuse
What a nutcase!

1Please sign in to rate this comment up.Please sign in to rate this comment down.3Eric 8 hours ago Report Abuse
I pity him. lol...

1Please sign in to rate this comment up.Please sign in to rate this comment down.4Believe 9 hours ago Report Abuse
God bless him......................

1Please sign in to rate this comment up.Please sign in to rate this comment down.4Ella 9 hours ago Report Abuse
Uh..ok.. I just saw that,sorry readers.. Wasn't him at all..LOL.. Anyway he should get himself a role in Hollywoods n he won't got arrest..LOL..

1Please sign in to rate this comment up.Please sign in to rate this comment down.6Ella 9 hours ago Report Abuse
I ain't sure if anyone think the same as way I do. Just u know, don't try to tell me off here..LOL.. That picture was really cool. Not that his actions, he should have got himself a role in Twilight for his obsession. He was really amazing. Was he in the picture that's displayed ?

0Please sign in to rate this comment up.Please sign in to rate this comment down.2Eric 8 hours ago Report Abuse
I pity him. lol...

0Please sign in to rate this comment up.Please sign in to rate this comment down.2Jeanie 9 hours ago Report Abuse
Next will be the policemen's blood that this self-proclaimed vampire wants....

0Please sign in to rate this comment up.Please sign in to rate this comment down.2TolongLah.. 10 hours ago Report Abuse
mad man

0Please sign in to rate this comment up.Please sign in to rate this comment down.3Gracie 11 hours ago Report Abuse
What a nutcase!

0Please sign in to rate this comment up.Please sign in to rate this comment down.4Kris 8 hours ago Report Abuse
I think i read about an article where a vampire bat was the reason someone died recently.
Guess this guy would be immune so..why not do some research on it with him and the bat..
for the sake of humanity..
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