# Taming a vampire
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taming-a-vampire/647619
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [January 18, 2013, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taming-a-vampire/647619 "2013-01-18T15:56:07Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2013, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taming-a-vampire/647619/21 "2013-01-19T01:54:38Z")
The vampire is long on supernatural abilities and short on blood. The villagers are short on supernatural abilities and long on blood. Classic case of gains from trade.
24 X 365= 8760 pints a year. The village can tax people, use those taxes to pay people to donate blood\* and pay the vampire in blood in exchange for the use of his supernatural abilities.
Even if the vampire doesn’t care about people, he might prefer working and having his food delivered rather than having to hunt it down (just like we do) and not running the risk of villagers ganging up on him or calling in vampire hunters.
\*Since we’re positing vampires, it’s not too out of line to think this wouldn’t run afoul of some misguided laws.
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### Author:  [@SirGalahad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirGalahad)
#### Post date: [January 20, 2013, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taming-a-vampire/647619/22 "2013-01-20T08:35:39Z")
Seems more risky for a Vampire to face whatever hardened warriors commonly wage war against the village than hunting women, children (yummy) and lone wanderers. If I were that particular Vampire, I’d risk the ire of a village with such a naive spokesperson rather than challenge the small army of a warlike neighbor.
Gang up on a Vampire, he’s toast … obviously. Otherwise, we’d be the minority hiding in basements and abandoned castles.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [January 20, 2013, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taming-a-vampire/647619/23 "2013-01-20T09:24:49Z")
> [@Derleth](#):
>
> Depends on the moon, but, yes, without electricity the night was a lot darker back then. The increased starlight from a lack of light pollution doesn’t make up for it. And towns were even darker, with closely-built buildings blotting out a lot of the sky and nobody wanting to waste a torch to illuminate the street.
>
> **And you have to specify what kind of vampire** : Traditional ambulatory corpse from actual European folklore or suave highborn gentleman from 19th Century fiction? Because if it’s the former, it’s pretty much an animal and not something you _can_ reason with, and if it’s the latter, the villagers are cattle in his eyes even if he’s not actually a vampire.
Either way, daytime shouldn’t be an issue. The idea that sunlight kills a vampire is a twentieth century invention.
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### Author:  [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)
#### Post date: [January 20, 2013, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taming-a-vampire/647619/24 "2013-01-20T09:43:40Z")
How do medieval villagers regularly donate blood in a safe manner once a month? I’m pretty sure sterile venipuncture equipment wasn’t available and leeches would digest the blood.
I know bloodletting was practiced, but was it done on a given patient on a regular basis? Slashing the whole village’s arms once a month would lead to heavily scarred villagers and probably a number of infections, wouldn’t it?
Also, if I was that vampire, I’d probably agree to the deal while I had the stake against my chest, but then get the hell out of that village to find new digs on the first opportunity. The knowledge that the villagers knew where I “slept” would make it hard for me to feel secure.
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