Myths of blood sucking vampires have existed for over a thousand years. From Count Dracula to Nosferatu to Edward Cullen, there have been hundreds of reinterpretations and stories about these undead beings. Today, we’re looking into a brand new version of this monster, one those online have taken to calling “The Vamp.”
The Vamp is extremely new as far as urban legends go. In the past, urban legends would be spread over the course of years, hearing the story from a friend of a friend who knew a guy who knew a guy who saw the monster. But in the age of the internet, these myths can spread faster than ever with the story being seen and shared by thousands of people in an instant. This particular urban legend cropped up around March or April of this year.
As far as the story goes, it’s said that The Vamp is a small and plump caricature of a vampire, with a baby face and big black eyes. The beast flies from place to place, drinking the blood of anyone who dares utter its name out loud. As it feeds, its head swells up bigger and bigger, flushed with the blood of its victims.
We as a team were… unsure about how to approach this topic, but it’s something that’s been itching at the back of our minds for some time now, and we would be remiss if we didn’t address it. Some of you might remember that before we reassessed how we conduct investigations, we didn’t always come at certain subjects with the most tact or respect. During those years, we collaborated multiple times with true crime podcast hosts Howie Darnell and C Blackwelder. At one point, we even considered the two good friends. We eventually ended up parting ways due to opposing views, as we grew as people and they… didn’t. We’re very aware our audiences had a lot of overlap, and while we might not have agreed with the way Howie and C handled certain sensitive topics, we wished them no ill will and still held a fondness for the two.
Why do I bring them up now? Well, it has to do with how this urban legend started. Many of you are probably aware of the tragic and sudden murders of Howie and C that happened this spring. It was and still is completely shocking and saddening what the two were victim to. Their deaths seemed to spark a horrific string of similar murders across the country. It appears as if, since these deaths were so bizarre and gruesome, they’ve become the source of today’s urban legend. Because - and you might have put this together already - “The Vamp” was the name of Howie and C’s podcast mascot.
In this upcoming episode, we are going to be having some very serious and heavy conversations about how what we watch and how we approach subjects like death and murder as a source of entertainment can reflect and warp our view of these tragedies, and end up causing further harm. It might seem hypocritical for us to be the ones talking about this, but we want to share what we’ve learned and how we’ve grown since those days. We will be talking about what the media has dubbed the “conversation killings” or “the true crime killer”, so if these topics might be too much for you, we understand if you have to sit this one out.
“DÉJÀ BOO: The Internet's Favorite Vampire” releases this Wednesday.
- Ethan
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