I'm not sure of this, but I think iron is anathema to supernatural beasties because it's from the earth, with an added element that metallic iron was forced into that shape by man, thereby symbolically representing man's dominion over the things of earth.

(for generic definitions of man and mankind, etc. I have no idea how meteoric iron fits into this. And it may all be hooey.)

Right. Which is part of why meteoric iron is such A Thing when it appears in whatever story (Mists of Avalon comes to mind, but I'm sure there are others). Although, then, you still have the Saruman-esque machines of men implications if it has been forged

I'm not sure of this, but I think iron is anathema to supernatural beasties because it's from the earth, with an added element that metallic iron was forced into that shape by man, thereby symbolically representing man's dominion over the things of earth.

That's been my understanding of it, Connie.

Yay for the random thingies floating in the murky depths of my mind!

Why is silver the toxic metal for vampires? Why not gold, which is the metal of the sun? Silver represents the moon, which controls werewolves, so that makes sense.

"What do you mean, silver doesn't bother you?" "Sorry, it's weird, I know. Tungsten, now, that's a bitch."

I'm coming in a bit late in this conversation and I don't know if anyone has mentioned Ultraviolet the TV show not the movie.

The show had a few interesting concepts and plays on the no reflection thing to the point of no recordings at all, on video or through phones and the people fighting them use carbon bullets (since the carbon is wood based).

Currently I'm reading a book called Soulless (I'm blanking on the author) it's a alternate history kinda steampunk story set in Victorian times about a half - Italian spinster with no soul. Her lack of soul doesn't inheriently make her evil, the back story is that she taught her self a code of ethics. But her lack of a soul means that she is immune to supernatural creatures, to the point where vampires lose their fangs if they try to attract her.

The story also introduces vampire and werewolf concepts I hadn't seen before and I'm not sure I find that appealling. One is that it's very hard for anyone to be turned and so the largest wolf pack only has 11 members. Also werewolves can only eat raw meat, can't go out in the daylight (unless they are very old). It's very very hard for anyone to be turned to either a vampire or a werewolf so they are only 11 werewolves in the largest pack and the hive of vampires is much smaller. Also only female vampires can turn humans and it's the excess of soul the let's someone survive the change.

In a way it weakens the power of both vampires and werewolves but it does allow for them to be more integrated into the proper Victorian Society.

"Well... I've been testing that blood sample quite extensively, and it turns out to be a magical virus."

Well hopefully someone will have the mitochlorians to stop them.

Yeah, when they referred to vampirism being caused by a virus in Blade II I was thinking to myself "Riiight. A virus that makes people and their clothes disintegrate into glowing ashes if they're struck through the heart with silver. Exactly how does that little mutation work?"

Scientific disease premise works fine for versions of vampirism that just include bloodlust, longevity, and maybe enhanced strength and recuperative abilities within reason, but once you're defying the laws of physics it's still magic regardless of who spouts technobabble about it.

it was clearly a new kind of Zombie mythology. And yeah Zombie started as a religous mythic thing

[...]

And vampires and werewolves did not start out as a disease

Then what did you mean by this, TB:

Vampirism as or being a werewolf (or even zombie) as a disease are not new

a virus that brings people back from the dead, gives them a very specific form of insanity and superpowers is pretty much indistinguishable from magic

I disagree. I think it's about the world they inhabit. For instance, a disease vampire or zombie is more likely to inhabit a world that doesn't have other weird beasts in it, or any spells or amulets. There are more likely to be attempts to rationalise weaknesses, and less likely for religion to be a factor in defense. Also, cures are going to come from a guy in a white coat, not someone chanting. There are bleeds between SF and fantasy, obviously, but I think that Ultraviolet the movie was SF vampires, trying to be scientific, whereas Buffy was fantasy.

Askye, a friend left me her copy of Souless before she went on vacation with orders that I HAD to read it. Any good?