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infomaven infomaven
 

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 M¢25  Funded By Mahalo ? |  July 09, 2009 08:33 PM

Why in stories/tv do you have to invite a vampire in?

I recently watched "Let the right one in" and HBO's "True Blood" and in both they point out how you have to invite a vampire in for him or her to pass the threshold of a house. Is there any folklore/mythical reason for this? If so, what is it?
Interesting Question?  Yes (4)   No (0)   

Interesting: daisyjre, krysstel, andreaxxjean, techknowmama

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psynopsis psynopsis
 
 July 10, 2009 01:19 AM
Because, supposedly vampires cannot enter a home without invitation due to a barrier (like a force field) which they cannot cross. They can enter public places and things like hotels and clubs. All this is just folktale though. But they do influence things we would never thought about, for example Count Von Count (the creepy vampire on Sesame Street) he loves to count and if you read Krysstel's article you will find out that vampires love to count.

One thing though, If you read Twilight you will find that Edward entered that girl's house without permission. Since he watched her while she slept. (creepy)


Tags: homes, cannot, come, vampires, in

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andreaxxje... andreaxxje...
 
July 10, 2009 02:17 AM
In Let The Right One In the boy didn't invite the vampire girl in and there was no barrier, but when she walked in she started bleeding everywhere (out of her eyes, hair line, etc..) So... not all movies have a barrier/forcefield.

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infomaven infomaven
 
July 10, 2009 01:57 PM
Nice catch on Edward getting in in Twilight. Yes it was a little creepy though.

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daisyjre daisyjre
 
July 09, 2009 08:40 PM
A human's home is the only protection they have against vampires. Once they have been invited in the protection is gone and vampires may come in whenever.

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Helpful: krysstel

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krysstel krysstel
 
July 09, 2009 09:32 PM
Here's some more interesting myth and lore on vampires from a book:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/8764604/vampires-in-myth-and-history

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ziminya ziminya
 
July 10, 2009 10:02 AM
I'm not sure where the requirement came from but it seems to be a common one. I would imagine that, given all the vampire's powers, we humans feel that there should be SOMETHING we have control over. In looking around the net, I came across this link:

http://www.fvza.org/

It's a website entitled "The Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency". If you like tongue-in-cheek humor, their "research" should give you plenty of answers.
Source(s):
http://www.fvza.org/


Tags: vampires

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Voted as best: dbiddie, buddawiggi
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warpedspee... warpedspee...
 
July 10, 2009 01:45 PM
I've always made the assumption that it was because of the "home is where the heart" is type of thing.

The author of the dresden files, Jim Butcher, uses that frequently in his stories.

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trinifigue... trinifigue...
 
July 10, 2009 02:05 PM
One thing I can tell you, if you invite someone to your house is because you trust him or her in some way. Therefore, when people invite a vampire to come into their house, they are trusting him. It is easy for vampires and for anybody else, to take advantage of you if you trust them and invite them into your house or home. In addition, many vampires are polite creatures and have style. Like the ones in many black and white movies. A polite entity, like a vampire, would not come into your house uninvited. That is rude.

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jfesmire jfesmire
 
July 10, 2009 06:29 PM
You don't have to invite the vampire in. You should not invite it in so it won't get in and kill you.

But, I know what you meant. :)

The idea is that when a place becomes your home, it has a sort of magical protection field, and vampires can not cross into your space without you letting them do so. This is old vampire lore.

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trojanmedi... trojanmedi...
 
July 11, 2009 09:46 PM
As regards vampires and thresholds, one old legend is that a vampire has to be invited across because thresholds are considered "holy" or "sacred" and since vampires were long held to be demonic or evil creatures, they were unable to cross that barrier unless invited.
Source(s):
Yangie, Yahoo answers


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