I haven't been listening to Coast to Coast AM much lately. Be it due to working late or finding other sources of entertainment at night, I find myself tuning into George Noory less and less. Presently, I'm trying to decide whether or not this is because of a lack of interest in Coast topics, or rather increased interest in non-Coast activities. I have been rather busy as of late--troubleshooting the bugs out of a recently built PC has taken a lot out of me--yet I've found that the guest schedule these past few weeks hasn't been anything special.

That being said, I made a conscious decision to turn off all of the other outside distractions in my life and just lay down for some relaxing, entertaining radio. The night, Monday the 18th. The guest, Michelle Belanger. The name of the game was vampires, specifically the 'real' ones. It's a subject that holds a lot of interest for me. From Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 Dracula to Spike TV's Blade the Series, I've always been fascinated by the vampire archetype. Though never to the point of living the vampire lifestyle, mind you.

However, it seems the vampire subculture has been gaining strength in the past few years. I'm referring to groups of people more or less pretending to vampires, of course. A sort of off-shoot from the standard 'Goth' culture, these guys (and gals) take this stuff pretty seriously. By doing everything from getting vampire-teeth caps, venturing out only at night and even drinking human blood, they are certainly an interesting (if not disturbing bunch). Michelle Belanger, who claims to be a part of this vampire subculture, did a fine job explaining the motives and mindsets of these vampire wanna-be's (despite some terrible questions by George Noory). To be honest, I was pretty clueless on the subject. I'd like to consider myself at least semi-knowledgeable on what it means to be a Goth--as I found myself floating around the outskirts of that culture from time to time in the public school scene--but I can't say I've ever met anyone who claims to live the vampire lifestyle.

For the most part, it sounds to me like a way for people to share in the sexual allure that permeates the vampire archetype. Miss Belanger had quite a bit to say on this aspect, and Noory's uncomfortable reaction to such talk was entertaining. However, what turns me off to the whole thing is the prospect of blood drinking. From what I gathered, only a small, dedicated faction of the vampire subculture partakes in the activity, but I don't see how that could be even remotely pleasurable. Even licking a paper-cut is enough for me. I guess I'm just not a fan of that copper taste.

Michelle also mentioned a fun fact for us Coast fans. Apparently Whitley Strieber's novel turned movie, The Hunger, was primarily the inspiration for this current vampire craze. Who knew? I chuckled a bit after George asked if Whitley was revered at all by these new-age vampires, as I'm sure that's exactly what Whitley would want. But I guess most vampires aren't up to snuff on their own history, as most of them that Michelle talked to had no clue who he was. Frankly, I had never heard of the book or movie. But from what I've learned since, its a sort of cult-classic. Also, it does star David Bowie--so for that alone I may have to check it out.

There was also a brief mention of the typical, movie-like vampires. George asked a question along the lines of whether or not Belanger thought true vampires really existed. She and George both seemed to be in agreement that there are strange things out there, and vampires certainly aren't out of the question. Though I'm sure if they do indeed exist, they're rolling in their coffins about this fake vampire business.

Besides this vampire-by-choice culture, Michelle Belanger also touched on the phenomenon known as 'psychic vampirism.' This subject, which has been discussed on previous Coast episodes, is one I can certainly relate to. I'm not going to name any names, or anything, but there is someone in my life that I consider an energy vampire. It could be this person has simply become exceptionally adept at getting my goat, but he's quite good at (and seems to revel in) sapping my energy.

You know who you are...

Although I haven't been listening to Coast much lately, I'm glad I decided to tune into this particular episode. Its not the kind of interview that I would usually listen to, and although George didn't seem the most able interviewer for the job (I think Ian would have been the better choice), it turned out to be a lot better than I expected. I'm starting to regret all of the hidden gem episodes like this that I've been missing out on by only focusing on the high-caliber guests lately. But I think this new outlook of getting into these less explosive episodes is giving me more incentive to focus on my radio more.

I think I smell a rebound to my recent listening rut.