A Psychic Vampire

Author to give talk on vampires and more Oct. 28 at area college

Two minutes after midnight, the wee first minutes into Thursday. The phone rang.
“This is Michelle Belanger,” said the voice, several hours after she spoke at the University of North Alabama in Mobile, Ala.
Come Oct. 28, Belanger will also speak at Northeast State Technical Community College in Blountville, Tenn. The oft-published author maintains a packed schedule during this and each October in particular.
“The last half of the month is insane,” Belanger said.
Why so busy?
Why, Belanger identifies herself as an author, scholar, public speaker … and psychic vampire.
“Not by any of the stereotypical Hollywood definitions,” the former head of the International Society of Vampires said.
Translated, Belanger (pronounced bell-awn-zhay) is not some Bela Lugosi as Dracula wannabe. She does not fear sunlight or necessarily covet the cloak of night.
“I don’t sleep in a coffin,” she said. “I am at once a scholar of the vampire as a concept. But I am a psychic vampire.”
The author of such books as 2004’s “The Psychic Vampire Codex” and the new “The Ghost Hunter’s Survival Guide: Techniques for Encounters with the Paranormal,” will speak extensively upon the subject at Northeast State.
From vampires’ roles in folklore to what they have become today, Belanger will offer a scholarly look as opposed to a more horrific view.
Yet many folks hear the word vampire and fear follows.
“Things that are unknown are frightening,” Belanger said.
So let’s clear that up a bit.
Belanger said three distinct subgroups of vampires exist. There are those such as she who identify themselves as psychic vampires, those who tap into the aura or energy of other people around them who are willing.
Then there are those who fit into the lifestyles category.
“They are for whom it’s more of a fashion statement,” Belanger said. “It inspires music, it inspires literature and it inspires film. Like people who are into country music. They adopt the look and the lifestyle and the feel. They dress up as vampires. They get their vamp on.”
More people get “their vamp on” than most people probably know. While people who identify themselves as vampires fall far short of pervasive in society, they can be readily found and particularly in large metropolises.
“There are at least 1,000 people in the vampire community in New York City alone,” Belanger said. “It’s a sizeable portion of the population. People are more likely to speak up about it now because it’s more acceptable now.”
Yes, though not entirely.
For example, there’s a third and seemingly sinister category of vampires.
Blood drinkers.
“They drink blood from human donors,” Belanger said. “They tend to be very private individuals. They feel they have a legitimate need.”
For the record, Belanger is not one of them.
“I’m not into drinking blood,” she said. “Blood drinking is totally not my thing.”
But she does know some who practice the highly questionable activity.
“The ones I know are professionals – a lawyer, teacher,” Belanger said. “I know a nurse, and she’s a blood drinker. But she doesn’t drink the blood at work.”
Creepy.
Surely oddballs. They navigate society parading like pariahs and looking like freaks on the loose. Right?
No, said Belanger. Even blood-drinking vampires walk amongst the public, blended as if just another member of society carrying on about their days.
“They’re not what you think,” Belanger said. “They could be your neighbor or the person in front of you in the grocery store line. It’s just a word [vampire]. It’s simply another way to identify.”

IF YOU GO
Who: Michelle Belanger
When: Oct. 28, 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Where: Northeast State Technical Community College, Blountville, Tenn.
Admission: Free
Info: (423) 279-7669
Web: http://www.michellebelanger.com

TOM NETHERLAND is a freelance writer. He can be reached at .