March 6, 1998 (DALLAS / AP) - Four teen-agers claiming to be vampires went on a drug-crazed rampage, vandalizing dozens of cars and homes, spray-painting racial slurs and burning a church, police say.

The fire early Thursday destroyed the office and fellowship hall at Bethany Lutheran Church. Its outside walls were scrawled with satanic graffiti in hot pink and white paint.

"My sadness is not for us. It is for those people who don't know the joy of life," said pastor Carol Spencer, whose church is in the mostly white, middle-class suburb of Lake Highlands.

Evidence from the fire quickly led authorities to the nearby home of a 16-year-old boy, who was not identified because he is a juvenile.

He and the others - Lucas Charles Simms, 17, Brandon Lee Ramsey, 18, and Charles Randal Kinnard, 19 - were arrested on arson charges.

The Dallas Morning News reported that one of them told detectives the teens believe they are vampires and that the teen-agers had marks on their arms from sucking each other's blood. The newspaper said the teens smoked marijuana laced with some kind of a substance before the rampage.

They slashed car tires, broke windows and spray-painted vulgarities on cars, homes and fences, police said. An acid used to treat swimming pools was spread on cars.

"I expected it to be messed-up kids. But this was really bad," said Elwin Setliff, one of the dozens of vandalism victims.

Investigators would not disclose the evidence that led them to the teen-agers.

Before their arrest, some of the teens sat in lawn chairs on top of a carport and watched as investigators went through the ruins of the church Thursday, said Deputy Fire Chief Tom Oney.

"It appeared to me that they were savoring the fruits of the damage," he said. "They were enjoying watching us look at it."

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Posted by Vladimir Sat, 03/24/2007 - 22:59

 

The Vampyre - John William Polidori

"The Vampyre" is a short story written by John William Polidori and is a progenitor of the romantic vampire genre of fantasy fiction.  It was first published on April 1, 1819, by Colburn in the New Monthly Magazine with the false attribution "A Tale by Lord Byron." The name of the work's protagonist, "Lord Ruthven," added to this assumption, for that name was originally used in Lady Caroline Lamb's novel Glenarvon, in which a thinly-disguised Byron figure was also named Lord Ruthven. Despite repeated denials by Byron and Polidori, the authorship often went unclarified.

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The Origins and Causes of Vampirism

This is a brief essay on the origins and causes of vampirism based on my reading in European folklore. The information given is based on common European belief concerning the nature and causes of vampirism. In that culture the witch was an agent of the devil and a being much feared.

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Chapter 05

"Yes," said Walkham, the sculptor, "it's a most curious thing."

"What is?" asked Ernest, who had been dreaming over the Sphinx that was looking at him from its corner with the sarcastic smile of five thousand years.

"How our dreams of yesterday stare at us like strangers to-day."

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Damnation Is My Friend

I can't open my eyes
To reach out to you
Are you really there

Don't ask why
I don't think I really know
I cannot ever show
What I can't see

I feel myself fading away
I feel my mind going astray
Help me keep the wolves at bay

Damnation is my friend
And I am slain.

Twisted lies
You never told the truth
You took my faith in you
And you killed that too...

Now you wonder why
I want you to die
No one is that blind
You're so unkind

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Chapter 11

The music of Reginald Clarke's intonation captivated every ear. Voluptuously, in measured cadence, it rose and fell; now full and strong like the sound of an organ, now soft and clear like the tinkling of bells. His voice detracted by its very tunefulness from what he said. The powerful spell charmed even Ernest's accustomed ear.

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