It seems that UV light sensitivity, attraction to blood, and rage are all too common in fiction. I just saw I Am Legend - which was a great film - but again, we see these reoccurring themes in the “monsters.” Is there any instance in history of an organism being so violently sensitive to UV radiation to actually catalyze an immediate reaction? If not, what is the historical/literary basis for such fictional creations?
P.S. Did you see I Am Legend? I’m still wondering about the way they described the infectious virus. It is apparent from the beginning that they have developed bioengineering technology good enough to engineer viruses for a purpose - and cure cancer (which, by the way, is an exact strategy of some current cancer research). I’m guessing that they were implying that the measles virus could mutate into a super-human/vampire creating virus (even though current scientific evidence shows that viruses don’t mutate that way – and 99% of mutations are destructive – so the chance of any virus mutating enough times to do something totally different is effectively null). I know they wanted it to be a good intentioned accident instead of a willful engineering of a bio-weapon or something, but I think it could have been written in a more realistic way. I don’t mind there being ridiculousness in entertainment like this – airborne mutating viruses. Now that I think of it, the fact that this deadly and monster creating virus was “airborne” and “killed 90 percent” of the infected is alluding to the fact that its source was measles (~90 percent of people in the vicinity of those who are infected will catch measles). Then again, the incubation period – during which people show no symptoms - is much much longer than illustrated in the movie. Furthermore, measles don’t effect other infected organisms shown to be monstrous in the movie. Sorry for the over analysis.
Porphyria, kinda sorta.
CMC +fnord!
I think rabies is the origin of werewolf and vampire legends. It’s transmitted by bites and makes the victim act enraged, at least if the victim is a carnivorous species like humans (therefore getting “furious rabies”, whereas vegitarian species like rabbits get a kind of rabies in which they act lethargic and slip into a coma).
Note that dogs and bats are two important rabies threats to humans.
Or a more credible source.
More likely, the vampire legends had nothing to do with any particular syndrome, but rather fear and horror stories. Trying to come up with a syndrome makes as much sense as coming up with a medical condition that is the basis for the concept of ghosts.
Most of our understanding of vampire legends come from Bram Stoker, who used some existing legends (as necessary) and made up additional ones.
Note that Stoker’s Dracula was not sensitive to light and could go abroad in daylight perfectly easily. Vampires were just mortal in daylight, had no special powers, and could be killed (with a stake to the heart). But they could sit out in the sun and be perfectly fine.
Thus, “sensitivity to light” came late in the vampire legend – so late that it cannot be considered as part of the origin.