# Question about Vampires **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 25, 2016, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-vampires/747131 "2016-02-25T19:30:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-vampires/747131/21 "2016-02-26T03:49:36Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > But according to that great Documentary _Shadow of the Vampire_, Max Schreck really WAS a vampire. > > And he not only showed up on film, but in a mirror as well. I’m pretty sure that was a stunt double. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-vampires/747131/22 "2016-02-26T04:24:58Z")
I think I was sold on BtVS on the early episode when Willow comments to Angel on the weirdness of not being able to see himself in the mirror. “…I mean – how do you _shave_??” ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-vampires/747131/23 "2016-02-26T08:30:30Z")
Dracula quickly realized that putting Renfield in charge of getting him ready to go out for the evening was a tremendous error. It’s hard to enthrall a mortal who is giggling at you. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-vampires/747131/24 "2016-02-26T12:34:01Z")
> [@Snooooopy](#): > > Dracula quickly realized that putting Renfield in charge of getting him ready to go out for the evening was a tremendous error. It’s hard to enthrall a mortal who is giggling at you. Not to mention scouting for flies as he ties your tie. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-vampires/747131/25 "2016-02-26T18:38:45Z")
Kim Newman has written a series of works in which vampires live openly among humans. In one of his stories, he had Orson Welles hiring vampires as special effects for a movie. The vampires would move props around on the set but they wouldn’t show up on film so it would look like the props were moving around on their own. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-vampires/747131/26 "2016-02-26T20:31:14Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > I think I was sold on BtVS on the early episode when Willow comments to Angel on the weirdness of not being able to see himself in the mirror. > > “…I mean – how do you _shave_??” It’s not entirely clear that vampire’s hair grows. I mean, we’ve seen Liam/Angelus/Angel over two centuries, and he never had a beard or a different hairstyle the whole time. It seems reasonable that just as vampires never age their hair doesn’t grow either. Or their hair always returns to the state it was in when they were turned. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-vampires/747131/27 "2016-02-26T20:55:06Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > It’s not entirely clear that vampire’s hair grows. I mean, we’ve seen Liam/Angelus/Angel over two centuries, and he never had a beard or a different hairstyle the whole time. It seems reasonable that just as vampires never age their hair doesn’t grow either. Or their hair always returns to the state it was in when they were turned. If their hair never grows, then one non-lethal way to get even with a vampire is to shave his head. Then he’ll always be bald. Maybe that’s what happened to Count Orlock in _Nosferatu_. And Barlow in _Salem’s Lot_ [https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;\_ylt=AwrBT8tUvNBW110AxQlXNyoA;\_ylu=X3oDMTE0djUyaTg2BGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjE3NTdfMQRzZWMDcGl2cw--?p=count+Orlock+nosferatu&fr=yfp-t-201&fr2=piv-web#id=29&iurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rockymounttelegram.com%2Fmedia%2Fbig\_image%2F092013Nosferatu1A.jpg&action=click](https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AwrBT8tUvNBW110AxQlXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTE0djUyaTg2BGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjE3NTdfMQRzZWMDcGl2cw--?p=count+Orlock+nosferatu&fr=yfp-t-201&fr2=piv-web#id=29&iurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rockymounttelegram.com%2Fmedia%2Fbig_image%2F092013Nosferatu1A.jpg&action=click) [https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;\_ylt=AwrBT8tUvNBW110AxQlXNyoA;\_ylu=X3oDMTE0djUyaTg2BGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjE3NTdfMQRzZWMDcGl2cw--?p=count+Orlock+nosferatu&fr=yfp-t-201&fr2=piv-web#id=306&iurl=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F\_-O8l3A-P9IA%2FSwx4BOdYPqI%2FAAAAAAAAAGk%2FwUjChr6pOrE%2Fs1600%2FCount%2BDracula%2BNosferatu%2Bthe%2BVampyre.jpg&action=click](https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AwrBT8tUvNBW110AxQlXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTE0djUyaTg2BGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjE3NTdfMQRzZWMDcGl2cw--?p=count+Orlock+nosferatu&fr=yfp-t-201&fr2=piv-web#id=306&iurl=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F_-O8l3A-P9IA%2FSwx4BOdYPqI%2FAAAAAAAAAGk%2FwUjChr6pOrE%2Fs1600%2FCount%2BDracula%2BNosferatu%2Bthe%2BVampyre.jpg&action=click) [https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;\_ylt=A0LEVw.ZvNBWMpEAgZJXNyoA;\_ylu=X3oDMTE0djUyaTg2BGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjE3NTdfMQRzZWMDcGl2cw--?p=Barlow+Salem's+Lot&fr=yfp-t-201&fr2=piv-web#id=8&iurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.horrornewsnetwork.net%2Fimages%2Fbarlow.jpg&action=click](https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A0LEVw.ZvNBWMpEAgZJXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTE0djUyaTg2BGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjE3NTdfMQRzZWMDcGl2cw--?p=Barlow+Salem%27s+Lot&fr=yfp-t-201&fr2=piv-web#id=8&iurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.horrornewsnetwork.net%2Fimages%2Fbarlow.jpg&action=click) ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2016, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-vampires/747131/28 "2016-02-26T21:13:45Z")
Well, maybe it does grow. Really, vampire healing and change is somewhat inconsistent. It’s a fairly well established modern trope that vampires will age and/or decay if they can’t feast on the blood of the living. Or they can go into some sort of stasis, waiting for a mortal foolish enough to wake them again. But cut off a vampire’s hand, and he can probably grow a new hand, assuming he’s drained enough blood. Shave his head, and his hair will grow back to what it was before. But if he was clean-shaven when turned, his face should always be clean shaven. But if you’re missing an ear when turned, does the ear grow back when you’re a vamp? Or do you have a perpetually missing ear, forever? ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-vampires/747131/29 "2016-02-27T01:47:04Z")
Did anyone mention that most vampires have a sidekick? (Whistler, Renfield, etc) ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-vampires/747131/30 "2016-02-27T02:54:01Z")
In the **Vampire: The Masquerade** tabletop roleplaying game, the Lasombra vampire clan doesn’t reflect in mirrors, nor can they be seen in photographs or video cameras. All other vampire clans reflect or photograph as normal beings. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-vampires/747131/31 "2016-02-27T02:58:25Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > It’s not entirely clear that vampire’s hair grows. I mean, we’ve seen Liam/Angelus/Angel over two centuries, and he never had a beard or a different hairstyle the whole time. It seems reasonable that just as vampires never age their hair doesn’t grow either. Or their hair always returns to the state it was in when they were turned. That’s how it worked in _Interview with a Vampire_. The little girl vampire, after several decades of being stuck at ten years old, tries to cut off her hair to effect some sort of change in her appearance, and is horrified when it instantly grows back to its former length. Pity she dies at the end. She could have made a fortune in wig manufacturing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-vampires/747131.md?page=1)