Groovie Goolies - "Gool School" - 1970

Vampires Are Not the Good Guys

There is a disturbing trend in literature today to glorify the paranormal, to raise evil to the level of respectability and vice versa. That may be one of the reasons I prefer vampire stories from the past. No matter what the plot was or who the characters were, one thing was certain. The presence of monsters meant something bad was going to happen. With pounding heart, you rooted for the main character as you sped through the pages, hoping everything would be all right in the end. But when monsters become misunderstood, sorrowful creatures or simply an alien race with a different set of cultural rules, two results can happen. We begin accepting unacceptable behaviors and we blunt our inner radar that alerts us to danger. Neither is good.

Monsters, Witch Cats, Ghosts,............Vampires?

My 3 year old considers himself to be very knowledgeable on all things spooky. He thinks it would be so very cool to have a monster living under his bed, a nooth grush on his tooth brush, Lord Licorice as a buddy, and he stares at spiders after he's killed them to see if they really have eight legs. He has a vivid imagination and keeps me very busy.

With living in a neighborhood now instead of off a dark country road, he's taken in the flood of Halloween decorations that have been popping up at every house. Halloween happens to be my favorite holiday and I think it's wearing off on my son. He happily announces the latest neighbor to hang spiders and purple lights over snacks.

Yesterday I took him to Walmart to oodle all the decorations and costumes. I had promised him he could pick out one decoration (we have a strict budget and I have lots of Halloween related items) to join the festivities. After playing with an enormous rat, a styroform skull, and some dangly spiders and skeletons, I was sure he was going to select the window stickers. He loves stickers and they had witch cats (an absolute favorite). Instead, he picked out an outdoor ghost. It moves up and down by motion sensors and wails like a sick banshee. I hate it. He LOVES it!

The shelf below had basically the same thing in Count Dracula theme. "What's him?," he asks. "The count, he's a vampire," I replied. "Ohhhhhh, like in Damma's (grandma's) book!" So we talk vampire. He tells me it's a monster that tries to drink blood. Not any blood, neck blood! Swell, another monster he knows about.

Today the ghost hangs from the window. Today also marks the most times I've heard, "I want to drink your blood," followed by neck grabbing and sloppy fake bites. Let the scary fun commence!